2 . How to Reduce Gift Wrap Waste

Wrapping paper may have “paper” in its name, but that doesn’t automatically mean it can be recycled.     1     Try these suggestions for cutting down the amount of wrapping paper you throw away.

Reuse what you have.     2     It’s estimated that the U.S. produces 4.6 million pounds of wrapping paper annually, and 2.3 million pounds of that stays in people’s homes, awaiting reuse.

Use different materials.     3     Select basic brown thick paper that can be made up with a bow, ribbons, leaves, pinecones or markers. Repurpose newspapers, old posters and children’s school artworks as wrapping paper. There are plenty of other eco-friendly alternatives to wrapping paper that are just delightful and celebratory.

    4     Use baskets, fabric, gift boxes or bags, tea towels, and more to contain and display your presents. Learn the Japanese art of wrapping, using beautiful knots(绳结) to fasten colorful, reusable fabrics in attractive ways. This way, you’ll have no wrapping paper waste to deal with.

Ask for better paper. Shops store what customers want, and recyclability should be a top priority, so let that be known when you’re out shopping. As explained by Simon Ellin, CEO of the Recycling Association, a trade body that represents about 90 waste management companies and paper merchants in the United Kingdom, “It’s a campaign we’ve been on all year — do you really need to design a non-paper wrapping paper? Make paper with recycling in mind!”     5    

A．Try zero waste.

B．Shop with that in mind, too.

C．You don’t have to choose shining paper to decorate a present.

D．In fact, many types of wrapping paper cannot due to their materials.

E．When wrapping paper is extremely thin, it has few good quality fibers for recycling.

F．Wrapping paper can be used many times if care is taken to unwrap it without tearing.

G．Having a mix of recyclable and non-recyclable papers is a real problem for companies.

3 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Timberland, the world's leading outdoor footwear and clothing company, told China Business Weekly, “At present, people are suffering a lot    1    self-made disasters. ^,, For years, Timberland CEO has been talking about putting an “ingredients“ label on every product. By educating consumers on the     2    （environment）impact of their clothes and shoes, he hopes    3    （start.）a discussion that will increase     4     （aware） of the issue. With an average of 55 parts in every shoe, it had proved much    5     difficult than originally thought to source and measure every element. In 2005 , Timberland introduced a new brand of water shoes called Mion,     6     has only four separate pieces. The table lists the energy    7    （use）to produce the shoe,     8    （it）contribution to global warming and how much material    9    （waste）. The company says the response from the retailers has been great. But the question that really matters is     10     regular people are ready to listen and take action.

The company recently announced that it would be launching its eco-friendly boot this fall. Customers will be able to return the boots to any Timberland store for recycling when they don't want them anymore.

4 . An easily biodegradable（可生物降解的）material that could be “part of a global answer” to single-use plastic pollution has won its inventor, British designer Lucy Hughes , the international James Dyson Award.

Hughes' Marina Tex bioplastic is strong and flexible, making it a possible alternative for single-use packaging such as bags and sandwich wrappers. Its key ingredients are fish scales and skin, so it can break down in home food waste or compost bins.

Hughes created Marina Tex for her final-year project in the product design course at the University of Sussex. She had set out to create something using waste rather than unused materials, which led her to the UK's fishing industry. She ran more than 100 experiments to improve the bioplastic mixture, mostly using the kitchen stove in her student accommodation.

The fish scales and skin removed during processing usually encl up burnt or buried in landfill. And with “about 500, 000 tonnes of such waste produced by the country's fisheries annually”, it seems possible that Marina Tex could be used largely in industrial production. The material is low-energy to produce and doesn’t consume the earth's natural resources considering it's based on existing waste. It is also strong, boasting a higher tensile（可拉伸的）strength than the current material most commonly used for plastic bags.

British inventor James Dyson, who every year selects the grand prize winner in the international student design competition that bears his name, said that the material had the potential to replace traditional single-use plastics. “Marina Tex elegantly solves two problems：the ubiquity（无处不在）of single-use plastic and fish waste.” he said. “Further research and development will ensure that Marina Tex evolves further, and I hope it becomes part of a global answer to the abundance of single-use plastic waste.”

1. What do we know about Marina Tex bioplastic?

A．It is used globally.	B．It feels pretty hard.
C．It is made from fish.	D．It can break down easily.

2. Why did Hughes created Marina Tex?

A．To run experiments.	B．To promote fishing industry.
C．To create something special.	D．To finish her project at the university.

3. What does James think of the future of Marina Tex?

A．Promising.

B．Uncertain.

C．Costly.

D．Dark.

4. Which of the following should be the best title for the text?

A．Existing Fish Waste

B．Ways to Fight Plastic Pollution

C．New Bioplastic Made from Fish Waste

D．An International Student Design Competition

5 . The milk carton, made from layers of paperboard and plastic first, appeared in 1952 and soon replaced glass bottles. They were far lighter, could be piled and distributed more easily, and more significantly, they were found to have 78 percent less of an impact on the climate than glass bottles. The Tetra Pak cartons, with a layer of aluminum foil(铝箔) that allowed heat –treated milk to remain fresh, followed in 1961.

However, every technology has drawbacks and those of plastics are becoming painfully obvious. Landfills are stuffed with bottles and cartons, and trillions of pieces of plastic float in the world's oceans.

Carton makers are far from the only contributions to the ballooning volumes of packaging waste. In some ways, they're encouraging recycling. However, it is not universal even in Europe, only 47 percent of materials from the 37 billion cartons, made for European countries in 2016 were recycled.

Cartons are also stuck in a broader paradox(悖论): as economy advances, people tend not only to recycle more but also to consume more. Croatia’s overall recycling rate for packaging in 2016 was 55 percent, compared with Germany’s 71 percent, but the average German produced four times as much packaging waste as the average Croatian.

In theory, cartons are fairly recyclable. When pulped （打成浆） in liquid, their various layers are separated into paper, plastic and metal. All of them can then be turned to other uses. In practice, recycling is currently unfeasible for cartoons, because a cotton is carefully bonded and constructed often with a plastic lid and a straw fixed to the side.

This means carton makers need to do more to make their products not only useful but also sustainable. This involves stronger links with recycling factories and waste companies to ensure that containers they pump into the world are returned and reused. In the long term, they face a huge technological challenge to get to what Tetra Pak says is its ultimate aim -- to construct cartons entirely out of renewable materials.

1. What's the purpose of Paragraph 1?

A．To provide examples.	B．To introduce the topic.
C．To make comparisons.	D．To present the argument.

2. Why have numerous cartons ended up as waste？

A．Their materials are not recyclable.

B．Carton makers lack environmental awareness.

C．There are no recycling regulations in the world.

D．Consumption increases as recycling rate rises.

3. What does the underlying word unfeasible mean?

A．Urgent.	B．Expensive.
C．Impracticable.	D．Unimaginable

4. What is the top priority for carton makers?

A．To come up with new ways to reuse plastic

B．To make their products, the market leader.

C．To set up a new standard for the materials

D．To seek cooperation with recycling and waste companies.

6 . Ant Forest, a green initiative by the world’s leading payment and lifestyle platform Alipay, received the “U.N. Champions of the Earth” award, the UN’s highest environmental honor. It was given to Ant Forest for motivating half a billion people to adopt an eco-friendly and greener lifestyle, greatly contributing to ecological protection with the help of digital technology.

Alipay achieved this by inspiring its users to do environmentally-friendly things, such as walking, using public transportation, going paperless in the office and more to earn “green energy points”. These points can then be used to water and grow their own virtual young trees. After the virtual young trees have grown up on line, Ant Forest will plant real trees somewhere in China.

The number of Ant Forest users has reached 350 million, reducing 3 million tons of carbon dioxide. “Such programs are quite attractive to me. I feel satisfied to see a real tree planted just by doing some simple things such as riding bicycles and buying tickets online,” said an interviewee.

This initiative of Ant Forest is in line with the Chinese government’s strategy of a “Green Economy”. The country is taking aggressive actions in expanding its green coverage. Now, its efforts are paying off, with improved biodiversity and a healthier economic growth. Rare animal species have been spotted and forest parks are now popular attractions of tourism.

The planet is at a critical point which could result in natural disasters. It seems clear that unless governments, businesses and people form a focused team, it’s difficult to stop global warming. Fortunately, Ant Forest shows that it is possible to make joint efforts while relying on digital technology. And more initiatives are using technology to contribute to a sustainable future of the planet.

1. What was Ant Forest given the award for?

A．It brings convenience to people’s lives.

B．It is run by the world’s leading payment platform.

C．It technically assists many people to protect ecology.

D．It has made the greatest contribution to global development.

2. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．How Alipay makes profits.

B．How Ant Forest is carried out.

C．What a low-carbon life is like.

D．Why Alipay takes up the initiative.

3. What can we infer from the text?

A．350 million people have planted real trees.

B．Promoting tourism can help save animals.

C．China keeps a balance between economy and ecology.

D．The expansion of green coverage mainly results from Ant Forest.

4. How does Ant Forest contribute to the sustainable future?

A．By criticizing natural disasters.

B．By stopping the global warming.

C．By providing a platform to make joint efforts.

D．By encouraging people to donate money to plant trees.

7 . Royal Dutch Shell is launching a $ 300 million and forestry program, at a time when an increasing number of oil companies are putting money in carbon offset (碳补偿)plans to meet climate goals. The company will spend the money over the next three years on projects to store carbon, including large forests in the Netherlands and Spain, and will start offering motorists the option of purchasing carbon offsets when they buy petrol at the pump.

The executives of the company explained that these carbon offset projects were a new business opportunity for Shell, as well as a way to meet its climate targets. “We believe that over time we will be building a business, because these carbon credits will become more valuable as carbon becomes more limited," they said. Shell recently decided to cut its net carbon footprint (碳排放)by 2-3 percent in five years, which includes emissions (排放)from the products it sells. The company plans to produce carbon credits from the forestry projects, then sell these credits on to customers buying its oil and gas products, or apply the credits to its own operations to lower its carbon footprint.

Plants absorb carbon dioxide as they grow and restoring forests and other natural areas is considered one of the simplest ways to store carbon. However, the voluntary market for carbon credits based on forestry projects has its critics, as projects in developing countries can be hard to monitor. Shell's move has also been criticized by some environmentalists. They worried that there was a risk of " greenwash when companies invested in forestry projects. "There is an entire debate about whether forestry projects truly reduce emissions or not," they said, pointing out that planting in one area could cause deforestation (滥伐森林)to another.

Shell said it would rely on the third party to ensure its forest program to meet the Voluntary Carbon Standard and strict biodiversity requirements. Mark Lewis, head of climate change investment research at BNP Paribas, said, " Planting trees to offset emissions, as far as it goes, is a step in the right direction."

1. What is popular among oil companies these days?

A．Studying climate changes.

B．Launching forestry programs.

C．Working out carbon offset plans.

D．Attracting motorists to buy their petrol.

2. How will Shell Company make profits from its carbon offset projects?

A．By quitting the emissions of its products.

B．By reducing its carbon footprint by a quarter.

C．By limiting the oil used by its own operations.

D．By putting carbon credits it produces on the market.

3. What concerns some environmentalists about forestry project?

A．The projects can't really stop carbon emissions.

B．The projects are hard to monitor in poor countries.

C．The projects may lead to deforestation in other forests.

D．The projects haven't met strict biodiversity requirements.

4. What does the underlined word "greenwash" in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Discount.	B．Cheat.
C．Decline.	D．Change.