3 . Pollution

Pollution happens when the environment is dirtied, by waste, chemicals, and other harmful substances(物质).Pollution is a problem all over the world. But it is especially bad in large cities with a lot of industries and cars.    1    

Wildfires, volcanoes, and industrial chemicals cause some air pollution. But most air pollution comes from burning fossil fuels (矿物燃料）These include coal, oil and natural gas. The burning of fossil fuels may release harmful gases. Air pollution may cause such diseases cancer and asthma. It also leads to polluted rain that can harm living things    2     Finally, air pollution damages the ozone layer(臭氧层)which is important because it protects Earth against harmful rays from the sun.

Causes of water pollution are easy to see. People dump(倾倒) garbage and dirty water into river, lakes and oceans. Factories or cities sometimes release poisonous chemicals, and other wastes into water. These chemicals may make the groundwater unfit to drink.    3    

Littering, or throwing garbage on the ground, is a form of land pollution. Litter can destroy the habitats of plants and animals. The buildup of dangerous chemicals in the ground is another form of land pollution. The chemicals may come from farms or factories.    4     They may even harm people who eat the polluted plants and animals.

Many governments, environmental groups, and ordinary people are working to control pollution. Governments have passed laws to keep people from releasing dangerous chemicals into the environment     5     Instead they are getting power from the sun, wind, water, and other energy sources to produce less pollution. Many communities use recycling to reduce pollution.

4 . Hardware in general, and smartphones in particular, have become a huge environmental and health problem in the Global South’s landfill sites(垃圾填埋场).

Electronic waste (e-waste) currently takes up 5 percent of all global waste, and it is set to increase rapidly as more of us own more than one smartphone, laptop and power bank. They end up in places like Agbogbloshie on the outskirts of Ghana’s capital, Accra. It is the biggest e-waste dump in the world, where 10,000 informal workers walk through tons of abandoned goods as part of an informal recycling process. They risk their health searching for the precious metals that are found in abandoned smartphones.

But Agbogbloshie legally should not exist. The Basel Convention, a 1989 treaty, aims to prevent developed nations from unauthorized dumping of e-waste in less developed countries. The e-waste industry, however, circumvents regulation by exporting e-waste labelled as “secondhand goods” to poor countries like Ghana, knowing full well that it is heading for a landfill site.

A recent report found Agbogbloshie contained some of the most dangerous chemicals. This is not surprising: smart phones contain chemicals like mercury(水银), lead and even arsenic(砷). Reportedly, one egg from a free-range chicken in Agbogbloshie contained a certain chemical which can cause cancer and damage the immune system at a level that’s about 220 times greater than a limit set by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Most worryingly, these poisonous chemicals are free to pollute the broader soil and water system. This should concern us all, since some of Ghana’s top exports are cocoa and nuts.

Some governments have started to take responsibility for their consumers’ waste. For example, Germany has started a project that includes a sustainable recycling system at Agbogbloshie, along with a health clinic for workers. However, governments cannot solve the problem alone, as there is an almost limitless consumer demand for hardware, especially when governments’ green policies are focused on issues like climate change.

Only the manufacturers can fix this. A more economically sustainable and politically possible solution is through encouraging hardware manufacturers to make the repair, reuse and recycling of hardware profitable, or at least cost-neutral.

5 . An art program is helping students at some of the lowest performing schools in the United States.

On June 8，much of the world ____ the United Nations World Oceans Day. The idea is to remind people how important the world’s oceans are to all life on Earth, to celebrate their beauty, and to bring attention to the ____ human activity has on the oceans.

This year, the theme is “Our Oceans, Our Future,” with special emphasis on finding solutions to plastic pollution, and ____ marine litter for a healthier ocean and a better future.

The world's oceans ____ nearly three fourths of the Earth's surface, and contain 97 percent of our planet’s water. They produce over half of our oxygen，help regulate our climate, absorb carbon dioxide，and support the greatest ____ of life on our planet.

Nearly half of all species on Earth depend on the oceans for survival, and for many of the rest, including people, the oceans ____ the quality of life.

The oceans are also ____ to the world’s economy, because they are key to transportation and recreation. As over 95 percent of the underwater area remains unexplored, it is nearly a ____ that their depths may hold the cure to many a disease, the ____ to many a problem.

And yet, as much as 40 percent of the world’s oceans are ____ affected by human activities that result in pollution, over-fishing, and loss of coastal habitats. Of particular ____ is plastic garbage. Some of it comes from ships that use our rivers, lakes and seas, and eventually ____ into the ocean. But about 8 million metric tons of plastic waste washes off land into the ocean each year.

Once there, it begins to ____ until it turns into small fragments known as micro-plastics. Plastics are a serious threat, because they degrade very slowly, trap sea creatures, damage habitats like coral reefs, and are ____ by marine animals. Researchers have documented the impacts of plastic on over 650 different marine species—including sea turtles, seals, whales, dolphins，porpoises, seabirds, and fish.

On World Oceans Day, we must remember that the health and safety of our oceans is our collective ____，one that we cannot afford to neglect. Only through good stewardship can we safeguard the health of our oceans, and ensure that the oceans continue to meet the needs of future generations.

The environment pollution became more and more serious today. We will have no clean water to drink because of water pollution. And when trees cut down, some animals disappear. There is more and more of dirty smoke in the air. People’s health has been great affected by air, noise and water pollution. Many people have died of diseases causing by pollution. In order to live the better life, it’s time for us to protect our world. We should recycle, reduce and reuse things, that saves money and reduces pollution. Use things as long as possibly. Don’t use plastic bag. Besides, we must plant more trees and stop people cutting it clown. We hope our world will he more and more beautiful.

7 . "It can't be done．" Boyan Slat heard this over and over when he first proposed a way to clean   up millions of tons of plastic polluting our oceans． Almost anyone else would have given up in frustration and despair． But 20﹣year﹣old Slat hasn't： been discouraged but committed to his dream． "Human history is basically a list of things that couldn't be done， and then were done，" he says．Today， slat and his team at The Ocean Cleanup are well on their way to proving the critics wrong． Good news for the planet．

（1）_______

Slat， who grew up in the city of Delft in the Netherlands， was on a diving trip in Greece three years ago when he was deeply impressed by plastic， "There were more plastic bags than fish，" he says． "That moment I realized it was a huge issue and that environmental issues are really the biggest problems my generation will face．"

That fall， Slat， then 17， decided to study plastic pollution as part of a high school project． Soon， Slat learned that no one had yet come up with practical way to clean up this massive garbage patches． Most proposed solutions involved "fishing" up the plastic using ships equipped with nets﹣which， as Slat discovered， would likely take more than 1，000 years， cost too much， let off too much sea life along with the trash．

Slat proposed an alternative that mostly avoided these problems﹣a solar﹣powered system using a floating plastic tube which will go around the garbage and trap it is 600 meters long， A big screen hangs down from it， about three metres into the water． Wind， waves and ocean currents will push the trash toward the tube． （Fish can swim under the screen） A ship will pick up the trash and take it back to the shore to sort and recycle it into oil and other products． Best of all， Slat predicted his system could clean up the North Pacific Garbage Patch between California and Hawaii where a lot of floating garbage exists， within five to 10 years．

（2）________

The following， Slat entered the aerospace engineering program at the Delft University of Technology and officially announced his ocean cleanup concept at TEDx Delft． But nothing much moved forward，

Slat found himself continually absent﹣minded in classes， looking for ways． to improve his concept． "It wouldn't let go． I finally decided to put both university and my social life on hold to focus all my time on developing this idea． I wasn't sure if it would succeed， but considering the scale of problem I thought it was important to at least try．" He says．

With this family's blessing， Slat began in earnest organizing a team of volunteers and employees for The Ocean Cleanup， which now numbers about 100．

（3）_______

In answer to opposition， Slat and his team raised ＄100，000 from a crowdfunding campaign and began testing a 40﹣meter collecting barrier near the Azores Islands last March． In June， they released a 500+ page possibility study．

Over the next three to four years， Slat will push toward a fully operational large﹣scale project by testing a series of longer and longer barriers． He's currently seeking to crowd fund ＄2 million to finance it． Incidentally， The Ocean Cleanup is also working on a plan to stop plastic from washing into the oceans in the first place． "It's just the other problem that is equally important．" Slat says． "It's something everyone is able to help with， and we also have some technologies in the pipeline．"

As for school， Slat doesn't miss it ﹣ except maybe for the social﹣part， which he hopes to （恢复） a bit once his team takes on more of the workload． " I don't have time for things like that right now， but I really can't complain． I can imagine doing something more fun than being able to have an idea and then actually making it into a reality．" he says．

Rivers are one of our most important natural resources. Many of the world’s great cities are located on rivers and almost every country has at least one river     1     (flow) through it, which plays an important part in the lives of     2     (it) people.

Since the beginning of history, people     3     (use) rivers for transportation. The Yellow River and Changliang River play a large role in China. The Mississippi, the     4     (long) one in the United States ever influenced the American people     5     (great) in history. The lifeline of Egypt is the Nile. Rivers provide fresh water     6     drink, grow crops, make electricity and chances to have fun for those     7     live along their banks.

    8     the cities grow in size and industries increase in number, the river water is severely being polluted. It urges all countries to make     9     (decide) and take immediate action to stop it from     10     (pollute) any more.

To pollute or not to pollute? That is the question. In order to survive, we all need to cause pollution. Factories that process the food we eat, clothes we wear, and cars we drive have to cause pollution. The environment has the ability to absorb our waste or the pollution, but its absorption ability has its limits. If the pollution level is higher than what the environment can cope with, then that's the time when pollution is bad. If the pollution level becomes too high, human health can be affected badly. Then, the productivity level of the sick people is low and the economy suffers. The economy suffers not only because of the lost productivity of the people, but also because the government must pay for the damage the pollution has done to its people. This is the reason why the government prefers taxation policy. Imposing (征收) a tax on firms that pollute the environment can be considered a good strategy, as long as the tax covers all the external costs or the cost of the damage the firm has created during production. Taxation, if enforced (执行)really well, can make firms create a technology that may reduce pollution, if they find out that it will be cheaper than continuously paying the tax. The disadvantage of this policy, however, lies in the possibility that some big firms will find the tax cheap and then they will just produce more and pollute the environment more. If other small firms find the tax expensive, thus closing down, their production will be eaten up by those firms which can afford the tax. Therefore, it is important that lawmakers in each country, when deciding to impose a tax on pollutant emissions, first review and analyze very carefully the real cost of the damage.（307words）