''It can't be done. '' Boyan Slat heard this over and over when he first proposed a way to clean up millions of tons of plastic polluting our oceans.
Slat, who grew up in the city of Delft in the Netherlands, was on a diving trip in Greece three years ago when he was deeply impressed by plastic. ''There were more plastic bags than fish, '' he says. ''That moment I realized it was a huge issue and that environmental issues are really the biggest problems my generation will face. ''
That fall, Slat, then 17, decided to study plastic pollution as part of a high school project. Soon, Slat learned that no one had yet come up with practical way to clean up this massive garbage patches. Most proposed solutions involved ''fishing'' up the plastic using ships equipped with nets—which, as Slat discovered, would likely take more than 1,000 years, cost too much, let off too much sea life along with the trash.
Slat proposed an alternative that mostly avoided these problems: a solar-powered system using a floating plastic tube which will go around the garbage and trap it is 600 meters long. Wind, waves and ocean currents will push the trash toward the tube. A ship will pick up the trash and take it back to the shore. Best of all, Slat predicted his system could clean up the North Pacific Garbage Patch within five to 10 years.
The following, Slat entered the aerospace engineering program at the Delft University of Technology and officially announced his ocean cleanup concept at TEDxDelft. But nothing much moved forward.
Slat organized a team of volunteers and employees for The Ocean Cleanup, which now numbers about 100. In answer to opposition, Slat and his team raised $100,000 from a crowd funding campaign and began testing a 40-meter collecting barrier near the Azores Islands last March.
Over the next three to four years, Slat will push toward a fully operational large-scale project by testing a series of longer and longer barriers.
1. What inspired the boy to study plastic pollution?| A．One of his high school projects. |
| B．Others' opposition to his proposal. |
| C．Humans’ failure in cleaning up the ocean. |
| D．The shockingly heavy plastic pollution in ocean. |
| A．It is powerful but only used in California and Hawaii. |
| B．It is huge but causes great damage to sea lives. |
| C．It makes full use of natural forces and is friendly to nature. |
| D．It was welcomed by all the public and worked very well. |
| A．Presenting his idea at TEDxDelft. |
| B．Raising funds with his team. |
| C．Doing test. |
| D．Stopping plastic from washing into the ocean. |
| A．Explain a strange idea. | B．Introduce a fascinating person. |
| C．Describe a social phenomenon. | D．Praise a point of view. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Carbon is a chemical element which is present in organic compounds that make us organisms, plants as well as fossil. It is a vital component of the greenhouse gas CO2, the highest percentage of the global warming gas in the atmosphere.
These Green House Gases (GIIGs) along with other factors are responsible for the most discussed issues affecting the planet, climate change. Climate change has and still releases a huge set of environmental disasters which are fueling the difficulty of survival on the planet. In order to eliminate, reduce and adapt to these risks of survival, individuals, organizations, and countries will have to adopt carbon neutrality measures. The main aim of carbon neutrality is to achieve a net-zero emission either by balancing the emission or absorbing of carbon or quit the production of carbon. However, to really understand carbon neutrality, the carbon cycle should be first understood
The carbon cycle is the transfer of carbon through different media. Carbon has the ability to move in different media in different forms at different rates and tines. These different factors (rate, time, and media) are the phenomena underlying carbon neutrality. For instance, carbon released into the atmosphere by the rapid burning of fossil fills back as rain in the form of carbonate (碳酸盐) and is absorbed by the reservoirs (oceans, surface water, and the earth surface). Even though the exchange of carbon between some of these reservoirs takes a long time, some over 100 years, carbon was absorbed until now. The main problem existing today is that the emissions of CO2 are too high to be offset by the reservoirs, thereby leaving the offsetting task to us.
The European Union (EU) is taking all measures it can to offset carbon through Emission trading system which helps industries to manage their carbon footprints. Similarly, China, which is responsible for 25% of the world's CO2 emissions due to its economic and industrial structure is currently decreasing its energy consumption/GDP and CO2 emission/GDP, while increasing is forest cover and air quality through its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) carbon neutrality actions.
1. What does the underlined word "fueling" in Paragraph 2 most probably mean?| A．Experiencing. | B．Overcoming. | C．Increasing. | D．Ending. |
| A．By giving an example. |
| B．By comparing media. |
| C．By analyzing data. |
| D．By describing a task. |
| A．GHGs take the whole blame for the climate change. |
| B．Carbon exchange takes little time. |
| C．The contribution of the EU is not obvious. |
| D．China las a clear goal in low-carbon efforts. |
| A．Politics. | B．Environment. | C．Commercial. | D．Lifestyle. |
【推荐2】After years of heated debate, gray wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park. Fourteen wolves were caught in Canada and transported to the park. By last year, the Yellowstone wolf population had grown to more than 170 wolves.
Gray wolves once were seen here and there in the Yellowstone area and much of the continental United States, but they were gradually displaced by human development. By the 1920s, wolves had practically disappeared from the Yellowstone area. They went farther north into the deep forests of Canada, where there were fewer humans around.
The disappearance of the wolves had many unexpected results. Deer and elk populations — major food sources (来源) for the wolf — grew rapidly. These animals consumed large amounts of vegetation (植被), which reduced plant diversity in the park. In the absence of wolves, coyote populations also grew quickly. The coyotes killed a large percentage of the park’s red foxes, and completely drove away the park’s beavers.
As early as 1966, biologists asked the government to consider reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone Park. They hoped that wolves would be able to control the elk and coyote problems. Many farmers opposed the plan because they feared that wolves would kill their farm animals or pets.
The government spent nearly 30 years coming up with a plan to reintroduce the wolves. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service carefully monitors and manages the wolf packs in Yellowstone. Today, the debate continues over how well the gray wolf is fitting in at Yellowstone. Elk, deer, and coyote populations are down, while beavers and red foxes have made a comeback. The Yellowstone wolf project has been a valuable experiment to help biologists decide whether to reintroduce wolves to other parts of the country as well.
1. What is the text mainly about?| A．Wildlife research in the United States. | B．Plant diversity in the Yellowstone area. |
| C．The conflict between farmers and gray wolves. | D．The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone Park. |
| A．Forced out. | B．Separated. | C．Tested. | D．Tracked down. |
| A．Damage to local ecology (生态). | B．A decline in the park’s income. |
| C．Preservation of vegetation. | D．An increase in the variety of animals. |
| A．Disapproving. | B．Positive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Uncaring. |
【推荐3】European Union scientists said on Wednesday that 2023 would be the warmest year on record. The average world temperature for the first 11 months of the year hit the highest level on record, 1.46 degrees Celsius above the 1850 to 1900 average.
The record comes as governments are in negotiations at the COP28 meeting in Dubai. Governments are deciding whether to gradually stop the use of coal, oil and gas, the main source of warming emissions.
The 2015 Paris climate agreement set a goal of limiting worldwide temperature rise to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial times. Above that limit, scientists warn of severe effects on weather, health and agriculture.
Diplomats, scientists, activists and others have been meeting in Dubai to find ways to limit warming to those levels. But the planet is not cooperating. They say Earth is on its way to reach 2.7 to 2.9 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times. C3S records go back to 1940. United States government records go back to 1850. Using information from ice cores, tree rings and corals, scientists have said this is the warmest 10-year period Earth has seen in about 125,000 years. That dates back to the time before human civilization.
Scientists say there are two driving forces behind the six straight months of record hot temperatures. One is human-caused climate change from the burning of coal, oil and gas. And El Nino, the natural warming of surface waters in the Pacific, is making it worse.
Samantha Burgess, deputy director of C3S, said in a statement that “the November temperatures, including two days warmer than 2C above preindustrial, mean that 2023 is the warmest year in recorded history, which is very likely to be a cool year in the future unless we do something about our dependence on fossil fuels.”
1. According to the passage, what is the natural driving force behind the temperature record?| A．El Nino. | B．The burning of coals. |
| C．The dependence on fossil fuels. | D．The use of gas |
| A．Pessimistic. | B．Optimistic | C．Unclear. | D．Concerned. |
| A．Whether to depend on fossil fuels. | B．2023 would be warmest year on record. |
| C．El Nino makes global warming worse. | D．Main source of warming emissions. |
| A．What was the temperature condition in the preindustrial time. | B．How to deal with global warming. |
| C．How to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. | D．Why is 2023 likely to be a cool year in the future. |
【推荐1】As our boat moves quickly up and down in a windy ice-filled small bay, I try to judge the health condition of the polar bear (北极熊)in front of me. We are in Franz Josef Land, a remote part of Russia between the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean.
While offshore bears follow the sea ice, hunting seals (海豹)on ice all year round, bears that live by the sea spend their summers on land and are forced to search for whatever they can find. Relying on low-calorie meals such as the eggs of nesting seabirds, it is harder for these bears to pack on the pounds. Researchers recently found that offshore bears around the Barents Sea are some of the most polluted animals on Earth. This is a direct consequence of the seals they feed on.
Over a period of 14 years' study, Heli Routti from the Norwegian Polar Institute found that offshore female bears were in a better health, having greater body weight, than female bears by the sea, but on average their levels of pollutants called PFASs are 33 percent higher.
PFASs are used to make industrial products which are poisonous and degrade (降解)very slowly. These pollutants find their way to the Arctic through air, where they fall in snow and gradually add up in the ice. As the ice melts every summer, the PFASs go into the water, where they enter the food chain. They eventually make their way into the fat that keeps seals warm and from there into the bears that eat them.
During my 15 days in Franz Josef Land, I saw five bears, all living by the sea. Each looked relatively healthy. There are signs that these bears are dealing with the global-warming-caused ice loss relatively well. “The bears, so far, seem to be handling the sea ice loss,” says Andrew Derocher at the University of Alberta, who worked with Routti on the study, “But I'm sure that's going to change if the speed of ice loss increases sharply in the area.”
1. From the text we can learn polar bears living by the sea ________.| A．eat seals on ice all year round |
| B．look for food on land in summer |
| C．become the most polluted animals on Earth |
| D．stay on the ice in summer to avoid hot weather |
| A．Put on weight. | B．Move around. |
| C．Fight against pollution. | D．Live alone. |
| A．The rate of PFASs' degradation. | B．The effects of PFASs on the environment. |
| C．The process of PFASs' entering polar bears. | D．The application of PFASs in modern industry. |
| A．More pollutants may go into the air. | B．It will make no difference to bears. |
| C．The death rate of seals may increase. | D．Bears might fail to adapt to the change. |
【推荐2】The Japanese government said it planned to begin the discharge (排放) of slightly radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on Thursday, rejecting calls for a delay from some people in neighboring countries.
An earthquake and tsunami knocked out power at the Fukushima nuclear plant on March 11, 2011, causing meltdowns at three reactors. Tritium (氚) and carbon-14 are, respectively, radioactive forms of hydrogen (氢) and carbon, and are difficult to separate from water. They are widely present in the natural environment, water and even in humans, as they are formed in the Earth’s atmosphere and can enter the water cycle. Both emit very low levels of radiation but can pose a risk if absorbed in large quantities. Water which was used to cool reactor cores as well as rainwater and groundwater that flowed into or near the plant have been contaminated with radioactive substances. Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power, or Tepco, has stored the water in more than 1,000 tanks at the facility but says it is running out of room.
Tepco says it will reduce the concentration (浓度) of nearly all radioactive substances in the wastewater to a safe level with the exception of tritium, an isotope (同位素) of hydrogen. The water will then get diluted (稀释) with seawater so the concentration of tritium is reduced to a safe level before the discharge, according to Tepco. As the water is diluted further in the ocean, the concentration of tritium will almost equal the natural level by 6 miles from the discharge point, which is at the end of an undersea tunnel about six-tenths of a mile from the shoreline, a Tepco official said.
But that hasn’t reassured many of Japan’s neighbors, with officials from China and the Pacific Islands voicing alarm and opposition to the plan. Beijing will take “necessary measures” to safeguard food safety and its people’s health, said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Tuesday, adding they “strongly urge the Japanese side to correct its wrongful decision”. Meanwhile, fishing communities in Japan and South Korea worry the wastewater release could mean the end of their livelihoods — with consumers across the region already beginning to quit seafood from Japan and its nearby waters, and some governments even banning imported food from parts of Japan, including Fukushima.
1. The meltdowns at three reactors were caused by ________.| A．the greenhouse effect | B．human behaviour |
| C．climate change | D．natural disasters |
| A．purified | B．reduced | C．polluted | D．operated |
| A．More than 1,000 tanks at the facility can store all the radioactive wastewater. |
| B．The concentration of all radioactive substances will be reduced to a safe level. |
| C．The discharge won’t affect the coastal residents since the discharge point is about 0.6 miles offshore. |
| D．The concentration of tritium will be nearly at the natural level after being diluted further in the ocean. |
| A．people in these areas couldn’t make a profit in the future |
| B．it would threaten people’s physical health and livelihoods |
| C．it would be more difficult to import food from parts of Japan |
| D．the local seafood would be unaffordable for people in these areas |
【推荐3】The world itself is becoming much smaller by using modern traffic and modern communication means. Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has brought new problems. One of the biggest problems is pollution. To pollute means to make things dirty. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear it.
Man has been polluting the earth. The more people, the more pollution. Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there were not so many people. When the land was used up or the river was dirty in one place, man moved to another place. But this is no longer true. Man is now slowly polluting the whole world.
Air pollution is still the most serious. It’s bad for all living things in the world, but it is not the only one kind of pollution. Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us angry more easily.
Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. They stop people from burning coal in houses and factories in the city, and from putting dirty smoke into the air.
Pollution by SO2 is now the most dangerous kind of air pollution. It is caused by heavy traffic. We are sure that if there are fewer people driving, there will be less air pollution.
The earth is our home. We must take care of it. That means keeping the land, water and air clean. And we must take care of the rise in pollution at the same time.
1. Hundreds of years ago, life was ________ it is today.| A．much easier than | B．as easy as | C．much harder than | D．as hard as |
| A．it makes much noise | B．it makes us angry more easily |
| C．it makes our rivers and lakes dirty | D．it’s bad for all living things in the world |
| A．stopping people from burning coal. |
| B．stopping people from pouring dirty water into the ocean. |
| C．stopping people from moving to other places. |
| D．stopping people from putting dirty smoke in the air. |
| A．Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. |
| B．The pollution of the earth grows as fast as the world population does. |
| C．The problem of pollution is not so serious because there are not so many people living on the earth. |
| D．If people could go to work by bus or bike instead of car or motorbike, it would be helpful in fighting against the problem of SO2. |
【推荐1】My mother and I don’t speak the same language. Her English is not good, and my Mandarin stopped at the picture-book level on the day I started kindergarten in California, as I realized that the few English words I knew weren’t going to get me very far. I immersed (沉浸) myself in strange grammar and new vocabulary. As my mother tongue withered (逐渐淡去) in my mind, English allowed me to explain my personhood here and silence the narrative that I was just a shy, odd Asian.
My wish to write, however, made me unintelligible to my mother. She couldn’t understand why I’d spoil other better chances. I’d tried to communicate with her in Chinese, searching my mind for sentences: How could I describe my gratitude for a path to self-fulfillment when all I could say was “kai xin” or “happy”? Without the words to bridge the gap between our worldviews, our dissatisfaction and worry turned into stubbornness.
I landed a day job editing a design magazine but worked on my novel in my off-hours. As its main characters, Marissa and Kathleen’s mother-daughter relationship was similar to my own, troubled and split by cultural differences—though always revived by love. But the book is in English, so my mom won’t be able to read it.
Writing the book gave me a reason to mine for details about my family. I’d spent so much of my adolescence shedding (摆脱) my background that when I reached adulthood, I became interested in our history. I started asking questions, hoping to find a new understanding of us.
Her answers were mixed with joyful memories, like the pleasant smell of the flowers my mother would pin to her blouse, or the hubbub(喧闹)of visiting her cousins in the countryside. As her world became clearer to me, I came closer to knowing who she is.
When I showed my mother a copy, she noticed her Chinese name in the acknowledgments and said in Mandarin with a shaking voice, “Now I know you truly love me.” I wish it hadn’t taken this long to find a way to tell her. She may not understand it word for word, but I know she gets the message.
1. Why did the author start to learn English?| A．She hoped to read picture books in kindergarten. |
| B．She was eager to introduce herself to more people. |
| C．She realized its importance to her life in the country. |
| D．She found the language strange but fairly easy to learn. |
| A．Sensitive. | B．Sympathetic. |
| C．Grateful. | D．Incomprehensible. |
| A．Her interest in her own childhood. |
| B．Her curiosity about other cultures. |
| C．Her desire to know her mother better. |
| D．Her need for inspiration for her novel. |
| A．She was surprised by it. |
| B．She was deeply moved and felt loved. |
| C．She was disappointed that she couldn’t read the book. |
| D．She was grateful for the author’s efforts to understand her. |
【推荐2】I walked into my daughter's room as she was working on a science project. Normally, I would have been pleased about such a sight. But this time, her project involved much sand. While she'd put sheets of plastic under her work area, the sand was spreading all over our new floor.
My daughter felt my displeasure and began to defend herself. “I used sheets of plastic!” she responded irritably. I responded more angrily, “But the sand is getting all over!”
“Where else am I supposed to do it?” she shouted.
“Why didn't she admit that she had done something wrong?” I thought to myself. I felt my fear, thinking of what her life would be like in the future if she couldn't realize her mistakes?
My fear was translated into more anger, this time about how important it was to admit mistakes. We had a quarrel. She said something disrespectful to me and raised her voice.
I wished this had never happened before. But my daughter and I were in embarrassment and felt terrible.
So I thought that I needed a good way to respond to my daughter. So I went to my wife and asked how I should have handled it.
“Sweetie,” she said, role-playing in the conversation with my daughter, “there's a lot of sand here and we need to clean it up before it destroys the floor. How can I help you?”
That's really a great way to deal with it: first identify the problem, next state what needs to be done and then offer to help. It's simple, right?
1. Why did the author feel displeased at the sight?| A．The daughter's project involved much sand. |
| B．The daughter spread the sand all over the new floor. |
| C．The daughter worked too long on the science project. |
| D．The daughter put sheets of plastic under her work area. |
| A．The daughter was angry with him. |
| B．He was worried about his daughter' future life. |
| C．The new floor was covered with sand everywhere. |
| D．The author didn't know how to handle the situation. |
| A．Annoyed but modest. | B．Indifferent and cold. |
| C．Pleased and relaxed. | D．Understanding but worried. |
| A．Communicate with children patiently. |
| B．Conduct Role play in the conversation. |
| C．Learn to deal with problems calmly and wisely. |
| D．Working on science projects does good to people. |
【推荐3】At the table sat my new mentees（学员）: six eager undergraduates who signed to work on a project 1 designed. "Starting today. I get to learn what it's like to be an adviser." I thought to myself excitedly. But a few minutes later, the students broke the news: They didn't have any training related to the project. I couldn't help sighing. How would this ever work?
My inspiration to engage undergraduates in my research came after two years of working as a teaching assistant. Many of my undergraduate students had voiced the same frustrations I once had: They were expected to absorb facts and use them in exams, without any real critical thinking or chance to apply what they had learned. I believe I could fill that gap by creating a project related to my own work and employing undergraduates as the researchers.
My Ph.D. adviser was supportive, knowing it would be a good experience for undergraduates. My department purchased the fish we would study, and a government research lab offered space. Everything was in place—except for the students' training. I was worried. But backing out was not an option.
I reminded myself how green I had been on my first day in the lab. After 3 hours there, I had to throw everything out and start over the experiment, because I mistook the concentrations of chemicals. But my mentor said nothing and he let me learn from the scene.
His example inspired me. On the first day in my lab. I walked new mentees through the facilities. However, I noticed that some forgot my instructions. My instinct（本能）was to jump in and save the day. But I resisted the urge to intervene（介入）and watched proudly as the students identified the mistakes and learned from them.
Six months later, in a reflection meeting, the students thanked me for letting them find their own way to grow as scientists.
1. Why did the author sigh after meeting her new mentees?| A．The author had no experience of becoming an adviser. |
| B．The mentees' absence from the training. |
| C．The mentees' having no background knowledge about the project. |
| D．The mentees showed no interest in the project. |
| A．To train them to be her teaching assistants. |
| B．To help them achieve better performances in exams. |
| C．To fill the gap between advisers and mentees. |
| D．To offer them a chance to combine theory with practice. |
| A．Nobody supported her project. | B．The author decided to drop out. |
| C．The project proved to be not a good option. | D．Despite a little difficulty，the author didn't give up. |
| A．Giving students a hand when training them. | B．Sometimes letting go can help students move on. |
| C．Walking students through each experiment. | D．Stepping in to help students get out of trouble in time. |
