1 . In the west of the Greek capital Athens, the fish market of Keratsini is busy early in the morning, with trucks waiting nearby to be loaded with fishes. But on his fishing boat, Arapakis sorts out something different—bottles, boots, plastic pipes and fishing nets, all dragged from the bed of the Aegean Sea.

“We are swimming in plastic,” said Arapakis, whose family has fished for five generations. “By 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the sea,” he said, as recent reports noted.

That morning’s plastic catch weighed “about 100 kilograms,” said the founder of Enaleia, a nonprofit that encourages fishermen to collect marine (海洋的) waste caught in their nets. Since its establishment in 2018, it has worked with more than 1,200 fishermen in Greece to raise concern over the degradation of the marine environment.

Active in 42 ports throughout Greece, Enaleia provides fishermen with large bags for marine waste that they can put in garbage cans once back at port. For every kilogram of plastic they deliver, they receive a small amount of money, which is enough for a drink. Since October, fishing crews have dragged out 20 metric tons of plastic and old fishing equipment each month. Nearly 600 tons have been collected over the last five years. The collected plastic is transported to a recycling plant in the industrial area of Megara near Keratsini, to make new products such as socks, swimwear or furniture.

Arapakis said he went about the cleanup project after a trip to Greece’s Cyclades islands, where he saw fishermen throwing the waste gathered by their nets back into the sea.

Arapakis is convinced there has been a “mentality change” among Greece’s fishermen. “Previously we caught large quantities of plastic, but we only kept the fish. All waste was thrown into the sea,” said Mokharam, team leader on the Arapakis family’s boat. “The project brings practical benefits for fishing boats. In the past, the anchor was often caught by waste, especially nets, and the engine would go out. But now things have changed,” he added.

1. What can we learn about Arapakis from the first 2 paragraphs?

A．He was a successful fish trader.	B．He collected waste from the sea.
C．He liked swimming in the sea.	D．He had a large family to support.

2. What does the underlined word “degradation” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Impact.

B．Worsening.

C．Improvement.

D．Research.

3. What will most probably happen to the collected waste in the end?

A．It will be sold at a high price.	B．It will be exchanged for food.
C．It will be thrown back into the sea.	D．It will be well dealt with for reuse.

4. What can we infer from Mokharam’s words?

A．Fishing is a tough job for fishermen.	B．The sea in Greece is seriously polluted.
C．He thinks highly of the cleanup project.	D．He still feels ashamed for fishermen’s behavior.

2 . Roads and railways have made it easy for people to travel around the UK, but have had the precisely opposite effect for insects. Alongside housing developments, transport infrastructure (基础设施) has separated insect habitats, leaving many pollinators (传粉昆虫) stuck on decreasing islands of biodiversity.

A new conservation project aims to address that by creating a network of wildflower superhighways across the UK. The B-Lines network aims to join the dots between meadow habitats, enabling pollinators and other wildlife to move freely between them. Ten years in the making, the B-Lines initiative was launched by the insect charity Buglife on Tuesday and has already generated interest from unexpected quarters. “After the launch, some house builders rang up asking how they could include the network into house building, so it could have a really positive effect,” said Buglife’s Paul Hetherington.

Buglife has spent the last decade mapping potential routes for the insect superhighway. Hetherington said the proposed highway could give the UK’s weak insects a boost and a route out of habitats that become too hot due to the climate crisis and it can make a huge difference in easing declines. “The things that have really hammered pollinators are habitat loss, loss of connectivity of habitat, climate change and pesticides—this deals with everything except pesticides,” said Hetherington.

The B-lines network is not just a concept. Pilot sections have already been completed, including the South Wales B-Lines near Cardiff. “Since that was done, there have been recordings of one of our rarest bees in Cardiff town centre, which shows this connectivity can work,” said Hetherington. And in Norwich, Buglife has been working with Network Rail to plant wildflowers along the track. Anyone living along the proposed route can get involved in the project. All they need to do is let their lawns grow, or even just create a small herb garden, which Hetherington likened to creating a “motorway service station for bees”.

1. What can we learn about the B-Lines network from paragraph 2?

A．It will separate insect habitats.	B．It can help insects to pollinate.
C．It is still being planned now.	D．It hasn’t caused any attention.

2. What does the underlined word “this” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．The last decade.

B．The superhighway.

C．The climate crisis.

D．The decline.

3. How can people in Norwich participate in the project?

A．By recording the tracks of bees.	B．By cooperating with Network Rail.
C．By planting herbs in their own gardens.	D．By creating a motorway service station.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Roads and railways have caused bad effect on insects.

B．Transport infrastructure prevents housing developments.

C．Pollinators are stuck on decreasing islands of biodiversity.

D．Conservationists are creating “superhighways” for insects.

3 . The African penguin lives on St. Croix island off the east coast of South Africa. A new study has found that they are leaving their natural environment to escape noisy ship refueling (补给燃料) activities.

The African penguins once mainly raised babies on this island. But the population has dropped sharply since South Africa started permitting ships in the area to refuel at sea six years ago, the study found.

Lorien Pichegru is acting director of the Coastal and Marine Research Institute at Nelson Mandela University, which led the study. She said the organization had found that noise levels in the area had doubled since the refueling activities began. Scientists say high noise levels affect the ability of penguins to find and catch other animals for food. Noise also makes it more difficult for them to communicate with each other and map travel paths. ‌“This year we are at 1,200 breeding pairs at St Croix from 8,500 pairs in 2016,” Pichegru said.

The study recently appeared in the publication Science of the Total Environment. The researchers said the study is the first to explore the effects of ocean traffic noise pollution on a seabird.

Nelson Mandela University’s study collected some data to estimate underwater noise from passing ships. Oil-covered penguins were found in 2019 in Algoa Bay after an oil spill from ship-to-ship refueling. Environmental groups have called for the activities to be banned in the bay.

Pichegru said penguins in the area were already struggling to survive because of a series of issues, including industrial fishing activities. She added that the refueling activities did not kill all the penguins. However, ‌“It was just the thing that made the whole ecology tip over and then the penguins couldn’t cope with that,” she said.

1. What has the new study found about penguins?

A．They have difficulty in raising babies.	B．They can get used to noisy ships easily.
C．Their population is on the increase.	D．They are forced to leave the natural environment.

2. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．The value of Lorien Pichegru’s job.	B．The importance of ship refueling activities.
C．The ability of Penguins to find food.	D．Bad effects of noises on Penguins.

3. What might Pichegru agree with?

A．The penguins should be put in control.

B．Fishing activities should be greatly encouraged.

C．Refueling activities should be strictly managed.

D．The penguins should develop their survival abilities.

4. Where is this text most likely from?

A．A diary.

B．A guidebook.

C．A textbook.

D．A magazine.