1 . The negative health impacts of plastic on both wildlife and humans have been well-documented. However, plastics, which are used for everything from grocery bags to food packaging, are hard to avoid.
Now, French start-up Carbios wants to solve the world's plastic pollution problem with a mutant bacterial enzyme(酶)that digests PET—the most abundant polyester plastic(聚酷塑料)used to produce packaging and plastic bottles-and turns it into its chemical building blocks. The resulting material can be used to create anything and, more importantly, can be endlessly recycled.
"Mechanical recycling is limited, " explains Carbios CEO Martin. "After 6 or 7 cycles of recycling, the plastic might only be good enough to use for something like the plastic on the backing of a carpet, and eventually, it will have to be thrown away. So it's not a solution for the end of life of plastics, whereas our solution is an unlimited recycling solution."
The company's search for the best plastic-eating bacteria began about a decade ago, with 100, 000 promising candidates. The list was soon reduced to one-a leaf compost bug. Once it had been identified, Carbios scientists introduced mutations(突变). The new and improved enzyme was able to downgrade up to 90 percent of a ton of plastic in only l0 hours. To break down the plastic, the waste and the enzyme will be heated for 16 hours at 65℃. The resulting mix is then purified. This allows for the recovery of the chemical building blocks and removes any additives and colors that may be present.
"This technique will certainly help reduce plastic pollution, " Martin said, "But we can only win the battle if people do a better job of ensuring plastic waste ends up in a recycling bin".
1. What is special about the Carbios' recycling technique?| A．It can reshape any plastic products. | B．It can produce more polyester plastic. |
| C．It makes plastic continuously recycled. | D．It changes the system of food packaging. |
| A．Plastic-eating bacteria. | B．Negative effects on health. |
| C．Chemical building blocks. | D．French start-up, companies. |
| A．To purify the resulting mix. | B．To remove additives and color. |
| C．To keep the temperature at 65℃. | D．To improve plastic-digesting ability. |
| A．To record the development of Carbios. |
| B．To introduce a plastic recycling technique. |
| C．To persuade people to use fewer plastic products. |
| D．To explain how to identify plastic-eating bacteria. |
1. What does the speaker mainly talk about?
| A．Steps to grow houseplants. |
| B．Ways to choose houseplants. |
| C．Tips for caring for houseplants. |
| A．To prevent insects. | B．To refresh the plant. | C．To produce more plants. |
| A．Lack of fertilizer. | B．Too much water. | C．Thick dust on leaves. |
| A．Water the plant often. | B．Cut extra roots. | C．Re-pot the plant. |
3 . Bumblebees(大黄蜂）aren't simply dancing around our gardens.Now,a new study suggests that bumblebees force plants to flower by making small bites in their leaves.
Consuelo De Moraes,a scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, noticed bumblebees making tiny bites in the leaves of their greenhouse plants.The insects didn't seem to be carrying off the bits of leaves to their nests or eating them.
Supposing the bees were causing the plants to flower,Consuelo De Moraes and his team set up a series of experiments.They placed flowerless tomato plants and two kinds of worker bees in cages.The bees fed with enough pollen(花粉）seldom damaged the plants,while the ones without having pollen for three days busily did so.Scientists then removed the plants after the bees made five to ten holes in their leaves.The small holes caused the tomato plants to flower a month sooner than usual.
＂In a sense,the bees are signaling,'Hey,we need food.Please speed up your flowering, and we'll pollinate(授粉）you."said Lars Chittka,a behavioral scientist at Queen Mary University of London.
To make sure that their discoveries didn't result from the man-made conditions in the lab, the scientists placed bumblebees and a variety of flowerless plant species on their Zurich rooftop in late March 2018.The bees were free to fly as far as they could.Yet they set to work damaging the leaves on all the non-flowering plants nearest to their nests.The bees lost interest in this activity toward the end of April as more flowers came out,according to the study.
The research is of great value,for it can increase the human food supply.However,some questions remain to be answered,like"Why do the bites cause the plants to flower?"and ＂Does flowering early lead to higher fitness for the plants?"
1. Why did the bumblebees bite the leaves?| A．Because they wanted to eat the leaves. |
| B．Because they were to get pollen to eat. |
| C．Because they were exercising to be stronger. |
| D．Because they would carry the leaves to the nests. |
| A．Dancing on the leaves. |
| B．Flying as far as they could. |
| C．Making small holes in the leaves. |
| D．Damaging the flowers near their nests. |
| A．Humans may produce more food. |
| B．Bumblebees can have more to eat. |
| C．Some plants can have more flowers. |
| D．Some plants will gain higher fitness. |
| A．Bumblebees speed up plants flowering by biting leaves. |
| B．Human food supply will largely depend on bumblebees. |
| C．Bumblebees like to damage the plants nearest their nests. |
| D．Rooftop plants flower more than the ones in greenhouses. |
4 . On Scotland’s Isle of Skye, scientists have identified two areas with evidence of ancient life forms. They believe the markings are, in fact, footprints from dinosaurs that lived 170 million years ago. Those prints date to the middle of the Jurassic Period, a time from which few dinosaur fossils have been recovered. Researchers reported this month on their study of about 50 fossilized footprints at the two sites. The markings are just a few hundred meters apart from each other. They are said to show dinosaurs walking in different directions.
At least three kinds of dinosaurs left the footprints. Steve Brusatte, the leader of the research team, is a paleontologist with the University of Edinburgh. “The tracks are located on flat rocky surfaces near the beach, so they are only exposed at low tide," he said. “The tide laps across them, back and forth, every day. ”
One set of markings came from a two-legged, meat-eating dinosaur that researchers say was about the size of a car. They say its footprints have three toes. The creature, with sharp claws, appears to be from a group of dinosaurs called theropods. Bigger, three-toed footprints came from large-bodied, two-legged plant-eaters called ornithopods. The researchers are especially interested in markings left by another creature: an early member of a group of heavily built, four-legged plant-eaters called stegosaurs.
“I suspect this stegosaur was about the size of a cow, which is fairly small for a stegosaur. Whether that's because it's a primitive, smaller species or a juvenile of a bigger species, we're not sure," Brusatte said. The researchers noted that the findings were an important window into the many kinds of dinosaurs on the Isle of Skye. “Skye has emerged as one of the most important windows into Jurassic dinosaur evolution. We know that dinosaurs were diversifying with a frenzy in the Middle Jurassic, but there are few fossil sites of this age anywhere in the world," Brusatte added.
1. What do the "ancient life forms" refer to in the first paragraph?| A．Dinosaurs dating to the middle of the Jurassic Period. |
| B．Dinosaurs living far away from each other. |
| C．The fossilized footprints discovered this month. |
| D．The fossilized footprints discovered in the middle of the Jurassic Period. |
| A．leaves | B．swallows | C．touches | D．surpasses |
| A．The influence of the markings discovered in Skye. |
| B．The dinosaurs related to the footprints discovered in Skye. |
| C．The dinosaurs with different appearances. |
| D．The dinosaurs with different habitats. |
| A．The findings contribute to learning more about dinosaurs in Skye. |
| B．There are a few fossil sites in other places in the world. |
| C．There were a wide range of dinosaurs living in the area. |
| D．Skye plays an important part in Scotland. |
注意 ：
1）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
2）首尾句已经给出，不计入总词数。
3）参考词汇：the Pacific Ocean, the Rocky Mountains.
Hi, everybody! Today I will introduce to you a wonderful city in Canada, Vancouver.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
That’s all for my introduction. Thank you.
6 . Giving a gift that will stand the test of time is always a challenge,but giving plants is one way to try.Whatever type of plant you choose,it’s sure to last longer than cut flowers
The most important thing to consider is where it will live.If your friend’s place is bright and sunny,a succulent(多肉植物)makes sense.
Whatever plant you choose,make peace with the fact that it may or may not survive.After all,a house’s inside is pretty dissimilar to where that plant naturally grows.So we can all only do our best.
If you have a plant-interested friend on your gift list,why not choose a plant which is easy to keep alive in his place and looks lovely?You don’t need to wrap it,as a simple bow is enough.
| A．You can always put them inside a paper bag. |
| B．But you can consider giving a nice pot and bag of soil. |
| C．Knowing the natural history of a plant is equally important. |
| D．Even relatively experienced green thumbs sometimes lose |
| E．The key is to pay attention to plants-really look at them each day.. |
| F．If you want to choose plants as gifts,the ideas below will help you on your way. |
| G．If your friend has a cool home with no direct sun,an orchid is probably a better choice. |
7 . In between all the measures to battle the severe air pollution in Delhi,India,there’s one more option-a bar that has”pure air”.
Founded by Aryavir Kumar,Oxy Pure,Delhi’s first-ever oxygen bar,offers 15 minutes of 80-90 percent pure oxygen,costing Rs 299($4.2).Customers are given a lightweight tube for oxygen intake.The device(装置)is placed near the customer’s nostrils(鼻孔)through which they are advised to breathe in the oxygen.
The bar also offers its customers several aromas(气味)to go with oxygen,including lemongrass,cherry and more.According to the aroma people choose,each session promises to improve sleep patterns and digestion,cure headaches,and even claims to work as a treatment for depression.
Bonny Irengbam,a senior sales assistant at the bar,said,”Some people,who try it for the first time,will feel relaxed and fresh.But only people who do this regularly will get real benefits.By regularly,I mean once or twice a month.We don’t encourage back-to-back sessions,as increased levels of oxygen in the body can make a person dizzy.”
Dr.Rajesh Chawla,a senior doctor at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital,said,”Even if you breathe in the so-called pure oxygen for two hours in a day,you will go back to breathing the polluted air for the rest of the 22 hours.The concept is purely money-driven.”
Recalling the first few months of the bar,Irengbam admitted that people were sceptical. “Many people criticised,saying we were selling air.Others were simply scared to breathe through the tube.”
Irengbam said the bar saw a significant rise in the number of customers two to three days after Diwali,an Indian festival mainly celebrated by fireworks and lights,as the pollution levels were high.
1. What do we know about the oxygen intake?| A．It surely has a promising future. |
| B．It will always cause side effects. |
| C．It was not well received at first. |
| D．It can cure people of depression. |
| A．Once-a-month. |
| B．Once-in-a-while. |
| C．Once-and-for-all. |
| D．One-after-another. |
| A．Doubtful. |
| B．Positive. |
| C．Unconcerned. |
| D．Ambiguous. |
| A．To explain how to breathe in the oxygen. |
| B．To introduce the first oxygen bar in India. |
| C．To show people’s responses to the device. |
| D．To advertise for Aryavir Kumar’s business. |
8 . The African grey parrot’s ability to talk and mimic sounds makes it a charming companion. African grey owners often report that their greys oftentimes talk in context and can understand their people’s emotions (情感). The African grey parrot is not just a top talker - this bird is also known for its extreme intelligence, which gives them the name “The Einsteins of the Bird World”.
The bird is medium-sized, dusty-looking and almost pigeon-like. It has a bright red tail, intelligent orange eyes, and a stunning scalloped (扇形的) pattern to its feathers. Their diet in the wild consists mostly of nuts, seeds, fruits, and leafy matter.
At home, African greys need plenty of toys that challenge their intelligence, such as food searching and puzzle toys. Nutri-Berries by Lafeber Company are a perfect choice, which, with a balance of grains, seeds and other nutrients in the shape of a berry, encourages African greys to hold, bite off, and even play with, just as they do in the wild.
African greys seem especially affected by stress and disturbing noise in their environment and can be put more at ease by placing one corner of the cage against a wall as opposed to in the middle of a room.
African grey parrots are more likely to suffer from lack of Vitamin-A/beta-carotene, and therefore benefit from eating vegetables high in beta-carotene, such as cooked sweet potato and fresh kale. Lack of Vitamin-D is another concern, especially for greys on a poor diet. Offering a balanced, pill-shaped diet, such as Nutri-Berries, helps prevent vitamin and mineral shortage.
1. Why are African grey parrots called “The Einsteins of the Bird World”?| A．Because of their brain size. | B．On account of their intelligence. |
| C．Owing to their rich emotions. | D．Due to their talking ability. |
| A．A brand of bird food. | B．Puzzle toys for birds. |
| C．A type of round fruit. | D．Wild Intelligence games. |
| A．They may get ill due to lack of Vitamin |
| B．They prefer to stay in the middle of the room. |
| C．They are dusty looking with blue eyes. |
| D．They are smart and love to have fun. |
| A．In a wildlife magazine. | B．In science fiction. |
| C．In a travel guide. | D．On a shopping website. |
9 . Yousuf and his family left their home in eastern Afghanistan eight years ago. They went to the city of Kabul to escape war, but they could not escape sadness. Five of Yousuf's children died in the Afghan capital, not from violence, but from air pollution.
Kabul has become one of the most polluted cities in the world. On many days, a mix of smog and smoke lies over the city. In some cases, families burn whatever they can to keep warm in cold weather. The air in their own homes then poisons them. Many years of war have worsened the damage to Afghanistan's environment. At the local Children's Hospital, doctors say they have seen the number of patients with pollution-related health problems increase. Saifullah Abassin, a doctor at the hospital, says his hospital ward(病房) can hold 10 patients but often has three times that number.
“Thirty years ago, it was a wish for people to come to Kabul and breathe its air,” said Ezatullah Sediqi, deputy director for the National Environmental Protection Agency. “But in the wars since, we lost all our urban infrastructure(基础设施) for water, electricity, public transportation, green areas, all these things.”
Kabul's environmental department has started a program to control old vehicles, one major source of pollution. City officials have called on people to use fuel instead of burning garbage for heat. But there are other steps officials need to take, such as passing a plan to stop unplanned development and creating more green spaces.
1. What made Yousuf and his family leave their home?| A．War. | B．Sadness. | C．Violence. | D．Air pollution. |
| A．Burning garage. | B．Creating green spaces. |
| C．Using old vehicles. | D．Losing urban infrastructure. |
| A．Education. | B．Environment. | C．Science. | D．Culture. |
My name is Ma Lili, a
