1 . Turtles have a habit of eating plastic objects floating in the sea, which may kill them. Many believe that it is because floating plastic bags look similar to jellyfish, which many types of turtles love to eat. However, lots of plastic objects that turtles eat do not look like jellyfish at all. Joseph Pfaller of the University of Florida doubts that the smell of sea micro-organisms（微生物） which live on floating plastic objects attract turtles to eat.
The kind of idea first appeared in 2016. Researchers at the University of California, Davis, noticed that certain chemicals, especially dimethyl sulphide（二甲基硫）, which can be found on plastics where micro-organisms live, are those which many seabirds sniff（嗅）to find food. These birds are more likely to eat plastics.
Since turtles usually appear above the sea surface and sniff the air when going to their feeding areas, Dr. Pfaller believed that they are following these same chemicals like those seabirds and mistakenly think that floating plastic objects are edible.
To test that idea, he and his team did an experiment using loggerhead turtles. They exposed 15 turtles to four smells: the smell of clean water; the smell of turtle-feeding food; the smell of a clean plastic bottle; and the smell of a bottle that had been kept in the ocean for five weeks to allow micro-organisms to grow on it. When sniffing both the smell of turtle-feeding food and that of five-week-old bottles, turtles kept their noses out of the water more than three times as long, and took twice as many breaths as they did when sniffing the smell of fresh bottle-plastic or clean water.
Though they have not yet tested whether dimethyl sulphide on the five-week-old bottles cause turtles to eat plastic objects, Dr. Pfaller and his team think it is highly possible.
1. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word "edible"?| A．pleasing the eyes | B．suitable for use as food |
| C．holding the attention | D．concerned with actual use |
| A．Seabirds prefer the smell of the plastic bottles. |
| B．Seabirds feed on the food similar to the turtles'. |
| C．Seabirds produce a certain micro-organism. |
| D．Seabirds break up the plastics without difficulty. |
| A．To suggest a new way to study turtles. |
| B．To stress the importance of sea protection. |
| C．To introduce the findings on the cause of turtles' death. |
| D．To discuss the overusę of the plastic bottles. |
| A．Education. | B．Entertainment. |
| C．Science. | D．Health. |
Solving the Problem of E-Waste
One of the problems damaging our planet is the number of things we throw away. A more recent addition to the list of things we chuck away is e-waste - electronic items that are broken and not recycled.
Tonnes of televisions, phones, and other electronic equipment are discarded chiefly because we lack the skills to repair them. Fortunately, now solutions are being found to give e-waste a new life.
There's a growing trend for repair events and clubs which could be part of a solution to the growing amount of electrical and electronic junk. A Restart Project in London, is one that many found around the world. One of its volunteers, Francesco Calo, said that "this project allows you to reduce waste, extend the life of objects, and it helps people who cannot afford to get rid of items that have developed a fault.
As many electrical items contain valuable metals, another idea is e-waste mining. An experiment at the University of New South Wales involves extracting these materials from electronic appliances. It's thought that doing this could be more profitable than traditional mining.
These projects make total sense --- collections of e-waste for recycling are depressing or even decreasing" according to Ruediger Kuehr, of the United Nations University. And in countries where there is no laws, much of it just gets dumped. However, the European Union, for example, is trying to tackle the problem by insisting manufacturers have to make appliances longer-lasting and will have to supply spare parts for machines for up to 10 years.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A new study warns that about thirty percent of the world's people may not have enough water by 2025.
A private American organisation called Population Action International (PAI) did the new study. It says more than three hundred and thirty-five million people lack enough water now. The people live in twentyeight countries. Most of the countries are in Africa or the Middle East.
PAI researcher Robert Engelman says by the year 2025, about three thousand million people are short of water. Eighteen more countries are expected to have serious water problems. The demand for water keeps increasing. Yet the amount of water on the earth stays the same.
Mr Engelman says the population in countries that lack water is growing faster than in other parts of the world. He says population growth in these countries will continue to increase.
The report says lack of water in the future may result in several problems. It may increase health problems. Lack of water often means drinking water is not safe. Mr Engelman says there are problems all over the world because of diseases like cholera that are carried in water.
Lack of water may also lead to more international conflicts. Countries may have to fight for water in the future. Some countries now get sixty percent of their fresh water from other countries. This is true of Egypt, the Netherlands, Cambodia, Syria, Sudan and Iraq. And the report says lack of water would affect the ability to improve their economies. This is because new industries often need large amounts of water when they are beginning.
The Population Action International study gives several solutions to the water problem. One way, it says, is to find ways to use water for more than one purpose. Another way is to teach people to be careful not to waste water. A third way is to use less water of agriculture.
The report also says longterm solutions to the water problem must include controls on population growth. It says countries cannot provide clean water unless they slow population growth by limiting the number of children people have.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4 . Coffee chains create a lot of waste, from disposable take-away cups to the used grounds that are sent to landfills. Starbucks has started to try recyclable alternatives to the disposable cups. But the used coffee is often unnoted.
The world drinks around 2 billion cups of coffee a day, producing 6 million tons of used grounds every year. When they go to landfills, the grounds release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.
UK Bio-bean has found a way to turn that waste into a valuable resource. At Bio-bean, used coffee grounds are processed to remove paper cups or plastic bags, and then passed through a dryer and a further screening process. They are finally processed into the fuel. Coffee Log.
"Coffee is highly calorific and lends itself to being a really fantastic fuel," says May. director of Bio-bean. "They burn about 20% hotter and 20% longer than wood logs do."
While these fuels release greenhouse gases when burned, if they replace other carbon-based fuels. Bio-bean estimates that the recycling process reduces emissions （排放）by 80% compared with sending the grounds to landfills.
Founded in 2013 Bio-bean grew rapidly, launching coffee collection services across the UK and building the world's first coffee recycling factory only two years later. In 2016 they launched their first product, Coffee Log, and are now ready to launch their first natural flavouring ingredient into the food and drink industry.
“We've really managed to succeed with our innovation because we've managed to get to scale. What started as a good idea is today the UK's largest recycler of coffee grounds. We are turning 7,000 tons of those grounds per year into the fuel," says George May. "Despite being delayed by the COVID-19, we plan to expand our operation into northwestern Europe within the next five years."
1. What do the first two paragraphs suggest?| A．It’s necessary to limit coffee consumption. |
| B．Drinking coffee is popular around the world. |
| C．Measures should be taken to recycle coffee waste. |
| D．Coffee grounds are the main cause of global warming. |
| A．A solid fuel. | B．A natural food. |
| C．A cup of hot coffee. | D．A tree trunk. |
| A．It is a high-tech company with a long history. |
| B．It is a promising recycler of coffee grounds. |
| C．It is started to produce coffee and fuels. |
| D．It's developing faster than Starbucks. |
| A．Give accurate measurement. | B．Cover a wide range. |
| C．Do mass production. | D．Classify different grades. |
Interviewer: David, what do you see as the main problems with the environment?
David: Well, in a nutshell, the most
Interviewer: We've seen a lot of
David: Yes, we have. Also, scientists have found that the ice at the Poles is beginning to melt.
Interviewer: We've heard that too. Is that really happening?
David: Yes, I'm afraid it is. And at sometime in the future, the ice may melt completely. Then it's possible that the sea could rise and coastal cities like New York and Shanghai could disappear under water.
John: It sounds very
David: I couldn't agree with you more. It's scary!
Interviewer: Can you explain why the climate's getting warmer?
David: Well, I'll do my best! It's pollution that's the problem. Gases from cars enter the atmosphere and stop the sun's heat from leaving the atmosphere. And factories give out chemicals that do the same thing. So as a result, the climate is getting warmer.
Interviewer: From what I understand, carbon dioxide from cars is a
David: You're absolutely right. Carbon dioxide is the gas that does most
6 . Fireworks have been enjoyed by countless people ever since they were invented in China during the Tang Dynasty hundreds of years ago. From small family gatherings (团聚) to huge global celebrations, there isn’t a party that couldn’t be made more fun with a few fireworks. But it seems that there’s a big price to pay for some brief beauty and fun.
It’s been discovered that fireworks contain metals such as copper (铜) and lead, in addition to other pollutants like perchlorates (高氯酸盐). According to the Environmental Protection Agency, perchlorates can form naturally or be made. They are an industrial chemical used in rocket fuel and explosives (炸药), and are soluble (可溶解的) in water.
This is a reason for concern because perchlorates negatively affect the thyroid gland (甲状腺), which influences important bodily functions like blood pressure and heart rate.
Furthermore, a study conducted by Terry Gordon, a professor at New York University, examined the emissions(排放物) whose sizes were big enough to enter the lungs. They concluded that these emissions may lead to various dangerous conditions like cancer, heart attacks, and strokes (中风).
It is worth noticing, however, that no studies have proven the connctions between these conditions and the dangerous chemicals in fireworks.
However, the negative effects of firework emissions can be observed in birds. Britain’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds warns against setting off fireworks close to wildlife areas as they may cause confusion among birds.
In 2010, an incident involving 5,000 red-winged blackbirds falling out of the sky on New Year’s Eve in Arkansas, US supported this idea. A fireworks display held at a nesting ground for blackbirds led to the birds’ night sight being affected, causing them to fall to their deaths.
Arguably (可以说), the use of fireworks during celebrations may be because people don’t realize how they pollute our environment. Companies and researchers could take this cue (线索) and find other new, eco-friendly ways.
After all, for all the beauty fireworks bring, there’s no better beauty than that of our planet’s.
1. According to the article, perchlorates contained in fireworks ______.| A．do harm to the thyroid gland |
| B．raise the risk of cancer |
| C．are dangerous when put in water |
| D．are made from copper and lead |
| A．fireworks are directly connected with lung cancer |
| B．the waste from fireworks could threaten our body |
| C．chemicals in fireworks could increase our blood pressure |
| D．our body is strong enough to fight against the pollutants in fireworks |
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. |
| C．Indifferent. | D．Neutral. |
7 . Youth is a stressful time from friends to school to families, and stressful situations become common. The body can respond (反应) with faster breathing, a fast beating heart, tense (绷紧的) muscles and drop of sweat. And teens who breathe polluted air appear to respond most strongly to stress, a new study shows.
Jonas Miller, a psychologist working at Stanford University ,studied whether or how air pollution might affect the body’s response to stress. Miller's team invited 144 teens to participate in a stressful test. Most of the kids lived in or near San Francisco,which has the worst air quality.
Before the test, the researchers used sensors(感测器) to record heart rates and sweat levels for five minutes as the kids rested. Then as the test began, a researcher read aloud the beginning of a story and the kids had five minutes to make up an exciting ending to the story. They would have to memorize their ending and present it aloud to a judge. After finishing this task, the kids were asked to do math problems, which obviously was a harder task. If he or she made a mistake, the judge let the student start over. The whole time, sensors recorded heart rates and sweat levels.
Miller found all the students had similar heart rates and sweat levels at rest. But as the test got difficult, differences began to appear. Kids from places with more air pollution responded more strongly to stress and their heartbeats became irregular. They sweated more than teens who lived in cleaner places.
"The teens' bodies were preparing to deal with possible challenges in the environment and such bodily responses to stress were linked to negative feelings", Miller concludes. Over time, he says, "these responses can contribute to both physical and mental health problems."
This study has proved the negative health effects of air pollution among teenagers. Therefore, teenagers should try to avoid their exposure (暴露) to air pollution They should consider limiting their time outside during rush hour, especially on days when air pollution is particularly strong.
1. What happened to teens in stressful situations?| A．Their bodies react strongly. |
| B．Their muscles cause pain. |
| C．They become seriously sick. |
| D．They have trouble in breathing. |
| A．The judge of the test was strict with the kids. |
| B．The kids enjoyed making up endings of stories. |
| C．Those breathing polluted air doesn't have more stress in life. |
| D．The kids gradually felt more stress in the process. |
| A．solve their mental health problems |
| B．spend less time outside in heavy traffic |
| C．learn to deal with stressful situations |
| D．enjoy more outside activities in good weather |
| A．A report on pollution. | B．A geography book. |
| C．A psychologist's diary. | D．A science magazine. |
8 . The United Nations Environment Program is calling for urgent action to reduce growing risks from chemicals. Better management of chemicals could save millions of lives and billions of dollars. As estimated, 143,000 chemicals are now produced. Yet the report says only a small number of these chemicals have been studied for their effects on human health and the environment. It says death and disability rates are high from the unsafe use of chemical products.
Sylvie Lemmet, director of the UNEP, says poor management of chemicals has a high economic cost. For example, she says the cost is higher than the amount of overseas development aid, or ODA, for health care in sub-Saharan Africa.
She says, “If you look at the estimated cost of poisoning from pesticide (杀虫剂) in sub-Saharan Africa, only the injury and the loss of working time is estimated to be 6.3 billion US dollars in 2009. This is higher than the total ODA that is going to the health part in the same area.”
The UNEP estimates that chemical sales worldwide will increase by around three percent a year until 2050. Chemical production is moving quickly from developed to developing countries. By 2020, chemical production is expected to increase by 40 percent in Africa and the Middle East and 33 percent in Latin America. One of its biggest concerns is pollution of rivers and lakes by pesticide and fertilizer. Other major concerns are heavy metal pollution from the production of cement (水泥) and textiles (纺织品), and dioxin pollution from mining.
The UN report urges the chemical industry and governments to work together to develop safety policies. It says preventing harm costs less than fixing it.
1. The purpose of Paragraph 3 is mainly to indicate that ______.| A．chemicals have a high production cost |
| B．Africa needs more development aid |
| C．the use of pesticide causes a great loss |
| D．the estimated cost of poisoning from pesticide is incorrect |
| A．Pesticide. | B．Fertilizer. |
| C．Heavy metals. | D．Minerals. |
| A．The mass production of cement and textiles. |
| B．Lack of research funds on chemicals. |
| C．Poor management of chemicals. |
| D．Contradictions between chemical producers and governments. |
| A．The truth in Sylvie Lemmet’s comments |
| B．A UN warning about chemical dangers |
| C．The unpredictable future of chemical industry |
| D．Preventing is much better than fixing |
9 . Ship tourism to Antarctica is on the rise: More than 35,000 tourists are expected to visit Antarctic this summer. In 1992-1993, 6,750 visited Antarctica, according to the Antarctica Treaty. All of this tourism, however, is putting both tourists and the environment in great danger.
Among the tourist ships that visit the continent, the Explorer, a Canadian ship, was one of the first. Put to use in 1969, it was built to carry tourists to Antarctica. Last week, however, it became the first commercial passenger ship to sink beneath the waters. Fortunately, all of the passengers and crew members were rescued from the ship. However, the sunken ship endangered the Antarctic’s fragile(脆弱的) environment. The ship was estimated to be holding 48,000 gallons of fuel.
The accident was not unexpected. Both the US and UK had warned a conference of the Antarctic Treaty member countries in May that the tourism situation in this area was a potential disaster. The US said in a paper, people “should take a hard look at tourism issues now, especially those related to ship safety.” Although the Antarctic seas are relatively calm, floating ice causes a potential threat to ships. The owner of the Explorer blamed the sinking on a fist-like hole in the ship created by ice.
Many of the other large ships now visiting Antarctica are not designed especially against thick ice. Such ships generally can only come to the continent in summer. But the tourist rush is pushing ships into dangerous situations. “The increasing number of ships operating in Antarctic means that the ship are under great pressure to get there in time for the key visiting sites,” the British government wrote in a paper at the meeting of member countries.
As a natural frontier, Antarctica is in a messy legal situation. There are no obvious answers as to who is responsible for dealing with the threat that tourist may cause to human life and the environment.
There is no coast guard for Antarctica. Do we want it to become Disneyland, or do we need some controls?
1. Which of the following is true according to this passage?| A．Antarctica tourism has a history of about 17 years. |
| B．The number of tourists to the Antarctic is over 5 times as large as that of 17 years ago. |
| C．The tourism boom has caused holes in the floating ice in the Antarctic. |
| D．The Antarctica Treaty is responsible for the environmental problems. |
| A．led to a conference about the tourism situation in the Antarctic. |
| B．was caused by the rough seas |
| C．had been predicted |
| D．did harm to the Antarctic. |
| A．people had better not make a tour of the Antarctic |
| B．ships to the Antarctic should be built strong enough |
| C．there should be legal controls over tourism in the Antarctic |
| D．the Antarctic’s environment is fragile to be protected |
Interviewer: David, what do you see as the main problems with the environment?
David: Well, in a nutshell, the most
Interviewer: We've seen a lot of
David: Yes, we have. Also, scientists have found that the ice at the Poles is beginning to melt.
Interviewer: We've heard that too. Is that really happening?
David: Yes, I'm afraid it is. And at sometime in the future, the ice may melt completely. Then it's possible that the sea could rise and coastal cities like New York and Shanghai could disappear under water.
John: It sounds very
David: I couldn't agree with you more. It's scary!
Interviewer: Can you explain why the climate's getting warmer?
David: Well, I'll do my best! It's pollution that's the problem. Gases from cars enter the atmosphere and stop the sun's heat from leaving the atmosphere. And factories give out chemicals that do the same thing. So as a result, the climate is getting warmer.
Interviewer: From what I understand, carbon dioxide from cars is a
David: You're absolutely right. Carbon dioxide is the gas that does most
