1 . Plastic is everywhere, from the Arctic ice to vital organs in the human body. In fact, previous estimates suggest that the average person swallows a credit card-worth of microscopic plastic particles(颗粒) every week. But new research shows that this could actually be an understatement.
Microplastics are plastics smaller than 5 millimeters, found in industrial waste, beauty products, and formed during the degradation of larger plastic pieces. Over time, they break down into even smaller nanoplastics. These tiny particles can pass through our intestines and lungs into our bloodstreams, reaching vital organs like the heart and brain.
While the idea of eating plastic is unsettling in itself, the major concern here is that these plastic particles contain chemicals that can interrupt our body’s natural release of hormones, potentially increasing our risk of reproductive disorders and certain cancers. They can also carry toxins(毒素) on their surface like heavy metals.
In the past, researchers have shown bottled water can contain tens of thousands of identifiable plastic fragments in a single container. However, until recently, only the larger microplastics were detectable with available measuring tools, leaving the area of nanoplastics largely a mystery.
Using Raman microscopy (显微镜学), capable of detecting particles down to the size of a flu virus, the team measured an average of 240, 000 particles of plastic per liter of bottled water, 90 percent of which were nanoplastics, a revelation 10 to 100 times larger than previous estimates.
These plastics likely originate from the bottle material, filters used to “purify” the water, and the source water itself. “It is not totally unexpected to find so much of this stuff, ” the study’s lead author, Columbia graduate student Naixin Qian, said in a statement. His team hopes to expand their research into tap water and other water sources to better inform our exposure to these potentially dangerous particles. “The idea is that the smaller things get, the more of them I reveal, ” he added.
1. What is the primary focus of the new research?| A．The presence of plastic particles. | B．The use of plastic in everyday products. |
| C．The detection methods for microplastics. | D．The potential risks of nanoplastics to human. |
| A．Finding the source of plastic particles. | B．Helping to cure the deadly flu virus. |
| C．Detecting the smaller plastic particles. | D．Improving the quality of bottled water. |
| A．To focus on areas with higher plastic pollution. |
| B．To be aware of the dangerous particles in daily life. |
| C．To further measure the types of particles in tap water. |
| D．To detect the smaller plastic particles in industrial areas. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Objective. | C．Conservative. | D．Positive. |
2 . Just when you thought you were taking care of your health by eating enough fruit and vegetables every day, new research has come out revealing that you might be swallowing microplastic particles (颗粒) along with all those vitamins, minerals, and fiber. A groundbreaking study published in the journal Environmental Research has found that fruits and vegetables absorb microplastic particles from the soil and move them through vegetal tissues, where they remain until eaten by hungry diners, thus getting transferred to human bodies.
The researchers, who are from the University of Catania in Italy, as well as Sousse and Monastir universities in Tunisia, analyzed a variety of common fruits and vegetables —carrots, lettuce, broccoli, potatoes, apples, and pears. These were chosen for the fact that they are frequently consumed, usually one per day, which allowed the researchers to better assess the dietary intakes of MPs (microplastic particles) and NPs (nano-plastics). The samples were purchased from different sources in the city of Catania, including a small fruit vendor and a supermarket.
The researchers found that apples, followed by pears, were the most polluted fruit samples, and carrots were the most polluted vegetable. In the study’s discussion section, the authors wrote, “We can assume that the fruits contain more MPs not only because of the very high vascularization (血管化) of the fruit pulp (果肉) but also due to the greater size and complexity of the root system and age of the tree (several years) compared to the vegetables (60-75 days for the carrot).”
This study is important because it's the first to detect microplastics in fruits and vegetables. They have been found in other sources before, such as sea salt, beer, water (bottled, in particular), shellfish, sugar, soil, and even air, but never inside fresh produce. It’s an alarming discovery that raises yet another red flag about microplastic pollution in the natural environment.
It’s an area that will likely see a lot more attention in coming years, with the study authors calling for further research into the question of microplastic and whether it harms the health of both plants and humans.
1. What is the study mainly about?| A．The main cause and influence of soil pollution. |
| B．The microplastic pollution in fruits and vegetables. |
| C．The benefits of daily fruits and vegetables consumption |
| D．The great changes in people's dietary habits. |
| A．The age of root system. | B．The huge size of fruit tree roots. |
| C．The complex preservation method. | D．The large amounts of the fruit pulp. |
| A．It needs to be further studied. | B．It wasted them quite a lot of time. |
| C．It has caused harm to health. | D．It has attracted attention to diets. |
China will closely track
Japan's plan prioritizes its own interests
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
"We urge the Japanese government to listen to the voice of the international community and
E-waste, the world’s largest and fastest growing type of waste, doesn’t only come from computers but other electronics as well.  |
In 2019, the world produced 53. 6 million tons of e-waste.  |
The world’s e-waste will reach 74.7 million tons by 2030. That’s almost a doubling of e-waste in just 16 years.  Today, only 15-20 percent of all e-waste is collected and recycled. |
Why should we recycle e-waste? E-waste has many valuable things in it, such as gold, silver and copper(铜). One smart phone battery can pollute 600,000 liters(升)of water. |
What can we do? ●Try to repair your electronics instead of buying new ones. ●Check for recycling organizations and give away your broken electronics. ●Remove any batteries (电池) because they need to be recycled separately. ●Tell others to recycle e-waste. |
1. In___________, the amount of e-waste reached about 37.3 million tons.
| A．2014. | B．2019. | C．2022. | D．2030. |
| A．E-waste only comes from computers. |
| B．In 2019, 53.6 million tons of e-waste was recycled. |
| C．We need to recycle batteries with other electronics. |
| D．We should consider repairing rather than buying new electronics. |
| A．instruction | B．novel | C．newspaper | D．comic book |
5 . Sleeping in a noisy room isn’t only distracting (使人分心的), and it can also harm your health. Although researchers have known for decades that longterm loud noises can harm us, it’s only recently become recognized as a widespread problem.
In a new review of previously published studies, researchers from Germany and Denmark took a look at the ways in which noises, such as an airplane passing by or jackhammer digging in the ground, can affect our hearts. Perhaps the most obvious impact of a loud sound while you are sleeping is that it can wake you up. But, even if you don't remember hearing the noise or you don’t physically get out of bed, it can disrupt you in ways you may not realize.
“Noise is not just causing annoyance, but it actually makes us sick,” said Dr. Thomas Münzel, a professor at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. “Regardless of where the sound is coming from, if it gets louder than 60 decibels (分贝),it can increase the risk of heart disease.”
When our body hears these noises, it reacts with a stress reaction. In this case, these sudden and unexpected noises cause hormones(荷尔蒙) to speed up and eventually damage the heart. Although the chance that a single noise will affect you is unlikely, it’s the continuous exposure (接触) to the sound that can finally affect you.
“But our heart health isn’t the only cause for concern. Long-term noise may also raise the risk of type 2 diabetes (糖尿病), depression, and anxiety disorders,” he warns. In the future, Münzel plans to examine how noises from cars, planes, and other vehicles affect the brain. But despite the amount or the depth of research he conducts, it’ll take the help of politicians to improve the effect of noise on our health.
“Politicians have to take into account, in particular, the new findings,” Münzel said, “As for aircraft noise and airports, it is important to make new laws and set new lower noise limits that protect people living close by the airport instead of the owners of the airport.”
1. What do researchers from Germany and Denmark find?| A．Noise does little harm to people who are asleep. |
| B．Noise can cause people’s memory to get worse sharply. |
| C．Noise has been a widespread concern for a long time. |
| D．Noise louder than 60 decibels may cause heart disease. |
| A．Defeat. | B．Harm. | C．Attract. | D．Discourage. |
| A．Politicians should take action to handle noise pollution. |
| B．Münzel will continue other studies on brain diseases. |
| C．Benefits of airport owners are more important than health. |
| D．Attention should be paid to heart health and other diseases. |
| A．Who Is to Blame for Noise Pollution | B．What Should Be Done to Stop Noise |
| C．How Münzel Carried Out His Research | D．How Noise Pollution Harms Our Body |
| A．The sea is getting smaller. |
| B．The sea is being polluted. |
| C．The sea is getting cleaner. |
A sandstorm,
8 . Recycling is a great way of doing your bit for the environment and helping to protect the earth’s precious resources. However, a new study has revealed that our desire to be sustainable maybe doing more harm than good. According to waste company Biffa, this is because of “wish-cycling” — assuming that items such as disposable coffee cup sand pizza boxes will be recycled if put in the recycling bin. In fact, pollution from those items or other non-recyclables can result in recyclable items that have been put in the correct bin going to landfill. David Heaton, a business director at Biffa, said: “Pollution happens when items are disposed of in the wrong bins or haven’t been cleaned before being recycled.”
Experts at Biffa analyzed the amounts of non-target and non-recyclable materials that entered UK material recycling facilities between 2016 and 2020. It was found that, in 2016, the average pollution rate of recycling waste was 13.4 percent, rising over four years to 17 percent by the end of 2020. This shows that, even as people are becoming more eco-conscious, wish-cycling is increasing both in households and businesses.
The Biffa experts say that one of the best ways to prevent pollution of recycling is to clean recyclable waste before putting it in the bin. They suggest cutting off the top of old pizza boxes and only recycling that part to avoid pollution from the grease (油脂). Check the on-packaging recycling label to check it can actually be recycled When it comes to plastics, Biffa recommends checking the resin code, the number in the plastic triangle, to know whether it should go in the recycling bin. In general, resin codes 1, 2, 4 and 5 are recyclable, while 3, 6 and 7 are not. Larger items, like electronics, furniture and batteries, can also be recycled but often can not go in household recycling bins as they need specialist separating. These will need to be taken to recycling centers or sustainable waste management companies.
“It’s vital as a nation that we get better at effective ‘pre-cycling’— sorting waste correctly before collection to reduce pollution rates,” added Mr. Heaton.
1. What’s the truth of “wish-cycling” according to the first paragraph?| A．The desire to lead a sustainable life. |
| B．The good intention to help recycling. |
| C．The habit of throwing items that end up in landfills. |
| D．The practice of recycling items that can not be recycled. |
| A．People are becoming more eco-conscious. |
| B．Wish-cycling is on the rise in recent years. |
| C．Pollution happens less frequently in recycling facilities. |
| D．People are used to cleaning recyclable waste before putting it in the bin. |
| A．Dispose of electronics together with household waste. |
| B．Skip the step of checking the on-packaging recycling label. |
| C．Check the resin code of plastics to see whether it is recyclable or not. |
| D．Cutoff the top of old pizza box and throw the rest to the recycling bin. |
| A．Recycling: a Big Project | B．Wish-cycling: a New Trend |
| C．Wish-cycling: a Growing Concern | D．Pre-cycling: an Effective Method |
9 . 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 breathing in these particles can damage 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 move around quickly 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 (估计) the contribution from different sources, and was the first such study to do so.
They found that roads were the main factor in the western US, linked to about 85 percent of the microplastics in the air. These are likely to include particles from tires on vehicles, and plastics from litter that had been broken down.
The researchers enlarged their modeling work to a global level and this suggested that while roads are also likely to be the main 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 did the researchers find out about airborne plastic pollution?| A．Its impact varies on different continents. |
| B．Public transportation takes responsibility for it. |
| C．Its main driver differs across continents. |
| D．Africa is suffering the most from the pollution. |
| A．To predict the possible damages of microplastics. |
| B．To get more data to understand the sources of microplastics. |
| C．To understand the nature of airborne plastic pollution globally. |
| D．To improve the method of collecting samples of microplastics. |
| A．Effects of microplastics on human health |
| B．Possible solutions to microplastic pollution |
| C．Microplastic pollution on the global scale |
| D．Microplastic pollution rising rapidly in the air |
| A．Society. | B．Nature. | C．Health. | D．Science. |
10 . Of the 8,300 million tons of virgin (原始的) plastic produced up to the end of 2015, 6,300 million tons have been discarded (丢弃). Most of that plastic waste is still with us, buried in landfills or polluting the environment. Microplastics have been found in Antarctic sea ice, in the guts of animals that live in the deepest ocean trenches and in drinking water around the world.
But what if we could wave a magic wand and remove all plastics from our lives? For the sake of the planet, it would be a tempting prospect — but we’d quickly find out just how far plastic has spread to every aspect of our existence.
In hospitals, the loss of plastic would be devastating. “Imagine trying to run a dialysis (透析) unit with no plastic”, says Sharon George, senior lecturer in environmental sustainability and green technology at Keele University in the UK. Plastic is used in gloves, tubing, blood bags, sample tubes and more.
Some everyday plastic items are also vital for protecting health. Face masks, including plastic-based surgical masks and respirators (人工呼吸器), as well as reusable cloth masks, have helped slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. “A mask that you have for COVID is related to our safety and the safety of others,” says George. “The impact of taking that away could be loss of life if you took it away on a big scale.”
Our food system would also quickly come apart. We use packaging to protect food from damage in transit and preserve it long enough to reach supermarket shelves, as well as for communication and marketing. “I cannot imagine how plastic would be replaced completely in our system,” says Eleni Iacovidou, a lecturer in environmental management at Brunel University London.
Swapping out plastic packaging would have knock-on (产生连锁反应的) environmental effects. While glass has some advantages over plastic, such as being endlessly recyclable, a one-liter glass bottle can weigh as much as 800 g compared to a 40 g plastic one. When those heavier bottles and jars need to be transported over long distances, carbon emissions grow even more.
It’s clear that replacing one material with another won’t solve all our plastic problems.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To give a definition. | B．To report on a study. |
| C．To introduce a topic. | D．To describe a phenomenon. |
| A．Interesting. | B．Practical. | C．Predictable. | D．Destructive. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Supportive. | C．Optimistic. | D．Uninterested. |
| A．What if we stopped using plastic? |
| B．Is plastic packaging bad for the environment? |
| C．More recycling won’t solve plastic pollution |
| D．Swapping out plastic for sustainable living |
