1 . Every week, Angela looked at her recycling bin, filled with shampoo bottles and plastic containers, with mixed feelings. Sure, it was a lot of plastic, but it was going to be recycled. Or so she thought. Then, her husband sent her some articles revealing that less than 6% of the country’s plastic gets recycled. She was shocked.
Determined to cut back on her plastic consumption, Angela got a starter kit from a company selling refillable household cleaners (家用清洁器). In it were tablets, containing concentrated hand soap as well as glass and bathroom cleaners, and four empty containers. She filled each one with tap water, then dropped in a tablet and watched it dissolve. If she was happy with the cleaners, she would order more tablets but reuse the containers. No new plastic required.
Given plastic’s harmful effects on the environment, nearly three quarters of Americans say they are trying to reduce their reliance on single-use plastic, according to Pew Research Center. Since plastic is everywhere and avoiding it altogether is extraordinarily difficult, some, like Angela, have revived a once-customary practice: refilling containers. Household cleaners seem particularly prepared for a refill revolution, for many can be easily concentrated and reconstituted (with water. If just 10% to 20% of plastic packaging are reused, a report from the World Economic Forum estimates, the amount of plastic waste entering the ocean will be cut in half.
Not everyone is as enthusiastic, though. Jan Dell, a chemical engineer, noted that many cleaning products are packaged in PET or HDPE, two types of plastic with relatively high recycling rates. So she is less concerned about them but far more concerned about the packaging of other products. “What companies should be focusing on is everything else that isn’t recyclable, that is single use and that often becomes plastic pollution,” she said, pointing to plastic bags and cups. “This is just a classic example of big corporations doing something to attract people’s attention over here on something that’s not the main issue to distract from all the single-use plastic they’re pushing out.”
1. Why is Angela mentioned?| A．To promote a tablet. | B．To lead in the topic. |
| C．To clarify a concept. | D．To recommend a kit. |
| A．Float over water. | B．Turn over in water. |
| C．Change color in water. | D．Mix with water. |
| A．Critical. | B．Favourable. |
| C．Conservative. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．A chemistry paper. | B．An academic report. |
| C．A lifestyle magazine. | D．A cleaner advertisement. |
2 . When rains fell in the Atacama Desert for the first time in centuries, scientists had expected to see life blossom (繁盛). Instead, almost everything died. The shocking discovery was published in the journal Scientific Reports. Found in northern Chile, the dry core of the Atacama Desert hadn’t experienced rain for the past 500 years. But three years ago, rain started to fall once again in the region.
A changing climate in the Pacific Ocean resulted in the desert’s dry core experiencing rain on March 25 and August 9, 2015, and it rained again on June 7, 2017. There was no evidence of rain in this region for the past 500 years, although climate models suggested it should occur every century.
The international team of scientists who studied the region were hoping for deserts springing to life. “Instead, we learned the contrary, as we found that rain in the dry core of the Atacama Desert caused a massive extinction of most native microbe (微生物) species there, ”said study co-author Alberto Fairén.
Before the rain fell, this region of the Atacama had been home to 16 different ancient microbe species. But after the rain fell, just two to four species were still found to be surviving in the resultant pool of water. The cause of the extinction event, believed to have been about 85 percent of life in the soil, was caused by the sudden influx of water. In particular, these microbes were adapted to survive in extreme dryness. They were unable to adapt quickly enough to the unexpected rainfall.
But it’s not all bad news. The team also found nitrates (硝酸盐) in the Atacama Desert that were indicative of a lengthy dry period, while also acting as food for the microbes. And we’ve recently found nitrates on Mars, which could be indicating a similar process there.
1. How did the scientists find their discovery according to Alberto Fairén?| A．Satisfying. | B．Astonishing. | C．Amusing. | D．Comforting. |
| A．Shortage. | B．Need. | C．Arrival. | D．Test. |
| A．The resultant pool of water was a wildlife habitat. |
| B．The team plans to turn the desert into a green land. |
| C．Scientists have observed lots of microbes on Mars. |
| D．The finding brought some hope to relevant studies. |
| A．Unexpected Rainfalls Hit a Desert Badly |
| B．A Science Magazine Increased in Popularity |
| C．Scientists Unlocked the Secret behind Drought |
| D．A Breakthrough Occurred in Space Exploration |
3 . “Reduce, reuse, and recycle”, this familiar environmentalist slogan tells us how to reduce the amount of rubbish that ends up in landfills and waterways. The concept is being used to deal with one possibly dangerous form of waste — electronic junk (电子垃圾), such as old computers, cell phones, and televisions. But this process for managing e-waste may be used in an unscrupulous (肆无忌惮的) way more often than not used, a recent report suggests.
“A lot of these materials are being sent to developing nations under the excuse of reuse — to bridge the digital divide (消除数字鸿沟),” said Richard Gutierrez, a policy researcher.
One of the problems is that no one proves whether these old machines work before they hit the seaways. Because of this, the report says, e-waste is a growing problem in Lagos, Nigeria, and elsewhere in the developing world. Much of the waste ends up being thrown away along rivers and roads. Often it’s picked apart by poor people, who may face dangerous exposure to poisonous chemicals in the equipment.
Businessmen also pay workers a little money to get back materials such as gold and copper. This low-tech recovery process could expose workers and the local environment to many dangerous materials used to build electronics. According to Gutierrez, this shadow economy exists because the excuse of recycling and reusing electronics gives businessmen “a green passport” to ship waste around the globe. “Developing nations must take upon some of the responsibility themselves,” Gutierrez said. But, he added, “A greater portion of this responsibility should fall on the exporting state (出口国).”
China, for example, has become a dumping place for large amounts of e-waste. The nation is beginning to take action to stop the flow of dangerous materials across its borders. The Chinese government, after many years of denial (拒绝) is finally beginning to take the lead.
1. The passage mainly tells us that .| A．developing countries are making full use of e-waste |
| B．e-waste is a growing problem in developed countries |
| C．developing countries are facing serious environmental problems |
| D．e-waste is sent to developing countries under the excuse of reuse |
| A．A lot of e-waste is dumped in developing countries. |
| B．Old computers and TVs still work before sent abroad. |
| C．The problem of e-waste is growing in developing countries. |
| D．Poor people break up e-waste to collect some valuable materials. |
| A．poor countries should be blamed for this problem |
| B．developing countries should be responsible for this problem |
| C．neither rich nor poor countries should be blamed for this problem |
| D．exporting countries should be mainly responsible for this problem |
| A．China has hidden a large amount of e-waste in many secret places |
| B．China has greatly changed her idea about the problem of e-waste |
| C．China is falling behind other countries in dealing with e-waste |
| D．China has prevented poisonous materials entering China for a long time |
1. What does the man think of the meeting?
| A．Complex. | B．Interesting. | C．Meaningless. |
| A．Write a letter. | B．Attend a meeting. | C．Throw rubbish. |
| A．Unfriendly. | B．Concerned. | C．Satisfied. |
| A．Printing out the poster. |
| B．Inviting Kate to have dinner. |
| C．Asking someone else for help. |
| 地震前 | 同学们正在教室里学习，外面阴云密布，狂风大作。 |
| 地震中 | 教室开始摇动，电灯摇晃、后突然熄灭，窗户玻璃破碎，大家躲在桌子底下。 |
| 地震后 | 大家赶紧有序地沿楼梯逃生。学校有三名同学受伤，没有人死亡。 |
May 9 Sunday Rainy
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
When boiling rock erupts from a volcano and crashes back to earth, it causes
“The goal is that every 300 metres if you open a window, you
With its mild weather, teahouses, quiet leafy streets and
To deal with that
8 . The Thames Barrier is a system that prevents London from being flooded by North Sea storms. It lies in the eastern part of London. The Thames Barrier was built in the 1970s and has been in operation since 1982. It costs over 500 million and is operated by the Environment Agency.
In normal weather, tides cause the Thames River to rise and fall by about 5 metres twice a day. Heavy storms in the North Sea, however, combined with rising tides can push too much water up the Thames and flood central parts of the city. When this happens, the gates of the London Barrier are raised to keep water away from the city.
In the course of history, London has witnessed many cases of extreme flooding. The worst event took place in 1953, when 307 people in England died during a heavy storm that spread across the North Sea and flooded the city. After this disaster, city planners decided that something had to be done to protect the city.
Today, 10 rotating (旋转的) steel gates span the 520-metre wide Thames River. Under normal conditions, the five-storey-high gates are down and ships can pass through. When danger approaches, the gates each weighing 3,000 tons can be raised within minutes to keep extra water out of the city area. Since the opening of the barrier in 1982, the gates have been closed over 170 times. Recently, however, the gates have been closed very often due to rising sea levels.
The Thames Barrier protects over a million people who live and work in central London. It also protects historic buildings, infrastructure (基础设施) and the London Underground. Climate experts say that sea levels are rising slower than predicted so that the barrier will be operational through to 2070.
1. What can we know about the Thames Barrier?| A．It lies in the north of London. |
| B．It was used to store water. |
| C．It costs £500 million a year. |
| D．It started to be used in 1982. |
| A．Tides rise and fall about 5 metres twice a day. |
| B．Rising tides can easily food central parts of the city. |
| C．The Environment Agency hoped to reduce losses. |
| D．The flood in l953 made 307 people in England lose their lives. |
| A．Frequent ships. | B．Rising sea levels. |
| C．Extreme weather. | D．Too much rain. |
| A．Attractive. | B．Important. |
| C．Concerned. | D．Controversial. |
9 . These days more and more people tend to buy man-made trees for Christmas, because they think they are good for the environment. But is it true? Which is more environmentally friendly—real or man-made? The simple answer is: it depends.
Real trees that still have their roots have little carbon footprint (碳足迹). They can be planted, brought inside for the Christmas period and then replanted.
But things are more complex for other trees.
Britain’s Carbon Trust estimate (估计) that a two-meter tall tree that doesn’t have roots has a carbon footprint of between 3.5 kg CO2e and16 kg CO2e depending on whether it is burnt—which is less polluting——or finds its way to a landfill (垃圾填埋场). “Unfortunately, we still see a lot of trees going into landfill,” says Sophie Neuberg, a member of Friends of the Earth. “And that’s very bad for the environment because they break down very slowly and create methane which is a greenhouse gas.”
The picture for plastic trees isn’t so encouraging. The Carbon Trust estimate a carbon footprint of around 40 kg CO2e for a two-meter tree, but its beauty is that it can be reused.
“It’s a good idea to get a good quality one that you can use for many years. Someone I know has had their plastic tree for 20 years,” Neuberg says.
This tendency toward reuse of plastic treess is supported by research published by the American Christmas Tree Association (ACTA) who estimate that 85% of US families with a man-made tree will reuse it and that on average man-made trees are reused for 11 years.
Jami Warner, director of ACTA repeats Neuberg’s advice. “Quality man-made trees are very easy to break down and very easy to store,” Wrner says. “If you take good care of it you can use it season after season or you can donate it to a good organisation.”
However, if you want a truly green Christnnas, you can simply replace the tree with the plants already in your house and decorate them for Christmas.
1. Why do people tend to buy man-made Christmas trees now?| A．They think it costs less. |
| B．They find it more convenient. |
| C．They consider it more decorative. |
| D．They believe it is more eco-friendly. |
| A．Burning it. | B．Reusing it. |
| C．Throwing it. | D．Replanting it. |
| A．Buying a good quality plastic tree. |
| B．Planting a tree in a pot and reusing it. |
| C．Using plants to replace Christmas trees. |
| D．Ignoring the tradition and canceling the tree. |
| A．Business. | B．Education. |
| C．Health. | D．Environment. |
10 . According to the Solar Energy Industry Association, the number of solar panels installed(安装)has grown rapidly in the past decade, and it has to grow even faster to meet climate goals. But all of that growth will take up a lot of space, and though more and more people accept the concept of solar energy, few like large solar panels to be installed near them.
Solar developers want to put up panels as quickly and cheaply as possible, so they haven’t given much thought to what they put under them. Often, they’ll end up filling the area with small stones and using chemicals to control weeds. The result is that many communities, especially in farming regions, see solar farms as destroyers of the soil.
“Solar projects need to be good neighbors,” says Jordan Macknick, the head of the Innovative Site Preparation and Impact Reductions on the Environment(InSPIRE)project. “They need to be protectors of the land and contribute to the agricultural economy.” InSPIRE is investigating practical approaches to “low-impact” solar development, which focuses on establishing and operating solar farms in a way that is kinder to the land. One of the easiest low-impact solar strategies is providing habitat for pollinators(传粉昆虫).
Habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change have caused dramatic declines in pollinator populations over the past couple of decades, which has damaged the U.S. agricultural economy. Over 28 states have passed laws related to pollinator habitat protection and pesticide use. Conservation organizations put out pollinator-friendliness guidelines for home gardens, businesses, schools, cities—and now there are guidelines for solar farms.
Over the past few years, many solar farm developers have transformed the space under their solar panels into a shelter for various kinds of pollinators, resulting in soil improvement and carbon reduction. “These pollinator-friendly solar farms can have a valuable impact on everything that’s going on in the landscape,” says Macknick.
1. What do solar developers often ignore?| A．The decline in the demand for solar energy. |
| B．The negative impact of installing solar panels. |
| C．The rising labor cost of building solar farms. |
| D．The most recent advances in solar technology. |
| A．Improve the productivity of local farms. |
| B．Invent new methods for controlling weeds. |
| C．Make solar projects environmentally friendly. |
| D．Promote the use of solar energy in rural areas. |
| A．To conserve pollinators. | B．To restrict solar development. |
| C．To diversify the economy. | D．To ensure the supply of energy. |
| A．Pollinators: To Leave or to Stay | B．Solar Energy: Hope for the Future |
| C．InSPIRE: A Leader in Agriculture | D．Solar Farms: A New Development |
