South Koreans consume 2.4 billion plastic straws (吸管) annually. And like in many other countries, the government is stepping up to reduce the amount of single-use plastics.
The idea of Rice Straws came to Kim Kwang-pil when he first saw
That was the beginning of Kim’s company, Yeonjigonji,
“I met people who wouldn’t believe I could eat the straws. So, when I did, they
So far the company
As they are eatable, the rice straws need to pass food safety laws in each country. But Kim believes that his straws are
2 . The national movement to get rid of plastic bags is gaining steam — with more than 240 cities and counties passing laws that ban or tax them since 2007 in the US. But these bans may be hurting the environment more than helping it.
University of Sydney economist Rebecca Taylor and colleagues compared bag use in cities with bans with those without them. For six months, they spent weekends in grocery stores recording the types of bags people carried out.
Taylor found these bag bans did what they were supposed to: People in the cities with the bans used fewer plastic bags, which led to about 40 million fewer pounds of plastic garbage per year. But people who used to reuse their shopping bags for other purposes, like picking up dog waste, still needed bags. "What I found was that sales of garbage bags actually grew sharply after plastic grocery bags were banned," she says.
Garbage bags are thick and use more plastic than typical shopping bags. "So about 30 percent of the plastic that was reduced by the ban comes back in the form of thicker garbage bags," Taylor says. On top of that, cities that banned plastic bags saw a surge in the use of paper bags, which she estimates(估计)resulted in about 80 million pounds of extra paper garbage per year.
A bunch of studies find that paper bags are actually worse for the environment. They require cutting down and processing trees, which involves lots of water, toxic chemicals and fuel. While paper is biodegradable(可生物降解的) and avoids some of the problems of plastic, Taylor says, the huge increase of paper means banning plastic shopping bags increases greenhouse gas emissions(排放).
The Danish government recently did a study that took into account environmental impacts(影响)beyond simply greenhouse gas emissions, including water use, damage to ecosystems and air pollution. These factors make cloth bags even worse. They estimate you would have to use an organic cotton bag 20,000 times more than a plastic grocery bag to make using it better for the environment.
1. What is main idea of the passage?A.Banning plastic bags is gaining popularity worldwide. |
B.Banning plastic has great influence on people’s life. |
C.Banning plastic increases the use of pager and cloth bags. |
D.Banning plastic may harm rather than help the environment. |
A.Plastic bags are no longer needed. |
B.People began to reuse their plastic bags. |
C.The amount of garbage is even greater. |
D.Most of the reduced plastic returns in garbage bags. |
A.They are not as biodegradable as plastic bags. |
B.It hurts the environment more to make them. |
C.They can’t be reused as many times as plastic bags. |
D.They are much thicker than plastic bags. |
A.Sharp increase. | B.Fast development. |
C.Tight control. | D.Sharp decrease. |
3 . Much of the Amazon’s biodiversity (生物多样性) is under fire-literally. In the last two decades, deforestation (滥伐) and forest fire ate into the ranges of thousands of plant and animal species in the Amazon rainforest.
The extent of the damage is closely tied to the practice of laws in Brazil aimed at protecting the forest from widespread logging (伐木). The findings illustrate the key role that forest use laws have in the fortune of the Amazon rainforest.
Threats to the survival of this biodiversity could have long-term effects. Biodiversity promotes a forest’s resistance to drought. If fire-impacted area continues to rise, not only does the Amazon lose forest cover, but also some of its capacity to deal with the changing climate.
“With fires advancing deeper into the rainforest, more species will experience fire for the first time. These species have not evolved (进化) under conditions with regular fires, so the consequences for those species, like increased risk of population declines or extinction, can be severe,” says Xiao Feng, a biogeographer at Florida State University.
“But we don’t know how fires are impacting the biodiversity across the Amazon basin,” says Feng. The Amazon is a huge area. It’s generally impossible to go there and count the number of species before the fire and after it. So Feng and his team instead investigated how Amazonian plant and animal species’ geographic ranges have been affected by recent fires. The team gathered range maps of 11,514 plant and 3,079 animal species and compared these maps with satellite images of Amazon forest cover from 2001 to 2019. Those images let the team track how logging and fires have led to the reduction of rainforest.
Starting in 2009, when a series of rules aimed at reducing deforestation started being performed, the extent of fires generally decreased. Then in 2019, fires rose back up again, co-occurring with a relaxation of rules. Much of the fire-driven forest loss was concentrated along the more intensely logged southern reaches of the rainforest.
The change suggests effective forest protection laws can slow this trend of destruction and are essential for preventing the region from reaching a tipping point.
1. What does Feng mean based on paragraph 4?A.Not all species will survive the fire. |
B.The forest badly needs regular fires. |
C.All species will die out after the fire. |
D.The fire will change survival skills of species. |
A.By taking field trips. | B.By doing experiments. |
C.By referring to geography books. | D.By making comparisons. |
A.Severe drought kept on striking. |
B.The new species had no time to evolve. |
C.Rules of controlling logging weren’t strictly carried out. |
D.The rainforest’s resistance to the changing climate weakened. |
A.A science magazine. | B.A personal diary. |
C.A travel brochure. | D.A research plan. |
4 . A four-year-old boy who was crazy about collecting rubbish has finally fulfilled his dream of being a cleaner. Riley McCourt has admired the local rubbish collectors for ages, spending his days picking up waste on his street and wheeling bins (垃圾桶) to the side of the road to help out his neighbors. He loves cleaning and binning waste. His favorite chore is to empty the rubbish from the chip shop his mum runs. Two weeks ago, however, a disaster struck: Riley accidentally knocked over one of the bins and was accused of causing trouble.
Someone posted in the local Facebook group that Riley had put rubbish in the street, clearly unaware of his love for keeping the streets clean. Thankfully his innocence was quickly proven, and his local council decided to make his dreams come true by allowing him to work alongside the cleaners for a day.
Riley joined the waste collection crew on Wednesday, chatting with the team, helping with the recycling, and riding in the waste collection vehicles. He even got his own jacket. Riley's mum, Toni McCourt, said, “He loves the bins and trucks.” Riley's favorite day is definitely bin day. He goes round collecting the rubbish up on the street. The cleaners all know him when they spot him. He goes outside as soon as he sees them come round. He helps his neighbors put their bins out for collection.
Riley clearly made a good impression during his first day on the job, as community services manager Jane Carrol said she was very pleased with his enthusiasm for the role. Jane said, “Riley is clearly a keen recycler and who knows, when he is older I'm sure he would make an excellent member of the team here. It was a pleasure for the team to show him around the vehicles.”
1. What is Riley's dream?A.To prove his innocence. |
B.To collect much rubbish. |
C.To work as a real cleaner. |
D.To work in his mother's shop. |
A.He was wronged by someone. |
B.He was knocked over by a bin. |
C.He had an accident in the shop. |
D.He forgot to empty the rubbish. |
A.People go out to celebrate it. |
B.The cleaners collect the bins. |
C.People help Riley collect rubbish. |
D.The cleaners collect rubbish in the bins. |
A.It is dangerous to do so on the street. |
B.It is good for the community to follow him. |
C.It is worthwhile to give Riley high remarks. |
D.It is unnecessary for such a little boy to do so. |
1. 阐释原因;
2. 实施途径;
3. 发出倡议。
注意:
1. 写作词数应为80左右;
2. 请按如下格式作答。
Green Life Starts From Me
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6 . There you are in your favorite clothing store. You don’t really need to buy anything, but everything is so cheap and stylish! Before you know it, you leave the store with bags and bags of new clothes.
On the surface, this doesn’t seem so bad. However, there are a lot of hidden costs behind the cheap price tags (标牌). To put it plainly, the fashion industry is terrible for the planet. Not only does it use up a lot of resources, but it also heavily pollutes the environment with chemicals, microplastics and unwanted waste.
Fashion is one of the least sustainable industries on the planet, commented Michael Stanley-Jones. “We’ve all become our own waste managers, hoarding fashion waste in our houses,” he noted.
It doesn’t just take up space in our cupboards, though. It also ends up in landfills (垃圾场), too. But, thankfully, the fashion trend tides are changing. People are increasingly examining their own consumption and what changes they can make to become sustainable, Jane Fellner, founder and CEO of sustainable fashion seller Loopster, told the Guardian.
In particular, with its typically lower prices and rare fashion finds, shopping secondhand has become an increasingly popular and eco-friendly option. According to online reseller ThredUp, the secondhand market is predicted to reach $80 billion by 2029. And, although fast fashion will continue to grow 20 percent over the next 10 years, secondhand fashion is expected to grow an unbelievable 185 percent in that same amount of time. Fellner continued: “Secondhand has become more socially acceptable. Thrifting (节约) is now massive on TikTok.”
The only true sustainable way to shop is to not shop at all, unless you’re buying clothes that already exist.
1. What does the fashion industry bring about?A.People’s love for fast fashion. | B.Damage to the earth. |
C.Cheap price tags. | D.Sufficient resources. |
A.Sorting. | B.Avoiding. |
C.Storing. | D.Recycling. |
A.It is gaining popularity. |
B.It has defeated fast fashion. |
C.It makes people attractive. |
D.It is huge among young people. |
A.Young Consumers’ Habits |
B.A Stylish Fashion Manager |
C.The Fashion Industry |
D.Sustainable Fashion Trend |
7 . A food service app is allowing customers to buy restaurant food at a low price before it goes into the waste bin.
Too Good To Go provides buyers with a bag of nearly wasted, but perfectly good food for takeaways as a way to cut food waste and help support the restaurant industry.
It is also easier for the restaurants since it's nearly impossible to guess and predict what will be available at the end of any night. Decomposing(分解)food in landfills is a major source of methane(甲烷), which can cause climate—related damage before completely decomposing after a decade. “We think we can save more than 2 million meals from the trash in the U.S. in 2021.
A.We are also making a lot of money. |
B.Each day the app helps save incredible food waste. |
C.We are also avoiding thousands of tons of emissions(排放物). |
D.It's impossible to know how much food will be wasted. |
E.These meals can be thrown into the garbage in a few hours. |
F.It's impossible to know how much food will end up in landfills. |
G.Unlike other apps, it offers only bags of whatever food the restaurants have. |
8 . Laura Stone is the founder of Sydney by Kayak(皮划艇), a company that offers guided kayak tours of Sydney Harbor in Australia. Not only did their business increase during the COVID-19, but one of their tours is actually more popular than ever.
A few years ago, Laura was paddling in the harbor when she noticed trash floating in the water. For reference, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) estimates that about 8 million tons of plastic end up in our oceans each year, causing big problems for wildlife and local plants. Laura was so shocked by the garbage in the water that she decided to dedicate a few paddles each week to trash cleanup. Incredibly, her clients were immediately on board with the idea, so Sydney by Kayak now leads four to five garbage-collecting tours every week!
At the start of the COVID-19, Laura thought her business would drop off as many others had. Instead, desperate for purpose and a way to get outdoors, people flocked to her “Clean Up Kayak” tours. They now routinely take about 441 pounds of garbage out of the harbor each week! “We've been quite surprised, even through the COVID-19, we've been very busy,” Laura said. “Because they can't travel, people are looking for something to do. That is not just good for them, but also good for the environment. ”
Each tour begins with participants preparing with some working tools. Some people come back many times for the satisfaction of collecting trash from the harbor. Julie Greening, for example, has done about 10 tours so far and says “every little bit is worth it”. “We're 7 billion people on this planet, so everyone does a little, but of course it's going to help, ” she said. “It's got to. ”
1. What can Laura's company mainly do?A.Sell Kayak and paddles. | B.Provide the kayak guide. |
C.Seve tourism information. | D.Organize outdoor activities. |
A.Reading a report about pollution. | B.Hearing of the appeal of the UNEP |
C.Talking with her clients on a tour. | D.Seeing the floating trash in water. |
A.Business continued dropping off. |
B.Helping cleaning up the garbage. |
C.Business increased because of garbage-cleaning. |
D.About 441 pounds of grabage were cleaned per week. |
A.Garbage cleaning tools are popular in Syney. |
B.People actively participate in the garbage-sorting. |
C.The public had a sense of enviornmental protection. |
D.The idea of using tools wins support from government. |
9 . The Plastic Bottle Village is just a great idea that might finally save us from being buried in plastic. It's a community in Panama that is going to be entirely made of used bottles.
The village will include about 120 homes of varying sizes. The design process begins with building frames of steel, which are then filled with these bottles. Once this step is complete, and electrical and plumbing lines are put inside, the plastic walls are covered by concrete—both inside and outside. So no one will actually be able to tell that the walls are made of plastic. Besides, the material will keep the house 17℃ cooler than the temperature outside.
The Village is the brainchild of Robert Bezeau with the intention of setting up several environmental projects. Having started a recycling program in 2012, during which a number of plastic bottles were collected, he started to think of how they could be put to use. Soon enough, he decided to use them to build houses, and came up with a basic idea for the construction process.
Over 10,000 plastic bottles were used to build the first house, which was completed late last year. The bottles were obtained from the same recycling project that Robert had set up. The next home is expected to be bigger, and will need more bottles to build. The "re-constructed" homes will be sold on request for anywhere between $ 149,000 and $ 300,000. The community will also feature other facilities such as gardens, mini-parks, and more.
22,000 plastic bottles are deserted across the world per second. While all these bottles obviously cannot be reused into homes, the project hopes to raise awareness of the colossal waste that these bottles create. The village will also create an education center that will teach individuals from the world how to reuse plastic bottles as construction materials for shelter.
1. What is so special about the houses in the village?A.They can save people from being buried in trash. | B.They are mainly built out of plastic bottles. |
C.They are being built by some researchers. | D.They are sold at a very low price. |
A.it provides cooler room temperature | B.it needs shorter construction period |
C.it is equipped with latest technology | D.it can bring huge economic benefits |
A.is made up of 120 homes of the same size |
B.will start another recycling project in the future |
C.is introducing modern technology to the villagers |
D.will offer the villagers an access to better living conditions |
A.A Recycling Program in Panama | B.The Advantages of Plastic Bottle House |
C.Eco-Friendly Plastic Bottle Village | D.The Construction of Plastic Bottle House |
10 . Understanding the link between a clean environment and human life is not a new concept. In fact, it was noticed as early as ancient Rome. Today we see how green living has infiluenced our everyday lives. There is a growing community of people who embrace a zero waste lifestyle and make changes to the way they live to reduce their carbon footprint.
Living a zero waste lifestyle means doing one’s best to achieve the aim of not sending anything to a landfill. People who adopt this lifestyle ultimately cut down on their waste by reducing what they need and want. They reuse what they own, sending few things to be recycled.
Many people who adopt the zero waste lifestyle claim to be frustrated by the many harmful chemical substances found in beauty and cleaning products. They also find the uses of disposable items and excessive packaging. For example, how many times have we had to peel away layers of plastic wrap and cardboard before finally taking out the item which we had bought? Instead of buying pre-packed food and goods, those who identify with the zero waste philosophy tend to shop in stores that allow them to make purchases and bring their own cloth bags and glass jars to store their purchases.
Many people may have the misconception that it is easier to live a zero waste lifestyle in the West. Nevertheless, Malaysian environmental journalist, Ms. Aurora Tin, has proven that a zero waste lifestyle is possible even in the Asian context. Instead of going to the supermarket to buy pre-packaged foods, Ms. Tin now visits the wet market and brings her own bags for vegetables. She has even stopped using store-bought toothpaste and makes her own toothpaste from coconut oil and baking soda. This lifestyle may be too big a change for the average person, but we could follow her suit to make gradual changes to our own lives.
1. Which of the following is a zero waste lifestyle?A.Bringing a resuable container to take away food. | B.Choosing appliances that cost less money. |
C.Turning off a device to stop using power. | D.Classifying the garbage before throwing it away. |
A.Recycable carboard. | B.Excessive packaging. |
C.Glass jars to store purchases. | D.Natural substances in cleaning products. |
A.How do people live a zero waste lifestyle. |
B.Why Ms. Tin chooses to live a zero waste lifestyle.. |
C.We can also practice a zero waste lifestyle in Asia. |
D.It is easy to live a zero waste lifestyle in the West. |
A.Living a zero waste lifestyle. | B.Going green is more than a fashion. |
C.A zero waste lifetyle is easy to achieve. | D.Making environmentally-conscious decisions. |