1 . A shocking 53.6 million tons of electronic waste were discarded（丢弃）last year, a new UN-backed report has revealed. The report shows that e-waste is up 21%from five years ago. This isn't surprising, considering how many more people are adopting new technology and updating devices regularly to have the latest versions, but the report also shows that national collection and recycling strategies are nowhere close to matching consumption rates.
E-waste contains materials including copper（铜）, iron, gold and silver, which the report gives a conservative value of $ 57 billion. But most are thrown away or burned rather than being collected for recycling. Precious metals in waste are estimated to be worth $ 14 billion, but only $4 billion-worth is recovered at the moment.
While the number of countries with national e-waste policies has grown from 61 to 78 since 2014, there is little encouragement to obey and a mere 17% of collected items are recycled. If recycling does occur, it's often under dangerous conditions, such as burning circuit boards to recover copper, which "releases highly poisonous metals" and harms the health of workers.
The report found that Asia has the highest amounts of waste overall, producing 24.9 million metric tons (MMT), followed by Europe at 12 MMT, Africa at 2.9 MMT, and Oceania at 0.7 MMT.
But whose responsibility is it? Are governments in charge of setting up collection and recycling points, or should companies be responsible for recycling the goods they produce? It goes both ways. Companies do need to be held accountable by government regulations and have incentives to design products that are easily repaired. At the same time, governments need to make it easy for citizens to access collection points and deal with their broken electronics in a convenient way. Otherwise, they may turn to the easiest option-the landfill.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?| A．What e-waste refers to. |
| B．Where e-waste is collected. |
| C．Why e-waste is increasing rapidly. |
| D．How many kinds e-waste includes. |
| A．The functions of policies. |
| B．The great damage to environment. |
| C．The change of consumption rates. |
| D．The urgency of recovering e-waste. |
| A．It does harm to the workers' health. |
| B．It lacks national policy support. |
| C．It hardly makes profits. |
| D．It takes too much time. |
| A．New technology should be used to update old devices. |
| B．Governments and companies should take responsibilities. |
| C．Non-poisonous metals had better be used in e-device. |
| D．Citizens must play a key role in recycling e-waste. |
2 . The Tibet autonomous region has placed nearly half its land area under the strictest ecological supervision (监督).It was announced at an annual meeting of the regional People's Congress, which kicked off on Wednesday.
The ecological protection area, which covers more than 539,000 square kilometers, makes up 45 percent of the region's area, and 22 ecological reserves have been built and are operational.
According to the government work report, the rate of days with good air quality in Tibet's cities has reached 99.4 percent, and all the region's drinking water sources have met applicable standards.
The report also said that the number of Tibetan antelope (羚)in the region has risen to more than 200,000, wildlife species to 1,072 and black-necked cranes to more than 8,000. Five rare new species have been discovered in recent years. The region has spent 12.2 billion yuan ($1.9 billion) on ecological protection projects in recent years. Five cities and three counties have been named as national-level ecologically civilized model cities and counties, and more rural residents have benefited financially by undertaking part-time ecological protection work.
More advanced monitoring facilities have been in place in the reserve, with more ecological protection inspectors employed to undertake protection work. The professional ecological inspectors are provided with basic tools such as motorcycles, telescopes and paging receivers, and they provide feedback regularly. Professional inspectors also receive one week of training every year from professors at Tibet University.
Kunsang Darje, a railway maintenance worker in Nagchu, said that apart from maintaining the railway and highway, he also collects trash along the section with his colleagues. “The place I work is in a no-man's land, and I think it's very important to protect the animals there without affecting them with human activities, and we are also bound to take responsibility there," he said.
1. What is the main idea of the text?| A．The ecological situation in Tibet has been totally improved. |
| B．Almost half Tibetan land has been ecologically supervised. |
| C．Many more operational ecological reserves have been built. |
| D．More Tibetan protection inspectors have been employed. |
| A．Larger protection areas. | B．Numerous rare new species. |
| C．More days with quality air. | D．Global capital investments. |
| A．protection inspectors can employ other people |
| B．protection inspectors are supplied with cars |
| C．Tibet's rural residents can get annual training |
| D．Tibet's rural residents can earn extra money |
| A．He asks his colleagues not to litter everywhere. |
| B．He attaches importance to raise animals there. |
| C．He keeps railway and highway in good condition. |
| D．He has a sense of duty to protect animals there. |
3 . For Stevens Point locals in the US, the city is flooded with delicious fried fish. Here are four top choices for the community to have a try.
Hilltop Pub&Grill
Hilltop Pub&Grill first opened in the 1980s and took the Stevens Point community by storm with its delicious food and unique decoration style. Its fried fish are beloved due to the use of “high-quality North Atlantic fish, with a light beer batter (面糊)”.
The Final Score Bar&Grill
The Final Score Bar&Grill aimed to become a local hot spot in 2001 when Jim Billings, the owner, took charge of the business. Billings feels that their five batter choices set them apart from their neighboring bars. Besides, various wines are available.
Point After Pub&Grill
Point After Pub&Grill started serving delicious food and cold beers in a welcoming environment in 2009. But its history runs much longer. “Before it was Point After Pub&Grill, it had been Northside Bar for 30 plus years,” explained Molski, the owner. Molski feels that the pub’s four special batter choices and other fish specials are what help make it an area landmark.
Two Harps Pub
This Irish pub opened its doors to the public in 2017 and has been drawing fans and locals ever since. “I had done my career for a long time and was kind of bored with it,” said Nick Moore, the owner. “And this opportunity fell into my lap, so I went with it. It really made sense to open up an Irish bar.” The growing pub advises guests to try a cold beer with their Friday fried fish.
1. What makes Hilltop Pub&Grill popular with customers?| A．The convenient location. | B．The special food. |
| C．The high-quality service. | D．The unique wine. |
| A．They are both run by the same company. | B．They are both famous for great wines. |
| C．They both feature some particular batter. | D．They were both founded ten years ago. |
| A．It is the newest among the four pubs. | B．It offers free cold beers to customers. |
| C．It only provides fried fish on Fridays. | D．It has a unique decoration style. |
4 . He is regarded as having one of the brightest minds on the planet.But outstanding astrophysicist（天体物理学家）Stephen Hawking admitted that he did not learn to read until he was eight years old.In a public lecture at the Royal Albert Hall,Professor Hawking also admitted that he was not active in studying while at Oxford University,where he studied physics,and that only the diagnosis that he might die young from motor neurone（神经元）disease made him concentrate on his work.
Professor Hawking said,"My sister Philippa could read by the age of 4 and then she was definitely brighter than me."He said that he was unexceptional at school and was never further than halfway up his class."My classwork was very untidy,and my handwriting was the despair of my teachers,"he said."But my classmates gave me the nickname Einstein,so presumably they saw signs of something better."
But he said that it was when doctors told him that he probably only had a few years to live at the age of 21 that he was galvanized into focusing on his work and a period of productivity that resulted in some of his early breakthroughs.He said,"When you are faced with the possibility of an early death,it makes you realize that life is worth living and there are lots of things you want to do."
1. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?| A．Stephen Hawking is the second Einstein in the world. |
| B．Stephen Hawking couldn't read at the age of 7. |
| C．Stephen Hawking's handwriting was once terribly bad. |
| D．Stephen Hawking's sister once performed much better than him. |
| A．Patience. | B．Knowledge. | C．Disease. | D．Laziness. |
| A．Stephen Hawking didn't realize his dreams in physics. |
| B．It was possible for Hawking to face the early death. |
| C．The purpose of the doctor's diagnosis was to encourage him to work hard. |
| D．His life might be taken away by long hard work. |
| A．His sister. | B．His classmates. | C．His teachers. | D．His parents. |
