Sri Nihal Tammana, age 13, of Edison, New Jersey, was named a winner of the 2022 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. The Barron Prize annually honors 25 outstanding young leaders who have made a significant positive impact on people, their communities, and the environment.
Nihal founded Recycle My Battery to promote and facilitate the recycling of used batteries. His nonprofit places free battery recycling bins(箱子)and educates young people and adults about battery recycling. In just three years he has built a team of more than 250 student volunteers across the globe who have recycled nearly 200,000 batteries and educated millions of people. Nihal learned at age 10 that 15 billion batteries are thrown away each year and that most end up in landfills(垃圾填埋地)where they pollute groundwater, harm the ecosystem, and can cause catastrophic fires. Inspired to tackle the problem, he began collecting used batteries from his community. He put them in free recycling bins at stores like Staples until he was told he was bringing too many and had to stop.
Undeterred, he reached out for help from Call2Recycle, the largest battery recycling nonprofit in North America. Call2Recycle agreed to assist and provided recycling bins for free, which were placed in schools, libraries, and other public places. Nihal’s organization now operates across the U.S. and is expanding to other countries including Canada, Switzerland, and India. “Earth gives us so much — oxygen, food, water — everything! So it’s important that we give something back when we can,” says Nihal.
The Barron Prize was founded in 2001 by author T. A. Barron. “Nothing is more inspiring than stories about heroic people who have truly made a difference to the world,” says T. A. Barron. “And we need our heroes today more than ever. Not celebrities, but heroes — people whose character can inspire us all. That is the purpose of the Barron Prize: to shine the spotlight on these amazing young people so that their stories will inspire others.”
1. What does Recycle My Battery intend to do?| A．Protect the earth from used batteries. | B．Promote used batteries across the globe. |
| C．Make money by collecting used batteries. | D．Stop people throwing used batteries away. |
| A．Undiscouraged. | B．Unprepared. | C．Unsurprised. | D．Uninterested. |
| A．By making it go global. | B．By offering free recycling bins. |
| C．By providing financial support. | D．By buying more used batteries. |
| A．The importance of recycling batteries. |
| B．The impact of batteries on the environment. |
| C．The achievements of the Barron Prize winners. |
| D．The inspiring story of a young environmentalist. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has long worked to make her city less dependent on cars. She wanted to see more people using bicycles to get around. Over a number of years, the city government set limits on cars and increased the amount of bike paths from 200 kilometers to over 1,000 kilometers.
This year, Parisians are not complaining about too much automobile traffic. Instead, they say there are too many bikes. “Now, it’s really like a bike traffic jam(阻塞),” Thibault Quere, a spokesperson for France’s Federation of Bicycle Users, said. ”It’s kind of a good difficulty to have, especially when we think about what Paris used to be.”
Some famous roads along the River Seine are completely closed to cars. Now you see people riding bikes, running and walking with their families along the river. In another part of Paris, a bike path on Sebastopol Boulevard is one of the busiest in Europe, after opening in 2019. In one week in early September, it reached a record high of 124,000 riders.
The city will host the Summer Olympics in 2024 and plans to add more bike paths by then. Paris wants to reduce its pollution by half during the games, even as visitors from around the world will be in the city for the event. Organizers say all of the competition sites will be reachable by bike through a 60-kilometer network of bike paths.
The change to Paris, however, has not been easy. With more people using bikes, more people are making mistakes. Some of them are new to cycling and disobey traffic rules. But the environment may be improving. Cycling is good exercise and helps reduce pollution, which is still a problem for the large city. The French government blames atmospheric pollution for 48,000 early deaths in the country each year.
Hidalgo was re-elected in 2020 and plans to keep making what she calls a “Paris that breathes”. Her newest five-year bike plan includes over $250 million for more bike paths and bike parking. The new budget is an increase of over $100 million from her first five-year plan.
1. What can be learned from the second paragraph?| A．Hidalgo’s effort has paid off. | B．Parisians prefer to travel by car. |
| C．Parisians find it difficult to ride bikes. | D．Quere disagrees with Hidalgo. |
| A．To compare the famous roads in France. |
| B．To praise people enjoying riding bicycles. |
| C．To stress the importance of France in Europe. |
| D．To show how busy a cycle path is in Paris. |
| A．Tour local bike shops. | B．Ride to competition sites. |
| C．Promote the sights in France. | D．Support the athletes around the world. |
| A．Friendly. | B．Helpful. | C．Determined. | D．Honest. |
【推荐2】Sophia Gholz is an award-winning children's book author, music lover. and magic seeker. Sophia enjoys writing fiction with humor and heart. When writing nonfiction, she pulls on her love of science and her family background in ecology.
Her book, The Boy Who Grew a Forest, shares the true story of Jadav Payeng, a man in India who single- bandedly planted an entire forest over the course of his lifetime. When he was younger, Jadav Payeng was shocked by the destruction of his island home. So he took matters into his own bands and began planting one seed at a time. Jadav's forest is now over 1300 acres and provides a home to many animals, some endangered. Jadav is still planting today and his hard work has now been celebrated around the world.
To write this story, Sophia got to know more about Jadav Payeng and his forest through a documentary film called Forest Man. Influenced by her father, a forest ecologist and a scientist, she grew up learning about the importance of trees and the natural world. When she heard about a man on a m1ssion to reforest an entire island on his own, she was drawn to this story.
As for research, most of her research was done online. She read every news article that she could find about Jadav and listened to every interview. Then she reached out to several people who had met or interviewed Jadav as well, including the producer of his short documentary film.
She hopes that The Boy Who Grew a Forest lights a spark in everyone who reads it to go out and care for our beautiful planet. She'd love young readers to be inspired to plant or to learn more about animal habitats, biodiversity and science in general.
1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?| A．A story on how to plant trees. | B．Endangered animals in the forest. |
| C．Destruction of Jadav's island home. | D．A book introducing a tree- planting hero. |
| A．He has quit planting recently. | B．He is known to many people. . |
| C．He was an actor of Forest Man. | D．He planted trees with his family. |
| A．Humorous and skilled. | B．Creative and outgoing. |
| C．Determined and diligent. | D．Controversia1 and helpful. |
| A．To encourage research on wildlife. | B．To describe a boy's farming experience. |
| C．To stress the importance of planting trees. | D．To advocate the action to protect the earth. |
E-waste is a serious problem that isn’t going to get better on its own. Here are some do-it-yourself tips on how to manage e-waste.
Maybe the biggest cause of our e-waste problem is the fact that we buy things that we just don’t need. Next time you feel like you need a device or electronic item, stop yourself and ask if it is truly necessary. This is maybe also the easiest way we can manage e-waste. Organize your electronics. If you don’t keep your connectors, DVDs, wires and gadgets organized, you won’t be aware of what you have. When we buy duplicate electronics because we think we need them, we are contributing to our growing e-waste problem. “How to manage e-waste” becomes less of an issue when we keep our own houses in order.
If you do not need a piece of equipment and it is in good enough condition to be reused, donate it as soon as you can so that somebody else can use it. Donations are good for us because they are a useful way to get tax deductions, and a lot of times that tax deduction will be close to the value of the item had you tried to sell it. Take your electronics back to the store. Some stores offer trade-in programs, where you can drop off your old equipment in return for gift cards.
There are also places to sell electronics that might be valuable to somebody else. Just be sure to sell them right away, because they lose value very rapidly in our changing market.
If you are frequently receiving memory sticks and little gadgets, collect them into a good-e-bag. Whenever you no longer need a USB stick or a small electronic device, toss it into the bag. You might be surprised at how quickly it fills up. So be sure you are utilizing your materials and products thoughtfully. With these tips you can use DIY solutions to learn how to manage e-waste. Your house will be cleaner, you will save money and you’ll be doing a good thing.
1. What is the biggest cause of our e-waste problem?2. How can people get tax deductions when managing e-waste?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Sell the electronics that you don't need right away because the earlier you sell them, the more gift cards you can get.
4. Why do we need to manage our e-waste? (In about 40 words)
【推荐1】Ever wonder why there are so many people polluting the earth? Ever say to yourself： Hey, I wish that I could do more to help the environment? Have you ever thought about trying to help the earth but never really did it? Well, here are some pretty easy and skillful ideas for that green - earth desire inside you.
●Turn off your computer. By leaving it on all day you are creating more CO2 than a regular passenger would, driving to and from work in one day.
● Ride your bike or carpool (合用汽车).Obviously, you are creating less CO2 which will help the ozone(臭氧).
● Make a garden. Even simply grow some plants in your kitchen, which will help produce more oxygen while eating up some of that evil CO2.
● Buy local groceries. It creates less impact on the environment. Besides, you're supporting your local farmers.
● Recycle. You had to see this coming. But you have no idea how much you are helping the environment by simply reusing a water bottle instead of buying a huge pack at the store.
● Don't run the water while brushing. It saves you money and helps the water resources.
● Open the curtains. Natural light is much prettier and it will keep the energy usage down.
● Rechargeable batteries. You have no idea how much it takes to get rid of batteries. Do yourself a favor. Save some money and some energy.
1. If you don't want to create more CO2, you may_______.| A．turn off your computer or open the curtains |
| B．turn off your computer or ride your bike or carpool |
| C．make a garden or open the curtains |
| D．use rechargeable batteries or make a garden |
| A．Main body. | B．Argument. |
| C．Lead - in. | D．Conclusion. |
| A．the importance of environmental protection |
| B．some ways about how to prevent pollution |
| C．some suggestions about how to save energy |
| D．some suggestions about environmental protection |
【推荐2】Orwell’s Impact on the World
Few writers have had such an impact on the thinking of the modern world as British writer George Orwell(1903—1950)．Orwell wrote many things on a variety of topics，for example，poverty in England in the 1930s during the Great Depression and his experience in the Spanish Civil War(1936—1939)．
But he is most famous for his works of fiction，Animal Farm(1945) and，especially，Nineteen Eighty-Four(1949)．These last books became especially influential in the West in the 1950s during the early Cold War years．
In Nineteen Eighty-Four，Orwell imagined a Britain of the future, modeled on the Soviet union. His chilling tale of Winston Smith，a regular man who comes into conflict with the government，was close to the fears of many people of the time．Ideas from the novel soon entered everyday culture，and are still in use today．“Big Brother”，for example，is a phrase from the book that refers to how authority is always looking over one’s shoulder.
Other phrases used in the novel, like “War is Peace” and “Freedom is slavery” are also still used now．Indeed，many people see Orwell’s book as warnings about what might happen if those in power become corrupted．
Even today，Orwell remains an influential voice. Often，writers achieve great fame and popularity，but they don’t affect how people live their everyday lives．For example, British author JK Rowling is a huge literary success, but people wouldn’t say that Harry Potter has affect the way people think about politics. For better or for worse, however, George Orwell has.
It’s because of Orwell’s influence on popular thinking that UNESCO’S Memory of the World Programme recently decided to include a collection of Orwell’s writings on its register．
The Memory of the World register is similar to UNESCO’s world heritage site program，which protects places and buildings and natural features in the world．According to its website，the idea behind the body is “that the world’s documentary evidence belongs to all” and should be “permanently accessible to all”．
University College London，which proposed the idea to UNESCO，said in its application that Orwell’s work “had a great influence on human thought in all parts of the world，an influence that remains potent today”．
1. What do we know about Orwell?| A．His most famous works were based on his own experience． |
| B．His books were well-received during the Cold-War． |
| C．He mainly wrote about imaginative, beautiful worlds． |
| D．His writings are often compared to those of JK Rowling． |
| A．The cruelty of war in the 20th century. |
| B．The serious effects of poverty in England. |
| C．People’s various conflicts with the government. |
| D．A corrupt UK government of the future. |
| A．share some of his classic ideas |
| B．show how he used language in a creative way |
| C．stress his ideas are still meaningful today |
| D．show how he described the dark side of society |
| A．They introduced a new way of writing． |
| B．They were a huge literary success． |
| C．They shaped political systems in Western countries． |
| D．They continue to have a great influence on human thought. |
【推荐3】In the space of just two years, the app Douyin, created by Beijing-based company ByteDance, has gathered more than half a billion users—around 40%of them outside China—who share short videos of themselves lip-syncing( 假唱), cooking, dancing or just being silly. What sets ByteDance apart is its success in the social media category, which is controlled by Facebook, Twitter and Snap—all Western companies.
ByteDance calls itself an artificial intelligence company. It uses machine learning and algorithms ( 算法) to figure out what people like most and give them more of what they want to see. On Douyin, people can edit and beautify 15-second videos before posting them online. The app has even made a phrase to describe people glued to their customized feeds: “shua Douyin” or “scrolling through Douyin”. Last year, the company released TikT
ok, the overseas version of Douyin. ByteDance’s growing video empire has made it the world’s fifth biggest app maker. ByteDance says TikTok and Douyin together have more than 500 million monthly active users.
Investors like ByteDance because its hundreds of millions of users attract a lot of advertising money. The video apps are lucrative because they attract a lot of users in their teens and 20s, who are more generous with the money. ByteDance also makes money through income sharing deals. People on TikTok, for example, can buy digital coins to give to other people on the app—like throwing money in a performer’s tip jar. ByteDance takes a cut of those earnings.
ByteDance’s founder and CEO is Zhang Yiming, a 35-year-old former Microsoft employee. People who have worked with Zhang describe him as someone who thinks deeply about technology and spends much of his free time writing code.
Like Facebook and Twitter, ByteDance is also battling fake news and inappropriate content. ByteDance promises to add thousands more employees to review content on Douyin.
1. What makes ByteDance so special?| A．It is the biggest artificial intelligence company on the earth. |
| B．Its app challenges similar companies’ rule in Western world. |
| C．It invented the social media app initially in the world. |
D．It has controlled Facebook, Twitte r and Snap. |
y is Douyin so popular?| A．It is a new generation hi-tech product. |
| B．It has both home and overseas version. |
| C．It meets the demand of people individually. |
| D．It is easy and totally free to operate online. |
| A．By charging the users. |
| B．By selling its artificial intelligence. |
| C．By forcing the users to donate. |
| D．By charging the advertisement. |
| A．expensive | B．profitable |
| C．popular | D．creative |
