1 . While visiting Lake Louise last summer, one of the most famous sights in the Canadian Rockies, I saw a plastic spoon float by in the green water. Whether someone had thrown the spoon into the water, or if it was blown in by the wind, the sight surprised me. It was a sad reminder (提醒物) of the reach that plastic pollution has. Try as I might, I could not reach that spoon, and had to watch it float away.
Grist wrote about the problem of plastic cutlery (餐具) in an article called “It’s time to take America’s plastic fork problem seriously”: “It’s hard to say how many forks, spoons, and knives Americans throw away, but in 2015 we placed nearly 2 billion delivery (递送) orders. If at least half those meals included single-use cutlery, that would mean we’re throwing away billions of cutlery each year. They don’t just disappear. A recent study of the San Francisco Bay Area found that food and drink packaging made up 67 percent of all litter on the streets.”
Fiona Nicholls, ocean plastics campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said: “We can’t carry on using up land or cutting down forests to make cutlery, cups or packaging that get used for a matter of moments, and could pollute our planet for hundreds of years to come. It’s grotesque.”
As members of the community, we should do our part to stop single-use cutlery. One way is to throw a travel set of reusable cutlery into your bag. Even if you don’t have your own set or forget to bring it with you, there are other ways. When eating out, choose places that offer reusable cutlery. Finger foods like pizza, tacos or sandwiches are also nice choices. If you’re ordering food for delivery, you can also say “no thanks” to plastic forks, knives and spoons.
1. How did the author feel upon his discovery at Lake Louise?| A．He felt relaxed. |
| B．He was nervous. |
| C．He was worried. |
| D．He felt encouraged. |
| A．The problem of using plastic is serious. |
| B．The streets in American cities are not tidy. |
| C．At least half of meals are wasted every year. |
| D．Many people spend money on takeaway food. |
| A．useful. |
| B．boring. |
| C．satisfying. |
| D．unreasonable. |
| A．Single-use cutlery harms the environment. |
| B．Single-use cutlery is in great need every year. |
| C．People’s opinions on single-use cutlery are divided. |
| D．People can use different ways to stop using. |
2 . You'll need to take a deep breath before hearing this news. An astonishing 93% of kids around the world live in environments with air pollution levels that are damaging their health, according to a new report by WHO.
Air pollution is to blame for the deaths of 543,000 kids under 5 in 2016, with more than one in four deaths of children under five years old being related to environmental issues. Exposure (暴露)to air pollution can damage the health of kids in a variety of ways, either causing or being associated with everything from low birth weight to childhood obesity and so on.
"The large toll of disease and death revealed (揭示)by these new data should result in an urgent call to action for the global community especially for those in the health department WHO stated. “ Strong action to reduce exposure to air pollution offers an opportunity to protect the health of children. " The report stressed that health experts should communicate with families , communities and policy-makers about the serious risks of air pollution exposure. " Although more researches into how air pollution affects children's health will continue to be valuable, there is already evidence to justify strong, swift action to prevent the damage it clearly produces," WHO added.
Disease caused by dirty air is more common in low-and-middle in come countries, especially those in Africa, South-East Asia, and Western Pacific regions. Poor countries in these areas have the highest levels of exposure to household air pollution due to the use of polluting fuels and technologies for basic needs like cooking, heating and lighting.
Advised solutions include cleaner transport , cleaner cooking and heating fuels and technologies energy-efficient housing and urban planning, safer industrial technologies and better waste management.
1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?| A．The way to fight air pollution. |
| B．The serious result of air pollution. |
| C．The illnesses children are suffering. |
| D．The deaths caused by air pollution. |
| A．Number. | B．Threat. | C．Fact. | D．Report. |
| A．Do more researches. | B．Find ways to fight air pollution. |
| C．Make the serious risks known. | D．Develop cleaner fuels and technologies. |
| A．Researches of this kind have stopped. |
| B．Air pollution caused 543,000 kids' death in 2016. |
| C．Nothing can be done to stop air pollution al present. |
| D．Air pollution is more serious in low-and-middle-income countries. |
3 . Climate change will increase US wildfires,and the smoky air will cause terrible problems in areas far beyond those burned,reports an environmental group Thursday.
Two-thirds of Americans,or nearly 212 million,lived in states suffering from wildfire smoke three years ago,according to the report by the Natural Resources Defense Council(NRDC).These areas,which had smoke for at least a week,were nearly 50 times greater than those burned directly by fire.
“It affects a much wide area of the United States than people have realized.” says author Kim Knowlton,a Columbia University health professor,adding the smoke can move up to hundreds of miles.She says the smoke contains air pollution and can cause several kinds of diseases.
Texas was hit hardest in 2011,when smoke stayed for at least a week in areas that are home to 25 million people,according to NRDC’s report.Illinois,which recorded no wildfires within its borders, came second with nearly 12 million people affected by smoke that moved in from elsewhere.The other eight states with the most people in touch with smoky air were,in descending order: Florida,Missouri,Georgia,Louisiana,Michigan,Alabama,Oklahoma and Iowa.
Nearly two dozen states had no wildfires within their borders in 2011,but eight of them still had at least one week of smoky air: Illinois,Missouri，Iowa,Kansas,Nebraska,Indiana,Wisconsin and Ohio.
Only 18 states and the District of Columbia had no people in touch with at least a week of smoke that year,although five of them—Alaska,California,Hawaii,Nevada and Utah—had a large area burned by wildfires.
The problem will only get worse.Knowlton says.Scientific research shows climate is causing higher temperatures and health problems.
1. We can learn from the first two paragraphs that_______.| A．climate change killed many Americans |
| B．there are fewer states burned by wildfires |
| C．every state had wildfire smoke for at least a week |
| D．most Americans suffered from wildfire smoke 3 year ago |
| A．Iowa. | B．Kansas. |
| C．Ohio. | D．California. |
| A．going down | B．coming true |
| C．looking practical | D．turning back |
| A．Climate change causes more wildfires. |
| B．Wildfire smoke becomes a serious health problem. |
| C．More wildfires cause climate changes. |
| D．Air pollution becomes a terrible problem. |
4 . Eating too much fatty food, exercising too little and smoking can raise your future risk of heart disease. But there is another factor that can cause your heart problems more immediately：the air you breathe.
Previous studies have linked high exposure (暴露) to environmental pollution to an increased risk of heart problems，but two analyses now show that poor air quality can lead to heart attack or stroke (中风) within as little as a few hours after exposure. In one review of the research, scientists found that people exposed to high levels of pollutants (污染物) were up to 5% more likely to suffer a heart attack within days of exposure than those with lower exposure. A separate study of stroke patients showed that even air that the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)considers to be of “moderate” (良好) quality and relatively safe for our health can raise the risk of stroke as much as 34% within 12 to 14 hours of exposure.
The authors of both studies stress that these risks are relatively small for healthy people and certainly modest compared with other risk factors such as smoking and high blood pressure. However, it is important to be aware of these dangers because everyone is exposed to air pollution regardless of lifestyle choices. So stricter regulation by the EPA of pollutants may not only improve environmental air quality but could also become necessary to protect public health.
1. The text mainly discusses the relationship between ________.| A．heart problems and air quality |
| B．heart problems and exercising |
| C．heart problems and smoking |
| D．heart problems and fatty food |
| A．relatively high | B．extremely low |
| C．relatively low | D．extremely high |
| A．Eating fatty food has immediate effects on your heart. |
| B．The EPA conducted many studies on air quality. |
| C．Moderate air quality is more harmful than smoking. |
| D．Stricter regulations on pollutants should be made. |
| A．inform | B．persuade |
| C．describe | D．entertain |
