1 . In 2016, a team of Japanese scientists found bacteria capable of breaking down and “eating” one of the world’s most popular plastics-polyethylene terephthalate(PET). It was valued as a potential breakthrough at the time. But a new discovery came as a team of British scientists examined an enzyme(酶) produced by the Japanese bacteria to find out more about its structure. While operating the structure to better understand how it worked, they accidentally created the changed enzyme that’s even more efficient at breaking down plastic bottles.
The researchers are now working to further improve the enzyme so it can be used on an industrial scale. It’s possible that within the next few years there could be an industrially possible process for turning PET into other substances so it can be recycled.
The ability to scale up the process will be important. Plastic pollution is fast becoming one of the biggest environmental issues of our time. More than 1 million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute. Most of these bottles are made from PET,which can take up to1000 years to biodegrade(生物降解), and many are left in the oceans. Over half of global PET waste is not collected for recycling and only 7 percent of bottles are recycled into new bottles.
Some scientists say the breakthrough, though promising, is nowhere near enough to solve our pollution crisis. These enzymes are not abundantly present in nature. So you would need to produce the enzyme first, then add it to the PET plastic to degrade it.”This is likely to be a slow process. If you have gone through the trouble of collecting the PET waste, then there are clearly far better ways to recycle it or burn it for energy,” said Wim, head of the Industrial Biotechnology Center. He suggested the use of commercially available biodegradable bioplastics would still be a better bet.
1. What unexpected discovery did the British scientists make?A.An effective way to deal with plastic waste. |
B.A potential solution in collecting PET waste. |
C.The way to understand the structure of enzyme better. |
D.The real value of the discovery by Japanese scientists. |
A.The process to find the enzyme. |
B.The process to make more plastics. |
C.The process to reduce the PET waste. |
D.The process to produce kind of new PET. |
A.Large quantities of plastic bottles are used. |
B.Ocean plastic waste is harder to biodegrade |
C.Most of the PET waste is left without treatment. |
D.Most of the plastic products are made from PET. |
A.The enzyme does not exist in nature. |
B.The enzyme has helped to solve the plastic problems. |
C.Burning plastic waste for energy is now the best way to rid it. |
D.We have a long way to go to use the enzyme to recycle PET waste. |
1. What are the speakers mainly talking about?
A.A terrible storm. | B.A big earthquake. | C.A heavy rain. |
A.This morning. | B.Last night. | C.Two days ago. |
A.The line is busy. |
B.The power is down in that area. |
C.Her parents are sleeping. |
A.Houston. | B.New York. | C.Los Angeles. |
3 . 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
The researchers state that microplastics in snow suggest that microplastics may be in the air that we
Previous research has found that they flow over long distances and into our oceans,
Scientists found that air pollution may cause a big reduction in intelligence. Research
The study is a
5 . Imagine a mass of floating waste is two times the size of the state of Texas. Texas has a land area of more than 678,000 square kilometers. So it might be difficult to imagine anything twice as big.
All together, this mass of waste flowing in the North Pacific Ocean is known as the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch. It weighs about 3,500, 000 tons. The waste includes bags, bottles and containers—plastic products of all kinds.
The eastern part of the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch is about 1,600 kilometers west of California. The western part is west of the Hawaiian Islands and east of Japan. The area has been described as a kind of oceanic desert, with light winds and slow moving water currents (流, 流动). The water moves so slow that garbage from all over the world collects there.
In recent years, there have been growing concerns about the floating garbage and its effect on sea creatures and human health. Scientists say thousands of animals get trapped in the floating waste, resulting in death or injury. Even more die from a lack of food or water after swallowing pieces of plastic. The trash can also make animals feel full, diminishing their desire to eat or drink.
The floating garbage also can have harmful effects on people. There is an increased threat of infection (感染) of disease from polluted waste, and from eating fish that swallowed waste. Divers can also get trapped in the plastic.
Its existence first gained public attention in 1997. That was when racing boat captain and oceanographer Charles Moore and his crew sailed into the garbage while returning from a racing event. Five years earlier, another oceanographer learnt of the trash after a shipment of rubber duckies got lost at sea. Many of those toys are now part of the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch.
1. The first paragraph is written to .A.lead in the topic of the text |
B.inspire readers’ imagination |
C.develop readers’ interest in Texas |
D.talk about reasons for water pollution |
A.Increasing. | B.Determining. |
C.Weakening. | D.Reserving. |
A.It gives rise to various diseases. |
B.It does great harm to sea animals. |
C.Causes of it still remain unknown. |
D.Efforts to clear it have been made. |
A.To warn people about dangers of diving in the ocean. |
B.To explore the future of the North Pacific Ocean. |
C.To call on people to protect ocean environment. |
D.To display some facts about floating waste. |
6 . Extreme heat often brings extreme wildfires, and this year is no exception, with heat waves fueling giant outbreaks of fires in the western United States and Canada, as well as across the Mediterranean and in Siberia. However, the wildfires can have the opposite effect on temperatures, cooling Earth's surface regionally and globally.
Thick wildfire smoke can temporarily block sunlight near the ground, causing regional temperatures to drop by several degrees. Wildfire smoke can also have global cooling effects by making clouds in the lower atmosphere more reflective or blocking sunlight in the upper atmosphere, similar to what a volcanic eruption does.
Scientists have only recently begun studying these effects, with Australia's record 2019-2020 bushfire season marking the first time researchers detected wildfire smoke-caused global cooling. The effect is far too small to balance human-caused global warming, but beyond that, researchers say it's too early to predict what it means for the broader climate system. But with fire seasons growing severer around the world and this summer witnessing much extreme fire weather in North America and elsewhere, the search for answers is growing increasingly urgent.
Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research reported that those Australian fires poured so much smoke into the Southern Hemisphere's atmosphere which caused a “strong and rapid” global cooling effect of about 0.06℃ (0.01°F). According to the lead study author John Fasullo, this was largely due to how smoke particles interact with clouds in the lower atmosphere.
While Fasullo's research highlights the cooling effects of smoke in the lower atmosphere, on occasion, wildfire smoke rushes into the higher atmosphere. There, it can have additional effects on the climate, which is something that is poorly known. “We might still be in the initial stage of understanding how large and how important the effects of these wildfires are,” says Sergey Khaykin, a fire weather expert at Sorbonne University in France.
1. What does the second paragraph mainly talk about?A.Wildfire breaks out more often now. | B.Wildfire smoke cools Earth's surface. |
C.Regional temperatures increase due to wildfire. | D.Volcanic eruption affects the upper atmosphere. |
A.They are too small to be noticed. | B.They can be accurately predicted |
C.They deserve an in-depth study. | D.They can improve the global climate. |
A.By giving an example. | B.By listing figures. |
C.By making comparisons. | D.By doing an experiment. |
A.Climate change is in need of a global solution. |
B.The higher wildfire smoke rushes, the cooler it gets. |
C.Weather experts are satisfied with Fasullo's research. |
D.The influence of wildfires needs to be explored further. |
1.减少塑料的使用; 2.保持海滩和水路干净; 3.向更多人宣传海洋保护
注意:
1.词数100左右;
2.可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
参考词汇:水路waterway
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8 . In the United States,a company is working on a project that could change the way we think about public transportation.Its planned system would move people around in steel tubes.Those passengers would be traveling at speeds of up to 1,200 kilometers per hour.
The futuristic steel tube transportation system is called Hyper1oop.Workers plan to test the system next year in a specially built community called Quay Valley.The town will be powered entirely by energy from the sun.
The Hyperloop transport system is the idea of businessman Elon Musk.Dirk Ahlborn is head of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies.He says his company has taken Mr.Musk’s idea and is developing a system that will be safe,environmentally friendly and fast.
“It’s 100 percent solar powered…we’re not going to get up to 760 miles per hour,but we believe we can actually break the records that are existing right now.”
This means that a four-hour drive from Los Angeles,California to Las Vegas,Nevada,could someday take only 30 minutes by Hyperloop.The system involves a series of capsules that float inside a long tube.These containers would not need to travel along a pathway or track.The system has been designed to operate above or below ground.
“Inside the tube you create a low pressure environment very similar to an airplane that’s at high altitudes.So now the capsule travelling inside the tube doesn’t come up against as much resistance,and therefore can travel really fast with very little energy.”
Dick Ahlborn and his company will use an eight—kilometer track in Quay Valley to find the best way to set up passenger traffic and repair capsules.A larger system will cost an estimated six to $10 billion to build.If Mr.Ahlborn and his company succeed,we may one day see these very fast Hyperloop capsules speeding through tubes around the world.
1. Which of the following is true of Hyperloop?A.It will travel along a pathway or track. |
B.It will use more energy than current trains. |
C.There is a high pressure inside the tube of it. |
D.A series of experiments on it will be carried on. |
A.Dirk is worried about the speed of Hyperloop |
B.Hyperloop has been built in the United States |
C.Hyperloop will be powered by energy from the sun |
D.Hyperloop has reached to 760 miles per hour |
A.Systems. | B.Capsules. | C.Tubes. | D.Airplanes. |
A.Hyperloop Is Closer To Reality | B.Hyperloop Will Test At Quay Valley |
C.Elon Musk’s Idea Is Under Discussion | D.Hyperloop Travels Around The World |
9 . “Plogging” is a new fitness trend (趋势). It is a combination of “jogging” and the Swedish phrase “plocka upp”, meaning “pick up”. It encourages people to stop while out on jogs to pick up litter.
Started in Sweden around 2016, plogging is now going global.
Like other fitness trends, there are plenty of plogging pictures and videos online.
Plogging is a great way to encourage people to make a difference in their local environment.
A.They clearly show what this trend looks like. |
B.Plogging is suitable for all ages and fitness levels. |
C.If you’re not a runner, biking or walking works too. |
D.It is appealing because it is simple and meaningful. |
E.More and more runners are turning their jogs into plogs. |
F.So it adds the idea of environmental protection to the sport. |
G.Plogging isn’t the first fitness trend to connect sports with a good cause. |
Fabien Cousteau was born with deep love for the ocean. His grandfather and his father were ocean
Fabien is well known for his study of sharks. During 2000﹣2002, he created a TV special based on the shark attacks that
For the next four years, Fabien was part of a series called Ocean Adventures,
In 2010, Fabien started a nonprofit project to help restore water ecosystems by replanting key ocean species. From June 1to July 2,2014, Fabien and his team spent 31days underwater to discover
Fabine is