Plastic pollution at sea is reaching
As plastic breaks down into smaller pieces, it also enters the marine food chain,
While consumers can help reduce plastic pollution by changing their behavior, governments have to step up and accept
Researchers say they have found microplastics (微塑料) -tiny pieces of plastic that come as a result of the disposal of industrial waste-deep in the lungs of living
The research, which
In the study, researchers
The study notes
The world produces about 300 million metric tons of plastic a year and about 80% ends
3 . An English mother, Liz Pinfield-Wells, has recycled more than 2,600 pounds (1,200 kg) of trash (垃圾) through a DIY recycling center in her garden shed (棚) in Dawley Shropshire. Pinfield-Wells established the recycling center after the birth of her third child when she discovered that her town’s roadside recycling program did not accept certain items.
The recycling center accepts 30 different categories of recyclable waste. Pin field-Wells encouraged the public to leave their mixed recycled items at the end of her driveway, and dozens of residents have since dropped off their trash in her shed. She has even accepted Pringles tubes, which have metal and plastic components and should not be placed in the roadside bin. “Setting up the recycling drop-off center, in my front garden has hopefully helped the community to recycle more. It can sometimes seem a little difficult knowing where to start but with every small step, it gets that little bit easier,” she said.
Every month, she sends the collected items in vacuum-packed (真空包装的) bags to TerraCycle, a firm that turns the waste into small plastic balls for use in other products, such as watering cans and benches. The weight of the trash is then changed into points for money, which can be paid out twice a year to a charity or sports organization of her choice.
In the last three years, Pinfield-Wells has raised more than £1,000, which she has donated to her 14-year-old daughter Zoe’s gymnastic group to buy new equipment. She has also donated money to another local charity to buy woodchips for their community garden.
Pinfield-Wells hopes that her recycling center will raise awareness about the importance of recycling and encourage others to take small steps to reduce their carbon footprint. She has created a Facebook group for here eco-center recycling shed, which now has over 1,000 members.
1. What inspired Liz to start the program?A.Overloading trash. | B.Her preference for DIY practice. |
C.Her children’s encouragement. | D.Limitation of local trash service. |
A.It develops plastic tubes. |
B.It produces vacuum-packed bags. |
C.It processes waste into small plastic balls. |
D.It supplies woodchips for community gardens. |
A.It will get new equipment. | B.It will boost community economy. |
C.It will replace the local trash service. | D.It will motivate more people to take action. |
A.Ambitious and intelligent. | B.Responsible and thoughtful. |
C.Adventurous and determined. | D.Pioneering and humble. |
China will build the world’s largest national park system, and a layout plan will be released soon. The plan is being drafted
With the continuous changes of road signs and the presence of fire prevention warnings, Saihanba, known as the “miracle on earth”, begins to come
Today, Saihanba is not only
1.现状描述;
2.我们能为地球“降温”做什么。
注意:
1.写作词数应为80左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
参考词汇:北极the North Pole;冰川glacier
What Can We Do to Reduce Global Warming?
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7 . Lagos, a big city in Nigeria, has a population of 20 million, and they can produce between 13, 000 and 15, 000 tonnes of waste every day including 2, 250 tonnes of plastic.
Despite a lot of cleaning, Lagos has no proper system to dispose of rubbish, and not having public awareness of pollution brings a huge environmental challenge. Litter gets washed away by the rains and waterways and ends up in mountains of rubbish on the beaches. Light- house Beach is one of the beaches. It stretches for about 100 kilometers along the Atlantic, all the way to neighboring Benin. Lined with palm trees, the beach could be beautiful if it weren’t for all the pollution.
“It is time that we should raise awareness of keeping the environment clean and clean up all the plastic,” says Chioma Chukwura, who helped pick up rubbish on Lighthouse Beach. At the end of a tiring day, 230 large bin bags were put together on the hot sand, filled with dirty plastic.
“Although the job is challenging,a company will come and pick them up tomorrow. All the plastic here will get reused. Sold for $500 a tonne, the plastic could bring $250 million to Lagos each year, and a cleaner environment could promote the development of the city,” says Owoade Yussuf, organiser of the cleanup.
As the volunteers leave at the end of the day,always just 100 meters is clean. “There is still a lot to do. Maybe we need two months, continuously, to get this cleaned up,” says another volunteer. “We have to find a way to prevent the plastic from coming back. After we’ve finished, I’m sure we may still see litter here when we come back.”
On Lighthouse Beach, the problem isn’t just plastic. Destroyed ships also pollute the beach. With that kind of pollution, even an army of volunteers may struggle. However, with more help, they can still make a difference.
1. How does the author show the severity of rubbish in Lagos in paragraph l?A.By listing numbers. | B.By giving examples. |
C.By asking questions. | D.By making comparisons. |
A.Pick out. | B.Deal with. | C.Bring about. | D.Adapt to, |
A.There is no need to recycle the beach litter. |
B.It is tough to clean all the plastic on the beach. |
C.It is nccessary to sell the beach litter for money. |
D.There is no fund to remove all the beach plastic. |
A.Destroyed Lighthouse Beach in Lagos |
B.Plastic Pollution is a Worldwide Problem |
C.Lagos Faces Many Environmental Challenges |
D.Cleanup Efforts on Lagos’Lighthouse Beach |
8 . China has planted millions of trees in its north over the past two decades as part of its fight against expanding deserts.
The effort paid off. Around the year 2000, deserts across the country were still expanding by 10, 400 km a year. But in 2017, the State Forestry Administration reported that China’s deserts were decreasing by more than 2, 400km2 a year. The achievement was confirmed by a 2018 study from the Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences in Paris.
“In 1999, the Chinese government began planting millions of trees in its Grain for Green Program. It was intended to repair damaged farmland in the northern Loess Plateau, which is roughly the size of France,” says Philippe Ciais, a climate researcher at the laboratory. “I was there a few months ago, and it is indeed amazing that once bare landscapes are now almost fully covered by plants.”
And China is doubling its effort and has announced a target of 30% forest coverage by 2050. At the moment, the coverage is 22%.
“The growth of forests is significant and necessary progress in the fight against desertification,” says Jianping Huang, a climate researcher at Lanzhou University. “But it’s still too early to determine whether it has solved the problem. In northwestern China, researchers have found that many of the plant species introduced to the Loess Plateau use more water than native vegetation. A 2016 study found that the restored ecosystem was already using too much rainfall and reducing the amount of water that runs off to rivers. It could lead to water shortages for humans.”
Considering water shortages is important, the national forestry department has recognized the error of planting trees in dry areas. In recent years, it has worked more closely with researchers and communities to find ways to seed less-thirsty plants that have economic value. These include plants used in traditional Chinese medicine, which farmers can harvest and sell.
“All programs need to take into account local conditions,” the forestry department said in March. “Our efforts should go towards keeping vegetation healthy, rather than simply planting trees.”
1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?A.The effort of planting trees. |
B.The worsening desertification. |
C.The hard fight against expanding deserts. |
D.The result of the Grain for Green Program. |
A.22%. | B.30%. | C.44%. | D.52%. |
A.The rapid growth of the foreign species. |
B.The fast losses of native plants and trees. |
C.The war for water between trees and humans. |
D.The quickly declining rainfall in the dry areas. |
A.To put economic value first. | B.To consider the income of all parties. |
C.To base its decisions on local conditions. | D.To wait for complete scientific evidence. |
It is reported that at present a city in Japan has a problem with graffiti(涂鸦). However, it is not the usual type of graffiti with paint from spray cans
Officials in the city of Tottori are asking tourists to give up
More than 3,300 cases of "sand graffiti"
The Tottori Sand Dunes are famous throughout Japan
The local government wants to improve tourists' understanding of the
10 . Australian scientists have successfully tested a new method for freezing and storing coral larvae(珊瑚幼虫), which they say could eventually help restore the wild coral reefs(珊瑚礁) threatened by climate change. They are struggling to protect coral reefs as rising ocean tem peratures damage ecosystems.The Great Barrier Reef has suffered four events of becoming white in the last seven years including the first one during a La Nina phenomenon, which typi-cally brings cooler temperatures.
Frozen coral can be stored and later reintroduced to the wild, but the current process requires some modern equipment including lasers(激光). The scientists say a new lightweight “cryomesh(冷冻网)” can be produced cheaply and better protect coral. In a December lab tri- al,the world’s first with Great Barrier Reef coral, they used the “cryomesh” to freeze coral larvae at the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences(AIMS). “If we can protect the coral, we’ll have tools for the future to really help restore the reefs, and this technology for coral reefs in the future is a real game-changer,” said Mary Hagedorn, Senior Research Scientist at AIMS.
The “cryomesh” was previously tested on smaller and larger kinds of Hawaiian corals. Some trials on the larger kinds failed. But then other trials are continuing with larger varieties of Great Barrier Reef coral. The trials involved scientists from AIMS, the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute,the Great Barrier Reef foundation and the Taronga Conservation Society Australia as part of the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program.
The technology,which will help store coral larvae at - 196 ℃, was invented by a team from the University of Minnesota’s College of Science and Engineering. It was first tested on corals by PhD student Nikolas Zuchowicz. “This new technology that we’ve got will allow us to do that, and it can actually help to support the growing and restoration of wildlife in water,” said Jonathan Daly of the Taronga Conservation Society Australia.
1. What is the new method of restoring the coral reefs?A.Keeping coral larvae warmer. |
B.Keeping coral larvae by freezing them. |
C.Decreasing the temperatures of the reefs. |
D.Controlling the ecosystems around the reefs. |
A.It will be applied in a game. |
B.It requires an expensive“cryomesh” . |
C.It will be used to make a new“cryomesh” . |
D.It requires the support of advanced devices. |
A.The time and place. |
B.The range and way. |
C.The effect and participants. |
D.The equipment and conditions. |
A.Positive, | B.Curious. | C.Uncertain. | D.Unconcerned. |