1 . Food is part of who we are. We all need it, survive because of it and derive happiness from it. So if food matters so much, why do we let so much of it go rotten in our fridges, or get thrown out in our stores? Sadly, we love food, but we don’t take care of it.
• Reduce your food waste.
Buy only the food you need, store food wisely, donate excess and turn leftover food into the next day’s meals. When we waste food, all the resources used for growing, processing, transporting and marketing that food are wasted too.
• Support your local food producers.
Chefs get awards, stars and recognition for their creations. But what about our farmers?
• Adopt a healthier, more sustainable diet.
•
By treating each meal with pride, we respect the farmers who produced it, and the resources that went into it. Respect can be passed on. Talk to the people around and to the next generation about making informed, healthy and sustainable food choices.
Respecting food means appreciating the back-story of food. When we know the full picture, it is easier to see what our food really stands for and how precious it really is.
| A．Have a conversation. |
| B．Learn where food comes from. |
| C．Our bodies consume calories and nutrients. |
| D．For many people on the planet, food is giving. |
| E．Food is so much more than what is on our plates. |
| F．One third of all food produced globally is lost or wasted. |
| G．Without them, we wouldn’t have the fresh food we need on a daily basis. |
2 . ECycling refers to the recycling of electronic items, which are becoming a common problem in American home and throughout the world. The EPA, or Environmental Protection Agency, has actually started a program to help and motivate the recycling of electronics.
To get the program to the regional and neighborhood levels, the EPA directed “Plug-In to eCycling Partners”. These partnerships support electronic reusing programs in individual communities. They provide local governments, retailers and manufacturers with opportunities to reuse and recycle their items. Those who make and offer electronic devices then promote programs and opportunities for consumers to reuse their second-hand electronic products. One of the EPA’s goals is to enlighten customers about why the recycling of electronics is so important. They likewise wish to make eCycling chances easily accessible to specific consumers and their family electronics. According to the EPA, the eCycling program has actually been quite successful. In 2008, the EPA collected 66.5 million pounds of electronic devices through their Plug-In Partners.
Local governments have actually likewise got on board and passed laws intended to handle used electronic devices. Huge corporations have actually introduced eCycling programs at their local retail stores. One seller offers customers small, medium and big boxes for sale, which the customers then load with used electronics and go back to the store. Typically, customers bring their recyclable electronics to a location. When the electronic items are gathered by the EPA (typically this is done by the Partners), they are reused or recycled.
Reused items are repaired and refurbished, and passed on to others as a contribution. You can repair or recondition your very own electronic devices too, extending the life of the items and conserving the energy of making new materials. Reusing electronic devices includes making use of the products and parts of the items. These materials and parts are then made use of to produce another item. This is more efficient than making items from new materials.
Some items that are commonly eCycled consist of televisions, computer monitors, printers, notebook computer, keyboards and cable televisions. Less usual items include copying machines, CD players, voice mail machines, computer hard drives, mobile telephones, remote controls, radios, batteries, telephones, facsimile machines and computer games. Occasionally, electronic items such as microwaves, fans, vacuums, smoke alarms, and toasters are eCycled.
As the eCycling program continues, you or your organization may want to get involved. Check the EPA’s internet site (www.epa.gov) for regional eCycling programs, or for details on how your company can participate. Their website has links to organizations that are taking part in the eCycling program.
1. The EPA brought about “Plug-In to eCycling Partners” to ________.| A．make and offer electronic devices to consumers |
| B．make customers understand the importance of eCycling |
| C．make it possible for consumers to reuse their used e-products |
| D．make the program accessible to local regions and communities |
| A．offering customers different boxes for sale |
| B．reusing second-hand e-products |
| C．gathering recyclable electronics |
| D．repairing electronic device |
| A．To call on local governments to support Plug-In Partners. |
| B．To attract people to join in the eCycling programs. |
| C．To teach customers how to recycle electronics. |
| D．To introduce a new way to save costs. |
3 . Like most of us, I try to be mindful of food that goes to waste. The arugula (芝麻菜)was to make a nice green salad, rounding out a roast chicken dinner. But I ended up working late. Then friends called with a dinner invitation. I stuck the chicken in the freezer. But as days passed, the arugula went bad. Even worse, I had unthinkingly bought way too much; I could have made six salads with what I threw out.
In a world where nearly 800 million people a year go hungry, “food waste goes against the moral grain,” as Elizabeth Royte writes in this month’s cover story. It’s jaw-dropping how much perfectly good food is thrown away — from “ugly” (but quite eatable) vegetables rejected by grocers to large amounts of uneaten dishes thrown into restaurant garbage cans.
Producing food that no one eats wastes the water, fuel, and other resources used to grow it. That makes food waste an environmental problem. In fact, Royte writes, “if food waste were a country, it would be the third largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world.”
If that’s hard to understand, let’s keep it as simple as the arugula at the back of my refrigerator. Mike Curtin sees my arugula story all the time — but for him, it's more like 12 bones of donated strawberries nearing their last days. Curtin is CEO of DC Central Kitchen in Washington, D.C., which recovers food and turns it into healthy meals. Last year it recovered more than 807,500 pounds of food by taking donations and collecting blemished (有瑕疵的) produce that otherwise would have rotted in fields. And the strawberries? Volunteers will wash, cut, and freeze or dry them for use in meals down the road.
Such methods seem obvious, yet so often we just don’t think. “Everyone can play a part in reducing waste, whether by not purchasing more food than necessary in your weekly shopping or by asking restaurants to not include the side dish you won’t eat,” Curtin says.
1. What does the author want to show by telling the arugula story?| A．We pay little attention to food waste. | B．We waste food unintentionally at times. |
| C．We waste more vegetables than meat. | D．We have good reasons for wasting food. |
| A．Moral decline. | B．Environmental harm. |
| C．Energy shortage. | D．Worldwide starvation. |
| A．It produces kitchen equipment. | B．It turns rotten arugula into clean fuel. |
| C．It helps local farmers grow fruits. | D．It makes meals out of unwanted food. |
| A．Buy only what is needed. | B．Reduce food consumption. |
| C．Go shopping once a week. | D．Eat in restaurants less often. |
4 . It is reported that half of the food the world produces is never eaten but thrown away instead. Wasteful people in rich nations, however, are not the only food buyers. Poor countries, too, are throwing out perfect good food. According to Elliot Wooley, a professor who studies at Loughborough University, what should be noticed is that developed and developing countries have different causes for their waste.
Because of few food production methods, in developing countries, food is usually wasted while it is still in the field or during the storage and transportation process, but once food is sold, people usually eat everything they buy. In the United States and other developed countries, people throw away as much as half the food they buy.
Such a change among countries calls for special solutions. Professor Wooley’s answer to food waste is a smart-phone app that he created. It would inform people of how many goods they have bought, how long they will last and so on. At the international meeting held last month in Vietnam, the professor said the result from an experiment shows that people who used the app cut down the amount of food they wasted by 34 percent.
But Jeremy, a student from Germany thinks Professor Wooley’s app is not enough to prevent food waste. “It might help those who already want to change the way they use the food they buy, but it could also encourage them to waste more because they no longer have to pay attention to how much food they buy,” Jeremy said.
“The problem is that as food is getting cheaper, people are buying more food than they need, which will surely result in a huge waste,” Jeremy added, “so one way to prevent food waste is to persuade people to stop buying too much food in their first place.”
1. Which of the following is TRUE about food waste?| A．People in rich countries are more likely to waste food. |
| B．People in poor countries don’t value food at all. |
| C．Some countries waste food before it is sold. |
| D．All countries waste food before it is sold. |
| A．By using his app, food waste could be reduced. |
| B．By encouraging people to save food. |
| C．By informing people of the amount of food they buy. |
| D．By educating people to save food since childhood. |
| A．he has developed another app to prevent food waste |
| B．the app could only apply to those who plan to save |
| C．it will surely decrease more food waste |
| D．people still haven’t realized how serious waste is |
| A．Buying food without control if it is cheap. |
| B．Persuading people not to throw away food. |
| C．Making laws to forbid people to waste food. |
| D．Persuading people not to buy more than they need. |
5 . Apples, oranges and other fruit should be kept in the fridge to last long, new supermarket labels (标签) will say, in a move which could tell the end of the traditional fruit bowl. The labels will form part of the government-backed guidance to help customers bring down the amount of food they throw by changing advice on packs of supermarket food.
Under the plan supermarkets will introduce a new “Little Blue Fridge” sign for food which should be kept chilled (冷藏), or benefit from being kept in the fridge to prevent it going off. The sign will appear on much food which is not usually kept in the fridge. For example, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) pointed out that apples, oranges and pear, which are usually kept in a fruit bowl, should in fact be stored in the fridge.
Dr. Andrew Parry, a Special Advisor at WRAP, said, “Most fresh fruit and vegetables will keep fresher for longer if kept in their packaging and in the fridge. Generally a good way to manage fruit at home is to take out enough into the fruit bowl-if you prefer it at room temperature, but use your fridge as cold storage for the rest. This will give you more time to enjoy your food, and help cut down on waste.”
Environment Minister Therese Coffey said, “We know that confusing labels can lead to food waste by suggesting that esculent items need to be thrown away sooner. This new guidance will make packaging much clearer for customers, saving them money and cutting waste. I encourage all food businesses, large and small, to use this guidance to help them put the right date mark on food and help to guide people on the freezing products, which are key to cutting down on the amount of eatable food thrown away.”
Heather Hancock, Chairman of the Food Standards Agency, said, “I think this clear guidance can help deal with food waste, without damaging the safety of food. It will help businesses supply food that is properly described and stored, and safely provided to consumers.”
1. Which is in line with the goal of the government-backed guidance?| A．Encouraging business. | B．Lowering goods prices. |
| C．Cutting down on waste. | D．Improving product quality. |
| A．Eatable. | B．Bad. | C．Fresh. | D．Packaged. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Tolerant. | C．Positive. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．The Clearer Label Plan to Reduce Food Waste. |
| B．The Disadvantages of Confusing Labels on the Food. |
| C．The New Ways to Keep Fruit and Vegetables Fresh. |
| D．The End of the Traditional Fruit Bowl. |
6 . Each year, the world wastes about one-sixth of the food available to consumers. It is estimated（估计）that the world has lost approximately 931 million metric tons of food so far. That's about an average of 121 kilograms for each man, woman and child on Earth.
What isn't eaten also wastes all of the resources used to make that food. Those resources include the water, energy, money, human labor and more. Wasted food "does not feed people, but it does feed climate change", said Otto, who works for the UN Environment Program (UNEP), during a news conference. Some 690 people go hungry each year. More than 3 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet. Meanwhile, the activities that had produced all of the lost and wasted food led to 8 to 10 percent of all global greenhouse-gas emission. Reducing food waste could ease hunger and possibly lower that pollution. That's the conclusion of the Food Waste Index Report 2021, a report issued on March 4.
The report's authors collected data on food-waste from 54 countries. Most food that went uneaten - 61 percent - was thrown out by home cooks and diners. Food services, such as restaurants, accounted for 26% more of the "lost" food. Groceries and other stores were responsible for 13% of the wasted food. Going in, Otto says, "We thought waste was mainly a problem in rich countries." In reality, the new report finds, food waste is a big problem in nations rich and poor.
While the report is the best study of the issue to date, several data gaps remain. The countries surveyed are home to just 75% of the world's population. What happens in other places remains unknown. And only 23 countries provided waste estimates for food losses by restaurants or retail stores. The researchers tried to account for such gaps. To do this, they made estimates based on what they learned in parts of the world that do tally such data.
Otto recommends that countries begin making more efficient use of food a part of their climate strategies and their COVID-19 recovery plans. "Food waste has been largely overlooked in national climate strategies," Otto said. "We know what to do. And we can take action quickly."
1. What is the main problem talked about in the passage?| A．World hunger. | B．Resource shortage. | C．Food losses. | D．Global warming. |
| A．Potential | B．Shocking. | C．Incurable | D．Temporary. |
| A．Climate change is caused by pollution. | B．Waste is a permanent problem. |
| C．No solution to the problem is available. | D．Food waste is a worldwide issue. |
| A．a virtue to be advocated | B．a win-win solution |
| C．a battle unlikely to win | D．a matter of chance |
7 . When you're eating dinner with your family, do your parents ever remind you to finish all the food on your plate? If so, you should know it's not just because they want you to be healthy.
They also want to stop food waste.Every year, 1.3 billion tons of food was wasted around the world, according to the UN.That was about one-third of all food produced each year. We made a survey in 34 countries to see how much food was wasted in different countries. For example, the UAE(阿联酋)wasted the most food, with each person wasting about 1,000 kilos every year on average. However, some countries have worked hard to use their food resources wisely. France wasted the least amount of food, according to the survey. France was the first country to pass laws that banned food waste. It was not allowed to throwaway fresh food. Another law forced French restaurants to provide bags for people's leftovers(剩饭菜) .
China was the 23rd for food waste in the survey. China's food waste was around 18millon tons every year, enough to feed up to 50 million people for one year. Facing this situation，China has been working hard to reduce food waste. In early 2013, a movement to prevent food waste called“empty plate”began. It has become popular among both government officials and general public.
1. How much food was wasted every year around the world according to the passage?| A．1.3 billion tons. | B．5 billion tons. |
| C．2 million tons. | D．4 million tons. |
| A．China. | B．France. | C．The UAE. | D．Japan. |
| A．wasted the most food | B．threw away fresh food |
| C．bought some food from other countries | D．started a movement called“empty plate” |
| A．Stopping food waste | B．Eating up fresh food |
| C．Collecting food waste | D．Providing fresh food |
8 . How much food do you buy each week? Are you someone who stuffs your fridge and cupboards full of foods so that you’ll always have something to eat? Or maybe, you’ re more efficient with your shopping, only buying what you need and using up your leftovers so that you keep food waste to a minimum.
Throwing away unwanted food has become a big issue in the developed world. While some of us throw away unwanted items, people in other parts of world face food shortages and are starving. It’s a shocking fact that a third of the world’s food is wasted each year. The actual figure is 1.3 billion tons of food, which is enough to feed a billion hungry people.
You may think supermarkets are the main contributors to this mountain of food. After all, they do get rid of stuff that’s past its sell-by-date and they often refuse to sell vegetables and fruit that are the wrong shape or look damaged. They’ve also been criticized for encouraging customers to buy more than they need through promotions such as “buy one and get one free”.
But we ourselves are mainly responsible for creating food waste. In Europe an incredible 53% of food waste comes from households, which results in 88 million tonnes of food waste a year. The food waste is buried and left to rot. Unfortunately, this causes greenhouse gases which eventually lead to global warming and climate change.
In Denmark, a woman called Selina Juul has been working hard to solve this problem. She convinced some supermarkets to stop selling their items in bulk (批量) so that people bought only what they needed. She produced a leftovers cookbook and she's set up an education programme in schools. This has helped create a significant 25% reduction in food waste, which shows that something can be done.
Clearly, we need to think twice when we put something in our shopping trolley, and when we’re at home, we should make the most of the food we have—using recipes that use up our leftovers or even sharing our food with our friends and neighbors.
1. What does the author intend to show in paragraph 2?| A．The world hunger. | B．The impact of wasting food. |
| C．The solutions to food shortages. | D．The severe food waste. |
| A．They often change the prices of food. |
| B．They focus more on food's looks than qualities. |
| C．They make people buy more food than they need. |
| D．They often put up false advertisements for food. |
| A．She established an education programme in neighborhoods. |
| B．She persuaded supermarkets to change their ways of sale. |
| C．She convinced supermarkets to sell her leftovers cookbook. |
| D．She encouraged people to share food in communities. |
| A．To advocate healthy eating habits. |
| B．To raise the public’s awareness of saving. |
| C．To draw people's attention to food security. |
| D．To blame the marketing methods of some supermarkets. |
9 . Las Vegas city in Nevada is built in a desert.The city may be known to the outside world for its partying.But officials have found that there are 21 square kilometers of useless grass.The grass is never laid on, played on or even stepped on.The grass is only there to look nice.
Now, the city is asking the Nevada state legislature (立法机构) to ban useless grass.It is trying to become the first place in America to ban that kind of grass often seen between streets, in housing developments and in office parks.
It is estimated that useless grass makes up 40% of all the grass in Las Vegas and it needs a lot of water to survive.Grass needs four times more water than dry climate plants like cactus.By tearing out the grass, the city could reduce yearly water usage by 15%.
In 2003, the Southern Nevada Water Authority banned developers from planting grass in front of new homes.It also offered homeowners $30 for each square meter of grass they tear out.But fewer people are now using the program.Water usage has increased in southern Nevada by 9% since 2019.And last year, Las Vegas set a record of 240 days without major rainfall.The Colorado River provides much of Nevada’s drinking water.The river could lose more water as climate change affects it.
Water officials in other dry cities said water usage needs to be reduced.But they fear the reaction to reforms like the ones in Las Vegas if their communities do not accept them.Cynthia Campbell is the water resources adviser for the city of Phoenix in Arizona.“There might come a point when city restrictions get too severe (苛刻的) for some residents (居民).They’ll say that is the point of no return for them,” Campbell said.“For some people, it’s a pool.For some people, it’s grass.”
1. Why does Las Vegas city try to ban useless grass?| A．To protect the local people. |
| B．To beautify the city. |
| C．To reduce water usage. |
| D．To reduce waste. |
| A．Allowing planting grass before new houses. |
| B．Encouraging the residents to tear out grass. |
| C．Praising those who signed on the program. |
| D．Awarding those who reduced water usage. |
| A．Many residents won’t follow the ban. |
| B．Reaction to the reform will vary personally. |
| C．Other measures should be taken to protect wetter. |
| D．Water officials should take many factors into consideration. |
| A．Las Vegas Plans to Ban Useless Grass |
| B．A Method Is Adopted to Save Las Vegas |
| C．Choices between Beauty and Practice |
| D．Grass Is Important but Useless in Las Vegas |
1. 争做爱粮，节粮的倡导者。
2. 爱粮节粮的具体措施。
注意：1. 词数应为80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
参考词汇：厉行节俭，反对浪费 practice strict economy and combat waste
Dear friends,
I’m here to call on everyone to pay attention to the phenomenon of food waste.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Li Hua
