1 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. heading     B. incredibly     C. adaptable     D. alternative     E. pursuit     F. dumped G. recycled     H. global     I. calculated     J. precisely     K. generated

Planet Plastic

Here’s a shocking statistic. Scientists have calculated the total amount of plastic ever made: 8.3 billion tonnes. Looked at another way, that’s as heavy as 25,000 Empire State Buildings or one billion elephants. And     1    , almost all of it has been made in the last 65 years.

So what’s the problem? Much plastic is in the form of packaging which is used just once and then thrown away. According to a major new study from the University of California, 9% of this is     2    , 12% is burned and 79% goes to landfill. And because most plastic doesn’t biodegrade (生物降解), once it’s in the ground, it stays there.

It’s a situation that has led the paper’s lead author, ecologist Dr. Roland Geyer, to say that we are “rapidly     3     towards ‘Planet Plastic’”. He believes that there’s already enough waste out there to cover the whole of Argentina.

The team behind this report also estimate that eight million tonnes of plastic waste are     4     into the sea every year. This has     5     concern that plastic is entering the food chain through fish and other sea life which consume the smaller pieces.

Of course, the reason why there’s so much plastic around is that it’s an amazingly useful material. We can’t get enough of it. It’s durable and     6    , and is used for everything from yoghurt pots to spaceships. But it’s    7     this quality that makes it a problem. The only way to destroy plastic is to heat or burn it — although this has the side effect of harmful emissions.

So what’s the     8     other than using less plastic? Oceanographer (海洋学家) Dr. Erik van Sebille from Utrecht University says we’re facing a flood of plastic waste, and that the     9     waste industry needs to “get its act together”.

Professor Richard Thompson, a marine biologist from Plymouth University, says it’s poor design that is at fault. He says that if products are currently designed “with recyclability in mind”, they could be recycled around 20 times over.

Dr. Geyer agrees: “The     10     of recycling is to keep material in use and in the cycle forever if you can. But it turns out in our study that actually 90% of that material that did get recycled — which I think we calculated was 600 million tonnes — only got recycled once.”

7 . Directions: Complete the following paragraphs by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. financial     B. implemented       C. support       D. roughly       E. assigned F. immediate G. contributing     H. practice   I. purchase   J. disadvantaged   K. supplying

Stocking the shelves

When you go to a grocery store, you expect to pay for your goods with money. But students at a high school in Texas, US, opened a store that runs on good deeds.

In November, students from Linda Tutt High School in the city of Sanger launched a grocery store that enables students to     1     necessities such as toilet paper, meat and basic food items using a point system. The store aims to support families in need.

“In our school district, there are     2    2, 750 students enrolled and throughout the district, 43 percent of these students are considered economically     3    ,” Anthony Love, principal of Linda Tutt told CNN. “About 3.6 percent of our students are considered homeless. We thought it was important to     4    them and their families and make sure they had food on the table.”

Students earn points by     5     positively to the school. For those students from poor families, the point system has provided a way for them to shop for their families, according to Love. “They can earn points for doing chores around the building or helping to clean,” he said.

With the help of partners like Texas Health. Albertsons and First Refuge Ministries, the school was able to stock the shelves.

The number of points for each item was actually     6     by the students. “So we walked through here and decided that a can of green beans was one point,” said Paul Juarez, the executive director of First Refuge Ministries.

Juarez said that he hopes the idea gets     7     in other areas. “It gives us a picture of what can be. So if we can do this inside other schools, it will do a whole lot to help other small towns.”

In addition to the    8     benefits, students also learn about supply management and customer service, and such lessons could prepare them for future jobs.

The grocery store’s student manager, Hunter Weertman, said he has already learned important life skills from his experience at the store, such as making good spending choices and budgeting.

The store     9    was also welcomed by Thomas Muir, Sanger s mayor. “We all had our first jobs and it taught us how to work, and what you got for your work,” he said. “I think this will do that for them too, and also meet an    10     need.”

8 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one more word than you need.

A. affordable     B. cultural     C. driving     D. influence E. materialism   F. outward-looking   G. resulted   H. shaped I. sharing   J. shift   K. specialized

Curiosity and Globalization are Driving a New Approach to Travel

Today’s political climate and negative headlines seem to point towards a more inward-looking global population - minds narrowing, borders going up. But with more people living and working overseas and becoming exposed to influences from different cultures, many of us are seeking a(n)     1    , connected world.

According to the recently published study from Culture Trip, 60% of people in the US and UK say that their outlook on life is shaped by the     2     from different cultures. As a society, we not only want to discover and experience other cultures, we want to learn from them, too. This is one of the many positive side effects of globalization. At the same time, the economic landscape of the last decade has resulted in a shift in values away from     3    , with younger generations more interested in collecting experiences than possessions.

Welcome to the “new culture economy”.

The collision(碰撞)of two trends - globalization and the experience economy - has     4     a new attitude to travel, with cultural curiosity at its heart. This is the “new culture economy”. The phenomenon is having a powerful impact on people’s interactions and definitions of     5     exploration, and presents an incredible commercial opportunity.

While globalization is usually talked about in the context of the     6     of trade and capital between countries, we shouldn’t forget that the     7     force behind it all it people. Education, travel, exposure to other customs and geographies and the cultural integration(融合)are the more influential social effects of globalization. People are increasingly living or working in countries other than the ones in which they were born - more than half of respondents from the study have friends living overseas, all of which has     8     in more interaction with global cultures.

Also, student debt and unaffordable housing have created a(n)     9     in spending patterns, and so a new set of values has emerged in which experiences matter more than ownership. Travel is absolutely necessary to most people’s lives - in fact, nearly half of all respondents cut down on their daily expenses so they can save money to travel more. For “generation rent” in particular, no matter how expensive an experience or a trip, it is still more     10     than a house.

9 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. inhabitants     B. captured       C. minimum   D. innovation E. network F. apparently       G. highlighted   H. equally     I. humble       J. expansion   K. displays

Is Boasting Good or Bad Business?

Sweden is one of the most creative countries in the world, yet has a culture that warns against boasting about its success in public. And is this    1     manner a help or an obstacle when it comes to start-up?

From household names such as Spotify and Skype, to gaming leaders King and Mojang, Sweden is a land of     2     for industrial changes and new products. Despite just 10 million     3    occupying a land mass largely defined by forest wildness, the nation has in recent years created billion-dollar companies per head than everywhere else outside Silicon Valley.

The more familiar narrative for Sweden’s start-up success story typically includes the following factors. It has strong digital facilities, a highly educated, tech-experienced workforce, and an ideal population size for testing innovations. And for those whose ideas are not in line, there is a strong social welfare     4    to set them back on their feet.

While Ingvar Kamprad, founder of Ikea, has emphasized his being modest and economical in his attitude, research is always at the heart of Ikea’s    5    . These firm-held cultural features have    6     the attention worldwide. Local and global observers are admiring their constant role in promoting Sweden’s lively economy.

“Trying to keep boasting to a    7     and finding a common ground so that everybody is on the same page” remain to be two of the most spreading practice in the Swedish workforce, says Lola Akinmade Akerstrom, a cultural commentator, who     8     this in her recent book Lagorm: The Swedish Secret of Living Well.

Rather than focus on a rock star’s or a CEO’s “killing it” , in Swedish business : “It’s about everybody getting together, making sure their voices are heard     9    , so that they can all reach a most desirable solution together,” she says.

This culture has its roots in what Swedes call “Jantelagen”, which describes a century-old tradition that discourages unnecessary    10    of wealth or success. In other words, nobody should consider themselves better than anyone else.

10 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only   be used once. Note that there is one word more than youneed.

A. boast 　B. underrepresented　 C. shared 　D. participation 　E. pursuit　 F. launched G. confirmed 　H. female　I. barriers 　J. agreements 　K. advancing

Gender equality has powerful potential to improve the economy, security and the overall well-being of a population.

“If the world closed the gender gap in workforce    1    , global [Gross Domestic Product] would increase by 28 trillion dollars by 2025... That’s about a quarter of the world’s current GDP, and almost half of the world’s current debt,” said U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Catherine Russell in a recent speech. She also noted that “studies have found that countries with less gender inequality are more secure, and peace     2    last longer when women are at the negotiating table.”

Nonetheless, no country in the world can     3    that it has achieved full gender equality.

“Around the world, women are vastly     4    in politics and the workforce, particularly in leadership positions and other high-paying jobs,” said Ambassador Russell. At the same time, women make up the majority of the poor. “I’ve heard people say that poverty has a     5    face, and that makes sense when you consider that women control just one-fifth of global wealth,” said Ambassador Russell.

World leaders are beginning to recognize that everyone benefits from     6    gender equality, she said. This is why gender equality is part of U.S. foreign policy. A key part of U.S. efforts focus on educating and empowering girls. In the past 18 months, the United States     7    its global strategy to empower adolescent girls, as well as Let Girls Learn, which is a Presidential initiative that focuses on educating girls.

We are also working with numerous countries to remove    8    that keep women from inheriting or owning property, entering the formal job market or accessing banking services.

“Gender equality sometimes looks like an impossible task —a     9    without an end,” said Ambassador Russell. “But...we can make progress, and that progress is worth making. Little by little, discussion by discussion, step by step, we can improve the lives of women and girls, men and boys all around the world. And in doing so, we can reach our     10    goals of peace, prosperity, and security.”