1 . It doesn’t kill germs better than cooler water, but turning tap temperatures high, the US burns carbon equal to the emissions of Barbados.
People typically wash their hands seven times a day in the United States, but they do it at a far higher temperature than is necessary to kill germs, a new study says. The energy waste is equivalent to the fuel use of a small country.
It’s cold and flu season, when many people are concerned about avoiding germs. But forget what you think you know about hand washing, say researchers at Vanderbilt University. Chances are good that how you clean up is not helping you stay healthy; it is helping to make the planet sick.
Amanda R. Carrico, a research assistant professor at the Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and Environment in Tennessee, told National Geographic that hand washing is often “a case where people act in ways that they think are in their best interest, but they in fact have inaccurate beliefs or outdated perceptions.”
Carrico said, “It’s certainly true that heat kills bacteria, but if you were going to use hot water to kill them it would have to be way too hot for you to tolerate.”
She explained that boiling water, 212°F (99.98°C), is sometimes used to kill germs — for example, to clean drinking water that might be polluted with germs. But “hot” water for hand washing is generally within 104°F to 131°F (40°C to 55°C). At the high end of that range, heat could kill some germs, but the sustained contact that would be required would scald the skin.
Carrico said that after a review of the scientific literature, her team found “no evidence that using hot water that a person could stand would have any benefit in killing bacteria.” Even water as cold as 40°F (4.4°C) appeared to reduce bacteria as well as hotter water, if hands were scrubbed, rinsed (冲洗) and dried properly.
In fact, she noted that hot water can often have an unfavorable effect on hygiene. “Warmer water can harm the skin and affect the protective layer on the outside, which can cause it to be less resistant to bacteria,” said Carrico.
Using hot water to wash hands is therefore unnecessary, as well as wasteful, Carrico said, particularly when it comes to the environment. According to her research, people use warm or hot water 64 percent of the time when they wash their hands. Using that number, Carrico’s team calculated a significant impact on the planet.
“Although the choice of water temperature during a single hand wash may appear minor, when multiplied by the nearly 800 billion hand washes performed by Americans each year, this practice results in more than 6 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions annually,” she said.
That’s roughly equal to the emissions of two coal-fired power plants, or 1,250,000 passenger vehicles, over the course of a year. It’s higher than the greenhouse gas emissions of small countries like EI Salvador or Armenia, and is about equivalent to the emissions of Barbados. If all US citizens washed their hands in cooler water, it would be like eliminating the energy-related carbon emissions of 299,700 US homes, or the total annual emissions from the US zinc or lead industries.
The researchers found that close to 70 percent of respondents said they believe that using hot water is more effective than warm, room temperature, or cold water, despite a lack of evidence backing that up, said Carrico. Her study noted research that showed a “strong cognitive (认知的) connection” between water temperature and hygiene in both the United States and Western Europe, compared to other countries, like Japan, where hot water is associated more with comfort than with health.
The researchers published their results in the July 2013 issue of International Journal of Consumer Studies. They recommended washing with water that is at a “comfortable” temperature, which they noted may be warmer in cold months and cooler in hot ones.
1. What does the writer mainly focus on when writing this passage?| A．Whether hot water helps kill germs effectively in hand washing. |
| B．How hot water contributes to the serious worsening of our planet. |
| C．Why the consumption of hot water is unnecessary and wasteful. |
| D．What the advantages and disadvantages of using hot water are. |
| A．burn | B．improve |
| C．soften | D．wrinkle |
| A．two coal-fired power plants | B．US zinc or lead industries |
| C．1,250,000 passenger vehicles | D．EI Salvador or Armenia |
| A．Boiling water at 212°F (99.98°C) works effectively in killing germs. |
| B．Warmer water can damage the protective layer of the outside skin. |
| C．There is much difference between cold water and hot water in reducing bacteria. |
| D．Americans have inaccurate beliefs or outdated perceptions in hand washing. |
| A．Warmer in winter and cooler in summer. |
| B．Between 104°F to 131°F (40°C to 55°C). |
| C．Below 104°F (40°C) or above 131°F (55°C). |
| D．Warm enough to kill germs and clean up. |
2 . Time magazine’s tradition —“Person of the Year” originated in 1927, when it honored 25-year-old pilot Charles Lindbergh for the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean Though the magazine has recognized several young people for their global influence, it has never given the important honor to a teenager. But its 2019’s “Person of The Year” is the 16-year-old Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg.
Thunberg’s rise to global reputation is even more surprising given that just over a year ago, she was a shy 15-year-old anxious about the increasing threat of climate change. In August 2018, tired of the “refusal” of world leaders to take action, the young girl started camping out in front of the Swedish Parliament every Friday with a sign that said: “School Strike for Climate.”
The teen’s act of protest soon drew public attention, inspiring kids and adults worldwide to take action. By September 2018, her weekly strike became a global climate change movement called “Fridays for the Future”, with tens of thousands of students skipping school on this day to protest the inaction of the leaders of their respective countries. Her appeal for progress in environment protection also encouraged other young activists to begin their own climate change movements.
Varshini Prakash, co-founder of the US Youth-Led Sunrise Movement, says Thunberg “symbolizes the suffering, the frustration, the desperation, the anger — at some level, the hope — of many young people who won’t even be of age to vote by the time their futures are doomed.”
The teenager, who has single-handedly helped bring climate change to the forefront of the global conversation, owes her success to her Asperger’s syndrome (阿斯佩各综合征). She says, “I see the world in black and white, and I don’t like compromising. If I were like everyone else, I would have continued on and not seen this crisis. Right now, we have entered a new decade — a decade that will define our future. And I’ve seen hope, but it does not come from the governments or companies. It comes from the people.”
1. Why did Greta Thunberg camp out in front of Swedish Parliament every Friday?| A．To heighten public awareness of environmental protection. |
| B．To show her support for school strike for climate. |
| C．To condemn the government’s inaction on climate change. |
| D．To win a global reputation as a teenager climate change activist. |
| A．In paragraph2. | B．In paragraph3. |
| C．In paragraph4. | D．In paragraph5. |
| A．Positive and sensitive. | B．Uncaring but reliable. |
| C．Selfish but intelligent. | D．Brave and determined. |
| A．Charles Lindbergh is the first adolescent “Person of the Year” of Time magazine |
| B．on account of Asperger’s syndrome, Greta Thunberg has suffered a lot |
| C．all governments haven’t already taken effective measures to deal with climate change |
| D．Varshini Prakash thinks little of Thunberg and her strike for climate change |
3 . So you think that by staying at home you are safe from all the terrible kinds of pollution present outdoors? Recent research done at the University of Texas has shown that staying indoors may actually be more harmful to one’s health than being outdoors in smoggy cities.
The research shows that chemicals added to our local water supply to kill harmful bacteria can have unwanted side effects. These chemicals can cause potential harm through drinking and in such seemingly harmless activities as cleaning one’s house. These additives are released from water by daily actions like water running out of taps, spraying from garden hoses, or splashing in dishwashers and washing machines. As the water is agitated (搅动), these chemicals are released into the air and then breathed in. Once inside our bodies, they start to affect our health harmfully.
Does this mean we should stop bathing? No, say the scientists, but we should put all pollution into perspective. Activities at home such as the burning of candles and incense release a lot of things which have been proven as harmful to health as working or living near high density traffic. New rugs, bedding, and even clothing give off that “new smell”, which is a sure sign of chemicals. In the office, newly-applied paint, newly-purchased telephones and other telecommunications equipment, and computers and their peripheral (外部设备) release polluting chemicals, too. As offices and homes often have inadequate ventilation (空气流通), these chemicals can build up to become health trouble. Their toxic effects are only now being slowly recognized.
These facts suggest that, at a minimum, proper airing of newly-purchased goods with an obvious chemical smell is a wise precaution. Home and office windows should be opened during good weather to allow a flushing of stale air. Even one’s car needs to be ventilated as well as the garage.
Until we understand the effects of our new technological environment better, we can only hope that “there is no place like home”.
1. According to the text, why is the local water supply unsafe?| A．Because it contains harmful chemicals. |
| B．Because it contains poisonous bacteria. |
| C．Because the activities of using water are harmful. |
| D．Because washing dishes makes the water polluted. |
| A．long-lasting | B．poisonous |
| C．obvious | D．immediate |
| A．Present more detailed information. | B．Summarize the previous paragraphs. |
| C．Introduce a new topic for discussion. | D．Give some advice about the problem. |
| A．Enclosed environment may have potential health risks. |
| B．Staying indoors is actually less risky than going outside. |
| C．Home and office windows should be opened at any time. |
| D．Any use of electronic devices should be banned to prevent pollution. |
4 . Rainbow -coloured rubbish is the colourful waste created by a Swedish city with a unique recycling system. Like many cities in Sweden, Eskilstuna has an impressive recycling record. It met the EU’ s 2020 target of recycling 50％ of waste many years ago. But almost everyone who lives here follows a strict recycling policy at home. People are expected to sort their household waste into seven separate categories, including food, textiles, cartons and metal. But what really makes the system stand out is the bright colour code.
The reason for this becomes clear at the city’ s recycling plant. The bags arrive all jumbled up because they’ re collected altogether, once a fortnight from outside people’ s houses. But thanks to those bright colours, scanners can select the bags and separate them efficiently. The food waste in green bags is processed on site into slurry(浆) to make biogas, which powers the city’ s buses. One of the benefits of this method of recycling is that there is less cross-pollution,so more of the recycled waste can actually be used to make new things.
Like the rest of Sweden, Eskilstuna is committed to sending zero waste from its citizens to landfill(垃圾堆) . Waste that cannot be recycled is incinerated at a local plant to generate electricity. This reduces reliance on fossil fuels, but does create greenhouse gases. As countries a-round the world try to improve their recycling rates, some may look to Eskilstuna as an example to follow— as long as they think they can persuade their citizens to get busy sorting at home.
1. How do people deal with their household waste in Eskilstuna？| A．Sorting and putting it in colourful bags. |
| B．Dyeing it with different colours. |
| C．Processing and recycling it at home. |
| D．Sorting and taking it out every week. |
| A．It avoids cross － pollution entirely. |
| B．The waste can be stored in a fixed site. |
| C．It’ s easier to classify the bags of rubbish. |
| D．The city takes on a colorful look. |
| A．Burnt | B．Broken |
| C．Reused | D．Washed |
| A．Tips on Sorting of Household Waste. |
| B．A Swedish City’ s Recycling Efforts. |
| C．A Unique Waste Recycling Plan. |
| D．A New Policy for Conservation. |
5 . If plastic had been invented when the Pilgrims (清教徒移民) sailed from Plymouth, England, to North America and the Mayflower had been stocked with bottled water and plastic-wrapped snacks, their plastic waste would likely still be around, four centuries later. If the Pilgrims had been like many people today and had simply thrown their empty bottles and wrappers over the side, Atlantic waves and sunlight would have worn all that plastic into tiny bits. And those bits might still be floating around the world’s oceans today, waiting to be eaten by unfortunate fish, and eventually perhaps by one of us.
Because plastic wasn’t invented until the late 19th century, and production really only took off around 1950, we have a mere 9.2 billion tons of the stuff to deal with. Of that, more than 6.9 billion tons have become waste. And of that waste, a shocking 6.3 billion tons never made it to recycling facilities.
No one knows how much unrecycled plastic waste ends up in the ocean, Earth’s last sink. In 2015, Jenna Jambeck, a university of Georgia engineering professor, caught everyone’s attention with a rough estimate: between 5.3 million and 14 million tons each year just from coastal regions. Most of it isn’t thrown off ships, she and her colleagues say, but is dumped carelessly on land or in rivers, mostly in Asia. It’s then blown or washed into the sea. It’s unclear how long it will take for that plastic to completely biodegrade (降解). Estimates range from 450 years to never.
Meanwhile, ocean plastic is estimated to kill millions of marine animals every year. Nearly 700 species, including endangered ones, are known to have been affected by it. Some are harmed visibly-strangled (勒死) by abandoned fishing nets. Many more are probably harmed invisibly. Marine species of all sizes, from fish to whale, now eat microplastics, the bits smaller than one-fifth of an inch across. On Hawaii’s Big Island, on a beach to which no paved road, I walked ankle-deep through mocroplastics. After that, I could understand why some people see ocean plastic as an approaching disaster, worth mentioning in the same breath as climate change.
And yet there’s a key difference: Ocean plastic is not as complicated as climate change. There are no mean waste deniers (否认者), at least so far. To do something about it, we have to remake our planet’s entire energy system.
“This isn’t a problem where we don’t know what the solution is,” says Jambeck. “We know how to pick up garbage. Anyone can do it. We know how to deal with it. We know how to recycle.” It’s a matter of building the necessary institutions and systems, she says--ideally before the ocean tums, for centuries to come, into a thin soup of plastic.
1. In the first paragraph the author emphasizes the fact that ______.| A．British people migrated to America four centuries ago |
| B．people have kept doing research in plastic for four centuries |
| C．there was no plastic pollution four centuries ago |
| D．plastic waste would remain in the ocean for four centuries |
| A．They eat microplastics. |
| B．They drown in microplastics. |
| C．They are coated with waste plastic bags. |
| D．They are struggling in abandoned plastic nets. |
| A．People all agree reducing plastic production is the solution. |
| B．People tend to agree plastic waste has caused ocean plastic. |
| C．It has been scheduled to reverse the trend of climate change. |
| D．It has been scheduled to reverse the trend of ocean plastic. |
6 . Scientist， conservation organizations and government trying to stop the trend of extinction （灭绝） often focus on protected areas such as national parks and wildlife preserves. But with as many as million species（物种） at risk， this plan of action may not be enough to conserve wildlife.
Slowing the mass extinction that now appears to be underway will require more creative means of coexisting alongside wild plants and animals. A new study indicates the effectiveness of some such approaches by examining some lands managed by indigenous groups.
“ We show really strongly that， from a biodiversity standpoint in terms of species richness，indigenous － managed lands are at least comparable to protected areas， ” says biologist Richard Schuster of Carleton University. And in some places， they are better than parks and preserves －even though indigenous communities may use their lands’ resources by hunting or searching for food.
Schuster and his team analyzed more than 15，000 areas in Australia， Brazil and Canada. They found that the total diversity of wildlife was highest on lands either managed or co － managed by indigenous groups， while randomly selected areas with no formal protection were the least bio－diverse. For threatened species in particular， indigenous lands scored slightly higher than protected lands on overall species richness in Brazil and Canada， as well as higher for threatened animals in Australia.
Each country has a different geography， climate and history. Yet remarkably， Schuster says， the best indicator for species diversity is whether a given area was managed by an indigenous community. He pointed out that practices such as sustainable（可持续的） hunting， fishing and searching， as well as burning， are more likely to occur in such areas. Don Hankins， an ecologist at California State University，agrees. “ there’ s probably going to be more of a connection to the land， ” he says， “ and a use of the land for the things that are there， compared to a national park. ”
“ It’ s really important to listen to the people who live on the land and have them drive the stewardship efforts going forward， ” Schuster says， adding that partnering with indigenous communities may enable the world’ s countries to better meet a wide range of conservation goals： “ We really need all the help we can get as a global community to prevent species extinction that we’ re facing right now. ”
1. What does the underlined word “ indigenous” probably mean in Paragraph 2？| A．Social. | B．Native. |
| C．Protected. | D．Threatened. |
| A．National parks are even higher in species diversity. |
| B．Indigenous communities overhunted on their lands. |
| C．Some preserves almost have no formal protection. |
| D．Indigenous lands do better in keeping bio－diversity. |
| A．Species diversity depends on geographical positions. |
| B．Humans’ everyday activities are no longer sustainable. |
| C．Indigenous groups have a close bond with their lands. |
| D．Protected areas work perfectly in wildlife protection. |
| A．Beating back extinction. | B．Dealing with environmental problems. |
| C．Setting up nature reserves. | D．Fighting against unsustainable behaviors. |
7 . "When I was 16 years old, I was diving in Greece, but I was disappointed because I saw more plastic bags than fish.” These are the words of Boyan Slat, an engineer who designed the world's first ocean plastic cleanup system.
Every year, more than 8 million tons of plastics end up in our oceans, according to the UN Environment Programme. It is predicted that the weight of ocean plastics will match the weight of all the fish in our oceans by 2050. To prevent this from happening, in 2013 Slat created the Ocean Cleanup, an environmental non¬governmental organization, and put his plan for an ocean cleanup device into action.
After years of research and develop¬ment in the Netherlands, a device called System 001/B successfully started gathering plastics on October 2, 2019. The device uses a 600-meter-long C-shaped tube to gather all the floating rubbish. Unlike other cleanup methods, the system floats freely according to the direction of the waves, which allows waste to flow into and stay within the device. A sea anchor is attached to either end. This slows down the system as it floats through the water and allows the faster-moving rubbish, carried by the waves, to flow into its mouth. System 001/B can also collect waste below the surface using a 3-meter-deep skirt（挡板）attached to the end. After being gathered, the trash will be dragged back to shore by boat and recycled.
Right now, the system operates in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an area that is 3 times the size of France. Once operational, the Ocean Cleanup expects a full fleet to be able to clear 50% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 5 years.
"It remains to be seen whether this dream will become a reality, but it is undeniable that humanity must work together to reduce our plastic use and repair the damage our waste has caused," Slat said. "We are starting to see a young generation that gets it and is excited about a sustainable （可持续的）future, but the question still comes down to: Are we going fast enough, and how much damage will have been done before we get there?"
1. The underlined word “match” in Paragraph 2 probably means “_________”.| A．compare | B．equal |
| C．measure | D．cover |
| A．To collect ocean plastic waste. |
| B．To help to invent System 001/B. |
| C．To protect the living environment of fish. |
| D．To do research on the ocean environment. |
| A．It can collect and recycle garbage at the same time. |
| B．It can only gather ocean waste which floats on the water. |
| C．It aims to clear up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in five years. |
| D．It is an ocean-cleaning device which has already been put to use. |
| A．Young generations care less about the environment. |
| B．The future ecology of the oceans is deeply worrying. |
| C．People should work hard to decrease plastic pollution. |
| D．It's quite difficult to repair the damage to the environment. |
Sneakers (运动鞋) Made from Old Chewing Gum
Dutch fashion and shoe label Explicit Wear is hoping to solve one of life’s sticky situations—the annoyance of stepping in waste chewing gum on the pavement—while helping to keep Amsterdam’s city streets clean. The brand has partnered with local marketing organization Iamsterdam and sustainability firm Gumdrop
Chewing gum causes an incredibly serious ecological problem,
The waste gum will be put to good use to make stylish kicks,
Available for preorder now, the new Gumshoe sneakers—offered in both a bubblegum pink and a black/red colorway—
Nearly 2.2 pounds of gum
To help spread their sustainability message,
9 . When the sand began kicking up and hitting our faces, I started to worry that maybe we had made a mistake.
That afternoon, my dad had stood on the deck（露台）of our home and laughed as our neighbors packed up their cars and headed inland. They left to spend the night in motels or at friends’ homes that were out of range of approaching summer storm.
Challenging the weather that threatened to damp our spirits, we lit a fire on the beach. Dad told jokes and we had a good time. When it was 6:30 p.m., all laughter disappeared. Our eyes were drawn to the sky. A tornado（龙卷风）was headed straight for us! In a flash, we were all on our feet. The wind started screaming and now we were running to the cottage. My mom stopped next to the front door. “Where can we go?” She shouted at my dad.
Most cottages on this part of Lake Michigan had been built without basements. Ours was no exception. The huge windows and the cottage itself wouldn’t offer safety from high wind.
“Follow me!” my dad yelled. We crawled（爬）beneath the deck, pressing ourselves against the foundation of the cottage. Between the deck supports, we watched the approaching storm in silent terror.
My dad shouted, “Hold on!” and something else I couldn’t hear over the screaming wind. I think he was praying. By the time it reached our cottage, it was nothing more than a strong wind. The rest of the storm lasted for an hour and then simply blew away.
“Next time, we’ll stay inland at Grandma’s. Okay?” my dad said.
1. What did the family do before the storm came?| A．They sat on the deck. | B．They stayed on the beach. |
| C．They packed up the cars. | D．They visited their neighbors. |
| A．to the motels | B．to the their friend’s home |
| C．to the cottage | D．to the beach |
| A．Our cottage had got a basement. | B．Our cottage hadn’t got a basement. |
| C．We hadn’t expected to get a cottage. | D．We had expected to get a cottage. |
| A．How the family survived the tornado. | B．What to do in face of a tornado. |
| C．How important it is to build a basement. | D．How a father protected the family. |
10 . Major causes of record fires sweeping across the Amazon rainforest this month include the dry season and human activities, according to research institutions and media reports.
The rainforest is typically wet and humid, and the frequency of fire activity usually rise each year since July — the onset of the dry season, and peaks in September and decreases in October as the rainy season approaches.
However, data from the Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) showed that the number of forest fires in Brazil soared by 82 percent from January to August this year from a year ago, and over half of those fires occurred in the Amazon rainforest. A total of 71,497 forest fires were registered in the country in the first eight months of 2019 , up from 39,194 in the same period in 2018, the Inpe said.
Human activities have led to the recent increase of fires, some experts have noted. The view was echoed by many, though they were divided over who actually conducted the activities. On Friday evening, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro pledged “zero tolerance” of environmental crimes, adding that the Armed Forces troops and resources will be mobilized from Saturday to help put out the fires.
Earlier this week, Bolsonaro blamed non-governmental organizations for increasing wildfires in the Amazon rainforest in the country’s north. His claim was refuted (反驳) by environmentalists, who argued that the surge of fires was a result of increasing deforestation and burning fueled by the governments anti-environmental policy. Alberto Setzer, an Inpe researcher, told local news site G1 that all the fires are results of human activities some accidental while others intentional.
Scientists and environmental groups are worried that the fires will aggravate climate change crisis and threaten biodiversity. The emergency has now transcended (越过) Brazil’s borders , reaching Peruvian, Paraguayan and Bolivian regions.
1. What is the main idea of the text?| A．The text explains the major causes of the Amazon fires. |
| B．The text aims to arouse human’s awareness of protecting the Amazon. |
| C．The text is intended to call on people to help the Amazon. |
| D．The text is expected to warn other countries of the Amazon fires. |
| A．The dry weather. | B．The intentional deforestation. |
| C．The natural disasters. | D．Some accidental human activities. |
| A．Similar to that in 2018, the frequency of fire activity will peak in September in 2019. |
| B．Compared with those in 2018, fires have happened more frequently in the first eight months in 2019. |
| C．There are more fires in 2019 than in 2018. |
| D．All of the big fires have happened in the Amazon rainforest. |
| A．Non-governmental organizations are responsible for wild fires in the Amazon rainforest. |
| B．The Amazon rainforest fires may be attributed to human activities. |
| C．We should pledge “zero tolerance” of environmental crimes. |
| D．The fires will influence Brazil’s bordering countries. |
