1 . Since the 1950s, some 9.2 billion tonnes of plastic have been produced globally, of which only about 10% has ever been recycled. Yet environmentally conscious companies and consumers continue to look to recycling as a way to ease the plastic problem. Manufacturing giants claim to be committed to making more of their products and packaging from recycled materials. However, this confidence masks (掩饰) a complex web of issues around plastic recycling. Recycling rates remain extremely low and critics argue that we should look at alternative ways to tackle plastic pollution.
While many plastics have the potential to be recycled, most are not because the process is costly, complicated and the resulting product of a lower quality than the original. Despite rising demand for recycled plastic, few waste companies turn a profit. Part of this is because virgin plastic-linked to oil prices - is often cheaper than recycled plastic, meaning there is little economic incentive to use it. Worse yet, much of our plastic waste is difficult to recycle. Lightweight food packaging, like a mozzarella packet, contains different plastics, dyes and toxic additives (添加剂). This dirty mix means plastic recycled through mechanical methods- the most common form- can only be melted down and moulded (浇铸,塑造) again a couple of times before it becomes too fragile to be reused. And the nature of the process means plastic recycling has a carbon footprint of its own.
Given all of these difficulties, environmental critics say recycling is not the solution-and argue that creating more products from recycled material to attract environmental consciousness merely worsens the problem. “The solution is to use less plastic and to stop misleading the public about the recyclability,” says Enck, president of Beyond Plastics, a US campaign group with a mission to end single-use plastic. “They should stop making false claims about the recyclability of plastics since they know most will either be littered (乱扔) or burned or landfilled (填埋). Using less plastics means shifting to reusable products and relying more on paper, cardboard, glass and metal- -all of which should be made from recycled content.”
1. What is an environmentally conscious customer’s attitude towards recycling plastics?| A．Suspicious. | B．Favorable. | C．Indifferent. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．motive. | B．issue. | C．crisis. | D．policy. |
| A．The recycling process of plastics. | B．Pollutants contained in recycled plastics. |
| C．Reasons why users dislike recycled plastics. | D．Contributing factors to low plastic recycling rates. |
| A．Using metal or glass food containers. | B．Littering recycled plastics in a landfill. |
| C．Processing plastics in a mechanical way. | D．Launching campaigns to promote recyclability. |
2 . Catch your reusable bag and kiss your plastic bags goodbye. Plastic waste is on its way out, thanks to these governmental bans from around the world.
From Indiana to Maine, governments at all levels in the US are forcing bans and improving recycling. People are shopping smarter and companies are doing better to ensure the protection of our environment. Slowly but surely, the world is entering a brighter future as more and more countries follow. But there’s still a lot of work to be done—or undone.
Since the 1950s, researchers say that about more than 8.3 billion tons of plastic has been produced. And 60% of that waste has ended up in the environment. That number has increased quickly over the years. For example, it was recorded that the world’s plastic production doubled from 1976 (50 million tons) to 1989 (100 million tons). It was highest at 368 million in 2019 before decreasing to 367 million in 2020.
A million tons decrease of plastic production is not enough to deal with the rising pressures plastic puts into the environment. We still do not know how long it takes for plastic to breakdown. It means that about 12 million tons of plastic waste that entered the ocean in 2010 is still breaking into micro plastics and filling up the stomachs of birds and sea animals. The plastic going into our environment is not going away. While recent studies of plastic-eating enzymes and bacteria offer some hope for the future of plastic waste management, the best way to deal with our environmental stress is through decrease.
In 2020, New York City began to ban plastic bags. But this wasn’t the first plastic bag ban in a US state. In fact, the US wasn’t even the first country to introduce this idea. Back in 2002, Bangladesh became the first country to implement a plastic bag ban. Since then, other countries have followed, introducing their own ways to fight with the continuing plastic bags.
1. What do we know about plastic waste?| A．We have completely cleaned it up | B．It is hardly increasing all over the world. |
| C．We have done nothing to deal with it. | D．There is a long way to solve the problem of it. |
| A．More than 8.3 billion tons. | B．About 5 billion tons. |
| C．About 100 million tons. | D．Less than 368 million tons. |
| A．It doesn’t take long to breakdown it | B．Sea animals can be eating most of it. |
| C．Some enzymes and bacteria help a lot. | D．Cutting plastic waste down is still the best way. |
| A．Carry out. | B．Keep up. | C．Look at. | D．Take away. |
3 . Running after fireflies （萤火虫）on a warm summer night might become a rare childhood memory if humans don't take action. There are over 2,000 different firefly species around the world, but their populations are decreasing due to artificial light pollution, pesticides （杀虫剂）and smaller habitat size.
A team of Tufts University-led researchers surveyed scientists and conservationists about the threats to firefly populations around the world. According to the study, one of the main threats to fireflies in East Asia and South America is artificial light. Fireflies light up to attract mates, but they can easily mistake human-made lights as potential partners. Adult fireflies typically live only a few days, which doesn't give them long to find a mate.
Humans' destroying the insects' natural habitats creates another threat. During their larval phase （幼虫期），Malaysian fireflies live in riverside bushes that are often pulled out for human-made fish farms. In Europe, Lampyris fireflies are finding less food to eat due to the growing urbanization of what were once woods and farmlands. In Malaysia, adult pteroptyx fireflies that usually prefer to mate in specific trees next to rivers have to find new mating areas because the trees are being knocked down for farmhouses.
The study also looked at the effects of climate change, tourism, invasive （侵入的）species and water pollution. On a positive note, while fireflies around the world seem to be suffering from the previously mentioned issues, Big Dipper fireflies living in the US happen to be booming. "Those guys can survive pretty much anywhere,said Sara Lewis, a biologist from Tufts University.
The study urges countries where firefly populations are dwindling to take measures to preserve suitable habitats, lessen light pollution, reduce use of pesticides and develop better guidelines for tourism around known firefly areas.
1. What mainly causes the drop of the firefly population in East Asia?| A．Light pollution. | B．Habitat loss. |
| C．Climate change. | D．Food shortage. |
| A．The Malaysian firefly. | B．The Lampyris firefly. |
| C．The Pteroptyx firefly. | D．The Big Dipper firefly. |
| A．on the rise | B．on the decrease |
| C．under control | D．out of control |
| A．Watching fireflies is a rare childhood memory. |
| B．Cooperation is the key to firefly protection. |
| C．Urbanization becomes a main threat to fireflies. |
| D．Human activities lead to less firefly population. |
