Everyone knows by now that plastic pollution is a huge problem for the environment. Beijing, for example, has dealt with this by banning (禁止) thin plastic bags, plastic tableware (餐具) and other plastic items in supermarkets, restaurants and hotels since May 1, according to CGTN.
But an even better solution might be on the way. Researchers at a French company called Carbios have discovered a bacterial enzyme (细菌酶) that can break down plastic. The enzyme, which was first found in compost (堆肥) leaves, turns plastic into chemical “building blocks” that can then be used to create new products, according to the Guardian.
The new enzyme was uncovered in research that was published last month in the journal Nature. Researchers studied over 100,000 microorganisms (微生物) to find one that could break down plastic quickly. The leaf compost enzyme was first discovered in 2012. Scientists changed its genes (基因), allowing it to break down 90 percent of one ton of plastic in less than 10 hours.
“It had been completely forgotten, but it turned out to be the best,” said Professor Alain Marty, chief science officer at Carbios.
The enzyme especially breaks down PET, a type of plastic that is most commonly used to produce plastic bottles and food packaging (包装). It is the fifth most common type of plastic that we use.
Carbios said it is working together with companies like Pepsi and Nestle – major consumers of plastic themselves – to develop their research and start using the enzyme on an industrial scale (范围), according to Forbes.
1. What do we know about the enzyme?
| A．It is a type of bacteria. |
| B．It can break down plastic quickly. |
| C．It is the fifth-most common type of bacteria. |
| D．It can break down PVC. |
| A．Where the scientists found the new enzyme. |
| B．How the scientists changed the enzyme’s genes. |
| C．How the scientists found the new enzyme. |
| D．When the scientists found the new enzyme. |
| A．It was too late to find the new enzyme. |
| B．The new enzyme was forgotten by experts. |
| C．They forgot to change the enzyme’s genes. |
| D．Better late than never. |
| A．Carbios will work together with companies that use a lot of plastic. |
| B．Carbios will keep looking for a more efficient enzyme. |
| C．Carbios will turn its focus toward production. |
| D．Carbios will search for more companies like Pepsi to work with. |
| A．How to protect our environment. |
| B．A natural way to recycle plastic. |
| C．Why Beijing has banned plastic items in many public places. |
| D．How Carbios discovered a bacterial enzyme. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】In the UK, most social media companies require children to be at least 13 to create an account (账号). To get their ages checked, users are supposed to provide their ID card or passport information which is very personal. Many people worry that it may cause privacy leaks (隐私泄露). Other methods like requiring users to input their birth dates often fail to work because such information can be made up easily.
To solve the problem, a new AI system has been developed by a UK tech company named Yoti. The system called Age Estmauon can tell how old users between 6 and 18 are with few mistakes.
“The threats (威胁) that children face online are still growing, so I’m proud to introduce Yoti’s Age Estimation,” said Robin Tombs, CEO of Yoti. “This technology will help better protect young people while asking for no private information.”
The system won’t store users’ pictures. and there is no need to register (注册) first. All it does is tell a user’s age at seeing his or her face.
You may wonder how exactly the system works. The company says the AI does its job by comparing the user’s face caught by the phone’s camera with millions of other pictures. You have developed another ID app to train the AI. It has collected a great number of face pictures from people of known ages.
Now the AI system has already been used on some apps in the UK. The company is making continuous efforts to make it work better in the future.
1. Traditional ways of checking age require users to ________.| A．show their ID cards and passports | B．provide personal information |
| C．create a social media account | D．make up their birth dates |
| A．Help children use social media in a proper way. |
| B．Stop social media users from making mistakes. |
| C．Protect children from privacy leaks. |
| D．Make sure correct information is provided. |
| A．clean your face first | B．register on a website |
| C．choose some clear pictures | D．let the camera catch your face |
| A．you | B．the AI system | C．the ID app | D．the phone camera |
| A．New AI tells whether social media users are underage. |
| B．Children’s dreams come true with the help of new AI. |
| C．AI is having a great influence on social media. |
| D．AI technology is developing fast in the UK. |
【推荐2】Different students like different things. Some like movies, some like games, and some like sports. Now let’s take a look!
 The app Forest helps me pay attention to what I am doing. For example, if I want to read a book for an hour, I “plant” a seed in the app. During this time, I can’t use my phone. As time goes by, the seed will grow into a tree. But if I use my phone, the tree will die. —Betty King | |
 What was the hottest movie last summer? I would say it was Ne Zha. The movie shows Ne Zha in his present life. Since he was a demon in his past life, people in his village think he is still bad. Ne Zha believes he can choose to be good or bad. In both the old and new stories, Ne Zha keeps fighting and never gives up. That’s why people still love him today. —Anna White |  My favourite book is The Likeness. It tells the story of five students. And they live together happily in Ireland. But one day, one of them betrays the others. The story becomes sad from there. I learned a lot from this book, such as the key to making friends. —James Smith |
| A．the app Forest | B．the book The Likeness |
| C．the movie Ne Zha | D．the story Five Friends |
| A．he always plants trees | B．he never gives up |
| C．he always makes friends | D．he never feels sad |
| A．Music Corner | B．Story Garden | C．Language World | D．Student Square |
【推荐3】MAGIC WORLD
How has technology changed the way we watch TV?
Watching TV shows has become the most popular activity. A survey points out that people have many ways to watch shows besides cable TV. They include smart phones, computers, and tablets. Technology has not only changed where but also how we watch TV. Streaming (流媒体) networks have helped viewers watch their favorite shows when it’s most convenient for them.
Binge-watching (刷剧) has become a new trend. Without having to wait for next week’s episode (集), viewers can watch the whole season in a day, or at whatever pace (速度) they choose. In the US, content (内容) providers also release a choose-your-own-adventure movie, where your choices can affect how the story ends, an idea not possible before with traditional TV.
From Teens
1. Where does the news probably come from?| A．TV Daily | B．China Daily | C．Teens | D．Youth Daily |
| A．Cable TV | B．Smart phones | C．Tablets | D．Technology |
a. Watch programs anywhere and anytime
b. Change any content
c. Enjoy a whole season at once
d. Choose how the story ends
| A．abc | B．acd | C．abd | D．bed |
| A．The competition between TVs—and other devices. |
| B．New kinds of TV shows. |
| C．How technology changes the way people entertain themselves. |
| D．How people change their lives through entertainment. |
Dear neighbors,
We are writing this letter to you because our school has started a group. It is called “Help the Environment”. It works to look after the environment.
Here are some interesting facts that our group has learnt:
Most things that we throw away can be reused or recycled.
Some European countries, for example, Germany, already recycle half of their waste.
90% of people in our country would like to recycle more.
We think that most people would agree with these statements:
We need to recycle our waste, not use up the world’s sources.
It is better to recycle waste than to burn it in the earth or the sea.
Our environment group has decided that one of the best things we can do is to collect reusable waste. We will sell this waste to recycle companies and give the money to Friends of the Earth. We would like people living near the school to bring their recyclable waste to the school. But if you are too busy, we will collect it from you once a week.
We hope that you will agree to this. If you do, pleasesign your names below this letter.
Yours,
John Cooper
根据短文内容，判断下列句子是否正确，对的涂（A），错的涂（B）。
1. Few things that we throw away can be used again or recycled.
2. Most people in our country would like to recycle more.
3. It is better to burn waste than to throw it into the sea.
4. If you need, our school group will collect your recyclable waste every day.
5. John Cooper from the school “Help the Environment” wrote the letter.
| A. Mr. Guo’s Suggestion I think you should writ a letter to the government and ask them to stop the factories from pouring waste gas into the air. B. Mrs. Zeng’s Suggestion I think you should tell the apartment community about it and ask them to put up posters to stop people throwing rubbish everywhere. You should tell people about the importance of protecting the environment. C. Mr. Ma’s Suggestion I think you should talk to the management of the Beer City first. If they go on doing that, call the government to get it closed down. D. Miss Yang’s Suggestion Fresh water is very important to us. we can’t live without it. So I think we must stop factories from pouring dirty water into rivers. E. Mr. Li’s Suggestion Trees give us fresh air and make our world more beautiful. So I don’t think we should cut down trees. We should plant as many new trees as possible. F. Mr. Zhao’s Suggestion I don’t think we should use plastic bags to go shopping. Those who want to use them should have to pay more money for them. G. Mrs. Deng’s Suggestion The number of some animals is getting smaller and smaller. Many people are hunting those animals. I think we must ask the government to make laws to stop people from hunting them. |
【推荐3】There are some easy things you can do to protect the environment and the Earth. Choose ideas from the list or come up with a few on your own.
·Plant some flowers, grass or trees.
·Whenever you visit a park or beach, take away what you bring there—keep rubbish in a bag until you can put it into a dustbin.
·Turn off the lights and TV sets when you leave the room. Turn off the tap when washing your face or brushing teeth, and it can save some water by not letting it run. Also, use a glass cup instead of a paper cup because this saves paper.
·Keep doors and windows closed in winter to keep warm air in.
·Give your old books and magazines to a library instead of throwing them away.
·Give your old clothes to poor children instead of throwing them away.
·Use both sides of paper.
·Stop pouring dirty water into rivers or lakes.
·Encourage all your friends to do the same things that you do to help protect the Earth.
You don’t have to wait until Earth Day to do these things. Make every day Earth Day. If everyone makes a contribution to protect the environment, the world will surely become much more beautiful.
1. What does the writer advise us to do?| A．Try our best to protect the Earth. | B．Protect the Earth just on Earth Day. |
| C．Protect the Earth by following his ideas only. | D．Plant fewer flowers and trees. |
| A．Seven. | B．Eight. | C．Nine. | D．Ten. |
| A．Throw them away. | B．Give them to poor children. |
| C．Sell them to others. | D．Keep them for ourselves. |
| A．We should throw the rubbish into the dustbin. | B．We should use both sides of paper. |
| C．We should throw old books away. | D．We should protect the Earth every day. |
| A．How to save paper and water | B．What is Earth Day |
| C．What to do with old clothes | D．How to protect the Earth |
①Is that Yao Ming playing basketball? No. It looks like the Chinese player, but it is a robot (机器人)! The Yao Ming robot is one of the many “stars” at the World Robot Conference (WRC, 世界机器大赛), from Aug. 23rd to 27th in Beijing in 2023. Robots from across the world come to WRC. Some can work under water. But service robots (服务型机器人) sell well at the WRC. Now, let’s take a look!
②The Yao Ming robot: Hi, everyone! I can teach kids how to play basketball. If (如果) schools use me, __________
③Alpha 2: My name is Alpha 2. I’m from Shenzhen, China. When you want to eat dinner, just tell me. I can cook. Before going to bed, I can tell you a bedtime story, too.
④Jasper: Hello, I’m Jasper. I’m a store robot. With my help, shopping is easy for you. You can talk to me. I help you find things. I also get them for you.
⑤All these robots make our world colorful. So, do you want to have a robot?
1. The 2023 WRC lasts (持续) for _________.| A．5 hours | B．5 days | C．a week | D．a month |
| A．the under-water robot | B．the Yao Ming robot | C．Alpha 2 | D．Jasper |
| A．schools don’t need any teachers. | B．schools can have a baseball team. |
| C．students can meet Yao Ming one day. | D．students can have lots of fun in P. E. classes. |
(①=Para. 1 ②=Para. 2 ③=Para. 3 ④=Para. 4 ⑤= Para 5. ⑥ = Para. 6)
| A．①; ②③④; ⑤ | B．①②; ③④; ⑤ |
| C．①; ②; ③④⑤ | D．①②; ③④⑤ |
【推荐2】How are school days like in America? Do American students have the same school life as we do in China? And what do they often do on weekends?
Well, in America, from Monday to Friday, the students spend about six hours（小时）a day in studying at school. They don’t have morning readings and there are seven classes a day. A classroom is not very big and there are twenty or thirty students in a class. They have different lessons in different classrooms. They often sit around teachers and discuss（讨论）problems with them. They have little homework after school. They often do sports, listen to music, or read books.
American students’ weekend life is colorful. On Friday evening, they usually have a party, go to see movies in the cinema or have a meal at a restaurant. On Saturday, they often have some lessons, help their parents at home or play games in friends’ houses. Many students go to the church（教堂）on Sunday and then go home to do homework and stay with family.
根据材料内容选择最佳答案。
1. How many hours a day do the students spend in studying at school in America?
| A．About five. | B．About six. | C．About seven. | D．About eight. |
| A．Boring. | B．Colorful. | C．Important. | D．Easy. |
| A．have much homework | B．go to the church |
| C．do sports | D．have a party |
| A．have some lessons | B．go to see movies in the cinema |
| C．play games in friends’ houses | D．help their parents at home |
| A．American schools and American students’ weekday life |
| B．American schools and American school days |
| C．American students’ school life and their weekend life |
| D．American students’ family and their weekend life |
 http://sportaroundtheworld.com/fbur.interesting.sports Four interesting and unusual sports from the world | |
 Man vs. Horse Marathon | This race takes place in a small town in Wales, about 200 miles from London. It’s called a marathon（马拉松）.but it’s actually 35.4 km, not 42.2 km like a usual marathon. People race against horses across the hills and mountains. It started in 1981, but a human did not win until 2004. |
 Camel Wrestling | In Turkey（土耳其）, camel wrestling（骆驼格斗）is a very old sport. The largest camel wresting competition takes place every year and thousands of people come. In the sport, two camels fight against each other. Sometimes the camels do not want to fight and they run through the crowds, which can be dangerous. |
 Caber Toss | In this sport, players compete to throw a large piece of wood called caber as far as they can. There is no rule about the size of the caber, but it’s usually the size of a small tree. The visitors to the UK can watch the competition. At times, they also take part in it and enjoy the joy from the ancient sport. |
 Chess Boxing | A good chess boxer needs to be both strong and smart. Players play a round（回合）of chess, followed by a round of boxing（拳击）. There are up to eleven rounds in total. Chess boxing was invented in 1992 by an English comic book writer. The sport is more popular in England and Germany. |
根据语言材料内容选择最佳答案。
1. How many sports have animals as players?
| A．l. | B．2. | C．3. |
| A．A usual marathon is shorter than Man vs. Horse Marathon. |
| B．Horses won races before 2004 while a human didn’t. |
| C．This race takes place in a small town in London, about 200 miles from Wales |
| A．Camel Wrestling. | B．Caber Toss. | C．Chess Boxing. |
| A．There are no competition rules in Caber loss. |
| B．Sometimes there may be some danger in Camel Wrestling. |
| C．Chess Boxing appeared earlier than Man vs. Horse Marathon. |
| A．comic book | B．website | C．storybook |
【推荐1】It is Sunday. It's a fine day. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper don't go to work. Their children don't go to school. After breakfast, Mr. and Mrs. Cooper go out. Now Mr. Cooper is walking in the park. Mrs. Cooper is buying some meat, fruit and vegetables in a big supermarket.
Laura is Mr. Cooper's daughter. Now she is playing computer games in her bedroom. Her cousin Mary is staying with her. She is reading a storybook. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper's son Dave, with his friends John and Peter, is playing cards in the garden. Outside the garden, there is a small street. There are no buses or taxis on it, only some boys playing soccer.
1. Mr. Cooper has four children.2. Mary is in the bedroom now.
3. Dave is playing soccer with his friends.
4. Mary is Dave's cousin.
5. Peter is reading a storybook.
【推荐2】Tom makes a snowman (堆雪人). He wants to find things to make the snowman look nice.
Two erasers Tom finds two black erasers to be the eyes of the snowman. Tom has a black eraser and it is on his desk. His sister Lisa has a black eraser too. It is in her pencil box. |
A hat Mom has a red hat. It is on her bed. Dad has a white hat on the sofa. Tom’s yellow hat is in his schoolbag. Which hat is the best (最佳) one? Tom thinks the snowman must look good in the red hat. |
A key Tom finds an orange, a cup and a key. What can be the mouth (嘴) of the snowman? Oh, the key is OK. |
1. Tom’s black eraser is on his desk.
2. The snowman’s hat is white.
3. An orange can be the mouth of the snowman.
4. From the passage (文章), we can know there are four people in Tom’s family.
5. From the passage, we can know Tom makes the snowman with his family.
The earth has warmed by about 1°F (华氏度) over the past 100 years, but why and how?
Well, scientists are not quite sure. Maybe the earth gets warmer and warmer on its own. But many scientists say that people are doing many things which makes the earth warmer.
First, greenhouse effect (温室效应) is a very important reason for the change of the earth. People give out too much energy into the air every year. It makes the earth warmer. Climate (气候) change is another important reason. Sometimes it becomes too hot and sometimes too cold. Sometimes there is too much rain and sometimes too little. The change of the climate makes the earth warmer. In turn, the warmth of the earth changes the climate, too.
When the earth becomes warmer, there may be more rain and a rise in sea level. It will affect the growth of plants, animals and people. On a Pacific island, 100 people have to move to higher ground because the sea is rising. These people can no longer live on the coast. Before that, two islands without people went underwater in 1999. Scientists say that the seas can rise by nearly one metre by 2100.
People can affect the earth's air, land and water. As for us, we can do many things to protect the earth. For example, we can use fridges less. We can tell more people about protecting the earth.
1. Earth Day is probably set for people to ______.
| A．learn more about the earth | B．make full use of the earth |
| C．take better care of the earth. | D．study the warmth of the earth |
______ now.
| A．not very clear | B．completely secret | C．well known | D．not given yet |
| A．sea rising | B．climate change | C．nature's unbalance | D．people's activity |
| A．there is more rain now | B．we should protect the earth |
| C．we must stop pollution | D．sea level is getting higher |
