Laura Madden is a small business owner and sustainable fashion advocate. “ReFashioned Art is a purpose-driven business, combining style and sustainability (可持续性),” Madden says,“I love fashion, but I also care deeply about the environment.”
She slowly built her network and became an influencer who ran a popular blog. She shares that her passion for sustainability came about in 2015 when she watched a life-changing documentary about the social and environmental issues brought up by the fashion industry. “My guilty pleasures－ shopping and fashion － that I assumed weren’t hurting anyone, were in reality hurting a lot of people,” she says.“I couldn’t stand the fact that something I loved so much was creating so much suffering on the planet. How could something that brought me so much beauty and joy be so dirty and destructive?”
With this realization, Madden became an advocate for sustainable fashion－including purchasing most of her own clothes second-hand and supporting sustainable brands. Although she was busy enough in 2019, she became a professional artist, creating pieces made from sustainable materials.
She notes that ReFashioned Art is first and foremost an art brand. “I am using my work to tell a story and create a narrative that style and sustainability can co-exist,” she says. “By repurposing old items into something more fashionable, elegant, and contemporary, I hope to inspire you to look for beauty where it is not normally found.”
For those interested in supporting sustainable art and fashion. Madden shares,“Get creative and look for beauty. Looking forward, I would love to partner with more designers.”
She adds,“We only have finite resources. The best thing we can all do is ask, ‘How else can I use this item?’”
1. What inspired Madden to be an advocate for sustainable fashion?| A．The popular blog she ran. |
| B．An unforgettable personal experience. |
| C．A documentary that changed her life. |
| D．A business with a specific purpose. |
| A．It focuses on both fashion and humans. |
| B．It’s a combination of fashion and old tradition. |
| C．It’s inspiring and instructive as an art style. |
| D．It cares little about social and environmental issues. |
| A．She partners with many designers. |
| B．She writes as many stories as possible. |
| C．She purchases brand-new clothes all the time. |
| D．She transforms old things into more modern ones. |
| A．Limited. | B．Enormous. | C．Valuable. | D．Fashionable. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】It takes self-discipline to solve water pollution, air pollution and soil pollution caused by plastic bags
Ban the use of plastic bags
It may be difficult to do that because plastic bags are normally easy and light to carry.
Use eco-friendly or biodegradable (可生物降解的)bags
You do not have to worry about banning plastic bags. There are environmentally friendly bags that you can use as an alternative. When you go out to the grocery store or super market to buy things, have eco-friendly bags with you. In fact, there are now new plastic bags that are biodegradable.
Reuse plastic bags
It is also possible to recycle the use of plastic bags. Instead of throwing them, have them usable for your next usage.
From stores to industrial companies, there are places where you can give your plastic bags for recycling. You can even find in your place some recycling centers where you can give away the plastic bags you have. Just give them to these places to help prevent pollution.
| A．Do not throw plastic bags |
| B．Donate plastic bags to recycling centers |
| C．It helps you to reduce getting more plastic bags in this case too |
| D．As plastic bags won’t be easy to stop in giving threats to pollution |
| E．But the answer is not only about government campaigns or organizations |
| F．If you can limit your use until you are able to 100% stay away from it |
| G．They can also be good options to use without having to worry about pollution |
【推荐2】You may not have noticed it, but according to a latest report, about 90 percent of the world’s largest cities lie near the sea. They can possibly be influenced by rising sea levels in the near future. But it doesn’t mean people who live in the city have to head for the hills.
City design companies Seanix and Jolly Group are working together on a possible solution. They said at a United Nations meeting that they are planning to build “Seanix Cities” -floating island structures (结构) that join together to form “land” on the surface of the water.
Unlike land-filling plans that have to pour sand into the ocean and ham ocean life, Seanix Cities are built to “live” together with the ocean. For example, energy used in the cities will be clean-mainly coming from waves, wind and the sun—and instead of chemicals, fish waste will be used to enrich the soil.
As promising as this plan sounds, however, there is still one problem: The plan itself doesn’t aim at global climate change. Instead, it’s a “runaway” plan. Similar to the project of building human settlements on Mars, it’s a way out when Earth becomes unsuitable for human life to live on. It doesn’t stop us from ruining the planet in the first place.
But without doubt, things are changing. “As our climate and water ecosystems (生态系统) are changing, the way our cities relate to water needs to change, too, ” Lucas, a UN official, said at the meeting.
Maybe instead of building eco-friendly floating cities, we should learn to live with nature while we still have land.
1. What is the purpose of Paragraph 1?| A．To give a warning. | B．To introduce a topic. |
| C．To offer a solution. | D．To make a comment. |
| A．They are built by pouring sand into the ocean. |
| B．They are creative structures under the water. |
| C．They can get along well with the ocean life. |
| D．They are designed for global climate change. |
| A．Hopeful. | B．Shocking. | C．Powerful. | D．Imaginative. |
| A．We should protect the ocean life. |
| B．We should move to the floating cities. |
| C．We should build eco-friendly floating cities |
| D．We should stop destroying our mother planet. |
【推荐3】James Rainey reads trees like most people read signposts. The senior ecologist is using a small hand camera to identify a lichen (地衣) that is surrounding the base of wild pines (松树) in a deep narrow valley on the west coast of Scotland. He is looking for ecological clues of species associated with the ancient Caledonian Forest, which once covered most of the Highlands.
Wild pines have been growing in Scotland continuously since the ice age, offering a globally unique ecosystem supporting rare wildlife. But now less than 2% of the original growth survives, with just 14 individual Caledonian pinewood sites now officially recognized. “To meet the demand for more wood, many wild pines in Highlands have been removed to make room for commercial forestry,” says Rainey. “This was often done in ancient woodlands and was really damaging to the remaining trees.”
But restoration is still possible, especially since some old trees still survive along with the ancient woodland soil and seedbank—seeds stored in the soil, which can grow once the heavy shade of commercial conifers (针叶树) is removed.
The ecological investigator uses three clues of evidence to discover where these pinewoods first stood. “First there’s the historical evidence, like old maps and texts. Then comes the landscape context: is the pine associated with planting around a big house, or is the setting more natural? And finally I use the ecological evidence: wild pine usually grow alongside old birch trees, which indicates ecological continuity,” explains Rainey.
Rainey has identified 23 pines in this area, all rooted in places least accessible. Their needles have been taken for genetic testing to confirm their family trees. “This would have been filled with trees but is now empty — these are the most critical areas in need of regeneration and we want the whole of the ancient woodlands to recover, not just the pines,” he said.
1. Why are the wild pines considered to be so significant?| A．They act as a signpost for the highland. | B．They are an indicator of an ancient forest. |
| C．They are an alternative to commercial forestry. | D．They provide a shelter for certain species of lichen. |
| A．The existence of ancient seeds. | B．The presence of commercial conifers. |
| C．The awareness of the forest protection. | D．The application of the advanced technology. |
| A．By locating big houses. | B．By consulting historians. |
| C．By referring to digital maps. | D．By making the most of surroundings. |
| A．To confirm the genes of the pine. | B．To restore the old-growth woodlands. |
| C．To explore the unfrequented places. | D．To enrich the diversity of the wild pines. |
【推荐1】Kobe Bryant was one of nine people killed in a helicopter crash on 26, Jan. 2019. He was 41. His 13-year-old daughter Gianna was also killed in the crash. Bryant was one of the greatest NBA players of all-time and an icon in the sports world. In addition to his success on the basketball court, Bryant was known for a ceaseless work ethic and incredible drive.
In honor of Bryant’s legacy, here are some inspiring quotes from Bryant on hard work, success, and life.
On achieving success:
“When you make a choice and say, ‘Come hell or high water, I am going to be this,’ then you should not be surprised when you are that. It should not be something that is intoxicating or out of character because you have seen this moment for so long that ... when that moment comes, of course it is here because it has been here the whole time, because it has been [in your mind] the whole time.”
On failure:
“I don’t mean to sound cavalier when I say that, but never. It’s basketball. I’ve practiced and practiced and played so many times. There’s nothing truly to be afraid of, when you think about it ... Because I’ve failed before, and I woke up the next morning, and I’m OK. People say bad things about you in the paper on Monday, and then on Wednesday, you're the greatest thing since sliced bread. I’ve seen that cycle, so why would I be nervous about it happening?”
On life:
“There’s a choice that we have to make as people, as individuals. If you want to be great at something there is a choice you have to make. We can all be masters at our craft, but you have to make a choice. What I mean by that is, there are inherent sacrifices that come along with that — family time, hanging out with your friends, being a great friend, being a great son, nephew, whatever the case may be. There are sacrifices that come along with that.”
On retiring and facing the end of his basketball career:
“There is beauty in that. I mean, it's going through the cycle. I mean, it's the cycle that is the natural progression of growth, of maturation. I mean, there's no sadness in that ... I see the beauty in not being able to blow past defenders anymore, you know what I mean? I see the beauty in getting up in the morning and being in pain because I know all the hard work that it took to get to this point. So, I’m not, I'm not sad about it. I'm very appreciative of what I've had.”
1. What is the attitude of Kobe Bryant towards achieving success by saying “Come hell or high water, I am going to be this”?| A．Confident | B．Determined |
| C．Optimistic | D．Frightened |
| A．not serious or caring | B．anxious and eager |
| C．worried and pessimistic | D．not proud or arrogant |
| A．fight against those who said bad things about him. |
| B．worry about others’ comments on his performance. |
| C．cheer for himself by regarding himself as the greatest figure. |
| D．show no fear facing ups and downs. |
| A．People paid tribute to Kobe Bryant for his success on the basketball court. |
| B．Kobe Bryant devoted more of his life to basketball instead of accompanying his family. |
| C．Kobe Bryant regarded his retirement as the beginning of another career. |
| D．Kobe Bryant felt emotionless when facing the end of his basketball career. |
【推荐2】As a means of offering comfort to kids from every walk of life, Sesame Street is introducing a new character who lives in a foster home.
Karli the foster kid and her “for-now” parents, Daliam and Clem, are all being shown in a range of Sesame Street videos, storybooks, and interactive activities as a part of its new movement to offer support to children, foster parents and foster care providers.
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind the snow, saying that they are starting the movement as part of their Sesame Street in Communities program and caregivers on a range of topics including tough issues like family homelessness and traumatic（痛苦的） experiences.
The free new resources help caregivers and providers support children as they explore the world of foster care , and they provide simple, approachable tools to help children feel safer.
The number of children in foster care in the US has grown for five continuous years. Over 40 percent of all children in foster care, Sesame Workshop partnered with national experts on parents and providers. The resources include proven strategies to improve relationships between caring adults and children and reduce the effects of traumatic experiences. “Fostering a child takes patience, resilience（适应力）, and sacrifice, and we know that caring adults hold the power to reduce the effects of traumatic experiences on young children,” says Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, Senior Vice President of US Social Impact at Sesame Workshop.
“We want foster parents and providers to hear that what they do matters --- they have the difficult job of building and rebuilding family structures and children’s sense of safety. By giving the adults in children’s lives the tools they need --- with help from the Sesame Street characters --- we can help both grownups and children feel seen and heard and give them a sense of hope for the future.”
1. Karli, Dalia and Clem are shown in Sesame Street to______.| A．make the whole society realize the foster matters |
| B．appeal people from all walks of life |
| C．become popular around the country |
| D．join in some interactive activities |
| A．Add new videos. | B．Supply free resources. |
| C．Introduce a foster kid. | D．Start Communities program. |
| A．makes attempts to offer support to foster kids and parents |
| B．attaches great importance to foster parents and caregivers |
| C．donates large amount of money to foster families |
| D．produces a new programme to catch eyes |
| A．It is not easy to foster a child for most people. |
| B．Foster parents and providers should know kids better. |
| C．Our whole society ought to pay attention to fostering. |
| D．We do really hope every child will have a better future. |
【推荐3】Debra Avery has been a horse lover since she was a little girl in San Diego. Her family couldn’t afford a horse of its own, so Debra borrowed rides at the local horse-riding center, gaining the confidence only found atop a horse. Years later, Debra remembered those early days, and the lessons she learned with the horses at the riding center, and wanted to help other young women get the benefits of connecting with horses. “I always wanted to run a horse program for girls like me,” says Debra. “I wanted to help them gain the courage to be around a horse and to care for a horse.”
One day at the Los Angeles Horse-riding Center, as Debra rode beside fellow rider Judith Hopkins, she mentioned an inheritance from her father-in-law and her desire to use it to serve disadvantaged girls. Judith had the same dream -and a name for the organization.
They founded Taking the Reins (TTR) in 1998. The organization serves more than 400 young women per year in after-school, weekend, and summer programs that feature horse riding and care, gardening and even competitive horse showing. Most participants live below the poverty line and often have not had reliable housing for more than six months. Few have previous horse experience.
TTR uses farm and ranch experiences to teach responsibility, leadership, teamwork, and self-confidence. Director Dr. Jane Haven says, “A large number of our girls are somewhat lonely. I can’t count how many of them have found their first social friends thanks to sharing this hobby and activity. Horses bring them out in such a wonderful way.”
Jane also sees members of TTR program excel in school-100 percent of young women involved for four years or more have graduated from high school. Ninety-nine percent of those participants have gone on to attend four-year colleges.
Debra sees a more obvious impact—after a few weeks in the TTR program, the young women sit a little higher on horseback. “There’s just something about sitting up on the back of a horse that gives them a boost of confidence.”
1. What influenced Debra’s early life?| A．her family | B．her fellow rider | C．school lessons | D．horse riding |
| A．Horse riding and showing. | B．Horse care and farming. |
| C．Pet care and gardening. | D．Weekend hiking and camping. |
| A．They have been given financial aid. |
| B．They have been provided with reliable housing. |
| C．They have grown into professional horse riders. |
| D．They have achieved academic excellence. |
| A．TTR is a profit-making organization. |
| B．TTR program lasts a few weeks. |
| C．The girls’ confidence grows quickly. |
| D．The girls can ride taller horses. |
【推荐1】I remember doing the household chores to help my mother when I was nine. I hated changing the vacuum cleaner(真空吸尘器) bag and picking up things the machine did not suck up. Twenty years later. in 1978, with this lifelong dislike of the way the machine worked, I decided to make a bagless one.
Easier said than done, of course. I didn’t realize that I would spend the next five years perfecting my design, a process (过程) that resulted in 5,127 different prototypes (样机).By the time I made my 15th prototype, my third child was born. By 2,627， my wife and I were really counting our pennies. By 3,727, my wife was giving art lessons for some extra cash, and we were getting further and further into debt. These were tough times, but each failure brought me closer to solving the problem.
In the early 1980s, I started trying to get licensing agreements for my technology. The reality was very different, however. The major vacuum makers had built a business model with bags. No one would license my idea, not because it was a bad one, but because it was bad for business. But soon after, the companies that I had talked with started making machines like mine. I had to fight legal battles on both sides of the Atlantic to protect the patents (专利权) on my vacuum cleaner.
I was still in financial difficulties until 1993,when my bank manager personally persuaded Lloyds Bank to lend me $1 million. Then I was able to go into production. Within two years, the Dyson vacuum cleaner became a best-seller in Britain.
Today, I still accept risk and the potential for failure as part of the process. Nothing beats the excitement of invention.
1. What made the author design a bagless vacuum cleaner?| A．His willingness to help Mom. | B．His curiosity about machines. |
| C．His boredom of doing endless homework. | D．His discontent with the cleaners of that age. |
| A．The help from the author’s wife. |
| B．The educational problems of the family. |
| C．The steps of making a bagless cleaner. |
| D．The difficult process of the new invention. |
| A．They thought they might suffer loss. |
| B．They considered it not good enough |
| C．They faced legal problems themselves. |
| D．They had begun making such machines. |
| A．Think twice before acting. |
| B．Failure is the mother of success. |
| C．Actions speak louder than words. |
| D．A good beginning makes a good ending. |
【推荐2】As Ginni Bazlinton reached Antarctica, she found herself greeted by a group of little Gentoo penguins (企鹅) longing to say hello. These gentle, lovely gatekeepers welcomed her and kick-started what was to be a trip Ginni would never forget.
Ever since her childhood, Ginni, now 71, has had a deep love for travel. Throughout her career (职业) as a professional dancer, she toured in the UK, but always longed to explore further. When she retired from dancing and her sons eventually flew the nest, she decided it was time to take the plunge.
After taking a degree at Chichester University in Related Arts, Ginni began to travel the world, eventually getting work teaching English in Japan and Chile. And it was in Chile she discovered she could get last-minute cheap deals on ships going to Antarctica from the islands off Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of the South American mainland. “I just decided I wanted to go,” she says. “I had no idea about what I'd find there and I wasn't nervous, I just wanted to do it. And I wanted to do it alone as I always prefer it that way.”
In March 2008, Ginni boarded a ship with 48 passengers she'd never met before, to begin the journey towards Antarctica. “From seeing the wildlife to witnessing sunrises, the whole experience was amazing. Antarctica left an impression on me that no other place has,” Ginni says. “I remember the first time I saw a humpback whale; it just rose out of the water like some prehistoric creature and I thought it was smiling at us. You could still hear the operatic sounds it was making underwater.”
The realization that this is a precious land, to be respected by humans, was one of the biggest things that hit home to Ginni.
1. Which of the following best explains “take the plunge” underlined in paragraph 2?| A．Try challenging things. | B．Take a degree. |
| C．Bring back lost memories. | D．Stick to a promise. |
| A．Lovely penguins. | B．Beautiful scenery. |
| C．A discount fare. | D．A friend’s invitation. |
| A．It could be a home for her. | B．It should be easily accessible. |
| C．It should be well preserved. | D．It needs to be fully introduced. |
【推荐3】Sachin oza always seemed to catch whatever cold and flu germs were flying around. Despite being only in his mid-thirties, he felt out of shape and out of sorts. He realized that if he didn’t make some changes, his immune function would continue worsening with age. “I have a family background of diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease,” adds Oza. “I had to take action.”
But Oza’s lifestyle stood in the way. He clocked long days working in finance in London, with little opportunity to be active or focus on his well-being. His commute from his home in Orpington, Kent, to the office was stressful and time-consuming, and he was spending far too many hours stuck behind his desk.
Oza’s increasingly sedentary (久坐不动的) lifestyle had repercussions. In addition to catching bugs easily, he lacked energy, his body ached, and he felt lethargic. “My immune system was really weak,” recalls Oza. “I knew that I shouldn’t be feeling this way before even hitting 40.”
So he began a 15-year journey to examine his health fully. He conducted some changes to his diet, introducing more raw fruits and vegetables and cutting down on junk food. He started going for runs and began regular training, resistance training, and stretching. He also became interested in mindfulness, practising deep-breathing and meditation.
Now 49, Oza feels like a new man. “I catch colds far less frequently than before,” he says. His aches and pains have eased, his stress levels are lower, and he sleeps soundly. “I no longer wake up in the early hours, which has made a huge difference in how I feel.”
There are many factors affecting the immune system that we can’t control — ageing weakens our immune function, for example, and we have individual genetic differences that affect how we deal with diseases.
1. What was the barrier for Oza to make changes before?| A．His immune system. |
| B．His family background. |
| C．His unfavourable lifestyle. |
| D．His weak health situation. |
| A．Puzzled. | B．Sleepy. | C．Unconfident. | D．Energetic. |
| A．By taking a 15-year journey. |
| B．By giving up his job in London. |
| C．By eating raw fruits and vegetables. |
| D．By changing diets and keeping training. |
| A．Busy. | B．Determined. | C．Intelligent. | D．Dull. |
