2 . How Can We Make Singles Day Greener?

After the Singles Day, nearly 490 million packages were delivered every day. As more people prefer online shopping, the amount of waste generated has become a matter of concern.     1     Consumers share their opinions.

Regulations can be put in place but self-awareness would be better. Recycled material should be used as much as possible, which can break down easily.     2    Therefore, Product makers urgently need to improve their technology of product packaging. What’s more, green packaging is urgently needed in the market.

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As consumers, we can make a difference by acting responsibly toward the environment. Buy naked groceries or keep the grocery packaging for other purpose before they’re thrown away. Always keep in mind that it is the consciousness of reusing the packaging that counts.

Environmental stress caused by packaging and rolls of tape for express delivery goods is severe. It’s necessary to deliver the goods with package instructions.    4     When lacking enough packaging instructions, the packaging cannot be recycled or reused and the tape is simply abandoned.

Policies and regulations should be introduced to ensure that packaging will be recycled and reused. Meanwhile, a recycling system needs to be established where the e-commerce platforms, delivery companies and consumers can engage in the green packaging campaign.    5    In addition, tax preference can also be offered for the packaging recycling and reusing toward the e-commerce platform and express companies.

We live in a world of plastic. Shopping bags, drink bottles, your toothbrush and even your clothes are among the everyday items     1     (make) from plastic. But plastic isn’t fantastic, and neither is the current state of our environment.

Humans     2     (produce) plastic on a large scale (大规模地) since the 1950s. We produce hundreds of millions of tons of plastic every year and production is only increasing.     3     (fortunately), most of it is used only once and then thrown away. Only a small part of plastic     4     (recycle). The majority ends up in our oceans.

A Plastic Ocean is a documentary film directed by the Australian journalist Craig Leeson. It investigates the serious harm plastic has done     5     our oceans. What starts off as an adventure to film the blue whale, the     6     (large) animal on the planet, leads to the shocking discovery of a thick layer (层) of plastic     7     (float) in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The film sends the message that our actions and choices can severely influence the planet.

Plastic is so widely used because it is durable (耐用的) and cheap. However, this durability is the same quality that makes it so     8     (harm) to the environment. Most plastics do not break down chemically. Instead, they break into smaller pieces     9     can remain in the environment for     10     long time.

5 . Businesses are witnessing a difficult time, which has in turn produced influence on consumers, desire to go green. However, shoppers are still laying stress on environmental concerns.

Two thirds of customers say that environmental considerations inform their purchases to the same degree as they did a year ago, while more than a quarter say that they are now even better aware of the environmental effect on what they buy.

This may help to influence how shops store goods on their shelves. And the companies should still make efforts to become more environmentally friendly. Two out of three people think it is important to buy from environmentally responsible companies, with about one in seven saying that they had even decided to take their custom elsewhere if they felt a company’s environmental reputation was not good enough.

Harry Morrison, chief executive (主管) of the Carbon Trust, sympathizes: “I understand this situation where survival is very important now. But from environmental considerations, the clock is ticking — we don’t have much time. In addition, cutting carbon has an immediate effect as costs drop and a medium-term benefit for the brand.”

Larger companies have an extra motivation to look at reducing their carbon footprint, as new rules next year will require businesses to buy carbon allowances to make up for their emissions (排放). Those that have taken early action will have a head start. More than two thirds of consumers are not clear about which companies are environmentally responsible. This suggests that firms that are able to relay clearly their message to the public will be in a pole position to attract shoppers.

The Carbon Trust believes that it can help by informing customers about the good work companies are doing. “When companies are granted (授予) the standard, they can use a logo (标识) in all their marketing which makes it clear that they are working towards cutting emissions,” Mr. Morrison said.

South Koreans consume 2.4 billion plastic straws (吸管) annually. And like in many other countries, the government is stepping up to reduce the amount of single-use plastics.

The idea of Rice Straws came to Kim Kwang-pil when he first saw     1     eatable cup. He thought to himself, “If they can make a cup you can eat, why not a straw?”

That was the beginning of Kim’s company, Yeonjigonji,     2     produces eco-friendly straws     3     (make) of rice. Kim settled on rice mainly     4     it is familiar to consumers in his country. The rice straws come in various shapes and sizes and can     5     (complete) break down within 100 days.

“I met people who wouldn’t believe I could eat the straws. So, when I did, they     6    (convince),” said Kim.

So far the company     7     (sign) deals with companies in dozens of countries throughout Asia, North America and South America.

As they are eatable, the rice straws need to pass food safety laws in each country. But Kim believes that his straws are     8     (good) than paper or other straws. “After all, you still need to cut down trees     9     (produce) paper straws,” said Kim, whose next goal is to create environmentally-friendly, single-use cutlery (餐具), like forks,     10     (knife) and spoons.

9 . Main Types of Water Pollution

When we think of Earth’s water resources, we think of huge oceans, lakes, and rivers.     1     The most obvious type of water pollution affects surface water. For example, a spill from an oil tanker creates an oil layer that can affect a vast area of an ocean.

    2     A great deal of water is held in underground rock structures known as aquifers(含水层). Water stored underground in aquifers is known as groundwater. Aquifers feed our rivers and supply much of our drinking water. They can also become polluted, for example, when weedkillers used in people’s gardens drain into the ground.

Surface water and groundwater are the two types of water resources that pollution affects.     3     If pollution comes from a single location, such as a pipe attached to a factory, it is known as point source pollution.     4     A great deal of water pollution happens not from one single source but from many different sources. This is called nonpoint source pollution.

Sometimes pollution that enters the environment in one place has an effect hundreds or even thousands of miles away.     5     One example is the way radioactive waste travels through the oceans from unclear reprocessing plants in England and France to nearby countries such as Ireland and Norway.

10 . The Tokyo Summer Olympics is going green. The 5,000 medals Japan has made are more special than most.

One novel focus of the Tokyo Olympics is to be“sustainable”—to avoid using too many natural resources, so that the games are easy on the environment. As part of this goal, the organizers decided to make all of the Olympic medals out of metal recycled from old electronics.

Almost all electronics are made with small amounts of "precious metals", like gold and silver. But collecting enough of these metals to make 5,000 medals was a huge challenge. That's because the amount of metal in each device is tiny. It would take about 20,000 cell phones to get just 1 kilogram of gold.

Beginning in April 2017, the organizers placed collection boxes around the country, and asked people to turn in their old electronic devices. Soon people began to respond to the initiative, turning in smartphones, digital cameras, hand-held games, and laptops. At first, collection went slowly, but soon more and more areas began to take part. By the end, 1,621 local governments had helped out with the collection process.

Then came the job of breaking those devices down into smaller pieces. After being taken apart and sorted, the small electronics were smelted (熔炼) to get all the gold, silver, and bronze elements. This is a tricky job, which calls for careful attention and good skill. It's also dangerous, because some of the metals and other things aren't safe for people to touch or breathe.

By the end of March, 2019, the organizers had hit their targets of getting enough metal for the medals. They had collected around3xkilograms of gold, 4,100 kilograms of silver and 2,200 kilograms of bronze. And now all the 5,000 medals are available for the would-be winners.