With the     1     (develop) of industry, air pollution is getting more and more serious. In Beijing, many people suffer different kinds of illnesses because     2     air pollution.

Air pollution is caused by the following     3     (factor): about half of the problem is caused by vehicles. There are more and more cars, buses on the roads, and they give off     4     (poison) gases. 25% of air pollution is caused by factories. Another factor is the smokers. Smoking not only does harm to their health     5     to others.     6     these, about 10% of air pollution is caused by other reasons. We should take some measures to fight     7     pollution. New fuel can be used to take     8     place of gas. We can plant more trees. If everybody realizes the     9     (important) of environment and does something to stop pollution, the problem will     10     (solve).

7 . My husband and I always wanted to go to the Caribbean but didn’t know much about the islands or how we were going to afford it. By chance, a friend of ours in Australia mentioned “pet sitting” and that it is something you can do all over the world.

We quickly created an account on a pet sitting website and began searching for options. There were only a couple of sits available in that part of the world, but we tried our luck, sent a request, and to our surprise, landed a three-month job in Grenada, so our year was going to be taken up with Caribbean pet sits.

Inspired by a Canadian couple, we decided to start our own travel blog. We began by writing about The British Virgin Islands, highlighting the beautiful beaches. However, for every photo album of a beautiful beach, there were 10 photos of trash (垃圾). It was hard to ignore the plastic pollution issue, especially on such primitive and remote beaches. So, we began to share photos of the trash we saw and how much we could pick upon our daily dog walks.

The more we looked into plastic pollution, the more we realized the severity of the global plastic pollution. From that point, we used our platform to create awareness and highlight ways to say no to plastic and travel plastic-free. We changed our daily routines, our way of living, and even our diets to accommodate more organic foods and little to no plastic packaging.

It’s been over three years now and we continue to do what we can. This journey has led us to some amazing places, working with great brands and even organizing a country-wide beach clean-up campaign in Grenada.

Our aim now is to keep on going. We love connecting with like-minded people. It’s been amazing few years that was sparked by a conversation about pet sitting. Who would have guessed?

8 . People were already known to consume microplastics via food and water as well as breathing them in. In a new study, scientists analyzed blood samples from 22 healthy donators and found microplastics in 17. Half the samples contained PET plastic, which is commonly used in drinks bottles, while a third contained polystyrene, which is used for packaging food and other products. A quarter of the blood samples containcd polyethylene, from which plastic carrier bags are made.

“Previous work had shown that microplastics were 10 times higher in the faeces (粪便) of babies compared with adults and that babies fed with plastic bottles are swallowing millions of microplastic particles (微粒) a day. We also know in general that babies are more sensitive to chemical and particle exposure,” said Prof Dick Vethaak, a scientist at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.“That worries me a lot.”

The new research adapted existing techniques to detect and analyze particles as small as 0.0007mm. Some of the blood samples contained two or three types of plastic. The team used steel syrınge needles and glass tubes to avoid pollution and tested for background levels of microplastics using blank samples.

Vethaak acknowledged that the amount and type of plastic varied considerably between the blood samples.“But this is a pioneering study,”he said, with more work now necded. He said the differences might reflect short-term exposure before the blood samples were taken, such as drinking from a plastic-lined coffee cup or wearing a plastic face mask.

A recent study found that microplastics can attach to the outer membranes(膜) of red blood cells and may limit their ability to transport oxygen. The particles have also been found in the placentas of pregnant women.

“Arc the particles preserved in the body? Are they transported to certain organs? And are these levels sufficiently high to cause disease?” Vethaak said.“More detailed research on how microplastics affect the structures and processes of the human body, and whether and how they can transform cells and how they may cause cancer, is urgently needed. The problem is becoming more urgent each day,”Vethaak added.

9 . A great amount of dark, sticky tar (焦油) was reported along Israel’s coast last week. An offshore oil tanker is believed to have leaked out.

The floating oil can form tar balls as it is pushed by wind and waves on the ocean’s surface. After a violent storm, the tar balls were seen ashore. Israel has about 190 kilometers of beaches. The tar has already had a big effect on the local wildlife. Volunteers were working quickly to rescue sea birds, turtles, and fish. Some animals were covered in oil or tar. Others had swallowed it. The body of a young whale was found washed up on shore. The whale appeared to have died after swallowing a black oily liquid.

The government has asked people to avoid going to the beach, since tar exposure can make people sick and do harm to the skin. A number of volunteers had to be taken to the hospital after breathing in the air polluted by chemicals from the tar.

Experts from Israel and Europe are still trying to figure out exactly what happened. The leak is believed to have taken place about a week ago, when there were strong storms in the area. Israel believed that a ship leaked tens or even hundreds of tons of oil in the Mediterranean. Experts are working together to review satellite images (图像) of ships that passed through the area, and they have a list of about 10 ships that are the most likely ones to leak out.

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority warned that the “consequences will be seen for years to come.” Israeli environmental minister Gila Gamliel said on Saturday that there is no more floating oil visible off Israel’s coast, “which is a very animative condition.” However, the ministry warned that large waves are forecast this week. The waves could carry the sticky tar from beach to beach, which could make cleanup efforts more difficult.