1 . If you were to throw, say, a banana peel out of your car while driving along the motorway, that would be a completely harmless action, due to the fact that it’s part of a fruit, right? Actually, no. A banana peel can take up two years to decompose (分解), and with a third of motorists admitting to littering while driving, that’s a whole lot of waste banana peels, or much worse. An orange peel and a cigarette butt has a similar biodegrading (生物降解) term to that of a banana, but tin and aluminum (铝) cans last up to100 years; and plastic bottles last forever, as do glass bottles and plastic bags.
Despite the fact that longer-lasting materials will serve to damage the environment, we can’t only measure the severity (严重) of a certain type of rubbish by its lifetime. For example, despite having a fairly short biodegrading span, more than 120 tons of cigarette-related litter is thrown in the UK every day. Similarly, our regular littering here and there has caused the UK’s mouse population to increase by 60 million. This suddenly isn’t so mysterious when you consider that since the 1960s our annual littering has increased by an astonishing 500 percent.
It’s not a cheap habit either: UK taxpayers spent £500 million on keeping the streets clean. So, it’s not surprising that if caught fly-tipping, you could face a £20, 000 fine. Regardless of how severe the punishment might seem, however, among the reported cases only 2, 000 were punished out of 825, 000, so we still have some way to go in making sure people obey the rules.
To take back our beautiful cities, we need to do more than simply not leaving rubbish where it ought not to be. We need to care more about the world around us.
1. Which of the following is the easiest to decompose in the passage?| A．A glass bottle. | B．A plastic bag. | C．An aluminum can. | D．An orange peel. |
| A．Annual littering has increased a little in the UK since the 1960s. |
| B．Shorter-lasting materials will be less harmful to the environment. |
| C．Cigarette-related littering is a severe environmental problem in the UK. |
| D．Regular littering has caused the UK’s mouse population to reach 60 million. |
| A．Every little helps. | B．More haste, less speed. |
| C．No pain, no gain. | D．A drop in the bucket. |
| A．Littering, a Surprisingly Big Issue |
| B．Environment Issues, a Big Concern |
| C．Rubbish Collection, an Urgent Task |
| D．Long-lasting Material, a Hidden Danger |
2 . Who would have thought that there was any connection between a cup of coffee and a bird, butterfly, or even a bat? Such seems to be the case, however, as methods for growing coffee plants have gradually changed over time.
Coffee plants were first discovered growing in Africa hundreds of years ago. The plants grew under a wide cover of forests, which protected the coffee plants’ leaves from the burning sun. As coffee was introduced to other countries, farmers would naturally try to grow the plants in the shade of tall trees. These trees provided more than shade for coffee plants; they were also home for many species of birds, insects, and other plants.
Over the past 30 to 40 years, people developed a new kind of coffee plant, one which grows well in open sunlight. Sun-grown coffee produced two times more coffee than shade-grown coffee in the same amount of time and space. As a result, the growing need for coffee makes the sun-grown method appear to be the best way to grow coffee.
However, this newer method has some unexpected results. First, the lack of tree cover leaves the land open to heavy rainfall, which can wash away the soil’s nutrients (营养物质). This necessitates an increased use of fertilizers and additives, which is likely to create health risks. Second, as forests are taken down to make way for sun-grown coffee plants, native and migratory birds no longer have a home. This is threatening many species, and the effect is now being examined and recorded by ornithologists, who are discovering sharp falls in some species that travel to the northern United States each year. Finally, more pesticides (农药) are used in the sun-grown method, all of which have a bad influence on both the environment and the long-term health of the coffee plants themselves.
Today, as more people recognize the problems of coffee grown in the sun, perhaps they will be willing to pay the higher prices, encouraging coffee growers to return to the more natural method of producing this worldwide product.
1. Compared with shade-grown coffee, sun-grown coffee _____.| A．grows more slowly |
| B．tastes much better |
| C．is more productive |
| D．is more expensive |
| A．Protect forests. |
| B．Grow coffee. |
| C．Make pesticides. |
| D．Study birds. |
| A．Grow shade-grown coffee. | B．Improve coffee production. |
| C．Sell coffee at lower prices. | D．Plant a new kind of coffee. |
| A．coffee and forests |
| B．coffee production and the environment |
| C．coffee farmers and animals |
| D．coffee and sunlight |
3 . Many cities and towns have laws that require people to recycle paper and plastics. Now some state and local governments have passed laws that require citizens to recycle their food waste as well. California and Vermont have statewide laws about recycling food waste that apply to businesses and homes. The process of recycling food waste and turning it into usable soil is called composting (堆制肥料).
Food waste that can be composted includes fruit and vegetable peels, coffee grounds, tea bags, and eggshells. Garden waste such as stems and leaves can also be composted. Meat, fish, and dairy food waste cannot be recycled.
According to environmental groups, composting reduces the amount of trash going into landfills (垃圾填埋池), and composted waste holds a wide range of nutrients. When compost is added to the soil in gardens and fields, it helps crops grow.
Reducing the amount of waste that goes into landfills is one reason why cities and states are passing food-waste recycling laws. “Our landfills are far from enough for the creation of new ones is shrinking.” Renee Crowley, a project manager said.
Officials in Seattle, Washington, say that food waste makes up 30% of the trash going into landfills, and they are looking to reduce that percentage. That city has a law requiring people to recycle food waste. It is banned from all garbage. There is a fine for people who put it into regular garbage.
Crowley points out that even in cities where food recycling is not a law, there are often places where citizens can drop off their food waste for composting. Many schools and colleges have also started composting programs.
Those who are against food-recycling laws say that the composting process is costly. In addition, it can be difficult for people who live in apartments to store their waste because they don’t have access to outside storage bins. Patti Ferguson from Orange County, California, told her local newspaper that she thought an indoor container containing food waste would get smelly.
1. What do we know about composting from the text?| A．It is cheap to compost food waste. |
| B．Not all food waste can be reused. |
| C．Not all soil can be composted. |
| D．It is usually processed in empty landfills. |
| A．Ways of keeping nutrients in the soil. |
| B．Ways of reducing the amount of trash. |
| C．Benefits of recycling food waste. |
| D．Examples of different useful nutrients. |
| A．illegal | B．shameful |
| C．required | D．acceptable |
| A．thankful | B．supportive |
| C．uncaring | D．negative |
