Since Japan began releasing nuclear-contaminated (核污染) wastewater into the Pacific Ocean on last Thursday despite little
According to the spokesperson, the actions of the Japanese government are contradictory to international conventions (公约) and experts say that the influence of Japan’s release of wastewater
“The Chinese government will take necessary measures to
| A．Swimming. | B．Doing the research. | C．Catching fish. |
Japan said on Tuesday that it had decided to
The
“The Japanese government ignores concerns and strong opposition both at home and abroad. Such an
Greenpeace(绿色和平组织)criticized Japan’s plan and said there are other solutions that should
4 . In May 2021, a hole was found in a robotic arm aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The main cause was believed to be a piece of space junk. While thankfully no astronauts were injured, it has refocused attention on the growing problem of orbital debris (残骸).
It’s easy to forget that just seventy years ago the Moon was the only thing orbiting the Earth. On January 1st, 2021, there were 6,542 satellites in orbit. Actually, only over half of them were active. That’s a lot of useless metal rushing around the planet at 28,000 kilometers per hour.
Jan Wörner, the former European Space Agency Director General, put it this way, “Imagine how dangerous sailing the high seas would be if all the ships ever lost in history were still moving around on top of the water.” In fact, even the smallest pieces can cause huge amounts of damage.
The problem is very bad and getting worse. There are now about half a million pieces of debris about one centimeter wide or larger and 100 million pieces of debris above one millimeter across. Yet only 27,000 pieces are actively tracked.
Space is only going to get more crowded, with the number of satellite launches set to increase by five times in the next ten years. In January 2021, 143 satellites were launched into space on a single SpaceX Falcon rocket alone. And 12,000 more are to be put in orbit by Starlink over the next five years. All this greatly raises the chances of crashes.
Better control of new launches would help as right now it’s a bit of a free-for-all. Increased tracking of existing space junk could also help because active satellites can be moved off a crash course—yet dead satellites are sitting ducks and there’s nothing we can do to prevent a crash. That’s why many are calling for a clean-up job. A space debris removal task called ClearSpace-1 will be launched in 2025 and attempt to deorbit (使...脱离轨道) the upper stage of a rocket left in space back in 2013.
1. What can we learn about space junk?| A．It can be recycled for other uses. | B．It has injured astronauts in space. |
| C．It first appeared over seventy years ago. | D．It threatens the safety of space activities. |
| A．The high speed of orbital debris. | B．The complex procedures of debris clean-up. |
| C．The large amount of untracked space debris. | D．The ineffective functions of clean-up facilities. |
| A．By listing numbers. | B．By offering solutions. |
| C．By explaining the causes. | D．By stressing the efforts. |
| A．Orbital Debris: What Results in It? | B．Satellite Launches: The More the Merrier? |
| C．Space Junk: Is It a Disaster Waiting to Happen? | D．Satellite crashes: Who Should Be Responsible? |
5 . 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. |
6 . Lego is considering a brick(积木)rental plan in an attempt to cut down on plastic waste.The Danish toymaker has promised to make all its bricks from sustainable(可持续的)materials by 2030 and is investing significant resources in finding alternatives.
Tim Brooks,vice-president responsible for sustainability,said the company was“totally open”to the idea of the product rental plan but admitted that lost pieces could produce a significant problem.“What are the chances of giving them to an eight-year-old child and getting them all back again?”Mr.Brooks added.
“There is a lot of technical thinking that needs to be done. We are right at the beginning.” Mr. Brooks said Lego was exploring several ideas with a view to producing the highest value from products while consuming the fewest resources. He said many would “probably never see the light of day”and that there is no current plan to try out the rental plan.
Lego has come under increasing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint for growing international alarm about the impact of plastic waste on the environment.It produces 19 billion pieces per year—36,000 a minute—that are made entirely of plastic while much of the inside packaging is also plastic.
So far,the only breakthrough has been the development of a line of bricks made of plant-based plastic sourced from sugarcane.The green trees,plants and flowers were first included in Lego sets late last year but currently make up only 1%— 2% of total plastic elements produced.Henrik Nielson,a production supervisor(主管)in Lego’s factory,said last year:“We need to learn again how to do this.”
Lego reportedly releases around a million tons of carbon dioxide each year, with about 75% coming from raw materials that go into factories. The company has invested more than 100,000,000 euros and hired 100 people to research non-plastic alternatives.It is aiming to keep all of its packaging out of landfill by 2025.
1. What is Lego making great efforts for?| A．promote its brick rental plan | B．explore ways to reduce plastic waste |
| C．raise its production efficiency | D．develop new products |
| A．It is well under way. | B．It is totally useless. |
| C．It has a long way to go. | D．It goes against Lego’s interests. |
| A．By means of comparison. | B．By means of examples. |
| C．By means of figures. | D．By means of classification. |
| A．Defensive. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Disapproving. | D．Determined. |
The beautiful Li River is one of the
Water quality in the Li River had suffered
Finally, a series of urgent steps were taken
1. 简述雾霾情况;
2. 倡导绿色生活;
3. 提出具体措施
注意：
1. 词数100左右;
2. 可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
Green Life, Clearer Air
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9 . Plastics are amazing materials, which are widely used in our daily life. Besides, they’re often cheap to make. About 8. 3 billion metric tons of plastic have been produced to date. That’s about 1,400 times the weight of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Some of that plastic is still in use. But about 5. 8 billion metric tons have been thrown away.
All that plastic waste is an environmental scourge (祸根). Only about 9 percent of plastic waste has been recycled. Another 12 percent has been burned. The remaining 79 percent wound up in landfills or in nature. And that plastic, like a single Lego block, takes a long time to decompose (分解).
Plastic litters the world from the highest mountaintop to the deepest seafloor. Many animals mistake this rubbish for food. If they get full, these animals may forget to eat real food and suffer. Plastic rubbish in the oceans also leaves birds, turtles and other wildlife in a jam.
Big pieces of plastic aren’t the only problem. Abandoned plastic can break into tiny bits called microplastics. Winds blow these bits far and wide. Ocean currents can spread them throughout the sea. These pollutants build up inside animals. They also get into our food and drinking water. Each American is likely to consume more than 70, 000 microplastic pieces per year. Right now, no one knows what risk that might bring.
Scientists have some ideas about how to clean up this mess. The Ocean Cleanup is developing cleanup systems to fish out plastic pieces from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Microbes or mealworms with an appetite for plastic might someday eat the garbage. And new nanotechnology (纳米技术) could help microplastics decompose in the environment. But many of these plans are still far from effective so far. The best way to help Earth right now is to stop buying so much plastic — and then throwing it out — in the first place.
1. What does the Lego block show about plastic waste?| A．It is hard to break down. | B．Little of it has been burned. |
| C．It is easy to pile up. | D．Most of it ends up in landfills. |
| A．By starving them. | B．By reducing their food. |
| C．By piling up in their homes. | D．By changing the environment. |
| A．Opposed. | B．Supportive. | C．Indifferent. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．To criticize plastic production. | B．To suggest ways to handle plastic. |
| C．To advocate environmental protection. | D．To introduce the state of plastic pollution. |
10 . You’ve heard that plastic is polluting the oceans — between 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes enter ocean ecosystems every year. But does one plastic straw or cup really make a difference? Artist Benjamin Von Wong wants you to know that it does. He builds massive sculptures out of plastic garbage, forcing viewers to re-examine their relationship to single-use plastic products.
At the beginning of the year, the artist built a piece called “Strawpocalypse,” a pair of 10-foot-tall plastic waves, frozen mid-crash. Made of 168,000 plastic straws collected from several volunteer beach cleanups, the sculpture made its first appearance at the Estella Place shopping center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Just 9% of global plastic waste is recycled. Plastic straws are by no means the biggest source (来源) of plastic pollution, but they’ve recently come under fire because most people don’t need them to drink with and, because of their small size and weight, they cannot be recycled. Every straw that’s part of Von Wong’s artwork likely came from a drink that someone used for only a few minutes. Once the drink is gone, the straw will take centuries to disappear.
In a piece from 2018, Von Wong wanted to illustrate (说明) a specific statistic: Every 60 seconds, a truckload’s worth of plastic enters the ocean. For this work, titled “Truckload of Plastic,” Von Wong and a group of volunteers collected more than 10,000 pieces of plastic, which were then tied together to look like they’d been dumped (倾倒) from a truck all at once.
Von Wong hopes that his work will also help pressure big companies to reduce their plastic footprint.
1. What are Von Wong’s artworks intended for?| A．Beautifying the city he lives in. | B．Introducing eco-friendly products. |
| C．Drawing public attention to plastic waste. | D．Reducing garbage on the beach. |
| A．To show the difficulty of their recycling. |
| B．To explain why they are useful. |
| C．To voice his views on modern art. |
| D．To find a substitute for them. |
| A．Calming. | B．Disturbing. |
| C．Refreshing. | D．Challenging. |
| A．Artists’ Opinions on Plastic Safety |
| B．Media Interest in Contemporary Art |
| C．Responsibility Demanded of Big Companies |
| D．Ocean Plastics Transformed into Sculptures |
