1 . The great increase of waste that you find around the world is hard to ignore. Depending on where they live, people produce between 0.11 and 4.54 kilograms of waste every day. Even more alarming, that number is expected to increase by 70 percent by 2050.
Is there anything specific you can do to help the situation? One thing is to shop smart. Buy from companies that promote sustainable (可持续的) business practices and use recycled materials in their products.
Here are some products and companies that hit the mark for being environmentally-friendly.
Wool Runners by Allbirds
These light and comfortable tennis shoes are made from natural wool. The laces (鞋带) are made from recycled water bottles. Other shoe parts are made from bean oil, and the shoeboxes are made with recycled materials.
Women’s 711 Skinny Jeans by Levi’s
It usually takes hundreds of gallons of water to make one pair of blue jeans. However, Levis Water < Less collection
uses up to 96 percent less water.
Reactive Drawstring Family Tote by Vera Bradley
These pretty bags put recycled water bottles to good use, using 23 of them per bag.
The Sunrise RebornTM Pack by ASICS
ASICS’s new shoes were created with sustainability in mind. The material is dyed (染色), using a special method. The technique uses up to 80 percent less water than regular dyeing methods. The process also uses fewer chemicals and less energy.
Regarding their future footwear lines, ASICS has made a promise. Over 95 percent of their new running shoes will be made from recycled materials. The technology behind Sunrise Reborn puts ASICS one step closer to reaching their sustainability goals. The company has promised to leave a lighter environmental footprint for future generations.
1. What do the data in Paragraph 1 show?| A．The danger caused by waste materials. | B．The existing problem ignored by people. |
| C．The serious problem of increasing waste. | D．The growing amount of poisonous waste. |
| A．They only use recycled materials. | B．They’re made from natural materials. |
| C．The techniques behind them are very special. | D．Their companies share the sustainability goals. |
| A．In a life magazine. | B．In a fantasy book. |
| C．In a research paper. | D．In a business report. |
2 . Many people think that hippos (河马) are cute and funny-looking. They are really fat and they have short, thick legs. They also have little round ears that wiggle (摆动) sometimes.
Hippos look funny, but you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Hippos are extremely violent and dangerous. In fact, they kill more people than any other animal in Africa. Think of how many dangerous animals that Africa has. It has got crocodiles, snakes, lions, elephants and many more. Hippos are more dangerous than all of them.
Hippos are naturally very dangerous animals, but there are some situations that make them even more dangerous than normal. They are very territorial. That means that they stay in one area which they consider to be their private area. If a person or animal enter a hippo’s area, the hippo will attack. Hippos also often attack when they are returning to the water. Hippos eat on land and return to water at dusk. If a hippo sees an animal when it’s returning to the water, it will become violent.
Hippos are so strong that they often kill crocodiles. There are two reasons that explain why hippos and crocodiles often fight. First of all, hippos and crocodiles live in the same areas. Since hippos are territorial, they don’t like having crocodiles nearby. Also, crocodiles often eat young hippos. For that reason, adult hippos frequently kill crocodiles.
Mother and daughter hippos have close relationships. However, hippos don’t have any other close relationship with each other. Hippos often live together in large groups, but scientists don’t know why. It’s hard to study the behaviour of male and female hippos, because males and females look the same.
Hippos are violent, but they are herbivores. A herbivore is an animal that eat only plants. An adult hippo eats about 50 kilograms of plants every day. Hippos are much more comfortable in the water, but they can run fast on land. Their top speed is about 19 kilometers per hour. That’s much faster than humans can run.
1. What is the text mainly about?| A．The fight between hippos and crocodiles. |
| B．How to tell male hippos and female ones. |
| C．Africa’s most dangerous animal — hippos. |
| D．Why hippos get violent. |
| A．It is afraid of other animals. |
| B．It stays within a limited area. |
| C．It does not like to live in large groups. |
| D．It does not want other animals to enter its area. |
| A．Hippos swim faster than crocodiles. |
| B．It is hard to explain why hippos live in groups. |
| C．Male and female hippos look different. |
| D．Violent animals usually eat plants. |
| A．To inform. | B．To entertain. |
| C．To instruct. | D．To persuade. |
3 . Tips for Green Travel with Kids
Traveling doesn’t mean letting go of all the eco-friendly choices we work so hard to achieve in our daily life. Here are a few tips for green travel with kids:
Booking nonstop flights whenever possible will reduce carbon emissions (碳排放). If the closest local airport doesn’t have nonstop flights to a certain place, check in with other local airports to see if nonstop flights are available.
Whether you’re flying or driving, it’s easy when traveling to pull into fast food restaurants for snacks.
Reusable water bottles are easy to bring along whenever you travel. At the airport, keep your reusable bottles empty until you have passed through the security (安检).
| A．Too much carbon emissions seriously pollute the environment. |
| B．But you can pack healthy food before starting off. |
| C．In this way, you can save water and energy. |
| D．Fill them up on the other side of the security checkpoint. |
| E．Security check is a necessary part of each trip. |
| F．Save energy by turning off the hotel room lights when you head out for the day. |
| G．You might have to drive a bit further, but saving on carbon emissions makes it worthwhile. |
