1 . If humans were truly at home under the light of the moon and stars, we would go in darkness happily, the midnight world as visible to us as it is to the vast number of nocturnal (夜间活动) species on this planet. Instead, we are diurnal creatures, with eyes adapted to living in the sun’s light. This is a basic evolutionary fact, even though most of us don’t think of ourselves as diurnal beings. Yet it’s the only way to explain what we’ve done to the night: We’ve engineered it to receive us by filling it with light.
The benefits of this kind of engineering come with consequences — called light pollution — whose effects scientists are only now beginning to study. Light pollution is largely the result of bad lighting design, which allows artificial light to shine outward and upward into the sky. Ill-designed lighting washes out the darkness of night and completely changes the light levels — and light rhythms — to which many forms of life, including ourselves, have adapted. Wherever human light spills into the natural world, some aspect of life is affected.
In most cities the sky looks as though it has been emptied of stars, leaving behind a vacant haze (霾) that mirrors our fear of the dark. We’ve grown so used to this orange haze that the original glory of an unlit night — dark enough for the planet Venus to throw shadows on Earth — is wholly beyond our experience, beyond memory almost.
We’ve lit up the night as if it were an unoccupied country, when nothing could be further from the truth. Among mammals alone, the number of nocturnal species is astonishing. Light is a powerful biological force, and on many species it acts as a magnet. The effect is so powerful that scientists speak of songbirds and seabirds being “captured” by searchlights on land or by the light from gas flares on marine oil platforms. Migrating at night, birds tend to collide with brightly lit tall buildings.
Frogs living near brightly lit highways suffer nocturnal light levels that are as much as a million times brighter than normal, throwing nearly every aspect of their behavior out of joint, including their nighttime breeding choruses. Humans are no less trapped by light pollution than the frogs. Like most other creatures, we do need darkness. Darkness is as essential to our biological welfare, to our internal clockwork, as light itself.
Living in a glare of our own making, we have cut ourselves off from our evolutionary and cultural heritage — the light of the stars and the rhythms of day and night. In a very real sense, light pollution causes us to lose sight of our true place in the universe, to forget the scale of our being, which is best measured against the dimensions of a deep night with the Milky Way — the edge of our galaxy — arching overhead.
1. According to the passage, human beings .| A．prefer to live in the darkness |
| B．are used to living in the day light |
| C．were curious about the midnight world |
| D．had to stay at home with the light of the moon |
| A．The night. | B．The moon. | C．The sky. | D．The planet. |
| A．provide examples of animal protection. |
| B．show how light pollution affects animals. |
| C．compare the living habits of both species. |
| D．explain why the number of certain species has declined. |
| A．The Magic Light. | B．The Orange Haze. |
| C．The Disappearing Night. | D．The Rhythms of Nature. |
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词;
2.只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
The environment pollution becomes more and more seriously today. We may have little clean water to drink in the future because of water has been polluted. And when trees are cut down, some animal disappear. There is more and more dirty smoke in the air. People’s health has been affecting by air, noise and water pollution. Much people have died of diseases caused by pollute. In order to live a better life, it’s time for us protect our world. We should recycle and reuses resources in our life, which saves money and reduces pollution. Don’t use plastic bags. And we must plant more trees and stop people cutting them down. In the near future, we will have an unique and clean world with your efforts.
3 . Pollution of the world’s rivers from medicines and pharmaceutical (制药的) products poses a “threat to environmental and global health”, a report says.
Various drugs were widely detected in a University of York study. The research is among the most extensive conducted on a global scale. Rivers in Pakistan, Bolivia and Ethiopia were among the most polluted. Rivers in Iceland, Norway and Amazon Rainforest were the least polluted.
The impact of many of the most common pharmaceutical substances in rivers is still largely unknown. But it is already well established that dissolved human contraceptives (避孕药) can impact the development and reproduction of fish, and scientists fear the increased presence of antibiotics (抗生素) in rivers could limit their effectiveness as medicines.
The study took samples from more than 1,000 test sites in more than 100 countries. Overall, more than a quarter of the 258 rivers sampled had what are known as “active pharmaceutical ingredients” present at a level considered unsafe for life in water.
“Typically, what happens is, we take these chemicals, they have some desired effects on us and then they leave our bodies,” Dr. John Wilkinson, who led the research, said. “What we know now is that even the most modern efficient wastewater treatment plants aren’t completely capable of removing these substances before they end up in rivers or lakes.”
The report said the increased presence of antibiotics in rivers could also lead to the development of resistant bacteria, damaging the effectiveness of medicines and finally posing “a global threat to environmental and global health”.
The most polluted sites were largely in low-income to middle-income countries, and in areas where there was poor wastewater management and pharmaceutical production. “This is most concerning because you have the weakest populations with the least access to healthcare exposed to this,” said Dr. Mohamed Abdallah from the UK’s Birmingham University.
On the question of what can be done, Dr. Wilkinson suggested, “One of the few things that could have an effect right now is the proper use of medicines.” That would mean making it harder to get hold of medicines like antibiotics, and tougher restrictions on doses (剂量).
1. In which county were rivers the least polluted?| A．Pakistan. | B．Bolivia. | C．Ethiopia. | D．Iceland. |
| A．By listing figures. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By comparing different facts. | D．By debating and concluding. |
| A．Positive. | B．Hateful. | C．Worried. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．How to Deal with the Pollution in the Rivers |
| B．The Proper Use of Medicines such as Antibiotics |
| C．Most Rivers in the World Have Been Polluted Seriously |
| D．Pharmaceutical Products Left in Rivers Threaten Creatures and People’s Health |
4 . Oil spills (泄漏) are common. When they happen, they can cause a lot of damage.
How Oil Spills Happen
Oil is a fossil fuel. It’s used in gasoline. That powers boats, cars, and trucks. It’s also used to make things. Some plastics, paints, and makeups are made with oil. Oil can be found below the ocean floor. Machines drill beneath the ocean. Then the oil is pumped out. This is called extraction (开采). It’s one way oil can accidentally leak. Oil spills can also be caused by transporting or moving oil.
Impacting the Environment
In the United States, thousands of oil spills happen each year. It can take years to clean up after a large spill. But even small leaks and spills can cause damage. Oil spills can have long-lasting effects. They hurt wildlife. Birds get oil on their feathers. They can’t fly. Sea otters (海獭) get oil in their fur. This makes it hard for them to stay warm. Oil creates poisonous gas. This makes it hard for whales to breathe.
Larger oil spills are a danger for people and wildlife. Spilled oil must be removed from the environment. Emergency response teams are called in to do the work. There are several ways to clean up oil spills.
●Shoreline flushing (冲刷). Pipes flush oil from the shore. The oil is washed into the water. It’s more easily collected there.
●Booms. Booms are floating barriers. They are used to stop oil from spreading on the water’s surface.
●Sorbents. Sorbents act like sponges (海绵). They absorb oil but do not pick up water.
●Burning. Newly spilled oil can be set on fire. This helps remove the oil that is floating on the water.
1. What can we know about oil spills?| A．They are uncommon. | B．They are easy to clean up. |
| C．They affect the environment. | D．They are not a danger for people. |
| A．They can’t swim. | B．They can’t breathe. |
| C．They can’t find enough food. | D．They can hardly stay warm. |
| A．Pipes. | B．Booms. | C．Sponges. | D．Boats. |
5 . A new analysis of photographs from the International Space Station has identified a shift in the kind of lighting technologies that European countries are using at night to brighten streets and buildings. Researchers have found that the old warm high-pressure street lights are rapidly being replaced by cooler LED lights. The University of Exeter study, published in Science Advances, claimed that “this phenomenon is widely increasing the risk of harmful effects to ecosystems”.
LED lighting was promoted as being intended to reduce emissions, but its usage has raised energy consumption. One explanation of this is that the increase in power efficiency and the associated decrease in economic cost have driven increased demand for lighting, therefore, any efficiency gains have been counteracted by increased consumption of light.
The study also claimed that previous research into the effects of light pollution have underestimated the impacts of blue light radiation. Chief among the health consequences of blue light is its ability to reduce the production of melatonin(褪黑素)that regulates sleep patterns in humans and other organisms. Scientific studies have warned that increased exposure to artificial blue light can worsen people’s sleeping habits.
The increase in blue light radiation in Europe has also reduced the visibility of stars in the night sky, which may have impacts on people’s sense of nature. Blue light can also alter the behavioral patterns of animals including bats and moths, as it can change their movements towards or away from light sources.
David Smith, of the conservation charity Buglife, said, “Light pollution can dramatically impact animals. We should consider light from a wider biological perspective than that of just humans and focus on better quality lighting that is harmonious with our natural world. Better quality and lower levels of lighting would help save energy, and lower financial costs, while also making our environment safer for living beings. Authorities can dim the lights during night hours, and change the bandwidths(带宽值)of their LED bulbs to produce less harmful blue light.”
1. What is the phenomenon described in paragraph 1?| A．The rising demand for public lighting. |
| B．The increasing use of LED lights. |
| C．Old street lights producing lots of emissions. |
| D．Artificial lights at night wasting much energy. |
| A．Judged. | B．Maintained. |
| C．Balanced. | D．Strengthened. |
| A．Sleep patterns. | B．Eyesight. |
| C．Learning ability. | D．Social behaviors. |
| A．To stress the importance of saving energy. |
| B．To persuade authorities to avoid using LED lights. |
| C．To show ways of improving the quality of LED bulbs. |
| D．To provide suggestions on reducing light pollution. |
6 . The amount of plastic pollution in the oceans is rapidly increasing. This is problematic, as at least 700 kinds of ocean animals — including sharks, whales, seabirds and turtles — can become caught in the stuff or mistake it for a tasty snack.
While we know that some ocean animals seem to catch plastic because it looks like jellyfish or some other food sources, less research has been carried out into what plastic smells like to ocean animals. But now, a study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has found the coating (涂层) that naturally builds up on ocean plastics causes the rubbish to give off the smell of food.
The researchers took 15 turtles, each around five months old, and placed them in a lab aquarium. They then piped in smells of clean water, clean plastic, turtle food, and plastic that had been soaking in the ocean environment for five weeks. The turtles showed no reaction to the smells of clean water or clean plastic. But when facing ocean soaked plastic or turtle food, they stuck their noses out of the water and showed increased activity.
“This finding is important because it’s the first proof that the smell of ocean plastics causes animals to eat them,” said Dr Kenneth J Lohmann, who took part in the study. “It’s common to find a turtle with its stomach full of plastic materials. There are also increasing reports of sea turtles that have become ill and stuck on the beach due to their taking in plastic.”
According to the researchers, areas of the ocean with much plastic may trick turtles and other animals into thinking that there are plenty of food sources, when the opposite is true. “Once these plastics are in the ocean, we don’t have a good way to remove them or prevent them from smelling like food,” said Lohmann. “The best thing we can do is to keep plastic from getting into the ocean at all.”
1. Why is plastic pollution posing a threat to ocean animals?| A．It may mislead them as food. | B．It may eat up all jellyfish. |
| C．It may kill them with its smell. | D．It may trap 700 species of sea animals. |
| A．Sea water. | B．Clean water. |
| C．Glean plastic. | D．Ocean-soaked plastic. |
| A．Turtles seem to eat plastic because it looks like food. |
| B．Turtles have died out due to their taking in plastic. |
| C．Turtles eat plastic because it gives off the smell of food. |
| D．Turtles with their stomachs full of plastic were studied. |
| A．Keep away from the polluted ocean. | B．Maintain a plastic-free ocean. |
| C．Remove plastic from the ocean. | D．Stop people feeding turtles plastic. |
| A．Entertainment | B．Literature |
| C．Health | D．Science |
7 . For more than 60 years, the soft drink Sprite has come packaged in iconic (标志性的) green bottles. Now, that time has come to an end. Starting Aug. 1, the Coca-Cola Co., which produces Sprite, will package the lemon-lime drink in clear plastic bottles in North America, the company announced Wednesday.
By bottling Sprite in clear plastic, Coca-Cola says, the bottles will be able to be recycled more times. One goal, the company says, is to increase the supply of recycled plastic that the company can then use to make future bottles. “Taking colours out of bottles improves the quality of the recycled material,” said Julian Ochoa, the CEO of a plastic recycling company working with Coca-Cola.
Sprite’s green plastic bottles were already recyclable. But coloured plastic bottles are typically separated from clear plastic bottles during the recycling process in order to keep the recycled plastic from becoming discoloured, Coca-Cola said. The green Sprite bottles were more often recycled into things like clothes and carpeting, which are more difficult to recycle again.
Environmental organizations say the problem with Sprite bottles is not only the colour, but the material: single-use plastic. “Coca-Cola’s recent announcement is another greenwashing attempt from one of the world’s worst plastic polluters,” said Kate Melges, who leads the Plastics Project at Greenpeace, “We are in the midst of a massive (巨大的) plastic pollution crisis. This is not a useful practice.”
Coca-Cola produces more than 100 billion plastic bottles every year, according to data it provided in 2019, making it one of the world’s largest producers of single-use plastic waste.
Soft drink bottles are usually made of a type of plastic called polyethyleneglycol terephthalate (PET). PET is lightweight, food-safe and recyclable — but like other plastics, PET can take hundreds of years to decompose. “Bottles with recycled content will still be thrown away, sent to landfills, or littered,” said Matt Littlejohn of Oceana, an ocean conservation (保护) organization.
1. Why does the Coca-Cola Co. decide to use the new package?| A．To increase its production. |
| B．To cut jobs in its factories. |
| C．To make its operation greener. |
| D．To suit the needs of customers. |
| A．Worried. | B．Uncaring. | C．Positive. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．Grow up. | B．Take off. | C．Throw away. | D．Break down. |
| A．Sprite to Be Packaged in Clear Bottles |
| B．Coca-Cola Loses Its Wide Popularity |
| C．Sprite Reduces Its Product Supply |
| D．Coca-Cola Is the Largest Polluter |
8 . Even chess experts perform worse when air quality is lower, suggesting a negative effect on cognition(认知). Here’s something else chess players need to keep in check: air pollution.
That’s the bottom line of a newly published study co-authored by a researcher, showing that chess players perform objectively worse and make more suboptimal(次优的) moves, as measured by a computerized analysis of their games, when there is more fine particulate matter(颗粒物) in the air, notated as PM 2.5.
More specifically, given a modest increase in fine particulate matter, the probability that chess players will make an error increases by 2.1 percentage points, and the spectrum of those errors increases by 10.8 percent. In this setting, at least, cleaner air leads to clearer heads and sharper thinking.
“We find that when individuals are exposed to higher levels of air pollution, they make more mistakes, and they make larger mistakes,” says Juan Palacios, an economist in Sustainable Urbanization Lab.
“It’s pure random exposure to air pollution that is driving these people’s performance,” Palacios says. “Against comparable opponents in the same tournament round, being exposed to different levels of air quality makes a difference for move quality and decision quality.”
The researchers also found that when air pollution was worse, the chess players performed even more poorly when under time limitation. “We find it interesting that those mistakes especially occur in the phase of the game where players are facing time pressure,” Palacios says.
“There are more and more papers showing that there is a cost with air pollution, and there is a cost for more and more people,” Palacios says. “And this is just one example showing that even for these very excellent chess players, who think they can beat everything, it seems that with air pollution, they have an enemy who harms them.”
1. What effect does air pollution have on chess players?| A．They make fewer good choices. | B．They perform subjectively worse. |
| C．They suffer body discomfort. | D．They lose all games with computers. |
| A．Magic. | B．Process. | C．Range. | D．Balance. |
| A．His appeal for attention to chess players. |
| B．His concern about air pollution. |
| C．An example of chess players’ performance. |
| D．Approaches to dealing with air pollution. |
| A．Air pollution is a tough enemy chess players face. |
| B．Chess players make more and more mistakes. |
| C．There is a cost with air pollution for more people. |
| D．Chess players perform poorly under time limitation. |
Thousands of years ago, it was common to see many stars in the sky. However, this changed with the
Today, people
But is all this light
10 . Plastic waste is choking our planet. People are trying to help fix it by recycling, but their efforts aren’t going far enough. Even when plastic producers are held responsible and attempt to solve the problem, it doesn’t always go smoothly. Such has been the case for the company Torus Pak, which produces novel packaging for frozen meals on a large scale.
Like many other black plastic products, the Torus Pak packages used a carbon-based pigment (颜料). This pigment troubles the sorting technology which is used by many recycling facilities, so black plastic usually ends up being thrown away because the machines can’t identify it. Now the company is midway through the complex process of phasing out that pigment and switching that pigment to one that doesn’t use carbon.
But that doesn’t mean the problem is solved, for the recycling rate at the waste facility itself is not encouraging. Your discarded plastic may end up in a landfill even if you send it to be recycled. Worldwide, only about nine percent of all the plastic waste has been recycled, which amounts to less than 600 million tons out of over 6 billion. While one might assume the proportion of plastic being recycled is on the increase due to improved tech and increased public awareness of environmental protection, it’s actually become even lower in many places in recent years.
“The world wasn’t always flooded with single-use plastic products,” said Lisa Ramsden, senior plastic campaigner for Greenpeace USA. “We know how to live without them. We’ve just got used to a convenience culture that relies so heavily on them.”
The solution is obvious. To get out of this habit, we should stop using so much plastic, starting with many of the items we use just once for a few minutes. Companies need to shift toward using more refillable and reusable containers, and packaging made from materials that are less harmful to the environment. Governments must mandate (强制执行) such changes — a goal we’re now finally inching closer to every day.
1. What is the problem with the Torus Pak packages?| A．They are expensive for customers. |
| B．Their pigment is hardly appealing. |
| C．They are hard to define as “recyclable”. |
| D．Their production process is very complex. |
| A．The reason for recycling plastic waste. |
| B．The outcome of recycling plastic waste. |
| C．The potential of recycling plastic waste. |
| D．The objective of recycling plastic waste. |
| A．Making some stricter laws. |
| B．Reducing the use of plastic products. |
| C．Advancing the technology of recycling. |
| D．Setting some higher environmental goals. |
| A．Recycling fails to solve plastic pollution |
| B．A company contributes a lot to recycling |
| C．Great changes happen in recycling plastic |
| D．Plastic pollution is increasingly worsening |
