1 . 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. |
2 . Recycling in general can be an effective way to reuse natural material resources. The U.S.’s high recycling rate of paper, 68 percent, has proved this point. But although some materials can be effectively recycled and safely made from recycled content, plastics cannot. Plastic recycling does not work and will never work.
The problem with recycling plastic lies not with the concept or process but with the material itself. There are thousands of different plastics, each with its own characteristics. They all include different chemicals that cannot be recycled together, making it impossible to sort the trillions of pieces of plastics into separate types for processing. What’s more, plastic recycling costs more than new plastic because collecting, sorting, transporting, and reprocessing plastic waste is very expensive.
Despite this obvious failure, the plastics industry has begun a decades-long campaign to keep the lie that the material is recyclable, which reminds the public of the tobacco industry’s efforts to tell smokers that filtered (过滤的) cigarettes are healthier than unfiltered cigarettes.
Traditional mechanical recycling, in which plastic waste is ground up and melted (熔化), has been around for many decades. Now the plastics industry is promoting the benefits of so-called chemical recycling, in which plastic waste is broken down using high heat and turned into a low-quality fossil fuel. In 2018, Dow Chemical claimed that the Renewlogy chemical-recycling factory in Salt Lake City was able to reprocess mixed plastic waste through the “Hefty EnergyBag” program and turn it into diesel fuel (柴油). As Reuters showed in a 2021 survey, however, the pyrolysis (高温分解) process was not worth it.
We’re not making a case for hopelessness. Just the opposite(相反的). We need the facts so that individuals and policymakers can take action. Proven solutions to the plastic-waste and pollution problems exist and can be quickly copied across the country. These solutions include placing bans on single-use plastic bags and unrecyclable single-use plastic food-service products, and installing dishwashing equipment in schools.
Consumers can put pressure on companies to stop filling store shelves with single-use plastics by not buying them and instead choosing reusables and products in better packaging. And we should all keep recycling our paper, boxes, cans, and glass, because that actually works.
1. What is the problem with recycled plastic?| A．It costs too much to produce. |
| B．It can hardly be selected out. |
| C．It is generally of poor quality. |
| D．It can’t be stored in large numbers. |
| A．To compete with the tobacco industry. |
| B．To cut down the cost of recycling plastic. |
| C．To uncover the lie of the tobacco industry. |
| D．To prove the possibility of recycling plastic. |
| A．Traditional recycling proves to be safer. |
| B．Chemical recycling turns out to be a failure. |
| C．Chemical recycling can save energy resources. |
| D．Traditional recycling can deal with limited waste. |
| A．To show the difficulty in recycling plastic. |
| B．To introduce a new way of recycling plastic. |
| C．To stress the importance of recycling plastic. |
| D．To call for a ban on single-use plastic products. |
3 . In the past several months, Apple, Google and Samsung have all launched their newest smartphones and other products. But in the process, this may also be adding to a growing problem: electronic waste.
The limited lifespan of many tech gadgets(设备)has caused the issue of e-waste to increase over the years. “People tend not to realize that all these seemingly insignificant things have a lot of value, especially in large amounts, ”Pascal Leroy, director general of the WEEE Forum, said in a statement
How to solve the problems of e-waste is much more than just cleaning out space in your junk drawers. Actually, large amounts of e-waste are shipped to developing countries that lack the power to refuse and safely recycle these imports. The WHO warned that children, with their smaller hands, are often used to deal with mountains of e-waste in developing nations in search of valuable elements such as copper, silver, palladium and so on. The WHO said the health of more than 18 million children are being affected negatively as they are employed in this informal e-waste processing industry.
Personally, what can you do to reduce the e-waste burden? Find an e-waste disposal(处理) service. The impact of recycling e-waste can be staggering. For every 1 million cellphones that are recycled, 35, 000 pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold and 33 pounds of palladium can be recovered. Meanwhile, environmental advocates say the most important step to deal with the mounting e-waste problem is simply to try to use your electronics for as long as possible
1. What might come along with companies launching new e-products?| A．More electronic waste. |
| B．Few optional tech gadgets. |
| C．Limited lifespan of the devices. |
| D．Important things for consumers. |
| A．Developed countries can’t recycle e-waste safely. |
| B．E-waste mountains are places for children to play. |
| C．Many valuable elements can be found on e-waste mountains. |
| D．Children are hired in the informal e-waste processing industry. |
| A．Interesting. | B．Surprising. | C．Annoying. | D．Challenging. |
| A．What is the source of e-waste? | B．E-waste—a serious problem? |
| C．E-waste—a processing industry? | D．What to do with your e-waste? |
4 . Lagos, a big city in Nigeria, has a population of 20 million, and they can produce between 13, 000 and 15, 000 tonnes of waste every day including 2, 250 tonnes of plastic.
Despite a lot of cleaning, Lagos has no proper system to dispose of rubbish, and not having public awareness of pollution brings a huge environmental challenge. Litter gets washed away by the rains and waterways and ends up in mountains of rubbish on the beaches. Light- house Beach is one of the beaches. It stretches for about 100 kilometers along the Atlantic, all the way to neighboring Benin. Lined with palm trees, the beach could be beautiful if it weren’t for all the pollution.
“It is time that we should raise awareness of keeping the environment clean and clean up all the plastic,” says Chioma Chukwura, who helped pick up rubbish on Lighthouse Beach. At the end of a tiring day, 230 large bin bags were put together on the hot sand, filled with dirty plastic.
“Although the job is challenging,a company will come and pick them up tomorrow. All the plastic here will get reused. Sold for $500 a tonne, the plastic could bring $250 million to Lagos each year, and a cleaner environment could promote the development of the city,” says Owoade Yussuf, organiser of the cleanup.
As the volunteers leave at the end of the day,always just 100 meters is clean. “There is still a lot to do. Maybe we need two months, continuously, to get this cleaned up,” says another volunteer. “We have to find a way to prevent the plastic from coming back. After we’ve finished, I’m sure we may still see litter here when we come back.”
On Lighthouse Beach, the problem isn’t just plastic. Destroyed ships also pollute the beach. With that kind of pollution, even an army of volunteers may struggle. However, with more help, they can still make a difference.
1. How does the author show the severity of rubbish in Lagos in paragraph l?| A．By listing numbers. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By asking questions. | D．By making comparisons. |
| A．Pick out. | B．Deal with. | C．Bring about. | D．Adapt to, |
| A．There is no need to recycle the beach litter. |
| B．It is tough to clean all the plastic on the beach. |
| C．It is nccessary to sell the beach litter for money. |
| D．There is no fund to remove all the beach plastic. |
| A．Destroyed Lighthouse Beach in Lagos |
| B．Plastic Pollution is a Worldwide Problem |
| C．Lagos Faces Many Environmental Challenges |
| D．Cleanup Efforts on Lagos’Lighthouse Beach |
5 . Human beings have somehow managed to engineer the night to receive us by filling it with light. This kind of control is no different from the feat ( 壮 举 ) of damming a river. Its benefits come with
For most human history, the phrase “light pollution” would have
We’ve lit up the night as if it were a(n)
It was once thought that light pollution only affected astronomers, who need to see the night sky in all its glorious clarity. Unlike astronomers, most of us may not need a
In a very real sense, light pollution causes us to
| A．consequences | B．achievements | C．agreements | D．circumstances |
| A．Randomly-designed | B．Well-designed | C．Poorly-designed | D．Economically-designed |
| A．appealed | B．adapted | C．objected | D．amounted |
| A．come under criticism | B．made no difference | C．come into effect | D．made no sense |
| A．making do with | B．fed up with | C．identifying with | D．overflowing with |
| A．visit | B．greet | C．feel | D．smell |
| A．independent | B．disconnected | C．unoccupied | D．excluded |
| A．exposed | B．captured | C．dismissed | D．frustrated |
| A．clear | B．comprehensive | C．traditional | D．critical |
| A．Subsequently | B．However | C．Therefore | D．Similarly |
| A．Reviewing | B．Embracing | C．Denying | D．Regulating |
| A．light | B．rhythm | C．status | D．dawn |
| A．emerging from | B．withdrawing from | C．messing with | D．coinciding with |
| A．keep track of | B．lose sight of | C．catch hold of | D．let go of |
| A．measured | B．neutralized | C．undergone | D．supervised |
6 . A study of almost 2,700 children aged between seven and ten in 38 schools in Barcelona, Spain, first researches the impact of traffic noise on child cognitive development over time.
The children in the study are in a critical stage for the development of memory and attention skills, which are essential to learning. The research found that children exposed to about three times more traffic in the street than other children had memory development that was 23% slower and attention ability development 5% slower over a year.
Noise is the second most damaging environmental factor to health, after air pollution, and, for example, was already known to increase heart attacks in adults. The UN said that urban noise pollution was growing into a global public health threat, leading to 12,000 early deaths a year in the EU alone and affecting many cities.
But research on the impact of road noise on children was limited until now. “We do not understand that noise can actually be toxic (有害的) from a physical point of view,” said Dr. Maria Foraster, from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, who led the study. “We think that we adapt to it, but research has shown that we don’t completely — we still have a physiological (生理的) response.”
The research revealed that peaks of noise heard inside the classroom, such as the passing of loud trucks, had more impact than a higher average level of noise. It also found higher noise levels at school were more damaging than at home.
Prof. Iroise Dumontheil, at Birkbeck, University of London, UK, said, “This carefully designed study provides convincing evidence. Considering that many European children living in large cities are exposed to high road-traffic noise levels, this study has implications for public policy to reduce road-traffic noise near schools.”
The research follows previous work that showed higher levels of aircraft noise at school affected reading comprehension and cognitive development. Next, the authors said, they would like to see their findings replicated (复制) in different cities and towns, where schools may be built differently and windows opened more or less often.
1. What can we learn from Maria Foraster’s words?| A．We have been troubled by noise. |
| B．We lack confidence in her study. |
| C．We had tried hard to adapt to noise. |
| D．We had underestimated the harm of noise to humans. |
| A．Curious. | B．Positive. |
| C．Cautious. | D．Unsatisfied. |
| A．Finding solutions to reducing noise. |
| B．Helping students to realize the impact of noise. |
| C．Confirming their findings in different areas. |
| D．Studying the differences between various noises. |
| A．Policies on traffic noise should be improved |
| B．Traffic noise slows children’s memory development |
| C．Traffic noise has a growing impact on people’s health |
| D．Attention should be paid to the environment around schools |
7 . Natural selection is the process by which one type of animal within a species grows or develops well because of certain features that make it more likely(可能的) to live than others in its group. The history of the peppered moth (灰蛾) is an example of the natural selection process.
In nineteenth-century England, certain types of peppered moths were able to better blend (融合) into their surroundings. During that time period, great changes were happening in Great Britain. The Industrial Revolution was part of this change, and with it came air pollution. Natural selection often takes hundreds or even thousands of years to happen. For the peppered moth, this process happened comparatively(相对地) quickly.
At the beginning of the Industrial Age, most peppered moths in England were light-colored and covered with black markings, although a few moths had dark-colored wings. Because the light-colored moths blended into the light-colored bark on the trees, they could not be easily seen by birds that would eat them. As the air grew more polluted, however, tree trunks became covered with soot (煤烟) and became darker. The light-colored moths became easy for birds to see against the dark tree trunks. Since the dark-colored moths now had the advantage, their numbers grew. Within 50 years, the peppered moth went from being mostly light-colored to being mostly dark-colored.
In the twentieth century, the air cleared up, and the peppered moth population changed again. As tree trunks lightened because of less soot in the air, light-colored moths once again had an advantage. Their numbers increased as soot levels dropped. Depending on their environment, the coloration of the moths helped them to be “naturally selected” to survive(生存).
1. What do we know about the peppered moth’s natural selection process?| A．It was a good example of environmental protection. |
| B．The soot levels in England did not affect it. |
| C．This type of color change was typical for moths. |
| D．The length of time was unusual. |
| A．Both kinds of moths preferred the dark-colored trees. |
| B．Birds failed to see light-colored moths. |
| C．There were more light-colored moths than dark-colored moths in the beginning. |
| D．The color of moths was unimportant. |
| A．Birds would eat fewer moths. |
| B．Light-colored moths would disturb people’s life. |
| C．Moths would not be able to stay alive. |
| D．The population of dark-colored moths would increase. |
| A．the surrounding environment may affect some peppered moths’ survival |
| B．birds preferred to eat dark-colored moths than to light-colored ones |
| C．different types of peppered moths liked different kinds of tree trunk |
| D．birds were dangerously affected by the soot levels |
8 . In 1907, Leo Baekeland invented Bakelite — the first ever plastic. Since then, plastics have been used widely in various industries and people’s lives. Plastic bags were introduced to supermarkets in 1977. Now, 160,000 plastic bags are used globally every second!
Plastic bags live on much, much longer — perhaps as much as 1,000 years in a landfill (垃圾填埋地).
When plastic breaks down in the ocean, it doesn’t break down completely.
Plastic bags cause the death of many sea animals when they are mistaken for food. In 2008, a whale was found beached in California. It died due to the more than 22 kilos of plastic found in its stomach.
The key to improving our environmental behavior is to make a plan. And you should build your environmental muscle memory: Put your recyclable bags somewhere that will ensure you always remember to bring them with you.
If you drive to the store, keep your bags in your car.
Through this act of green, you have created a plan to ensure you will always have your reusable grocery bags on hand when you need them.
| A．If you bike, keep them in your basket. |
| B．But it only counts if you stick to the plan. |
| C．It remains harmful even when it breaks down. |
| D．Plastic bags are billed for their “convenience”. |
| E．It just gets smaller and ends up getting eaten by fish. |
| F．So we know that we should never use plastic grocery bags. |
| G．You’ll feel proud when you see what a difference you’ve made! |
9 . Flower scents (香味) help pollinators (传粉者) locate their favorite plants. Scientists have established that air pollutants change those scents, throwing off the tracking abilities of such beneficial insects as honeybees. But new lab experiments are the first to confirm that one pollinator, the tobacco hawkmoth, can quickly learn that a pollution-changed scent comes from the jasmine tobacco flower that the insect likes.
Chemical ecologist Markus Knaden and colleagues focused on one pollutant-ozone, the main element in smog. In the lab, his team blew an ozone-changed scent from a tiny tube into a tunnel, with a moth (飞蛾) awaiting at the far end of the tunnel. Usually, when the moth smells the unchanged scent, it flies upwind and uses its long, skinny mouthparts to probe the tube the way that it would a flower. The researchers expected that the changed scent might throw the moth off a little. But the insect wasn’t attracted at all.
In addition to scent, tobacco hawkmoths track flowers visually, so Knaden’s team used the feature, along with a sweet snack, to train the moth to be attracted to a pollution-changed scent. The researchers wrapped a brightly-colored artificial flower around the tube to trick the moth back across the tunnel, despite the unfamiliar scent. And the team added sugar water to the artificial flower. After a moth was given four minutes to taste the sweet stuff, it was attracted to the new smell when sent into the tunnel 15 minutes later, even when neither the sugar water nor the visual signal of the artificial flower was present.
This study focused on only one moth species, but Knaden’s team is now working on planning experiments with other pollinators that are easier to follow than tobacco hawknoths. While he guesses honeybees might also be as adaptable as the moth was, that won’t be true of every pollinator. “The situation can become very bad for insects that are not as clever or cannot see that well. I don’t want the take-home message to be that pollution is not a problem.”
1. What does the underlined word “probe” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Surround. | B．Favour. | C．Access. | D．Examine. |
| A．not all moths were attracted to ozone-changed scent as expected |
| B．the current research conducted by Knaden is pioneering and wide-ranging |
| C．not all pollinators are adaptable to human-driven changes to their environment |
| D．the moth didn’t like the new smell without sugar water and artificial flower |
| A．Positive. | B．Cautious. | C．Unclear. | D．Critical. |
| A．A moth can be rid of the tracking ability to locate its favourite plants. |
| B．A moth is able to establish a relationship between pollution and scents. |
| C．A moth may outsmart smog by learning to like pollution-changed scent. |
| D．A moth is born with an ability to adapt to the changes in the environment. |
We can also
