2 . James Sulikowski, from the Shark and Fish Conservation Lab at the School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences at Arizona State University, was one of the scientists who captured the seven foot porbeagle (鼠鲨) shark in the Atlantic.

In a Facebook post, the lab said the shark had been growing for years with a plastic strap around its gills. “Photos ... show the female shark’s head was slowly being sliced off by the unyielding strap,” it said. “The piece of circular plastic had become lodged around her neck when she was younger. As she grew, it began to cut through her skin into her muscle, if we had not removed it, she surely would have died.”

In a message to Newsweek, Sulikowski said the strap was probably one that would normally go around a bait box. “The box went overboard, and the porbeagle shark, when younger, ate the fish in the box,” he said. “While doing so, [the] strap got wrapped around the sharks head. As the shark grew, the strap dug into the shark’s flesh. If we didn’t remove it, the shark would have surely died.”

The photos of the shark being strangled follow the discovery of a dead minke whale that had been killed by a piece of fishing line. The male minke whale was found on a beach in Dennis, Massachusetts. The fishing line had become “wrapped around its head and through its mouth, creating a bridle,” the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) said in a Facebook post.

The IFAW said the initial autopsy (验尸) suggests the whale died from injuries caused by the entanglement. It also said there were signs of possible infection. “The entanglement likely contributed to the cause of death, though additional lab results are pending.”

The problem of plastic pollution in the ocean is getting worse. It is thought there is currently over 150 million metric tons of plastic in the world’s oceans, and more and more is entering every year. A report published earlier this year estimated the amount of plastic entering the ocean every year will have doubled by 2040, amounting to 600 million metric tons.

More than one million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals are killed every year by plastic waste. “Plastic in all forms are an issue,” Sulikowski said. “We need more research to understand the extent of the long term effects of this type of pollution.”

1. What do you know about the shark?

A．Her head was sliced off.

B．The strap cut through her skin when she was younger.

C．She was in more danger as she grew.

D．Scientists had not removed the strap.

2. According to the initial autopsy, the cause of the whale’s death is ______.

A．the entanglement.	B．a piece of fishing line.
C．infection.	D．not decided.

3. What can you infer from the text?

A．The present amount of plastic in the ocean is about 300 million tons.

B．The next 20 years will see an increase of 450 million tons of plastic in the ocean.

C．More than 150 million metric tons of plastic is going into ocean every year.

D．About 300 million tons of plastic is going into ocean every year.

4. What can be the best title of the text?

A．Scientists saved a shark whose head was being sliced off.

B．The death of a whale and a shark worried IFAW.

C．Plastic pollution is threatening certain animals’ lives.

D．Plastic pollution is getting worse and worse.

3 . Nowadays, the most effective way to get power comes from burning fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. They are less costly than other forms of energy. But burning fuels releases carbon dioxide, known as CO₂ gas. Scientists agree that increasing amount of CO₂ in Earth’s atmosphere is partly to blame for the rising temperature. It's clear the change in the atmosphere can have a big effect on the weather condition around the world.

However, keeping extra CO₂ from entering the atmosphere is a difficult process. It’s not enough to advise people to burn the fuels in a clean way. As a result, scientists are looking for the best method for capturing the gas and storing it away from the atmosphere. Some of this research is taking place in Norway. The Technology Center in Mongstad (TCM) is the largest facility in the world for major testing of the CO₂-capturing technology.

Tore Amundsen is its chairman. He says TCM has produced important information since it opened. The center is connected to a nearby electric power plant. It treats the waste gas from the plant using the chemical solvent (溶剂) which attracts the CO₂ molecules. Then researchers take the solvent with the CO₂ molecules and boil it. In this way, they can separate CO₂ from the solvent and use the solvent again to capture more CO₂. TCM can help capture 90 percent of the CO₂ from the waste gas. With the current state of technology, it will increase the cost of electricity between perhaps 30% to 40% when the technology is applied to a power plant.

Experts say the best way to store the captured CO₂ gas is to place it below the surface of the ground. Scientists can use the pumping technology to put it into areas left empty after the removal of oil or natural gas. But TCM does not pump the CO₂ it captures. Instead, it releases the gas into the atmosphere. Tore Amundsen says only highly developed industrial nations can afford the pumping technology. So far, only Canada has a power plant that pumps CO₂ gas. In total, there are just a few similar power plants in the world.

1. What can we learn about the CO₂ gas?

A．It is usually found in coal.

B．It leads to world climate change.

C．It is a new kind of energy.

D．It does good to the atmosphere.

2. Scientists want to deal with CO₂ gas by_________.

A．sending it into the atmosphere

B．finding clean fuels to use

C．collecting it with technology

D．stopping people from burning fuels

3. Which of the following is TRUE about TCM?

A．It works well in treating the waste gas.

B．It’s the only center to study the CO2 gas.

C．It was set up by Tore Amundsen.

D．It helps the power plant save a lot of money.

4. According to experts, the captured CO₂ gas________.

A．can be used with oil or natural gas

B．should be put underground

C．must be allowed to go into the air

D．should stay in the chemical solvent

4 . Holding hands, people jumped into the water, and floated around in Boston’s Charles River recently. That is something that would not have been possible years ago because the river was so polluted. In the 1960s, the music group The Standells even sang about the river in their popular song, “Dirty Water.”

The swimmers were getting their once-a-year chance to cool off from the summer heat in the Charles River. It is called “City Splash.” For a few days each year, the state of Massachu-setts allows public swimming on Boston’s part of the nearly 130-kilometer Charles River.

The event is in its fifth year. It is a chance for the nonprofit Charles River Conservancy to show its efforts to build a “swim park.” Their idea is to build floating docks where swimmers can jump safely into the river—without touching the risky bottom. These docks would be in areas where the water quality would be tested repeatedly.

Boston is one of the cities hoping to follow the model of Copenhagen, Denmark. That city opened the first of its three floating harbor baths in the early 2000s. On sunny days, people swim in the harbor baths surrounded by tall buildings and cars on the highways. At night the area is filled with people enjoying music and food.

Just recently Paris opened public swimming in a once-polluted canal. New York London, Berlin and other cities are planning similar features for their waterways.

In Boston, the Charles River Conservancy still needs to raise several million dollars. It also needs to get approvals from city, state and federal agencies. The group’s spokeswoman, S. J. Port, said the biggest problem has already been taken care of: The Charles is now one of the cleanest city rivers in America.

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency announced this month that the river earned a “B” grade for water quality last year—an “A” being the best grade. It means the Charles River met the requirement for swimming 55 percent of the time.

1. What is the function of floating docks?

A．They are places for swimmers to rest.

B．They let swimmers get into the river safely.

C．They surround swimmers in a safe area of the river.

D．They are used to test the water quality repeatedly.

2. Which of the following has set a good example for others in offering floating harbor baths?

A．Paris.	B．Boston.
C．Copenhagen.	D．Berlin.

3. What does the underlined part “the biggest problem” refer to?

A．The pollution of Charles River.

B．Lack of money to treat pollution.

C．Getting approvals from governments.

D．Meeting the requirement of “A” grade.

4. What can be inferred from the text?

A．The water in Charles River reaches drinking standard.

B．People can swim in Charles River at any time.

C．This summer is the hottest in Boston.

D．Charles River flows through Boston.

5 . The national movement to get rid of plastic bags is gaining steam — with more than 240 cities and counties passing laws that ban or tax them since 2007 in the US. But these bans may be hurting the environment more than helping it.

University of Sydney economist Rebecca Taylor and colleagues compared bag use in cities with bans with those without them. For six months, they spent weekends in grocery stores recording the types of bags people carried out.

Taylor found these bag bans did what they were supposed to: People in the cities with the bans used fewer plastic bags, which led to about 40 million fewer pounds of plastic garbage per year. But people who used to reuse their shopping bags for other purposes, like picking up dog waste, still needed bags. "What I found was that sales of garbage bags actually grew sharply after plastic grocery bags were banned," she says.

Garbage bags are thick and use more plastic than typical shopping bags. "So about 30 percent of the plastic that was reduced by the ban comes back in the form of thicker garbage bags," Taylor says. On top of that, cities that banned plastic bags saw a surge in the use of paper bags, which she estimates（估计）resulted in about 80 million pounds of extra paper garbage per year.

A bunch of studies find that paper bags are actually worse for the environment. They require cutting down and processing trees, which involves lots of water, toxic chemicals and fuel. While paper is biodegradable(可生物降解的) and avoids some of the problems of plastic, Taylor says, the huge increase of paper means banning plastic shopping bags increases greenhouse gas emissions(排放).

The Danish government recently did a study that took into account environmental impacts（影响）beyond simply greenhouse gas emissions, including water use, damage to ecosystems and air pollution. These factors make cloth bags even worse. They estimate you would have to use an organic cotton bag 20,000 times more than a plastic grocery bag to make using it better for the environment.

1. What is main idea of the passage?

A．Banning plastic bags is gaining popularity worldwide.

B．Banning plastic has great influence on people’s life.

C．Banning plastic increases the use of pager and cloth bags.

D．Banning plastic may harm rather than help the environment.

2. What is the result of banning grocery plastic bags?

A．Plastic bags are no longer needed.

B．People began to reuse their plastic bags.

C．The amount of garbage is even greater.

D．Most of the reduced plastic returns in garbage bags.

3. Why are paper and cloth bags worse for the environment?

A．They are not as biodegradable as plastic bags.

B．It hurts the environment more to make them.

C．They can’t be reused as many times as plastic bags.

D．They are much thicker than plastic bags.

4. What does the underlined word in the fourth paragraph mean?

A．Sharp increase.	B．Fast development.
C．Tight control.	D．Sharp decrease.