1 . 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.

2. What’s the main idea of the second paragraph?

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.

3. How does Browne’s Benign by Design research project run?

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.

4. What’s the best title for the text?

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.