1 . Plastic is everywhere, from the Arctic ice to vital organs in the human body. In fact, previous estimates suggest that the average person swallows a credit card-worth of microscopic plastic particles(颗粒) every week. But new research shows that this could actually be an understatement.

Microplastics are plastics smaller than 5 millimeters, found in industrial waste, beauty products, and formed during the degradation of larger plastic pieces. Over time, they break down into even smaller nanoplastics. These tiny particles can pass through our intestines and lungs into our bloodstreams, reaching vital organs like the heart and brain.

While the idea of eating plastic is unsettling in itself, the major concern here is that these plastic particles contain chemicals that can interrupt our body’s natural release of hormones, potentially increasing our risk of reproductive disorders and certain cancers. They can also carry toxins(毒素) on their surface like heavy metals.

In the past, researchers have shown bottled water can contain tens of thousands of identifiable plastic fragments in a single container. However, until recently, only the larger microplastics were detectable with available measuring tools, leaving the area of nanoplastics largely a mystery.

Using Raman microscopy (显微镜学), capable of detecting particles down to the size of a flu virus, the team measured an average of 240, 000 particles of plastic per liter of bottled water, 90 percent of which were nanoplastics, a revelation 10 to 100 times larger than previous estimates.

These plastics likely originate from the bottle material, filters used to “purify” the water, and the source water itself. “It is not totally unexpected to find so much of this stuff, ” the study’s lead author, Columbia graduate student Naixin Qian, said in a statement. His team hopes to expand their research into tap water and other water sources to better inform our exposure to these potentially dangerous particles. “The idea is that the smaller things get, the more of them I reveal, ” he added.

1. What is the primary focus of the new research?

A．The presence of plastic particles.	B．The use of plastic in everyday products.
C．The detection methods for microplastics.	D．The potential risks of nanoplastics to human.

2. What is the advantage of Raman microscopy?

A．Finding the source of plastic particles.	B．Helping to cure the deadly flu virus.
C．Detecting the smaller plastic particles.	D．Improving the quality of bottled water.

3. Why will the team expand their research into tap water?

A．To focus on areas with higher plastic pollution.

B．To be aware of the dangerous particles in daily life.

C．To further measure the types of particles in tap water.

D．To detect the smaller plastic particles in industrial areas.

4. What is Qian’s attitude towards his research?

A．Skeptical.

B．Objective.

C．Conservative.

D．Positive.

2 . 由于校园里存在一些不环保的行为，学校决定举行“building a greener campus”活动。假定你是李华，你受学生会委托为校宣传栏“英语天地”写一份倡议书，督促学生积极行动起来，保护校园环境。
内容如下：1. 写信目的；
2. 活动原因；   
3. 活动建议（节约能源，垃圾分类，植树等 ）；
4. 呼吁加入。
注意：词数 80 词左右。
Dear friends,
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

With best wishes,

Li Hua

3 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

When travelling overseas, do you buy water in plastic bottles or take your chances with tap water? Imagine you are wandering about on a Thai island or     1     (admire) the ruins of Angkor. It’s hot so you grab a bottle of water from a local vendor. It’s the safe thing to do, right? The bottle is sealed, and the label says “pure water”. But maybe what’s inside is not so     2     (nature). Would you still drink it if you     3     (know) that more than 90 percent of all bottled water sold around the world contains microplastics?

That’s the conclusion of a recently     4     (release) study, which analyzed 259 bottles from 11 brands sold in nine countries, revealing an average of 325 plastic particles per liter of water. These microplastics included a substance commonly known as PET and     5     (wide) used in the manufacture of clothing and food and liquid     6     (contain). The study was conducted at the State University of New York     7     behalf of Orb Media, a journalism organization. About a million bottles are bought every minute, not only by thirsty tourists but also by many of the 2.1 billion worldwide     8     live with unsafe drinking water.

Confronted with this evidence, several bottled-water manufacturers including Nestle and Coca-Cola undertook     9     (they) own studies using the same methodology. These studies showed that their water did contain microplastics,     10     far less than the Orb study suggested. Regardless, the World Health Organization has launched a review into the potential health risks of drinking water from plastic bottles.

4 . Like many of the Indigenous (土著的) communities across the Australian continent, the remote communities in north-west New South Wales are struggling. Many of the 300 or so residents rely on welfare. Higher electricity bills—up to $3,000 a quarter for some households—further worsen the poverty. They’re always at the end of the power line, so the service that is there is quite extraordinary in terms of cost. It’s a real problem that needs to be fixed.

To that end, Anderson and other Indigenous leaders have formed the First Nations Renewable Energy Alliance (FREA) to push for renewable energy in Indigenous communities. They partner with private enterprise to support Indigenous communities looking to switch to renewable energy.

“We can build a power station where the community exists,” Anderson says, “so people are able to successfully live in the environment the way they want to live and have access to power which enables them to better determine their economic future.”

Only a handful of Indigenous communities have set up renewable energy projects in Australia. The Indigenous-owned and -operated company AllGrid Energy, for instance, has installed solar panels and battery storage systems to replace diesel (柴油) generators in the communities of Ngurrara and Kurnturlpara in the Northern Territory’s Barkly Tableland. Within two months of the system being installed in May 2016, people were moving back to their homelands, the communities growing from just two permanent residents to about 40.

But FREA will go one step further, working with community leaders and acting as a conduit (纽带) between the communities and the businesses they are dealing with. This is essential, says Anderson, to avoid predatory (吞并) practices they have seen in the past, with companies “playing on the psychology of poverty” to gain advantage. The FREA has drafted terms of agreements that will guide how companies engage with Indigenous communities for renewable energy projects.

One of the next steps for FREA will be to identify a community that can act as a test case for a renewables project. “Our experience is that if we can make it work for one community, it will work in every other community,” Anderson says.

1. What is FREA expected to do for the remote Indigenous communities?

A．Increase power supply to them.	B．Help them return to their homelands.
C．Shake them off poverty.	D．Reduce their higher power costs.

2. What does the author indicate by mentioning AllGrid Energy?

A．Renewables projects are inaccessible.

B．Renewables projects are quite workable.

C．Renewables projects can increase locals’ income.

D．Renewables projects can coexist with diesel power plants.

3. What’s paragraph 5 mainly about concerning FREA?

A．Its strategies to win over the businesses.	B．Its cooperation with community leaders.
C．Its potential conflict with energy companies.	D．Its innovation in directing renewables projects.

4. What’s FREA going to do next?

A．Consult the experts.	B．Select a piloting community.
C．Collect sufficient construction fund.	D．Make renewables projects available to all.

5 . It’s an unusually calm morning for Jim Smith, owner of Ventura Dive Sport, and lifelong seaman. He’s in charge of the Raptor, carrying a boatload of divers and snorkeling(浮潜) enthusiasts over to the Channel Islands anchored just off the Southern Californian coast, in the remote Channel Islands National Park.   

On this trip, in particular, Smith is hoping to spot giant black sea bass, a huge underwater creature that grows over seven feet long and can weigh more than 700 pounds. Unsurprisingly, it’s a fish that sits atop the food chain, and the species is an important part of the marine (海洋的) ecosystem.

Up until the 1970s, black sea bass were a common sighting in Southern California, but due to overfishing their population dramatically declined. As a result, fishing for giant black sea bass of any kind was banned in California in 1982. In the Channel Island region, thanks to the protected waters of the national park, there is a promising sign-a recent survey found around 50 individuals around the Catalina Island alone.

Marine biologists’ photos-and indeed anyone else’s-now have a permanent home, on a newly-created database named Spotting Giant Sea Bass. The website, launched and run by the Aquarium of the Pacific in July, is a joint community effort to find out more about these mysterious creatures. Scientists hope to be able to answer how the population is changing over time, how far giant sea bass move, where they spawn (产卵), and how they grow in marine protected areas. With more than 1 million dives recorded annually across the Golden State’s coastline, researchers hope a joint effort to document this species will aid with its recovery.

“One of the main things people want to see when they come out with us during September and October is giant sea bass,” Smith says. “If you’re lucky enough to be on a dive and one swims past you. . . it really is the most incredible experience. ”

1. Who is Jim Smith?

A．A marine biologist.

B．A dive boat captain.

C．A founder of a website.

D．A guard of a national park.

2. What can we infer about black sea bass in the Channel Island region now?

A．They are experiencing population growth.

B．They are being overfished.

C．They are living in terrible conditions.

D．They are disappearing due to pollution.

3. Which of the following is considered as “a permanent home” in paragraph 4?

A．Southern California.

B．Spotting Giant Sea Bass.

C．Marine protected areas.

D．The Aquarium of the Pacific.

4. What will be helpful for the recovery of black sea bass according to the researchers?

A．Swimming with them in the sea.

B．Prohibiting deep-sea diving.

C．Working together to record information.

D．Discovering more islands.

7 . From lettuces (生菜) farmed on New York’s skyline to thick corridors of trees occupying Colombian roadsides, green initiatives are running wild in cities around the world.

Replanting initiatives have sprung up since the start of the 21st century as urban development goals have shifted and alarm about global warming has grown.

In nine cities around the world, thanks to planting schemes on walls and roofs, the temperature can be reduced by 3.6 to 11.3 degrees Celsius (摄氏的) at the hottest time of day, according to a report by the French Agency for Ecological Transition. Green spaces have also been shown to improve health and well-being, including by reducing stress, anxiety and depression, improving attention and focus, bettering physical health, said Stephanie Merchant of Bath University’s department for health. “However, it’s about where they are created in relation to the needs of the local communities,” she added.

So, are all urban replanting projects worthwhile?

“For a scheme to be seen as effective, it must fulfill as many functions as possible,” said the economist and urban planner Jean Haentjens. In addition to lowering the temperature, he said it should also preserve biodiversity, improve well-being, raise awareness, be appealing to residents and suitable for its social context.

The Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm in New York grows more than 45 tonnes of organic produce a year. Covering three rooftops, totalling more than 22,000 square metres, the farm cultivates a wide variety of vegetables. But it has to limit the soil depth to about 30 centimeters and irrigate (灌溉) the soil a little more frequently, because it dries out very quickly. Another question is whether pesticides (杀虫剂), which scare off birds and insects, are used when the aim is to boost biodiversity. For Jean Haentjen, it represents “an interesting route”, depending on the context. “But we can’t make it the model of tomorrow,” he said.

1. What contributes to the popularity of green initiatives?

A．Global warming.	B．Improving attention.
C．Reducing stress.	D．Preserving biodiversity.

2. What is mainly discussed in Paragraph 3?

A．The characteristics of planting schemes.	B．The evaluation of urban replanting projects.
C．The classification of green initiatives.	D．The benefits of replanting initiatives.

3. What is Jean Haentjen’s attitude towards the green initiatives?

A．Dissatisfied.

B．Cautious.

C．Indifferent.

D．Approving.

4. What’s the author’s intention of writing the passage?

A．To tell readers the approach to global warming.

B．To inform people of the green initiatives worldwide.

C．To appeal to people to take part in the replanting initiatives.

D．To show the advantages and disadvantage of the planting schemes.

9 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What are the good seeds confirmed by?

A．Containers.

B．X-rays.

C．Freezers.

2. Why are seeds stored in frozen environment?

A．To be preserved for long.

B．To tackle climate change.

C．To safeguard food supply.

3. What is the speech mainly about?

A．Where seeds are stored.

B．How the seed bank works.

C．Why seed banks are important.

10 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Storm Arwen hit much of Britain at the end of last week, causing disastrous     1     (consequence) including loss of life and property. The world-famous Bodnant Garden was among     2     worst-hit areas. Over 50 trees were uprooted including a 51-metre ‘Champion’ coast redwood ——the largest of its kind in Wales.

The Wallington Estate in Northumberland reported the most horrible storm in the past 40 years,     3     (destroy) as large as an area of 13 acres green space. Among       4     (variety) trees   lost   to the winds were 250-year-old oak and beech trees planted by Sir Walter Calverley Blackett.

“There have been   tears. We     5     (see) storms and floods here before but this damage is never seen in living memory. The area worst     6    (affect) is Furnace Wood where we’ve done major repair work over the last decade.” said   Adam   Salvin, head gardener at Bodnant,     7     the clear-up is expected to take months.

“Our gardens and landscapes will take months to clear up and years, even decades, to     8     (full) restore. Some won’t be the same again but I have no doubt that our amazing teams will recreate these much-loved places and reopen them for everyone     9     (enjoy).”

Damage is still being assessed but the National Trust expects the damage to cost it at least f3m. The charity is appealing     10     the people to make donations to help.