1 . When you think of the Arctic, you imagine an icy land of pure white snow, which is considered to be the last really clean place     1    (leave) on Earth. Yet plastic trash has now reached the remote regions of the Arctic and the Alps. A team of     2    (scientist) has discovered large quantities of microplastics(微塑料) — very small pieces of plastic waste — in the Arctic snow. While microplastics have been found in sea-water, drinking water, and even in animals over     3     past several years, this is the first study to show microplastics in snow,     4     indicates it is an airborne pollutant that must be paid attention to.

The researchers state that microplastics in snow suggest that microplastics may be in the air that we     5    (breath). Therefore, it is really important     6    (assess) if microplastics also reach lung tissues.

Previous research has found that they flow over long distances and into our oceans,     7    (damage) ecosystems along the way. They start in our wastewater, when we wash clothes     8     plastic fibers. The wastewater then flows into rivers and out to sea, where they     9    (eat) by sea animals. If people then eat these animals, it means that we’re     10    (probable) eating the plastic as well.