1 . We're often reminded of the importance of protecting the planet as we see it for future generations — and children at St Oswald's CE Primary School Chester certainly agree.
Nine-year-old Isohel Kelleher from the school's Hummingbirds class thinks adults need to take notes. "Sometimes they can be busy and I don't think they think they can make a difference, but if everyone does a little bit it all adds up," she tells Huff Post UK. "We started looking at plastic pollution in our oceans and the things like plastic bags that are polluting them, " she says. "Fish can eat the plastic and they can die, or we might even eat the fish ourselves. ”
Mr Timms, Isohel's teacher, has been leading a new project at the school which lets children loose creatively to raise the awareness of the need to be more environmentally friendly. The entire Hummingbirds class, which is made up of nine-year-old and ten-year-old pupils, has been busy writing poems and creating online videos to warn adults about the serious situation of our oceans and wildlife.
Mr Timms thinks children play an important role in teaching us how to take care of the things around us. "We sometimes overlook how much we can really learn from children," he says. "It is really hard to believe having parents come in saying that their children have been asking them to stop using plastic and to recycle more, and even stopping them using plastic straws. ”
Mr Timms is proud of his Hummingbirds class. "The message that they would like to send to the world is simple: stopping this isn't someone else's job, and it won't be OK if we just leave it."
1. What does Isobel Kelleher mean in paragraph 2?| A．People shouldn't eat fish any more. |
| B．Adults have done their part pretty well. |
| C．Everyone can do something to stop pollution. |
| D．Plastic pollution is already too serious to be solved. |
| A．By preventing people using plastic bags. |
| B．By picking up waste plastic in oceans in person. |
| C．By teaching students to write poems creatively. |
| D．By warning adults about the pollution with poems and videos. |
| A．The project has already proved effective. |
| B．Some parents are angry with the project. |
| C．Children are good at looking after parents. |
| D．Adults ought to learn little from their kids. |
| A．Using plastic straws. | B．Plastic pollution. |
| C．Protecting the planet. | D．The Hummingbirds class. |
1. What does the conversation focus on?
| A．Environment protection. |
| B．Public transportation. |
| C．A birthday party. |
| A．By bus. | B．By car | C．By bike. |
3 . For many years people in Estonia have been leaving their rubbish in the forests. Rainer Nolvak, a businessman, and his friends wanted to clean up all the rubbish in Estonia. The rubbish was not just an environmental problem. It was a problem of people’s attitudes. Rainer Nolvak got together with a team of 20 friends and they began to make a plan about how to clean up the rubbish. Soon, over 600 people joined the group.
They named the project Let’s Do It! Estonia. The Ministry of the Environment gave them some support. Many companies joined the group. Famous actors and singers also took part in it. Even the President of Estonia joined. They sent information about Let’s Do It! Estonia throughout the country.
Technology experts developed a special computer program. Team members went into the forests to find where the rubbish was. They used their mobile phones to mark every place where they found rubbish and sent the information to the computer program. Then, the marked rubbish places appeared on the map. Anyone could go on the Internet and see the map.
The team found a surprising result. There were over 10,000 tons of waste in the forests of Estonia. When people saw how much waste was around their own homes, they were shocked. Thousands of people began to help. The team chose May 3, 2008 as the day to clean up the rubbish. On May 3, more than 50,000 people helped to get rid of the rubbish. They cleared out over 10,000 tons of rubbish in only one day!
This was amazing for the environment in Estonia. It was also an important step for Estonian society. Rainer Nolvak gave a speech at a conference in the Balkans. He said, “The most important thing we did was build a team. It changed every one of us. We had to connect with people. We had to see that the rubbish was our problem. At times we were afraid of sharing. When we were together and there were many of us, we were not afraid.”
1. The project Let’s Do It! Estonia aimed to _____| A．prevent people leaving their rubbish everywhere | B．make Estonia a clean place |
| C．change people’s attitudes towards the environment | D．make plans for businessmen |
| A．the technology experts | B．how the team found the rubbish |
| C．Phones’ important part in marking places | D．how the rubbish places were showing on the Internet |
| A．find out | B．make use of | C．clean up | D．throw away |
| A．It was less successful than expected. | B．It got great support from all over the country. |
| C．It got money from famous actors and singers. | D．It was set up by the Ministry of the Environment. |
| A．all difficulties are paper tigers | B．people should help each other |
| C．there is strength in numbers | D．attitude is everything |
| A. neighbouring；B. concerned；C. complete；D. earnest；E. fats F. maintenance；G. notably；H. operations；I. regularly；J. specifics；K. shift |
A good grilling
As they reopen after lockdown, many restaurants are firing up their barbecues. Diners appreciate food grilled over glowing charcoal embers, but the
The researchers tested a commercial grill,
The researchers are investigating which extraction systems best protect all the people
Meanwhile, Dr Aleysa’s team have come up with their own solution: a new kind of grill, which they reckon can cut pollutants by 90%. Dr Aleysa is reluctant to go into
An industrial partner is keen to put the grill into production. It could go on sale by the middle of next year. It will cost a bit more than a standard grill, says Dr Aleysa. But he believes that would be offset by lower
1. 具体做法；
2. 提出倡议。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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6 . During a waste collection session in May at the base of Mount Qomolangma, in the Tibet Autonomous Region, participants put garbage（mostly plastics）into bags and prepared to transport them downhill.
Dressed in camouflage and a blue vest, Samdrub dragged a sack to a blue truck parked a few hundred meters away. Scores of similar sacks were piled up along the roadside, waiting to be loaded onto the vehicle. Not far away, a couple of sheep roamed the deserted land looking for grass. “Loads of it here. Loads of it. This is the fifth consecutive time we have come here and we still haven’t finished the clean-up, ” said Samdrub, 64, who, like many Tibetans only uses one name. Samdrub and her companions are members of a regular clean-up campaign organized by the Lhasa Ban-White Association, an environmental advocacy group that taps the volunteer spirit to control abandoned plastic trash, also known as “white pollution”. The volunteers are of all ages and come from different walks of life. Now retired and with time to kill, Samdrub and her friends have taken to the city’s ravines and riverbanks to battle the pollution. “In recent years, I’ve read reports that livestock choked and died after eating plastic. I was born and raised in rural Shigatse, and I know how big a financial loss that is for herders. ” Samdrub said.
Tersing Dorji, 62, a member of the Lhasa Ban-White Association, said the worst pollution results from rural farmers’ markets and the common use of plastic bags, which are super-thin and relatively expensive to recycle. “They are of various colors and very light, and when the wind blows they fly everywhere. ” she said.
A rule was then implemented by authorities in Lhasa that banned the production of super-thin plastics and ordered retailers to charge customers a fee if they wanted a regular plastic bag. The ban was later extended to the entire region. It has worked well generally, especially in supermarkets and other large operations, where additional charges for plastic bags have prompted many shoppers to opt for reusable items, such as cloth bags.
1. Why do the local volunteers like Samdrub participate in waste collection?| A．They are retired and have little time left. |
| B．They can make money by collecting waste. |
| C．They are encouraged by an environmental group. |
| D．They fight against pollution to help the Tibetans. |
| A．It will soon finish with people’s efforts. |
| B．People put it into sacks and dragged them downhill. |
| C．Clean-up campaigns are regularly organized to battle it. |
| D．It has been the main cause that leads to the death of livestock. |
| A．Caused. | B．Advised. | C．Promised. | D．Supported. |
| A．Ban on Plastic Bags |
| B．Pollution Caused by Plastic Bags |
| C．Action Against Plastic Waste in Tibet |
| D．Waste Collection Participated in by Locals |
7 . It should be one of the main goals in today’s society to reduce plastic consumption. Though many believe recycling will solve the problem, and continue using plastic, it’s actually the opposite. In 2013, 254 million tonnes of trash was produced in the U.S. alone, and only around 30% was recycled. This means the rest ended up in a landfill and will stay there for up to 1000 years.
Now Asian countries, including Vietnam and Thailand, are looking for new ideas to avoid plastic. One of those ideas was a new, eco-friendly way to pack their goods by avoiding plastic packaging. One of Perfect Homes Chiangmai’s team members noticed a creative way to reduce plastic that a supermarket called Rimping Supermarket was using. Little did he know that people all around the world would absolutely love this idea. “I just entered to get a few items while we were waiting to sign some contracts with our lawyer, who was delayed. When I noticed the vegetables wrapped in banana leaves and simply liked the idea. So I took a few pictures and posted them online,” he said.
With more than 3.5 million views and over 17 thousand shares, the idea became something people can encourage more supermarkets to implement (实施).
Some have noticed that not everything on the shelves is completely plastic-free to which the supermarket responded that they are taking one step at a time, but it’s not that easy. Many products come to the supermarkets pre-packaged and many companies are interested in wrapping their produce in plastic since it is the cheapest and the easiest option.
It’s now up to the shoppers to show the supermarket which they prefer. If everyone opts for the banana leaf packaging, they will probably stop stocking the items in plastic.
1. What can we infer about recycling from Paragraph 1?| A．The author thinks highly of recycling. |
| B．The US did a great job in recycling in 2013. |
| C．Recycling has failed to solve the plastic problem. |
| D．Recycling helps a lot in reducing plastic consumption. |
| A．To buy some items. | B．To look for new ideas there. |
| C．To take photos of their shelves. | D．To sign a contract with a lawyer. |
| A．Doubts. | B．Increases. | C．Dislikes | D．Chooses. |
| A．Leaf Packaging Spreads Rapidly |
| B．Reducing Plastic Consumption |
| C．Recycling Avoids Plastic Packaging |
| D．A Good Option Makes A Difference |
8 . I don’t think I can recall a time when I wasn’t aware of the beauty of the ocean. Growing up in Australia, I had the good fortune of having the sea at my side. The first time I went to Halfmoon Bay, I suddenly had the feeling of not being able to feel the ground with my feet anymore.
For my 10th birthday, my sister and I were taken out to the Great Barrier Reef. There were fish in different colors, caves and layers of coral (珊瑚). They made such an impression on me. When I learned that only one percent of Australia’s Coral Sea was protected, I was shocked. Australian marine (海洋的) life is particularly important because the reefs (暗礁) have more marine species than any other country on earth. But sadly, only 45% of the world’s reefs are considered healthy.
This statistic (数据) is depressing, so it’s important for us to do everything to protect them. The hope that the Coral Sea remains a complete ecosystem has led me to take action. I’ve become involved with the Protect Our Coral Sea activity, which aims to create the largest marine park in the world. It would serve as a place where the ocean’s species will all have a safe place forever.
Together, Angus and I created a little video and we hope it will inspire people to be part of the movement. Angus also shares many beautiful childhood memories of the ocean as a young boy, who grew up sailing, admiring the beauty of the ocean, and trying to find the secrets of ocean species.
1. What can we learn about the author from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 1?| A．He seldom went sailing at the sea. |
| B．He forgot his experiences about the ocean. |
| C．He never went back to his hometown. |
| D．He had a wonderful impression of Halfmoon Bay. |
| A．It is escaping from the Coral Sea gradually. |
| B．It depends on reefs for living greatly. |
| C．It may be faced with danger. |
| D．It is protected better than that in other oceans. |
| A．To contribute to a complete ecosystem. |
| B．To prevent more marine species being endangered. |
| C．To set up a large nature reserve for reefs. |
| D．To raise more teenagers’ environmental awareness. |
| A．To ask more people to take action to protect the marine species. |
| B．To inspire more people to study the secret of the ocean. |
| C．To share their childhood experiences about the ocean. |
| D．To bring back to people their memory of ocean species. |
9 . There are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic trash in the world’s oceans, and each year, 8 million tons of plastic are added to the figure. Though the oceans seem vast enough to stomach a lot of plastic, the level of waste is starting to reach a crisis point: According to a new report by the Ocean Conservancy, by 2025, the ocean could contain one ton of plastic for every three tons of fish.
All these floating bits of plastic not only disrupt marine ecosystems, but also poison the global supply of seafood. “It’s reaching crisis proportions,” says Andreas Merkl, CEO of the Ocean Conservancy. “Plastic breaks down into small pieces that look like plankton (浮游生物) and is eaten by everything from plankton to whales.”
The new report calls for a focus on improving waste management systems in a handful of developing countries that account for the plastic leakage into the ocean. China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam contribute more than half of the oceans’ plastic since their waste facilities haven’t kept up with rapid industrialization.
How can countries reduce the leakage of waste into the ocean? The Ocean Conservancy report suggests that by providing more waste collection services, closing the leakage points within the collection system, getting rid of waste with effective landfill, and building more recycling facilities, the plastics leakage could be cut by 50% by 2020.
It’s not just an environmentalist’s daydream. Coca-Cola and Dow Chemical, along with some other multinational companies, have joined forces with Ocean Conservancy to fight ocean pollution. “We’re committed to working toward a future of a plastic-free ocean. Companies don’t make plastic with the intention of it ending up in the ocean, and we acknowledge the strong role industry must play in order to help eliminate ocean plastic waste by 2035.” Says a Dow Chemical director.
“While building landfills and incinerators (焚化炉) across these developing countries might not be pretty, it’s far more environmentally friendly than letting waste slide into the world’s oceans.” Says Andreas Merkl.
1. According to the passage, plastic poisons sea food because_________.| A．It damages marine ecosystems |
| B．It breaks down into small bits that can be eaten by fish |
| C．When sea animals are trapped in plastic bags, they can't breathe |
| D．It contains poison pills |
| A．They produce the majority of the waste worldwide |
| B．There are too many multinational companies in those countries |
| C．They have inadequate waste facilities to adapt to rapid industrialization |
| D．Their governments neglect their responsibility to inspect the problem |
| A．multinational companies | B．individuals all over the world |
| C．recycling of waste | D．building landfills and incinerators |
| A．The consequence of plastic trash and the effort made by the developing countries. |
| B．Plastic trash poison the global supply of seafood. |
| C．Landfills and incinerators are beneficial to the developing countries. |
| D．A new report by the ocean Conservancy. |
请根据海报内容及以下要点写一份倡议书。
1．环保是我们中学生义不容辞的责任；
2．我们应该养成这些环保习惯；
3．让我们人人都为地球母亲尽一份绵薄之力吧！
