1 . How to Be Eco-friendly
If you’d love to be more eco-friendly but don’t know where to begin, start with a few small changes.
Lowering Your Energy.
Turn off lights and unplug power strips (电源插板) that you’re not using.
Using public transportation.
Say no to unnecessary plastic straws, lids, and bags and stop using plastic wrap and plastic containers for food storage. Instead, you can use reusable water bottles made of sustainable material like glass, bamboo, and ceramic.
Considering growing a plant.
They add more oxygen to the air, which means a less polluted air. If you don’t have a green thumb, choose some plants that are rather easy to look after.
| A．Reduce your gas consumption and carbon emissions by walking, biking, or taking the bus. |
| B．Here are some suggestions for you to live an eco-friendly life. |
| C．Use less energy during the hot summer months and cold winter season. |
| D．This is an easy way to reduce energy use. |
| E．Using items more than once. |
| F．Cutting Back on Plastics and Waste. |
| G．“Lucky Bamboo” is especially good for that, since it demands nearly no attention. |
2 . An extraordinary new restaurant in Semarang, Indonesia is on a mission (使命) to support locals trapped in poverty, many of whom are earning less than $25 a month, by providing them with an alternative way to pay for their food.
The Methane Gas Canteen, run by husband and wife team Sarimin and Suyatmi, is located in an unexpected place for an eatery — Jatibarang Landfill. The landfill is a mountain of purifying waste, where poor locals spend their days collecting plastic and glass to sell. Meanwhile, the couple, who spent 40 years collecting waste before opening the restaurant, is busy cooking.
What makes the restaurant unusual, aside from its location, is that no cash is required to pay for meals. Poor people have the option to pay for their food with recyclable waste instead of cash. Sarimin weighs the plastic customers bring in, calculates its worth, and then deduct that value from the cost of the meal, giving any extra value back to the customer. The scheme is part of the community’s solution to reduce waste in the landfill and recycle non-degradable plastics.
“I think we recycle 1 ton of plastic waste a day, which is a lot. This way, the plastic waste doesn’t pile up, drift down the river and cause flooding,” said Sarimin in an interview with Channel News Asia. “It benefits everyone.”
The restaurant seats about 30 people and serves meals that cost between $0.40 and $0.80 each. Since opening the canteen Sarimin and Suyatmi have seen their daily income more than double to $15 a day.
“I’m happy to see our customers enjoying their meals,” Sarimin told NHK World. “The poor must also have the right to enjoy healthy eating. I want to give them that chance as much as possible.”
1. What do we know about Jatibarang Landfill?| A．An unusual restaurant for people to eat free meals. |
| B．A mountain where the locals live on selling waste. |
| C．A place where poor locals collect waste to sell. |
| D．A plant where waste is recycled. |
| A．To double their daily income and profit. |
| B．To prove waste is a valuable thing. |
| C．To provide food for locals trying to survive. |
| D．To help settle the issues of poverty and trash. |
| A．Increase | B．Replace |
| C．Remove | D．Equal |
| A．An unusual way to pay for meals. |
| B．A local mission to help get rid of poverty. |
| C．A different scheme to reduce waste. |
| D．A new restaurant getting double income. |
3 . Recently, Whitewater Middle School students in the US looked at 200 pounds (90.7kg) of food. Their classmates threw it away after a meal in the cafeteria.
They found the remains of pizzas. They saw untouched green salads and pieces of bread bitten only once.
It was, they said, both disgusting and educational.
“You don’t realize how much food waste you’re making till you see it,” said student Cody Gist.
To deal with this problem, Whitewater added environmental science as a school-wide program this year. Teachers are guiding their students through research on the ways food is linked to environment, poverty, and people’s health.
The school changed to compostable (可用作堆肥的) paper trays (托盘) as well. Working with Every Tray Counts, a US nonprofit group, the school hopes for a change from disposable (一次性的) trays to compostable paper trays.
This isn’t just an exercise at school. Whitewater is joining a network of schools, business and neighborhoods. They try to make composting as mainstream as recycling.
“The larger issue is protection of landfill space,” said Laurette Hall, an environmental management official. The area has enough space to last for maybe 25 more years, she said “That isn’t as much as it sounds in such a rapidly growing area.”
Principal Beth Thompson said students advise each other on new ways to deal with trash.
“Students understand why it matters so not one student refused to do extra work when throwing away their waste,” Thompson said.
Whitewater teachers make sure students know how their own eating habits are part of bigger problems. In environmental literature class, students read books such as Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal.
Mollie Lyman works with several language arts classrooms. Their classes discuss such issues as how poor neighborhoods often have less access to healthy food.
Lyman says she wants students to ask some basic questions: “What do we eat? What do we waste?”
1. Why did Whitewater Middle School students look at the food?| A．To see how food was connected with other problems. |
| B．To find out the calories of different kinds of food. |
| C．To check what foods were most popular among students. |
| D．To prepare students for the environmental science course. |
① Introducing a new course about the environment.
② Using compostable paper trays in the cafeteria.
③ Setting up a group called Every Tray Counts.
④ Joining others to make composting common.
| A．①②③ | B．②③④ | C．①②④ | D．①③④ |
| A．People don’t want to protect landfill space. |
| B．There won’t be enough landfill space in the future. |
| C．Students don’t know how to recycle trash. |
| D．Students don’t understand the waste problem. |
| A．To tell readers how important it is to save food. |
| B．To call on students to care about poor people. |
| C．To encourage schools to have environmental protection classes. |
| D．To share how a US school is making an effort for the environment. |
4 . 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.
1. What’s the main idea of the passage?| A．Businesses are finding ways to send their message to the shoppers. |
| B．Companies will soon get information about cutting carbon emissions. |
| C．Firms are making efforts to encourage customers to keep goods at home. |
| D．Firms are urged to cut carbon emissions by shoppers, environmental awareness. |
| A．affect | B．change |
| C．disturb | D．reject |
| A．will benefit from cutting carbon emissions |
| B．should buy carbon allowances for shoppers |
| C．are required to make up for their carbon emissions |
| D．have encouraged shoppers to take their custom elsewhere |
| A．have a strong desire to reduce costs |
| B．use the same logo in their marketing |
| C．gain advantages by taking early action |
| D．attract more shoppers by storing goods |
