1 . Is renting clothes greener than buying them? Sustainable (可持续的) fashion expert Elizabeth Cline isn't sure. Clothing renting is a hot new industry and businessmen are trying to attract shoppers who care about the environment. Last summer alone, Urban Outfitters, Macy's, Bloomingdale's American Eagle and Banana Republic all announced renting services — a sure sign of changing times.

But is renting fashion actually more environmentally-friendly than buying it? And if so, how much more? Journalist and author Elizabeth Cline researched this question in a feature article for Elle, and she concluded that it's not as sustainable as it seems.

Take shipping for example, which has to go two ways if an item is rented — receiving and returning. Cline writes that consumer transportation has the second largest carbon footprint of our collective fashion habit after manufacturing.

   Then there's the burden of washing, which has to happen for every item when it's returned, regardless of whether or not it was worn. For most renting services, this usually means dry-cleaning, which is a polluting process. All the renting services that Cline looked into have replaced perchloroethylene,a carcinogenic (致癌的) air pollutants that's still used by 70 percent of US dry cleaners, with hydrocarbon (碳氢化合物) alternatives, although these aren't great either. They can produce harmful waste and air pollution if not handled correctly.

Lastly, Cline fears that renting services will increase our appetite for fast fashion, simply because it's so easily accessible. There's something called "share-washing" that makes people have more wasteful behaviors because a product or service is shared and thus is considered more eco-friendly. Uber is one example of this: advertised as a way to share rides and reduce car ownership, and yet it has been proven to discourage walking, bicycling and public transportation use.

Renting clothes is still preferable to buying them cheap and throwing them into the bin after wearing them a few times, but we shouldn't let the availability of these services make us self-satisfied. There's an even better step — and that's wearing what we already have.

1. The underline word in Paragraph 3 most probably means______.

A．traveling by ship	B．selling or renting a ship
C．delivering or mailing	D．the cost of sending

2. What can we infer from the passage?

A．Clothing renting became popular ten years ago.

B．Consumer transportation has the largest carbon footprint.

C．Renting clothes deserves further consideration.

D．Uber is a good example of sharing rides.

3. How much are the following alternatives preferred by the author?
①Renting used clothes        ②Buying cheap new clothes and dumping them soon
③Wearing the clothes we have instead of getting more to wear

A．①>②>③	B．②>③>①
C．③>②>①	D．③>①>②

4. Which of the following may be the best title for the passage?

A．Renting fashion-a sustainable choice!	B．Clothes renting or clothes buying?
C．Renting services are catching on	D．Clothes renting-truly greener?

3 . Fishing cats are a kind of cats that love water and love to fish. They are like tigers and lions, only much smaller, around twice the size of an average pet cats. They live in wetlands of south Asia and mangrove forests (红树林) of south and southeast Asia. Like many other endangered species, fishing cats are in danger of dying out more than twenty years ago, mainly because of the great international need for food fish and people’s cutting of mangroves at an extremely fast speed.

Mangroves of southeast Asia are home to a great many fantastic species like fishing cats, turtles, shorebirds and others. Mangroves can protect soil and they can be the first line of protection between storms, tsunamis and millions of people who live next to them. The fact is that mangroves can store almost five to ten times more Carbon dioxide than other forests. So protecting mangroves may well be like protecting five and ten times more of other forests.

Ten years ago, in south India, many people came together to change the future of their home. In less than ten years, with international support, the state forest departments and the local people work together to restore over 20,000 acres of unproductive fish and shrimp farms back into mangroves. Now experts are working with them in helping study protect the mangroves as well as species living in them. Fish and shrimp farmers are now willing to work with the experts to test the harvest of nature protection like fishes, turtles and other species in mangroves. The local farmers are encouraged to protect the plant mangroves where they have been lost. A win-win-win situation for fishing cats, local people and the global ecosystem is being built.

1. What made the fishing cats endangered?

A．Natural enemies and environmental pollution.

B．Cutting off mangroves and lack of water.

C．Less fish and overcutting of mangroves.

D．Being too large and need for good fish.

2. What does the underlined word “home” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．the shelter.	B．the jungle.
C．the gathering.	D．the habitat.

3. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．Ways of turning farms into forests.	B．Changes of South India in ten years.
C．Efforts to protect the mangroves.	D．Work in protecting shrimps.

4. What’s the best title for text?

A．Fishing Cats and Mangroves Protection	B．The importance of mangroves
C．Approaches to Protecting Fishing Cats	D．Man and Nature

6 . How to Protect Wildlife

Wildlife faces threats from habitat destruction, pollution, and other human actions. Although protecting wildlife may seem too hard at times, even small actions can help protect many different animals.     1    

● Create wildlife friendly areas. When trying to make your garden more beautiful, choose plants that can provide food and shelter to native wildlife. This will also help cut down on pollution.     2    

●     3     By using less water and fewer fuels, you will be helping to protect the wildlife around you. Take buses or the subway when you can and turn off electric devices when you’re not using them.

● Buy products that are wildlife-friendly.     4     Keep in mind that some endangered animals are killed by traps, catches or hunters who are after other wildlife within the same habitat.

● Limit family size. Population growth is one of the major factors in habitat destruction. With the rapidly growing population, more and more habitats for wildlife are occupied by humans.     5     In this way, the Earth’s population will stabilize and native habitats can be protected.

A．Live a greener life.

B．Donate money to organizations.

C．Each family should be limited to one or two children.

D．Avoid products that are made from endangered animals.

E．Protecting wildlife from being endangered is every family’s duty.

F．Here are some tips on how to protect wildlife through small actions.

G．Build bird houses to your garden or yard to attract and shelter these species.

7 . New Lives for Old Phones

When a new mobile phone starts to be sold in stores, many people rush out to buy one. We all want the newest, latest thing.     1    .

Mike Townsend works at Total Recall, a mobile phone recycling company. “Don’t throw your old phone away.     2     if you throw it away, it goes with other rubbish to become landfill. In other words, it is put in a big hole in the ground and it becomes a big problem,” he says.

Mobile phones contain some poisonous materials. If your phone goes to a landfill, these poisonous materials can get out and get into the water under the ground. That’s the water we need to drink or water goes into rivers or the ocean.     3     That’s a lot of landfill and a lot of poisonous materials.

“At Total Recall, we separate the old phones into pieces. Most of the materials in the mobile phones can be recycled and used again.     4     For example, phone batteries contain nickel and cadmium. The nickel is used to make steel and the cadmium can be used to make new batteries.” explains Mike.

“    5     You can usually just take it into a mobile phone shop and they wilt send it to us,” says Mike.

So before you throw that old mobile phone away, use it the last time: search for a recycler near you and give them a call.

A．Recycling your old phone is easy.

B．Send it to us and we’ll recycle it.

C．How much is your old mobile phone worth?

D．But what should we do with our old mobile phones?

E．Millions of mobile phones are thrown away every year.

F．Recycling materials helps keep the environment greener and cleaner.

G．We take apart the old phones and they are used to make new products.

8 . I fell in love with Yosemite National Park the first time I saw it, when I was 13. My parents took us there for camping. On the way out, I asked them to wait while I ran up to E1 Capitan,a ________ rock of 3,300 feet straight up. I touched that giant rock and knew________ I wanted to climb it. That has been my life’s passion ever since -________ the rocks and mountains of Yosemite. I’ve long made Yosemite my________

About 15 years ago I started seeing a lot of________ like toilet paper, beer cans, and empty boxes,around the area. It’s________ me why visitors started respecting the place________ and treated such a beautiful home-like place this way.

I tried________ trash myself, but the job was too big. I would________ an hour or two on the job, only to find the area trashed all over again weeks later. Finally, I got so________ it that I decided something had to change.

As a rock-climbing guide, I knew________ about organizing any big event. But in 2004, together with some climbers, I set a date for a________. On that day, more than 300 people________. Over three days we collected about 6,000 pounds of trash. It was amazing how much we were able to________ I couldn’t believe the________ we made — the park looked clean!

Each year volunteers come for the cleanup from everywhere. In 2007 alone, 2,945 people picked up 42,330 pounds of trash and ________ 132 miles of roadway.

I often hear people________ about their surroundings. If you are one of them, I would say the only way to change things is by________ rather than complaining. We need to teach by________. You can’t blame others ________ you start with yourself.

1.

A．distant

B．huge

C．narrow

D．loose

2.

A．recently

B．finally

C．gradually

D．immediately

3.

A．climbing

B．painting

C．describing

D．imagining

4.

A．garden

B．lab

C．home

D．palace

5.

A．material

B．waste

C．resources

D．goods

6.

A．over.

B．against

C．beyond

D．within

7.

A．less

B．most

C．more

D．least

8.

A．throwing away

B．picking up

C．breaking down

D．digging out

9.

A．kill

B．save

C．spend

D．wait

10.

A．satisfied with

B．delighted in

C．used to

D．tired of

11.

A．something

B．anything

C．everything

D．nothing

12.

A．cleanup

B．party

C．picnic

D．concert

13.

A．dropped out

B．looked around

C．showed up

D．called back

14.

A．demand

B．accomplish

C．receive

D．overcome

15.

A．plan

B．visit

C．contact

D．difference

16.

A．crossed

B．covered

C．measured

D．designed

17.

A．talk

B．argue

C．complain

D．quarrel

18.

A．watching

B．thinking

C．questioning

D．doing

19.

A．example

B．explanation

C．method

D．research

20.

A．unless

B．if

C．although

D．when

9 . Will you stop using plastic?

If you take a look around your kitchen or office right now, chances are that you’ll notice you’re surrounded by plastic—water bottles, to-go coffee cups, straws (吸管), plastic grocery bags, food wrappers, take-out containers, single-serve coffee pods and produce bags.     1    

It’s certainly not realistic to remove all plastic from your life, but let’s examine some statistics that may encourage you to reduce your single-use plastic footprint by throwing away straws, switching to reusable water bottles, bringing cloth bags to the grocery store and more.

According to a study published in the journal Science Advances, the popularity of plastic, which began rising in the 1950s, is growing out of control.     2     And there’s no sign of slowing down, considering scientists say that another 12 trillion kilograms will be produced worldwide by 2050.

“Every piece of plastic that has ever been created will remain in the environment in some form, but once we conveniently throw out our rubbish at home, wind and runoff carry our waste from landfills and streets to the ocean,” says Mystic Aquarium’s chief clinical veterinarian Jennifer Flower, DVM, MS. “Given that we are globally producing over 320 million tons of plastic annually, the marine environment is taking a big hit from our daily disposal of plastic.

    3     For example, newborn fish are mistaking tiny bits of plastic waste for food. If they die, there will be fewer big fish—and that could damage the food chain. Often our society is so focused on making our lives more convenient in the short term, but in the long run, our health and the health of marine life are at the expense of those everyday conveniences.”

    4     A recent report suggests that when heated, certain food additives (添加剂) can damage hormones, growth and development, as well as increase chances for children of being fat.     5     It is found in plastic containers and metal cans. Parents are urged to avoid using microwaves to warm food and drinks or placing plastics in the dishwasher.

A．Our plastic consumption is directly affecting the life in the ocean.

B．People are concerned about the results of overusing plastic containers.

C．8.2 trillion kilograms of plastic have been produced around the world.

D．Using plastic containers in microwaves is also harmful to children’s health.

E．Let’s stop using plastic for the benefit of the environment and human beings.

F．These are all examples of single-use plastic products, which is a hot topic nowadays.

G．The most concerning artificial additive BPA is a chemical used in the production of plastics.

10 . Why Is Sorting Important When Recycling?

We all agree that we should recycle more at home, in the office or when out and about.     1    Consequently, they can be collected and taken to the right place for recycling. This is what the process of sorting allows us to do.

    2    And the effective sorting needs to happen first, in our own home and second, in sorting plants to which waste is collected. When you put a plastic bottle in the right recycling bag or bin,   you are helping sort recyclables so that the right material can be fed into the right recycling process. If sorting does not happen，a lot of recyclable materials can end up in landfills. It will lead to valuable resources lost from our economy.

    3    For instance, in Brussels consumers put plastic packaging, cans and beverage cartons in blue bags designed for recyclable packaging; paper in yellow bags for recycling; and glass needs to be taken to specific collection bins. Somewhat differently, in Vienna (Austria), citizens can expect their paper, metal, glass and plastic to be separately collected in different weeks of the year.    4    ．

Once recyclable materials are collected from your home, they are further sorted in specialized facilities which ensure the quality of the recycling process.     5    Traditionally, sorting has been done either manually with workers sorting what can be recycled and picking out the materials to be discarded or mechanically. Today, however, new sorting technologies are being developed in order to speed up the process of sorting but to also cause better results. Exciting technologies using magnets or optical systems are being used to effectively sort materials so more of it can be recycled.

A．For effective recycling we need effective sorting.

B．Packaging at work is the first step towards recycling.

C．This is where different sorting techniques come into play.

D．So citizens need to be aware of their local collection system.

E．Collection systems can be very different from country to country.

F．The rest was landfilled or burned even though they could have been recycled or reused.

G．But for materials to be recycled, they first need to find their way to the right waste stream.