1 . There is increasing alarm about the extent of micro plastic pollution, which has been found everywhere from Everest to the Arctic. However, it turns out there’s an even smaller and more poisonous form of plastic pollution entering remote reaches of the globe. A new study published in Environmental Research found significant quantities of nanoplastics in ice samples from both the North and South Poles.
“Now we know that nanoplastics are transported to these comers of the Earth in these quantities. This indicates that nanoplastics are really a bigger pollution problem than we thought,” study lead author Dusan Materic said in a press release.
Nanoplastics are plastics that are smaller than a micrometer in size. Their small size means they are more difficult to study than microplastics, or plastics between five millimeters and a micrometer. But they maybe even more dangerous.
“Nanoplastics are very toxicologically active compared to, for instance, microplastics, and that’s why this is very important” Materic said.
Materic and his team used new methods to measure nanoplastic pollution in ice samples from Greenland and Antarctica. They sampled a 14-meter-deep ice core (核) from the Greenland icecap and sea ice from Antarcia’s McMurdo Sound. They found that there were an average of 13.2 nanograms per milliliter of nanoplastics in the Greenland ice and an average of 52.3 nanograms per milliliter in the Antarctic ice.
But what was even more surprising than the amount of nanoplastics in the remote ice was just how long they had sat there. “In the Greenland core, we see nanoplastic pollution happening all the way from the 1960s. So organisms, despite the lack of the solid evidence, likely all over the world, have been exposed to it for quite some time now,” Materic said.
The study also looked at the types of plastic present in the samples. Half of the Greenland nanoplastics were polyethylene (PE), the kind of plastic used for plastic bags and packaging. A quarter came from tires and a fifth were polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is, used for clothing and bottles.
1. Why should researchers focus more on nanoplastics?| A．They are more important to science. | B．They are smaller but more dangerous. |
| C．They are easily polluted by ocean water | D．They are more active in cold surroundings. |
| A．The Greenland core. | B．The Antarctic ice. |
| C．The amount of nanoplastics. | D．Nanoplastics pollution. |
| A．The North and South poles are the birthplace of nanoplastics. |
| B．Nanoplastics have less influence on the pa net than microplastics. |
| C．Nanoplastics found in the samples are widely used in the daily life. |
| D．Nanoplastics have been existing since the 1960s throughout the world. |
| A．Microplastics—proving more dangerous. |
| B．Nanoplastics—making its way to the poles. |
| C．Nanoplastics—posing a threat to people’s life. |
| D．Microplastics—setting the alarm bells ringing. |
2 . In the first test of its kind in Europe, and only the second in the world, Belgian researchers tested 39 brands of straws (吸管) for the group of synthetic (合成的) chemicals known as poly-and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The straws are made from five materials — paper, bamboo, glass, stainless steel and plastic. PFAS were found in the majority of the straws tested and were most common in those made from paper and bamboo. They were not found only in steel straws tested.
PFAS are used to make everyday products, from outdoor clothing to non-stick pans, resistant (抵抗to water, heat and stains. They are, however, potentially harmful to people, wildlife and the environment. They have been related to a number of health problems, including lower response to vaccines (疫苗), lower birth weight, thyroid disease, liver damage, kidney cancer and testicular cancer. They break down very slowly over time and can last thousands of years in the environment, a property that has led to them being known as “forever chemicals”.
A growing number of countries, including the UK and Belgium, have sopped the sale of single-use plastic products, including drinking straws, and plant-based versions have become popular. The PFAS concentrations (浓缩物) were low in them and, bear in mind that most people tend to only use straws occasionally, bringing a limited risk to human health. However, PFAS can remain in the body for many years and concentrations can build up over time.
It isn’t known whether the PFAS were added to the straws by the producer for waterproofing or the PFAS were the result of contamination. Potential sources of contamination include the soil the plant-based materials were grown in and the water used in the production process. However, the presence of the chemicals in almost every brand of paper straws means it is likely that it was, in some cases, being used as a water-resistant coating, say the researchers.
1. Why are PFAS called “forever chemicals”?| A．They are commonly seen in daily life. |
| B．They bring humans health problems. |
| C．They remain in the environment for long. |
| D．They can resist water, heat and stains. |
| A．By bringing people air pollution. |
| B．By polluting humans’ food. |
| C．By building up little by little in humans’ body. |
| D．By making people addicted to drinking easily. |
| A．Pollution. | B．Discovery. | C．Experiment. | D．Development. |
| A．More and more countries give up single-use plastic products. |
| B．PFAS are widely used in the production of daily necessities. |
| C．Certain kinds of new synthetic chemicals were discovered. |
| D．Environment-friendly drinking straws are actually harmful. |
3 . British chip maker Walkers is being flooded with mail deliveries of its own packaging. An online petition (请愿) with more than 312,000 signatures so far encourages those who signed to mail their empty chip plastic bags to Walkers as an act of protest against the bags’ non-recyclable design.
As petition organizer Geraint Ashcroft explained, the majority of chip packets, made from plastic coated with metal, are not recyclable and have been found fully undamaged up to 33 years after consumption. The UK alone consumes 6 billion bags of chips a year, and Walkers turns out 11 million bags daily. Ashcroft wrote, “At today’s consumption rate in 33 years’ time, there will be 200 billion packets either sent to landfill or polluting our oceans. Many will be eaten by fish or birds, leading to a slow death.”
Mailing the bags to Walkers is a way to hold the company accountable for its packaging and to pressure it to come up with a better design. But it is controversial. Because the Royal Mail postal service isn’t happy about the sudden in flow of packages, asking people calm down to help with ease of delivery. Critics on Twitter also question the logic of buying a product in order to protest against its producer and suggest that giving up chips altogether would improve one’s health as well as the environment.
Walkers issued a statement on Wednesday, saying it will make its packaging plastic-free by 2025. “We have received some returned packets and recognized the efforts being made to bring the issue of packaging waste to our attention. The returned packets will be used in our research as we work towards our commitment of improving the recyclability of our packaging.”
1. Why do people mail their empty chip bags to Walkers?| A．To oppose Walkers’ plastic packaging. |
| B．To exchange them for some new chips. |
| C．To make Walkers use them once more. |
| D．To appeal to people for not using the bags. |
| A．The production of plastic bags. |
| B．The cause of animals’ death. |
| C．The potential harm of chip bags. |
| D．The opinion of Geraint Ashcroft. |
| A．Explainable. | B．Responsible. | C．Significant. | D．Anxious. |
| A．Doubtfully. | B．Indifferently. | C．Positively. | D．Cautiously. |
4 . We all have an idea about the common types of environmental problems. However, light pollution may be a new term to many of us. But, the fact is that it does affect mankind, other living forms and the environment as a whole.
What is light pollution? It presents all forms of misused man-made light. The obvious cause of light pollution is the use of outdoor lighting products improperly. It can be office lighting, car headlights, station lights, streetlights and many more.
Light pollution is harmful to both animals and plants. Upon studies, it is found that obvious effects are observed in the behaviour of animals that are active at night. Needless to mention, bright light at night makes it difficult for these animals to hunt, wander and perform their regular activities. Light pollution is directly or indirectly responsible for causing several diseases. Its effects are related to disturbance in the physical rhythm (节奏). It contributes to risks of developing cancerous cells. So, it’s nothing less than a threat to human health.
You have already seen the negative effects of light pollution on animals and human health. Apart from this, the actual cost of misused light is about millions of dollars every year. It also leads to the release of greenhouse gases and global warming. After all, coal or gas is used for producing electricity.
While outdoor lighting and using man-made lighting products are part of our modern lifestyle, some simple ways will surely help in reducing light pollution. For example, while installing (安装) outdoor lighting, make sure that they are pointed downwards. Also, use only the required lighting equipment for both home and offices. Believe it or not, many people living in the urban areas cannot view clear sky and stars at night. Let’s contribute our part in reducing the pollution.
1. What can we learn about light pollution?| A．It has little effect on plants. |
| B．It contributes to most cancers. |
| C．It is a negative fruit of light technology. |
| D．It affects animals’ behavior during the day. |
| A．It increases the temperature at night. |
| B．It creates clouds in parts of the Earth. |
| C．It stops the release of greenhouse gases. |
| D．It is related to the burning of coal and gas. |
| A．Forbid the use of outdoor lighting. |
| B．Use clean energy to produce electricity. |
| C．Avoid unnecessary lights at home and offices. |
| D．Reduce money spent on light in urban areas. |
| A．Citizens should be banned to install outdoor lighting. |
| B．Only simple ways can help reduce light pollution. |
| C．There is no clear sky or stars over the urban areas. |
| D．Light pollution needs to be dealt with urgently. |
5 . Microplastic pollution is increasing dramatically around the globe, according to a study of airborne (空气传播的) plastic particles(粒子).
People are already known to breathe, drink and eat microplastics, and research suggests that pollution levels will continue to rise rapidly. The researchers said that inhaling (吸入) these particles can irritate (刺激) lung tissue and lead to serious diseases.
Professor Natalie Mahowald, at Cornell University in the US and part of the research team, said: “But maybe we could solve this before it becomes a huge problem, if we manage our plastics better, before they accumulate (积聚) in the environment and swirl (打旋) around everywhere.”
The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examined airborne microplastics, which have been far less studied than plastic in oceans and rivers.
The team gathered more than 300 samples of airborne microplastics from 11 sites across the western US. These were the basis for atmospheric modeling that estimated the contribution from different sources, and was the first such study to do so.
They found that roads were the dominant factor in the western US, linked to about 85 percent of the microplastics in the air. These are likely to include particles from tires and brake pads on vehicles, and plastics from litter that had been broken down.
The researchers extended their modeling work to a global level and this suggested that while roads are also likely to be the dominant driver of airborne plastics in Europe, South America and Australia, plastic particles blown up from fields may be a much bigger factor in Africa and Asia.
Professor Andreas Stohl of the University of Vienna’s Faculty of Earth Sciences, and not part of the study team, said: “The study confirms the global-scale nature of microplastic transport in the atmosphere and does a good job in highlighting highly relevant and concerning possibilities, but more measurement data is needed to get a better idea of the sources.”
1. What do we know about microplastic pollution from the text?| A．It has become the most pressing environmental problem. |
| B．The particles can do great harm to our lungs. |
| C．Airborne microplastics have been widely studied. |
| D．There is more plastic in the air than in oceans. |
| A．Its impact varies on different continents. |
| B．Public transportation is largely to blame for it. |
| C．Its dominant driver differs across continents. |
| D．Africa is suffering the most from the pollution. |
| A．predict the potential damages of microplastics. |
| B．understand the nature of airborne plastic pollution globally. |
| C．get more data to understand the sources of microplastics. |
| D．improve the method of collecting samples of microplastics. |
| A．Effects of microplastics on human health | B．Plastic pollution rising rapidly in the air |
| C．Possible solutions to plastic pollution | D．Plastic pollution on the global scale |
6 . Light pollution is defined as too much misdirected or obtrusive (突兀的) artificial light. This definition applies to unwanted light in your own community as well as the night sky.
The primary cause of light pollution is the improper use of outdoor lighting. Many lights are arranged in a way that wastes up to 60% of their emitted (发散的) light. About 50% of emitted light shines directly into the atmosphere, a large percentage bouncing back down to Earth and creating the dome (穹顶) of light over cities called skyglow. We can see these domes from many miles away and they have a significantly negative effect on our view of the universe. The remaining 10% of that wasted light shines directly into our line of sight producing blinding light which destroys our ability to see safely at night.
Not only does light pollution make our cultural connections weaker and prevent our scientific explorations of the night sky, but it also harms wildlife. Many animals that rely on the natural darkness of the night to hunt become confused about the obtrusive skyglow of artificial light. Their inborn ability to follow this false light leads them on an unnatural routes which often leads to death.
Light pollution also takes a toll on our limited resources. It is estimated that up to 35% of the total outdoor lighting in the United States is completely wasted into the atmosphere. This means that 35% of the resources we use to create that electricity are completely wasted. This translates to about 3 billion dollars a year in wasted resources that are creating sky glow and light pollution.
We have seen a big increase in light pollution over the last few decades. Many people have watched the Milky Way disappear over their homes as growing unwanted light dominates the sky like continuous, incoming tides. Thankfully, unlike many other forms of irreparable pollution, light pollution is 100% fixable, which can be cleaned up at the speed of light.
1. What is the main cause of light pollution according to the text?| A．The inefficient use of outdoor lighting. | B．The overuse of household electric lights. |
| C．The reflection of light from the atmosphere. | D．The popularity of shining domes over cities. |
| A．By making them overactive. | B．By exposing them to their hunters. |
| C．By disturbing their biological clock. | D．By leading them off their hunting routes. |
| A．has a bad effect on | B．breaks away from |
| C．keeps an eye on. | D．adds up to. |
| A．It can be costly to deal with. | B．It will disappear sooner or later. |
| C．It can be relatively easy to get rid of. | D．It will cause lasting effects on the environment. |
7 . The idea of turning recycled plastic bottles into clothing is not new. During the past five years, a large number of clothing companies, businesses and environmental organizations have started turning plastics into clothing to deal with plastic pollution. But there’s a problem with this method. Research now shows that microfibers(微纤维)could be the biggest source of plastic in the sea.
Dr. Mark Browne in Santa Barbara, California, has been studying plastic pollution and microfibers for 10 years. He explains that every time synthetic(合成)clothes go into a washing machine, a large number of plastic fibers fall off. Most washing machines can’t collect these microfibers. So every time the water gets out of a washing machine, microfibers enter the sewer and finally end up in the sea.
In 2011, Browne wrote a paper stating that a single piece of synthetic clothing can produce more than 1,900 fibers per wash. Browne collected samples(样本)from seawater and freshwater sites around the world, and used a special way to examine each sample. He discovered that every single water sample contained microfibers.
This is bad news for a number of reasons. Plastic can cause harm to sea life when eaten. Studies have also shown that plastic can take in other pollutants.
Based on this evidence, it may seem surprising that companies and organizations have chosen to turn plastic waste into clothing as an environmental “solution”. Ever though the science has been around for a while, Browne explains that he’s had a difficult time getting companies to listen. When he asked well-known clothing companies to support “Benign by Design”, his research project, which is trying to get clothes that have a bad effect on humans and the environment out of the market, Browne didn’t get a satisfying answer. Only one woman’s clothing company, Eileen Fisher, offered Browne funding.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?| A．New microfibers have been discovered. |
| B．Making clothes from plastic bottles can’t solve the pollution. |
| C．The use of plastic bottle has been reduced in the past five years. |
| D．Turning recycled plastic bottles into clothing hasn’t been put into practice. |
| A．How to wash synthetic clothes. |
| B．How to prevent plastic pollution. |
| C．How microfibers end up in the sea. |
| D．Relationship between synthetic clothes and microfibers. |
| A．It has achieved great success. |
| B．It is facing some difficulties. |
| C．It is supported by many firms. |
| D．It hasn’t got anything done. |
| A．Recycled plastic clothing: solution or pollution? |
| B．The impact of Microfibers on the sea. |
| C．Environmental protection: moving forward or backward? |
| D．Turning plastic into clothing, a new step in environmental protection. |
8 . The essence (本质) of fast fashion is to make clothes inexpensively and quickly, to get new trends and styles into stores and online as soon as possible, and it comes at a high social and environmental cost. Keeping production costs low means they can make their clothes cheap, using cheap labour in unsafe working conditions, and in countries with bad environmental regulations.
Throw-away culture is deeply rooted in our society; three in five of our clothing pieces are thrown out within a year. Fast fashion brands keep the consumers hungry and feeling like they need more by attracting them with newness and convincing the consumers that they need what they’re selling. This only results in increasing textile waste as people no longer want but throw it away.
Criticisms of the fast fashion industry include its negative environmental impact: water pollution, the use of toxic (有毒的) chemicals and increasing levels of textile waste. Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of clean water globally, after agriculture. Fast fashion companies rely on their products being made cheaply and quickly, so they avoid talking when it comes to being aware of their impact on the environment. Greenpeace’s recent Detox Campaign showed that many brands use toxic and dangerous chemicals in their supply chains, and many of the chemicals are either banned or strictly controlled in lots of countries.
In conclusion, the fast fashion industry has a bad effect on our environment through fast fashion brands’ ecological practices and only continues to make the problem last for a long time in the future through extreme consumerist culture. In order for change to happen, the common people need to open their eyes and take measures to prevent the fast fashion from growing.
1. What’s one of the characteristics of fast fashion?| A．Causing a lot of anxiety. | B．Making people buy old clothes. |
| C．Selling most clothes through stores. | D．Producing clothes quickly. |
| A．They are mainly sold online. | B．They are made in unsafe countries. |
| C．They are made by cheap labour. | D．They save the cost of advertising. |
| A．Natural. | B．Surprising. | C．Absurd. | D．Puzzling. |
| A．Changing fast fashion brands’ working conditions. |
| B．Changing clothes stores’ sales model. |
| C．Introducing stricter laws for factories. |
| D．Raising public awareness of preventing fast fashion. |
9 . Wildfires lit by humans have been found to be sending huge amounts of carbon into our oceans via rivers every year.
When trees and other vegetation are incompletely burned, they release black carbon into the air, which can last for centuries on land and even longer in oceans. Now we have the best global picture of how much of the stuff is making its way to the sea: around a third of all the black carbon produced by fires.
Unlike the two-thirds that stays on the land, the carbon ending up in the oceans will stay there much longer, says Matthew Jones at the University of East Anglia in the UK. “Once it reaches the oceans, it has potential for storage over tens of thousands of years. That’s why we care about it. It’s almost locked up for the distant future,” he says.
Jones and his colleagues looked at 409 measurements of black carbon dissolved in the waters of 34 major rivers globally, plus many smaller rivers, including far more data from the tropics. They then modeled how it would travel to the oceans. “It’s quite breathtaking how long-lived this material is and how much ends up in the environment,” says Jones.
The team found that the amount of black carbon being carried by rivers varies generally around the world, with the rivers in the tropics carrying twice what those in cooler regions do.
When compared with emissions from humanity’s fossil fuel use, the actual amount reaching the oceans is relatively small. However, says Jones, understanding how black carbon is being moved around is important for building better climate models and for our understanding of the global carbon cycle.
The amount being produced by fires has been relatively stable for the past two decades, with forest fires being offset by Savannah being turned into farmland, which reduces the amount of vegetation available to burn. But Jones points out that more fires are expected as the world warms, which will deliver more black carbon into the oceans.
1. What happens to the black carbon produced by forest fires?| A．One third will turn into fires. | B．It will disappear in few years. |
| C．The ocean covers two-thirds of its total. | D．It has more lasting storage underwater. |
| A．The research deals with 409 rivers in all. |
| B．Black carbon finally ends up in the ocean by rivers. |
| C．The research focuses on different varieties of black carbon. |
| D．The rivers in the tropics have less black carbon due to temperature. |
| A．Better climate models will be built soon. |
| B．The carbon produced by humans is small. |
| C．The amount of carbon produced by forest fire is falling. |
| D．The amount of carbon reaching the ocean won’t be reduced. |
| A．Environment. | B．Science. | C．Entertainment. | D．Health. |
10 . The Mackenzie River is the second largest river in North America after the Mississippi River and is the largest river system in Canada. It runs from southeast to northwest, from Great Slave Lake into the Arctic Ocean. The break-up of ice begins in late April, early May. The river is free of ice by early June and stays open until November. After flowing past Norman Wells, the river then continues to channels full of wild grasses, until its path is divided by plenty of islands, making the Mackenzie River Delta (三角洲) in Arctic Ocean.
The Mackenzie River Delta is the shape of a vast fan of low-lying islands. The delta is covered with black spruce (云杉), which is a type of tree that is large enough to be used for building and is widely used for cooking food or warming.
The Mackenzie River Delta, with many islands and wet land, provides a perfect environment for birds. Birds, including snow geese and swans, visit the river and delta every year and spend the summer months in the delta. In the spring, the delta is also a breeding (繁殖) ground for fish and whales. 44 species of fish are found in the river, many of which move in groups among the Mackenzie River and its branches (分支). Those which move from the sea to fresh water in order to lay eggs travel some of the farthest distances. The fish in Arctic Ocean, for example, travels from the delta up the Mackenzie River and into the Liard River.
However, climate changes and pollutants become the greatest concerns to the health of plants, animals, fish in and along the Mackenzie River and people there. Dangerous results from climate changes are already found along the Mackenzie River, including unusual floods and thinner ice roads. There are concerns that waste from oil and gas will pollute local environments. Levels of pollutants in fish, an important food source for local people, have greatly increased since the mid-1980s.
1. What do we know about the Mackenzie River?| A．It begins in the Arctic Ocean. |
| B．It is larger than Mississippi River. |
| C．It is the second largest river in Canada. |
| D．It stays free of ice for about half a year. . |
| A．To look for more food. | B．To avoid being killed. |
| C．To give birth to its young. | D．To search for their groups. |
| A．The fish in the Mackenzie River is less than before. |
| B．The ice of the Mackenzie River is thinner and thinner. |
| C．The Mackenzie River is facing environmental problems. |
| D．The Mackenzie River causes more floods to local people. |
| A．Environment. | B．Culture. |
| C．Education. | D．Technology. |
