1 . New bio-plastics are being made in laboratories from straw, wood chips and food waste, with researchers aiming to replace oil as the source of the world’s plastic.

The new approaches include genetically modifying bacteria to eat wood and produce useful chemicals. But the bio-plastics are currently significantly more expensive to make than fossil fuel-based plastics.

Land and seas around the world, from high mountains to deep oceans, have become polluted with plastic, prompting major public concern. The world has produced 8bn tons of plastic since the 1950s and demand is still rising.

While some waste plastic is recycled, much of it is burnt to produce electricity, resulting in carbon emissions that drive climate change. In contrast to plastic made from oil, plastics made from plant-based materials only release the carbon the plants absorbed from the air as they grew. Bio-plastics will also give more options for products that biodegrade (生物降解) in the environment, although they can be made very long-lasting if required.

“Plastics are an incredible enhancement to our daily lives,” said Paul Mines, CEO of Biome Technologies in the UK, which has spent t5m in the last five years on bio-plastics research. “But we can’t go on using fossil fuel-based materials. About 6-7% of every barrel (桶) of oil is used to make plastics.”

“Using plant materials is feasible,” said professor Simon, at the University of York. “Replacing half of the nation’s plastic bottles could be done using just 3% of the sugar beet crop, 5% of wheat straw or 2.5% of food waste,” he said.

Currently, just a few thousand tons of bio-plastic are used in the UK each year, compared to millions of tons of conventional plastic. Mines said this could rise to about 20,000 tons in the next five years.

1. Why are high mountains and deep oceans mentioned in Paragraph 3?

A．To display the range of plastic pollution.	B．To show the widespread use of plastic.
C．To present a reason of wide use of plastic.	D．To stress the increasing demand for plastic.

2. What is one advantage of bio-plastics over fossil fuel-based plastics?

A．Producing electricity.	B．Being eco-friendly.
C．Driving climate change.	D．Biodegrading other plastic.

3. What does the underlined word “feasible” mean in Paragraph 6?

A．Possible.

B．Troublesome.

C．Original.

D．Costly.

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Plastics arc necessary in daily life.	B．Oil is the source of the world’s plastic.
C．Bioplastic making is a promising industry.	D．Scientists are researching bioplastic making.

2 . Clothes were once used until they fell apart. Not today. In high-income countries in particular, clothing and footwear are increasingly frequently bought, thrown away and replaced with new fashions, which are themselves soon thrown away and replaced.

The so-called ‘Fast fashion’ is having a surprising environmental impact. The first one is water. The fashion industry consumes anywhere from 20 trillion (万亿) to 200 trillion litres every year. Then there are micro-plastics. Plastic fibres are released when we wash polyester (聚酯纤维) textiles, which make up between20% and 35% of the micro-plastics choking the oceans. Added to this are specific chemicals, such as those used to make fabrics stain resistant and the pesticides required to protect crops such as cotton.

Change is badly needed, but will require the fashion industry to work harder to embrace more of what is known as the circular economy. That will involve at least two things: refocusing on making things that last, and so encouraging reuse; and more rapidly expanding the technologies for sustainable manufacturing processes, especially recycling. There’s a big role for research-both academic and industrial-in achieving these and other ambitions.

Researchers could begin by helping to provide more accurate estimates of water use. There is also work to be done on improving and expanding textiles recycling. Undoubtedly, used textiles go to landfill in part because there are relatively few systems that collect, recycle and reuse materials. Such recycling requires the manual separation of fibres, as well as buttons and zips. Different fibres are not easy to identify by eye, and overall such manual processes are time-consuming. Machinery that can help is being developed. Technologies also exist to recycle used fibres chemically and to create high-quality fibres that can be reused in clothing. But these are nowhere near the scale needed.

Another challenge for researchers is to workout how to get consumers and manufacturers to change their behaviour. Other research questions include finding ways to encourage people to purchase long lasting goods; exploring how to satisfy desires for something new while reducing environmental impact; and understanding why certain measures can be successfully scaled up whereas others fail.

1. Why does the author mention “water”, “micro-plastics” and “chemicals” in Paragraph 2?

A．To provide an idea.	B．To prove a point.
C．To give a definition.	D．To present new concepts.

2. Which of the following goes against the concept of “circular economy”?

A．Efforts are made to lengthen the lifespan of textiles.

B．Worn-out clothes are used as dishcloths and oil rags.

C．High-quality fibres are created to be reused in clothing.

D．Fashion industry is encouraged to release new lines more often.

3. What is the right thing for the fashion industry researchers to do?

A．To make sure that all of the used textiles go to landfill.

B．To separate fibres, as well as buttons and zips manually.

C．To improve and expand textile recycling to a larger extent.

D．To encourage consumers to satisfy their desires for fashion.

4. Which of the following can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Say Yes to the So-called Fast Fashion

B．Cut Fast Fashion’s Environmental Impact

C．Address the Academic Challenges for Researchers

D．Improve the Efficiency of the Separation of Fibres

3 . China has seen important achievements in improving the environment and green development over the past 70 years, especially in fighting against desertification (沙漠化).

Desertification was a serious problem in the 1990s. It caused deadly sandstorms, and did great harm to the local (当地的) people. As President Xi Jinping has said, clear waters and green mountains are the most valuable things. The government and people have been making every effort to fight against desertification. In the process (过程), Chinese people’s efforts and determination to create “green” areas have played a crucial role, without which nothing may be achieved.

A lot of campaigns (活动) have been carried out by the central government to improve the environment. For example, in 1998, China started the Natural Forest Protection Program. Thanks to the program, forests in China increased greatly from 12 percent in the 1980s to nearly 23 percent last year.

Another example of the campaign is the Elion Resources Group, which has been recognized by the UN for its contribution that has slowed desertification.

In Kubuqi, a desert in the North China, Elion has successfully greened 600,000 hectares (公顷) of land. Surprisingly, it also has helped lift more than 102,000 people out of poverty through the development of solar energy and tourism, as well as planting herbs (草药) for traditional Chinese medicine.

In addition, the group’s technologies have also been used in many other important programs, including Yangtze River Ecological Park and Qilian Mountain National Park.

“We will develop new ways to improve our ability to control the sand with the help of modern technologies, such as drones (无人机), AI, big data and the internet of things,” said Ao Baoping, president of Elion Green Land Technology.

1. What does the underlined word “crucial” in the second paragraph mean?

A．Active.

B．Direct.

C．Key.

D．Practical.

2. What can we infer from the third paragraph?

A．More areas in China are covered with forest.

B．A similar new campaigns will be carried out.

C．The result of the program is far from satisfactory.

D．The central government has carried out a lot of campaigns to develop the economy.

3. What do we know about Elion Resources Group according to the passage?

A．Its main aim was to lift local people out of poverty.

B．It made Kubuqi become a center for tourism.

C．It has got help from other ecological programs.

D．It will use modern technologies to fight desertification.

4. Where can you most probably find the passage?

A．In a text book.	B．In a newspaper.
C．In a science novel.	D．In an advertisement.

6 . The coronavirus pandemic has brought with it the rise of a new kind of single use plastic in the form of personal protective equipment (PPE), like face masks and gloves. Experts warned that these sharply increasing single-use items could cause a new wave of plastic pollution and kill wildlife.

The charity Ocean Conservancy reported that volunteers had collected more than 100,000 PPE items from coasts and waterways during the last six months of 2020. They sent out a survey to more than 2020 International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) coordinators and volunteers asking about their experience with PPE. The results show that it is a real problem. Volunteers collected 107,219 pieces of PPE in 70 of 115 participating countries. Of those surveyed, 94% reported seeing PPE at a cleanup, and 40% found five items or more. Further, 37% found the items had already sunk into the water.

“During one of our clean-ups in the canals of Leiden, our volunteers found a latex glove with a dead fish trapped in the thumb,” said Auke-Florian Hiemstra, a study coauthor Iron Leiden University. “Also, in the Dutch canals, we observed that a water bird was using face masks and gloves in its nests.” Other animals that have gotten tangled up in face masks include a fox in the UK, a pufferfish in Florida, and two crabs in France. Numerous dogs and cats have been observed eating PPE as well.

The danger posed by PPE goes deeper than what the eye can see. Luckily, there are ways that all of us can be part of the solution to the problem of PPE pollution. Hiemstra recommended using reusable PPE instead of single-use products. In that case, we should deal with them properly by cutting the ear loops to prevent animal entanglements (缠绕物) and throwing them away in a bin that is not overstuffed. “We definitely think it is important for citizens to understand how much PPE is ending up in the environment and impacting animals,” Hiemstra said.

1. What problem is mentioned in paragraph 1?

A．Single-use products tend to be used less widely.

B．Anti-pandemic products bring about pollution.

C．More and more patients are infected with coronavirus.

D．Personal protective equipment is in remarkably short supply.

2. Why are so many numbers quoted in paragraph 2?

A．To analyze the leading cause of ocean pollution.

B．To state volunteers’ great efforts to protect the ocean.

C．To highlight the large amount of PPE in the environment.

D．To present difficulties of cleaning up plastic waste in the ocean.

3. What can be inferred from paragraph 3?

A．PPE pollution has become a threat to many animals.

B．Litter makes it hard for boats to pass through the canals.

C．PPE is appealing to dogs and cats on account of its smell.

D．On no account will water birds be affected by plastic pollution.

4. What is Hiemstra’s suggestion for reducing PPE pollution?

A．Hiking the price of PPE items.

B．Cleaning the rubbish bin on a regular basis.

C．Restricting the production of non-recyclable plastic.

D．Replacing throw-away products with recyclable ones.

9 . Penguins in South Africa are being driven from their native environment because of noise from shipping activities.

The African penguins live on St. Croix island off the east coast of South Africa. The animals are already endangered. But a new study has found that African penguins are leaving their natural environment to escape noisy ship refueling operations. The island once held the world’s largest reproducing group of the animals. But the population has dropped sharply since South Africa started permitting ships in the area to refuel at sea six years ago.

Lorien Pichegru is acting director of the Coastal and Marine Research Institute at Nelson Mandela University, which led the study. She said that noise levels in the area had doubled since the refueling activities began. Scientists say high noise levels affect the ability of ocean animals to find and catch other animals for food. Noise also makes it more difficult for the animals to communicate with each other and map travel paths.

In 2016, South Africa’s Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) offered the country’s first offshore refueling operator’s license to Aegean Marine. Later, it gave two licenses to SA Marine Fuels and Heron Marine. An order to grant no new licenses has been in place since August 2019. It will only be lifted after an environmental study is completed by port officials. The study is expected next year. Oil-covered penguins were found in 2019 in Algoa Bay after an oil spill from ship-to-ship refueling. Environmental groups have called for the activities to be banned in the bay.

Pichegru said penguins in the area were already struggling to reproduce because of a series of issues, including industrial fishing operations. She added that the refueling activities did not kill all the penguins. “It was just the thing that made the whole ecosystem out of place and then the penguins couldn’t adapt to that,” she said.

1. Why are African penguins leaving their native habitat?

A．To get out of oil pollution.

B．To hunt for more food.

C．To get away from shipping noise.

D．To escape the hot weather.

2. What directly caused the decrease of the penguins’ population?

A．The refueling activities.

B．The loss of their reproducing ability.

C．The reduction of their habitats.

D．The continuously rising sea levels.

3. What does the underlined word “grant” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Ban.

B．Cancel.

C．Limit.

D．Issue.

4. What did Pichegru mainly talk about in the last paragraph?

A．Measures of saving the penguins.

B．The penguins’ promising future.

C．The penguins’ present situation.

D．Reasons for the penguins’ extinction.