A simple piece of rope hangs between some environmentally friendly Americans and their neighbors. On one side stand those who have begun to see clothes dryers as a wasteful consumers of energy (up to 6% of total electricity) and powerful emitters of carbon dioxide (up to a ton of CO2 per household every year). As an alternative, they are turning to clotheslines as part of what Alexander Lee, an environmentalist, calls “what-I-can-do environmentalism.”
But the other side are people who oppose air-drying laundry outside on visual grounds. Increasingly, they have persuaded community and homeowners associations (HOAs) access the U.S. to ban outdoor clotheslines, which they say not only look unattractive but also lower surrounding property values. Those actions, in turn, have led to a right-to-dry movement that is pressing for making laws to protect the choice to use clotheslines. Only three states — Florida, Hawaii and Utah — have laws written broadly enough to protect clotheslines. Right-to-dry advocates argue that there should be more.
Matt Reck is the kind of eco-conscious guy who feeds his trees with bathwater and recycles condensation drops (冷凝水) from his air conditioners to water plants. His family also uses a clothesline. But Otto Hagen, president of Reck’s HOA in Wake Forest, N.C., notified him that a neighbor had complained about his line. The Recks ignored the warning and still dry their clothes on a rope in the yard. “Many people claim to be environmentally friendly but don’t take matters into their own hands,” says Reck. HOAs Hagen has decided to hold off taking action. “I’m not going to go crazy,” he says. “But if Matt keeps his line and more neighbors complains, I’ll have to address it again.”
North Carolina lawmakers tried and failed earlier this year to insert language into an energy bill that would expressly prevent HOAs from regulating clotheslines. But the issue remains a touchy one with HOAs and real estate agents. “Most visual restrictions are rooted. to a degree, in the belief that homogenous (统一协调的) external appearance are supportive of property value,” says Sara Stubbins, executive director of the Community Association Institute’s North Carolina chapter. In other words, associations worry that housing prices will fall if prospective buyers think their would-be neighbors are too poor to afford dryers.
Alexander Lee dismisses the notion that clotheslines devalue property advocating that the idea “needs to change in light of global warming.” “We all have to do at least something to decrease our carbon footprint,” Alexander Lee says.
1. What is NOT mentioned as a disadvantage of using clothes dryers?| A．Electricity consumption. | B．Air pollution. |
| C．Waste of energy. | D．Ugly looking. |
| A．Opposers think air-drying laundry would devalue surrounding property. |
| B．Opposers consider the outdoor clothesline as an eyesore to the scenery. |
| C．Right-to-dry movements led to the pass of written laws to protect clotheslines. |
| D．Most of states in the US have no written laws to protect clotheslines. |
| A．clotheslines should be banned in the community |
| B．clotheslines wouldn’t lessen the property values |
| C．the globe would become warmer and warmer |
| D．we should protect the environment in the community |
| A．Opinions on Environmental Protection | B．Opinions on Air-drying Laundry |
| C．What-I-Can-Do Environmentalism | D．Restrictions on Clotheslines |
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【推荐1】Many companies today hold meetings to discuss their new plans.As people are paying more attention to the environment problems,more companies are looking for ways to reduce their bad influence on the environment.Many of them achieve this by using web meeting.
With web meeting,all participants can attend the meeting at their own desks.
Materials for the meeting are e-mailed to all the participants before it begins.
As a meeting hall is not used,the only power for a web meeting is the power that is used by the computers.Besides,organisers don’t have to pay for food and accommodation (住宿) for the participants.
In a word,web meeting is a cheaper,greener,and more friendly way of hosting and attending a meeting.
| A．Web meeting is a technology that allows people to communicate better over the Internet. |
| B．All these mean that less energy is used. |
| C．Then participants can just read them on the screen. |
| D．Companies that hold web meeting are willing to work hard for a better environment. |
| E．They can be printed (打印) by the receivers. |
| F．They don’t need to drive a car to travel to and from the meeting. |
| G．Web meeting is quite popular now. |
【推荐2】Natasha Tucker’s passion for fighting plastic pollution began with a shocking moment.
While working at the Vancouver Aquarium, Tucker met a rescued dolphin whose fins were partially cut off due to fishing equipment entanglement (缠绕). This heartbreaking experience made Tucker immediately search for a way to take action against the plastic pollution that caused these injuries.
“I saw immediately that this was because of us,” she says. “I knew I had to do something. Then, I found Mind Your Plastic.”
That aquarium encounter was not the only experience that inspired Tucker to action. Other experiences like working in retail management came with witnessing tons of plastic waste. “I saw how much got thrown out, and it didn’t sit well with me,” she says.
Plastic waste in business is among what Mind Your Plastic is seeking to end via its three key programs: the Circular Economy Ambassador Program(CEAP) for educators and youth, the Plastic-Free Events Policy Program for municipalities (市政当局) and the Plastic Awareness and Reduction Tool-kit s (PART) Program for businesses.
When people donate to Mind Your Plastic, their dollars directly support these programs and help them effect change. Through direct partnerships with local educators, municipalities and businesses, these programs connect Canadians with direct ways to take action. The CEAP program, for example, helps teachers educate youth about the circular economy, lead local cleanups, and track collected waste.
The blame game is another area in need of transition, according to Tucker, who says that big companies, not customers, should carry the responsibility to solve Canada’s plastic pollution problem.
“It’s felt for a long time like the responsibility is placed on the customers,” says Tucker. “That needs to stop.”
Tucker says this perspective (观点) can be shifted by individuals creating public pressures—for example, pushing for policy—and using their dollars to support more sustainable, circular alternatives until these policy changes happen.
“This makes policy a valuable tool. And big business may say there’s no interest, but we know there is,” she says. “Let’s use our dollars to prove that, and challenge policymakers to help make change happen.”
1. What first inspired Natasha Tucker’s passion for fighting plastic pollution?| A．Working in retail management. | B．Witnessing tons of plastic waste. |
| C．Meeting an injured dolphin. | D．Finding Mind Your Plastic. |
| A．Tucker felt uneasy about the large quantity of the plastic. |
| B．Tucker was unconcerned about the amount of plastic waste she saw. |
| C．Tucker enjoyed managing so much plastic waste. |
| D．Tucker thought the amount of plastic waste was acceptable. |
| A．By blaming consumers for plastic waste. | B．By providing education and partnership. |
| C．By quarreling with big businesses. | D．By stop ping using plastic products. |
| A．The harmful effects of plastic pollution on life in the ocean. |
| B．Natasha Tucker’s personal experiences and her fight against plastic pollution. |
| C．The programs of Mind Your Plastic to reduce plastic waste. |
| D．The responsibility of big companies in solving Canada’s plastic pollution problem. |
【推荐3】When she first started learning about the climate change from one of her elders, Fawn Sharp was invited on a helicopter flight over the Olympic Mountains to survey the Mount Anderson glacier. But the glacier was gone, melted by the warming climate. Sharp had a deep sense of loss when she discovered the glacier wasn’t there anymore.
Loss is a growing issue for people working and living on the front lines of climate change. And that gave Jennifer Wren Atkinson, a full-time lecturer at the University of Washington Bothell, US, an idea for a class.
This term, she taught students on the Bothell campus about the emotional burdens of environmental studies. She used the experiences of Native American tribes (部落), scientists and activists, and asked her 24 students to face the reality that there is no easy fix—that “this is such an intractable problem that they’re going to be dealing with it for the rest of their lives.”
Student Cody Dillon used to be a climate science skeptic (怀疑论者). Then he did his own reading and research, and changed his mind.
Dillon wasn’t going into environmental work—he was a computer-science major. Yet, the potential for a worldwide environmental catastrophe seemed so real to him five years ago that he quit his job and became a full-time volunteer for an environmental group that worked on restoration (恢复) projects.
Six months into the work, he decided that Atkinson’s class was just what he was looking for — a place where he could discuss his concerns about a changing climate.
Atkinson said she hopes the class helped her students prepare themselves for the amount of environmental loss that will happen over their lifetimes.
“We are already changing the planet—so many species are going to be lost, displace or massively impacted,” she said. “The future isn’t going to be what they imagined.”
1. Why did the author mention the case of Fawn Sharp?| A．to lay a basis for Fawn Sharp’s further research. |
| B．to prove Fawn Sharp’s work is similar to Atkinson’s. |
| C．to lead into the issue of loss caused by climate change. |
| D．to show scientists’ concern about the Mount Anderson glacier. |
| A．to explore how different people deal with climate change. |
| B．to get students more concerned about the environmental issue. |
| C．to find solutions to the environmental issue of Olympic Mountains. |
| D．to teach students how to conduct research about environment. |
| A．rewarding. | B．challenging |
| C．demanding | D．interesting |
| A．It made him work as a part-time volunteer for restoration projects. |
| B．It made him realize a planet-wide climate disaster would happen. |
| C．It encouraged him to be more involved in environmental protection. |
| D．It discouraged him to work on restoration projects for the environment. |
【推荐1】When it comes to a public library, you usually think of books and computers for people to use. You can even think of educational lectures and concerts that are often held in the library. But few people would expect to have a farm in the library.
But why not? After all, with rising costs, food safety is a community-wide issue. The Cicero Public Library near Syracuse in New York solved this problem by building a farm on its land. When Meg Backus saw all the open space in the library across the street from the building, he realized it could be used to benefit the community.
The farm was created in 2011 and in the beginning, 40 members of the library brought seeds (种子), water, and supplies to see if they could grow food on the land. It turned out that they could. To get the needed supplies for a larger farm, the library began to work with the organization Syracuse Grows Agency.
The community farm donates (捐赠) over 200 pounds of fresh produce (农产品) to local food banks every year. Half of the growing area is used as the Food Educational Garden. The other half is used by growers themselves. During the year, there are educational programs held at the library to teach people how to garden. There are also a lot of gardening books that can be used at the library.
Lauren Rosenstein, a worker of the library, said that she felt like she was giving something back to the community. “You’re really making a difference as a local community because you’re growing the food that people are eating.”
1. Why did Meg Backus build the farm?| A．To earn money. |
| B．To attract more readers. |
| C．To improve food safety. |
| D．To teach readers how to grow food. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Stressed. | C．Hopeless. | D．Confident. |
| A．Farmers’ life. | B．Food donation. | C．Gardening skills. | D．Food banks. |
| A．Make a Farm Popular | B．Turn a Library into a Farm |
| C．Meet the First Library Farm | D．Find a Job on a Library Farm |
【推荐2】When Erika and Cody Archie posted a video to TikTok explaining how they would be charging their then-18-year-old daughter Kylee rent, the reaction was split. One commenter called it a “punishment”. Another said, “I don’t see anything wrong with it. It helps them learn responsibility.” A third added, “Hell no, that’s their home.”
The video ended up going viral, receiving over 700,000 views. Despite the mixed response, Cody is sure they’ve made the right decision. “This is our way of preparing her and making sure she knows that things aren’t free,” he tells Newsweek, “Part of becoming an adult is knowing that you have to either pay rent or you’ll have a house payment. Our hope is that by doing all this, we’re preparing her for the world.”
According to recent figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, 58 percent of 18-to 24-year-olds are living with their parents. While staying at home has benefits for young people, such as allowing them to pay off their debts or save, having an extra person under their roof means higher costs for parents.
A recent survey conducted by Redfield Wilton Strategies for Newsweek asked 1,500 U.S. adults their thoughts on parents charging their adult children rent. Around 57 percent said that adult children moving back home should pay for the privilege, even if their parents “do not need the money”. Only 28 percent felt that adult children should live rent-free.
A study conducted by Lending Tree produced similar results. While 85 percent of parents surveyed said they’d let their adult children move home, 73 percent would charge them rent. Lending Tree found the percentage of adults between 24 and 40 living with their parents was the highest in three states: Hawaii (21.6 percent), New Jersey (20.7 percent) and Florida (20.1 percent). Hawaii and New Jersey are expensive places to live in, while Florida is more affordable. Lending Tree researchers guessed that some Florida adult children were at home to take care of aging parents.
1. What does the underlined word “split” mean in Paragraph 1?| A．Violent. | B．Rapid. | C．Divided. | D．Favorable. |
| A．fit her into her future world |
| B．make the right decision for her |
| C．prepare her for a house payment |
| D．shape her into a responsible adult |
| A．Parents do not need the rent from adult children. |
| B．Adult children are at home to attend aging parents. |
| C．Adult children in Florida live with parents due to high expenses. |
| D．Many parents surveyed prefer charging their adult children rent. |
| A．Mom and Dad Turning Landlord |
| B．Getting Ready for the Real World |
| C．A TikTok Video under Discussion |
| D．Benefits of Renting Parents’ Home |
【推荐3】A survey of 2, 000 American adults finds that an average American spends nearly $3, 000 a year on unused groceries (杂货).
The survey shows that when people do cook, a quarter of them always make more food than they’re able to finish, usually with the intention of having leftovers (剩菜剩饭). On average, people have leftovers to put into their fridges three times a week; however, they don’t always get around to using them up. Actually, a third admit they’re likely to forget about leftovers once they’re out of sight. Forgetting about food is one of the top reasons people end up having food waste, along with leftovers not being popular among family members(23%). While 4 in 10 have a strong desire to eat their leftovers, a quarter admit they get tired of eating the same thing before they’re able to finish.
“With the rapid rise of food costs, wasting groceries each week hurts both nature and consumers’ wallets, “says director of sustainability at HelloFresh, Jeffrey Yorzyk. “Families cook with the best intention of using their leftovers, but our research shows that they’re generally not consuming all of those leftovers. Getting creative with the food in your fridge can help families feel like they’re eating something new and exciting!”
For some people, what excites them at the supermarket doesn’t do it anymore when they get home. The survey shows that 38%admit they’ve thrown food away simply because they don’t feel like eating it after purchasing it. Some waste starts even before shoppers get home, as a fifth say they don’t know how much food they’ll use when grocery shopping.
With these foods, 22%are not confident they know the best methods to store foods to keep freshness. Happily, seven in ten are trying to cut down on food waste. In fact, once you’ve bought food at the grocery store, there are a number of strategies to ensure you can save it completely and cook it smartly.
1. Which is the percentage of Americans preferring to have leftovers?| A．23%. | B．25%. | C．33%. | D．40%. |
| A．Eating them up at once. | B．Deal with them inventively. |
| C．Using them to protect nature. | D．Giving them up to save money. |
| A．Attract the shoppers. | B．Produce leftovers. |
| C．Lose the freshness. | D．Go to the fridges. |
| A．Benefits of saving foods. | B．The art of cooking in the USA. |
| C．The recent studies of leftovers. | D．Ways to reduce grocery waste. |
【推荐1】During the industrial age, when high school was key to the American dream, public-school systems covered the costs of earning a diploma. Today, however, ns college degrees have replaced high-school diplomas as the ticket into the middle class, families are forced to cover the costs of higher education and more. If the information-age economy demands a workforce with higher education, the US government needs to make the same deal with students and their families: Anyone willing to work hard and earn the degree should be able to attend college—for free.
With that basic bargain in mind, Michigan has lately joined Oregon, Rhode Island and Tennessee in experimenting with ways to make community college free. Under the terms of the Chicago Star Scholarship, a program that has already enrolled more than 6,000 students, if a student at a public high school in Michigan maintains a B average, the state will provide a free degree at a local community college. Then, through another program Chicago Star Plus, students who have scored 3.0 GPA are qualified to receive a tuition discount at 18 of the four-year colleges located in Michigan.
Chicago Star Scholarship and Chicago Star Plus are already changing young lives. Its high-school graduation rate grew from 56.9 percent in 2011 to 78.2 percent in 2022. And Chicago Star Plus’ college attending rate is 86 percent, well above the national average of 62.7 percent.
More than a century ago, America achieved an explosion of social mobility by creating a supportive public school system that runs to 12th grade. By adding community colleges to the nation’s public-school systems and educational requirements, we can strengthen the belief in the American dream again.
1. What does the author suggest the US government do today?| A．Cancel all college students’ debts. |
| B．Reduce the costs for the middle class. |
| C．Provide free higher education for qualified students. |
| D．Help poor families to cover the fees of higher education. |
| A．Any student who has achieved 3.0 GPA. |
| B．All public high school students in Michigan. |
| C．All students admitted into the 18 four-year colleges. |
| D．Any Michigan public high schooler who maintains a B average. |
| A．The significance of the programs in Michigan. | B．The high dropout rate in the US colleges. |
| C．The potential costs of Chicago Star Plus. | D．The popularization of higher education in the US. |
| A．By analyzing data. | B．By listing examples. | C．By making comparisons. | D．By conducting surveys. |
【推荐2】Cultural heritage is a variety of local treasures from different places. These treasures often increase people’s pride in their hometown. Thus, protecting cultural heritage is of great significance and importance. In protecting cultural heritage, countries around the world should join hands further to deal with issues. Today there are shared measures to preserve cultural heritage, however, countries still have different views on cultural heritage preservation.
Asian and European architecture is very different, for example. European buildings are often stone structures(结构) that can stand damage caused by wind and rain, while those in the East are more often wooden structures which require renovation(整修). This leads to different views on how to preserve ancient architecture.
From the very beginning, Europeans have the opinion that people should take fewer measures in the process of protecting cultural heritage. For example, the ruins of the Roman Colosseum have simply been left as they are, but Asia has a tradition of renovation of cultural relics and we believe that this measure will not affect their authenticity(真实性). The Ise Grand Shrine building in Japan is rebuilt every 20 years from one generation to the next. Such tradition caused a debate in international cultural heritage preservation circles, as some thought that the rebuilding process would harm its authenticity. Experts around the world travelled to Japan especially to conduct onsite check and discussions, and they finally recognized that the term “authenticity” actually varies(变化) from culture to culture.
The importance of these international exchanges is that they will help the world understand Asia, and accept Asian ways to protect cultural heritage.
1. What is the purpose of paragraph 1?| A．To present an argument. | B．To make a comparison. |
| C．To draw a conclusion. | D．To give an example. |
| A．Views. | B．Damages. | C．Buildings. | D．Structures. |
| A．European experts fail to protect cultural relics. |
| B．Protecting cultural heritage causes many issues. |
| C．Many European ancient buildings are made of wood. |
| D．Ways to protect cultural heritage vary from area to area. |
| A．International communication is needed. |
| B．We should follow western experts’ advice. |
| C．Cultural heritage will be damaged through rebuilding. |
| D．Asian ways to protect cultural heritage are unacceptable. |
【推荐3】“We are running out of space and the only places to go to are other worlds... Spreading out may be the only thing that saves us from ourselves. I am convinced that humans need to leave Earth.” These are the words of the famous scientist Stephen Hawking, spoken at a science festival in Norway in 2017, a year before his death.
Hawking was not alone in this view. Many experts feel that the only way for humanity to last far into the future is to colonize other planets. That way, if an asteroid, a terrible disease, nuclear war, or some other disaster strikes Earth, civilization as we know it would still have a chance. Mars is one of the most tempting destinations. NASA, the United Arab Emirates, the private company SpaceX, and the organization Mars One all have plans to send humans there. “Either we spread Earth to other planets, or we risk going extinct, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said at a conference in 2013.
But not everyone agrees that colonizing Mars or any other planet is such a great plan. The most common argument against going is that it’s just too expensive or dangerous. It will take huge amounts of money and other resources just to get people there, let alone set up a place for them to live. It’s not even clear if humans could survive on Mars. One of the biggest dangers there is deadly radiation that bombards the planet.
Maybe all the time and money people would pour into a Mars mission would be better spent on more urgent projects here on Earth, like dealing with poverty or climate change. Some experts argue that handling a problem like an asteroid strike or disease outbreak while staying here on Earth would be much easier and less expensive than surviving on a new planet.
In addition, moving to a new planet could harm or destroy anything that already lives there. Mars seems uninhabited, but it could possibly host microbial life. Human visitors may destroy this life or permanently change or damage the Martian environment. Some feel that’s too much of a risk to take.
What do you think? Should humans colonize outer space or stay home?
1. What can be inferred from the passage?| A．Many experts insist that humans should take the risk. |
| B．Mars is the most attractive destinations for human beings. |
| C．Hawking firmly believes the only way to save humans is moving to Mars. |
| D．All the other experts don’t agree with Hawking’s idea. |
| A．It will cost much more money to settle on Mars than on Earth. |
| B．It is too long a distance from the Earth to the Mars. |
| C．Human visitors will bring diseases to Martian environment. |
| D．The deadly radiation that bombards the planet is the biggest danger. |
| A．To raise people’s awareness of protecting the environment. |
| B．To present different opinions on whether to move to the Mars. |
| C．To arouse readers’ reflection on whether to colonize outer space. |
| D．To inspire people to deal with the environmental problems. |
| A．Fiction. | B．Current affairs. | C．Social Studies. | D．Science. |
