4 . Plastic is everywhere, from the Arctic ice to vital organs in the human body. In fact, previous estimates suggest that the average person swallows a credit card-worth of microscopic plastic particles(颗粒) every week. But new research shows that this could actually be an understatement.
Microplastics are plastics smaller than 5 millimeters, found in industrial waste, beauty products, and formed during the degradation of larger plastic pieces. Over time, they break down into even smaller nanoplastics. These tiny particles can pass through our intestines and lungs into our bloodstreams, reaching vital organs like the heart and brain.
While the idea of eating plastic is unsettling in itself, the major concern here is that these plastic particles contain chemicals that can interrupt our body’s natural release of hormones, potentially increasing our risk of reproductive disorders and certain cancers. They can also carry toxins(毒素) on their surface like heavy metals.
In the past, researchers have shown bottled water can contain tens of thousands of identifiable plastic fragments in a single container. However, until recently, only the larger microplastics were detectable with available measuring tools, leaving the area of nanoplastics largely a mystery.
Using Raman microscopy (显微镜学), capable of detecting particles down to the size of a flu virus, the team measured an average of 240, 000 particles of plastic per liter of bottled water, 90 percent of which were nanoplastics, a revelation 10 to 100 times larger than previous estimates.
These plastics likely originate from the bottle material, filters used to “purify” the water, and the source water itself. “It is not totally unexpected to find so much of this stuff, ” the study’s lead author, Columbia graduate student Naixin Qian, said in a statement. His team hopes to expand their research into tap water and other water sources to better inform our exposure to these potentially dangerous particles. “The idea is that the smaller things get, the more of them I reveal, ” he added.
1. What is the primary focus of the new research?A.The presence of plastic particles. | B.The use of plastic in everyday products. |
C.The detection methods for microplastics. | D.The potential risks of nanoplastics to human. |
A.Finding the source of plastic particles. | B.Helping to cure the deadly flu virus. |
C.Detecting the smaller plastic particles. | D.Improving the quality of bottled water. |
A.To focus on areas with higher plastic pollution. |
B.To be aware of the dangerous particles in daily life. |
C.To further measure the types of particles in tap water. |
D.To detect the smaller plastic particles in industrial areas. |
A.Skeptical. | B.Objective. | C.Conservative. | D.Positive. |
A.was anybody threatened | B.did anybody threaten |
C.anybody was threatened | D.did nobody threaten |
8 . Future living: what will the home of tomorrow look like?
What will our homes be like in the future? Growing cities, shrinking living spaces, and climate change are major challenges
Energy efficient and carbon neutral
One of the greatest challenges for homes of the future is our increasing energy consumption, something that cannot be covered by fossil fuels going forward.
The trend to downsizing
Living more efficiently not only means improving energy use and reducing one’s own carbon footprint, but also building to save space. Rooms
Trends for living and working under one roof
Over the last few months, the office
9 . What Makes a Nobel Laureate?
Are there any predictors that point to who will be selected as Nobel laureates?
Is brilliance in childhood a predictor? When the 2006 chemistry laureate, Roger Kornberg, was asked what he wanted for Christmas, he said, “A week in the lab.”
Experts often recommend that people specialize in one field of work or research to maximize their chances of success.
There remains one quality that is essential. It is what Leon Lederman (physics, 1988) called “compulsive dedication.”
A.What distinguishes Nobel laureates is passion for their work, work that engages their hearts as well as their heads. |
B.But early privilege is not essential. |
C.The typical Nobel laureate in science is a male born into a middle-class family. |
D.In many Nobel laureates’ autobiographies, they pay tribute to an outstanding mentor. |
E.In fact, Nobel laureates are mostly down-to-earth and discreet. |
F.Yet recently published researches indicate that successful innovators take a broader path. |
10 . Our culture has caused most Americans to assume not only that our language is universal, but that the gestures we use are understood by everyone. We do not realize that waving good-bye is the way to ask a person from the Philippines to one’s side, or that in Italy and some Latin-American countries, curling the finger to oneself is a sign of farewell.
Those private citizens who sent packages to our troops occupying Germany after World War II and marked them GIFT to escape duty payments did not bother to find out that “Gift” means poison in German. Moreover, we like to think of ourselves as friendly, yet we prefer to be at least 3 feet or an arm’s length away from others. Latins and Middle Easterners like to come closer and touch, which makes Americans uncomfortable.
Our linguistic and cultural blindness and the informality with which we take notice of the developed tastes, gestures, customs and languages of other countries, are losing us friends, business and respect in the world.
Even here in the United States, we make few compromises to the needs of foreign visitors. There are no information signs in four languages on our public buildings or monuments; we do not have multilingual guided tours. Very few restaurant menus have translations, and multilingual waiters, bank clerks and policemen are rare. Our transportation systems have maps in English only and often we ourselves have difficulty understanding them.
When we go abroad, we tend to cluster in hotels and restaurants where English is spoken. The attitudes and information we pick up are conditioned by those natives—usually the richer—who speak English. Our business dealings, as well as the nation’s diplomacy, are conducted through interpreters.
For many years, America and Americans could get by with cultural blindness and linguistic ignorance. After all, America was the most powerful country of the free world, the distributor of needed funds and goods.
But all that is past. American dollars no longer buy all good things, and we are slowly beginning to realize that our proper role in the world is changing. A l979 Harris poll reported that 55 percent of Americans want this country to play a more significant role in world affairs; we want to have a hand in the important decisions of the next century, even though it may not always be the upper hand.
1. It can be inferred that Americans being approached too closely by Middle Easterners would most probably________.A.stand still | B.scream out | C.step forward | D.draw back |
A.cultural self-centeredness | B.casual manners |
C.indifference towards foreign visitors | D.blindness to native culture |
A.are isolated by the local people |
B.are not well informed due to the language barrier |
C.tend to get along well with the natives |
D.need interpreters in hotels and restaurants |
A.it is dangerous to ignore their foreign friends |
B.it is important to maintain their leading role in world affairs |
C.it is necessary to use several languages in public places |
D.it is time to get acquainted with other cultures |