1 . There is an “environmental silver lining” as a result of the corona virus (冠状病毒) —carbon emissions have been reduced by more than 4%, many wildlife markets around the world have been closed and air quality in some places has slightly improved, Dave Ford, founder of the environmental literacy organization Soul Buffalo, says.
However, because of an increase in pandemic-related, non-recyclable materials such as take-out plastic containers and masks, 30% more waste has entered our oceans, he notes. “There's 129 billion facemasks being made every month—enough that you could cover the entire country of Switzerland with facemasks at the end of this year if trends continue,” he says. “And a lot of these masks are ending up in the water.” The masks look like jellyfish—in other words, food—to turtles and other wildlife creatures, thus, attractive to those animals and then endangering them, he says.
Very little of the plastic we use is actually recyclable. Sharon Lerner of The Intercept told Here & Now last year that "the vast majority of plastic that has ever been produced—79%—has actually ended up in landfills or burned, but not remade into new products." Even if the plastics we have can be reused, Ford says recycling programs across the globe are facing severe budget cuts.
“We're starting to see recycling programs stopped, waste picking communities operating at 50% or actually shutting down. They are the last line of defense between plastic and the environment,” he says.
Last year, Unilever planned to cut its use of non-recycled plastics in half by 2025. In an interview with Here & Now, Richard Slater, Unilever's chief research and development officer, drew on the industry argument that plastic packaging is lighter, which means less shipping and therefore fewer dangerous emissions that cause climate change.
Yes, plastics are lightweight and can cut down on fuel spending. But on the other hand, plastic waste is being found in every aspect of life—even in the deepest ocean.
1. What does “environmental silver lining” in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．An environmental organization. |
| B．The closure of some wildlife markets. |
| C．Benefits on environment from the corona virus. |
| D．The decrease of carbon dioxide emissions. |
| A．There is a continuous shortage of food in the ocean. |
| B．They contain certain unique chemicals. |
| C．Many sea creatures like to chase plastic by nature. |
| D．They look like the sea creatures' food. |
| A．The majority of it is buried or burned. |
| B．Most of it is recycled into new products. |
| C．129 billion facemasks end up in the ocean. |
| D．There is enough budget for plastic recycling. |
| A．Plastic can cut down fuel spending |
| B．The corona virus has caused more ocean plastic |
| C．Recycling programs are shutting down |
| D．Solutions to ocean plastic pollution are being explored |
2 . Have you ever had the feeling that you can’t think when there is too much noise around Did you ever think a fish could experience that feeling too? A recent published paper, combined over10,000 scientific papers, confirms that undersea life knows that exact same feeling, more often than not. Anthropogentic ocean noise, also known as underwater noise pollution, has created a huge impact on sea life due to “human-caused” activity within and neighboring our oceans.
The film Finding Nemo educated us about the ocean, and specifically within the ordinary world of a clown fish. A fact many may not know is that clown fish spend the first part of their lives as larvae (幼虫),moving slowly with the current of the ocean until they become strong enough to swim against it. Once they are powerful and strong, they head home in sheltered coral reefs. There is only one drawback—the fish can’t physically see the reef, but they can hear it. The only problem is, if they can’t hear it, will they ever make it home?
Our ocean noise, such as cargo ships, ship and boat propellers (螺旋桨),surfing, deep sea mining, etc. are causing destruction of sea life. Some researches found that sound is the sensory signal that travels the farthest through the ocean. The ocean noise drowns out the natural soundscapes, putting sea life under great stress. Altogether, this stress then affects their general health, disturb their behavior, reproduction and, in extreme cases causes death. Marine life can adapt to noise pollution, however, only if they can escape it. This only causes further complications of straying（使偏离）species from their traditional breeding regions or separating them from their families.
Now, what if we told you there is already a solution? Multiple ways, ideas and designs are currently in the works or already exist to remove the damage of the ocean noise. As the previous research explains, from wind-powered ships to noise-reducing propellers, a great many solutions are already available and in some cases, cost-effective. The authors of the paper hope it will catch the attention form the society.
1. What does the underlined word “Anthropogentic” probably mean?| A．Produced by nature. |
| B．Caused by ocean lives. |
| C．Related to human beings. |
| D．Made by underwater activities. |
| A．educate us to protect sea-life |
| B．introduce the film Finding Nemo |
| C．illustrate the harmful effect of ocean noise |
| D．show how terrible their living conditions are |
| A．The noise control techniques. |
| B．The attention from the society. |
| C．The application of relevant laws. |
| D．The restriction of human activities. |
| A．Narrative and serious. | B．Persuasive and critical. |
| C．Descriptive and positive. | D．Informative and objective. |
Every year a huge amount of waste ends up in the world’s oceans and causes problems for the animals living there.
About 80% of all marine waste is plastic from bottles and packaging, most of
One organization that does this is Ocean Conservancy,
Cleaning up the oceans seems like an
Japan said
The decision ends years of debate over how to deal with the water,
Greenpeace criticized Japan’s plan and said there are other solutions that should
5 . The world itself is becoming much smaller by using modern traffic and modern communication means. Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has brought new problems. One of the biggest problems is pollution. To pollute means to make things dirty. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear it.
Man has been polluting the earth. The more people, the more pollution. Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there were not so many people. When the land was used up or the river was dirty in one place, man moved to another place. But this is no longer true. Man is now slowly polluting the whole world.
Air pollution is still the most serious. It’s bad for all living things in the world, but it is not the only one kind of pollution. Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us angry more easily.
Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. They stop people from burning coal in houses and factories in the city, and from putting dirty smoke into the air. Pollution by S02 is now the most dangerous kind of air pollution. It is caused by heavy traffic. We are sure that if there are fewer people driving, there will be less air pollution.
The earth is our home. We must take care of it. That means keeping the land, water and air clean. And we must care about the rise in pollution at the same time.
1. Why is our world becoming much smaller?| A．Thanks to the development of science. |
| B．Because of the rise in pollution. |
| C．Because the earth is being polluted day and night. |
| D．Because the earth is blown away by the wind every year. |
| A．Rubbish. | B．Water pollution. |
| C．Air pollution. | D．Noise pollution. |
| A．Because it’s bad for all living things in the world. |
| B．Because it makes much noise. |
| C．Because it has made our rivers and lakes dirty. |
| D．Because it makes us become angry more easily. |
| A．Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. |
| B．The problem of pollution is not so serious because there are not so many people living on the earth. |
| C．The pollution of the earth grows as fast as the world population does. |
| D．If people could go to work by bus or bike instead of car or motorbike, it would be helpful in fighting against the problem of S02. |
6 . Taking in dirty air does great harm to our health. Air pollution lowers the average life spans by a year worldwide and in more polluted parts of Asia and Africa, dirty air shortens lives up to twice that much. Scientists shared their new findings in Environmental Science & Technology Letters. The study used data gathered in 2016 as part of a project known as the Global Burden of Disease and was the first major country-by-country look at the connection between the length of life and what’s known as fine PM.
Air pollution has been linked to many health problems. Most earlier studies had looked at how tiny air pollutants affected rates of illness or death. Joshua Apte is an environmental scientist at the University of Texas at Austin. By looking at life expectancy (预期寿命), his team had hoped to make the threat easier to understand. PM2.5 is what scientists call tiny particles (颗粒) of pollution in the air. Higher levels of PM2.5 can cause health problems and cut months, if not years, from the average length of life. This analysis shows how pollution affects life expectancy in different parts of the world.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends limiting PM2.5 to 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air. Apte’s group calculated how holding pollution to this low level would help people. In countries with very dirty air, meeting this standard would lengthen people’s lives. However, in countries whose air already meets this standard, the study shows no gain in life expectancy. In other words, meeting the WHO standard won’t reduce health costs resulting from dirty air because even below 10 micrograms per cubic meter, pollution still causes serious risks. Meanwhile, the scientists compared how other threats including smoking and cancer shorten the length of life across the globe.
1. What is special about the study?| A．It won recognition from a professional journal. |
| B．It discussed health problems caused by air pollution. |
| C．It gathered lots of data for the Global Burden of Disease. |
| D．It analyzed the link between life spans and PM by country. |
| A．Help people better understand air pollution. |
| B．Study life expectancy in different countries. |
| C．Know how small air pollutants affect health. |
| D．Deal with different kinds of health problems. |
| A．People’s life spans will surely increase. |
| B．It will guarantee people clean air. |
| C．People’s health may not be much improved. |
| D．It will be awarded by the WHO. |
| A．How other threats shorten life expectancy. |
| B．How cleaning up the air can lengthen lives. |
| C．How air pollution shortens lives by country. |
| D．How all the countries deal with severe pollution. |
7 . August 24, 2023 may be imprinted in history as the day of disaster for the marine environment. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has asked Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, to release nuclear wastewater into the ocean from Thursday, ignoring strong objections from both home and abroad.
It will be a public crime if the discharge goes through and the decision will prove to be extremely unrewarding. The international community can hold Japan accountable indefinitely.
According to Paris-based French TV network France 24, some 1.34 million tonnes of nuclear wastewater, equivalent to almost the water in 540 Olympic pools, will be released into the ocean off Japan’s northeast coast, at a maximum rate of 500 cubic meters per day. The whole process is expected to take 30 to 40 years and cost around eight trillion yen (55 billion USD).
Junichi Matsumoto, the TEPCO executive in charge of the water release, told the Associated Press in July that the company plans to release 7,800 tonnes of treated water for 17 days in the first round. By the end of March 2024, the aim is to release 31,200 tonnes. The pace is expected to pick up later.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong asked the Japanese ambassador to China Hideo Tarumi on August 22 to meet him and make serious representations over the Japanese government’s announcement that it would start releasing nuclear-contaminated water on August 24.
Sun said the Fukushima nuclear accident is one of the world’s most serious nuclear accidents to date, resulting in the release of a large amount of radioactive material, which has far-reaching implications for the marine environment, food safety, and human health.
“The ocean is the blue home that all humanity depends on for survival, and the Japanese side should not dump nuclear-contaminated water at will,” Sun said.
1. Who did Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ask to release nuclear wastewater into the ocean?| A．Spokesperson Wang Wenbin. |
| B．The TEPCO executive Junichi Matsumoto. |
| C．Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong. |
| D．The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. |
| A．1.34 million tonnes. | B．7,800 tonnes. | C．2,3400 tonnes. | D．31,200 tonnes. |
| A．It has no implications for the marine environment. |
| B．Has no implications for food safety and human health. |
| C．It is one of the most serious nuclear accidents in history. |
| D．It resulted in the release of a small amount of radioactive material. |
| A．A research paper. | B．A newspaper report. |
| C．A business report. | D．A geography textbook. |
8 . As the world's population continues to increase, so does the amount of global waste. According to data (数据) collected by the World Bank Group, nations are on pace to produce 4 billion tons of waste every year by 2100. Many experts are calling the problem of global waste a worldwide health crisis (危机) because the waste is polluting the world’s oceans, air and soil and is putting the health of all living things in danger.
For years, governments have been telling citizens that living a zero-waste lifestyle is the way to go. Now some stores are helping people do that.
Most grocery stores produce waste when they throw away food and packing material. In some cases, the food consists of fruit and vegetables that don’t look good any more. In other cases, it's packaged food that is nearing the "sell-by" date printed on the package. After the “sell-by” date passed, the food is not considered safe to eat. Thus, many stores throw out unsold packaged food before that date arrives.
To solve this problem, business people are opening smaller grocery stores. Instead of selling food in packages, these stores offer it in open containers (容器). Customers bring their own bags or clean containers to the store. There, they fill their bags or containers with everything from nuts and grains to oil and vinegar. They pay for only the amount of each product that they need. Zero-waste stores often sell fruit and vegetables as well. When these goods start to look old, they're sold at a cheaper price or given to the poor people. Inspired by these smaller zero-waste grocery stores, some large supermarkets are taking similar steps to reduce the amount of waste that they produce.
1. How does the writer begin this article?| A．By giving some detailed examples. |
| B．By reporting the results of experiments. |
| C．By discussing a major source of pollution. |
| D．By explaining an international agreement. |
| A．Because they have gone bad. | B．Because they don't look fresh. |
| C．Because they pass the "sell-by" date. | D．Because they near the "sell-by" date. |
| A．Empty baskets. | B．Old newspapers. | C．Large cupboards. | D．Plastic toys. |
| A．They're building up partnerships with smaller stores. |
| B．They're following the example set by smaller stores. |
| C．They're putting several smaller stores out of business. |
| D．They're demanding that officials control smaller stores. |
9 . It seems there’s nowhere left to run from the microplastic (微塑料的) pollution. A small pilot study recently took microplastics from one of Europe’s most distant places, the French Pyrenees mountains, and found as many microplastics in the soil as you might expect from a big city like Paris.
The reason? The wind. Researchers now fear that our planet’s winds can pick up microplastics from about anywhere and transport them around the world, sometimes in large quantities. “We’d kind of expected it in a city getting blown around,” said Steve Allen from the University of Strathclyde in the UK, one member of the team. “But way up there? We expected to find some,” he said. “We didn’t expect to find so many.”
Microplastics are pieces smaller than a fifth of an inch that have broken down from larger pieces of plastic. The forces of nature don’t distinguish (区分) between materials like stones and rocks, and plastics. Wind and waves hit plastics and break them down just the same, making them into dust that can then get swept up by the gentle wind and into the atmosphere. It’s a continuing environmental concern, as more and more microplastics find their way into our food and air.
The fact that microplastics can be found in large numbers even in distant places is a sign that is has become a global pollution problem. Steve Allen and his team set up collectors 4, 500 feet up in the mountains for five months to trap plastic particles (粒子) as they fell to the Earth. The team found that an average of 365 plastic particles fell on their square meter collector daily. This included bits from plastic bags, plastic film and packaging material, among other plastic sources. Many of these materials were small enough to be breathed in without even realizing it. They’re in the air, and they’re everywhere.
1. How did Steve Allen like the finding?
| A．It was interesting. | B．It was surprising. |
| C．It was boring. | D．It was disappointing. |
| A．How the microplastics come into being. | B．How the microplastic pollution appears. |
| C．How the wind makes the pollution serious. | D．How the wind spreads the microplastics. |
| A．It is difficult to collect them. | B．They all come from big cities. |
| C．They are part of the air we breathe. | D．It is impossible to know their source. |
| A．Plastics have been found in the distant areas. |
| B．Plastics are proved to do great harm to the soil. |
| C．The microplastic pollution is worse in big cities. |
| D．Wind is carrying microplastics around the world. |
Today, Mount Qomolangma's peak is not a lonely place any more. Over 3,500 people have
In fact，the dangerous
But the good news is that some mountaineers have started to clean up the garbage
Some of that rubbish is even being used for
