1 . 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

As we all know, plastic bags     1     (exist) for decades. There is no doubt that they do damage     2     our environment. With the growing use of plastic bags, people produce large     3     (amount) of waste. They are easily blown away by wind and flowing water so they can travel long distances. They can last for hundreds of years in the environment!

2 . Recycling is a great way of doing your bit for the environment and helping to protect the earth’s precious resources. However, a new study has revealed that our desire to be sustainable maybe doing more harm than good. According to waste company Biffa, this is because of “wish-cycling” — assuming that items such as disposable coffee cup sand pizza boxes will be recycled if put in the recycling bin. In fact, pollution from those items or other non-recyclables can result in recyclable items that have been put in the correct bin going to landfill. David Heaton, a business director at Biffa, said: “Pollution happens when items are disposed of in the wrong bins or haven’t been cleaned before being recycled.”

Experts at Biffa analyzed the amounts of non-target and non-recyclable materials that entered UK material recycling facilities between 2016 and 2020. It was found that, in 2016, the average pollution rate of recycling waste was 13.4 percent, rising over four years to 17 percent by the end of 2020. This shows that, even as people are becoming more eco-conscious, wish-cycling is increasing both in households and businesses.

The Biffa experts say that one of the best ways to prevent pollution of recycling is to clean recyclable waste before putting it in the bin. They suggest cutting off the top of old pizza boxes and only recycling that part to avoid pollution from the grease (油脂). Check the on-packaging recycling label to check it can actually be recycled When it comes to plastics, Biffa recommends checking the resin code, the number in the plastic triangle, to know whether it should go in the recycling bin. In general, resin codes 1, 2, 4 and 5 are recyclable, while 3, 6 and 7 are not. Larger items, like electronics, furniture and batteries, can also be recycled but often can not go in household recycling bins as they need specialist separating. These will need to be taken to recycling centers or sustainable waste management companies.

“It’s vital as a nation that we get better at effective ‘pre-cycling’— sorting waste correctly before collection to reduce pollution rates,” added Mr. Heaton.

1. What’s the truth of “wish-cycling” according to the first paragraph?

A．The desire to lead a sustainable life.

B．The good intention to help recycling.

C．The habit of throwing items that end up in landfills.

D．The practice of recycling items that can not be recycled.

2. What has experts at Biffa concluded after their analysis?

A．People are becoming more eco-conscious.

B．Wish-cycling is on the rise in recent years.

C．Pollution happens less frequently in recycling facilities.

D．People are used to cleaning recyclable waste before putting it in the bin.

3. Which of the following is a proper way of recycling?

A．Dispose of electronics together with household waste.

B．Skip the step of checking the on-packaging recycling label.

C．Check the resin code of plastics to see whether it is recyclable or not.

D．Cutoff the top of old pizza box and throw the rest to the recycling bin.

4. Which is the most suitable title for the text?

A．Recycling: a Big Project	B．Wish-cycling: a New Trend
C．Wish-cycling: a Growing Concern	D．Pre-cycling: an Effective Method

3 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

The Real Cost of Travel

Mass tourism is a relatively recent phenomenon. The tourism industry     1     (take) off in the middle of the last century and it’s been growing ever since. In the last ten years especially, more and more people have been traveling to places     2     we had previously only read about or seen on television. But what kind of impact does tourism have on the planet?

A voyage to the end of the earth?

A large cruise ship (邮轮) can carry as many as 6,000 passengers and there are upwards of 50 such ships currently     3    (sail) the seas. Cruise ships dump about 90,000 tons of waste into the oceans every year. Any harmful effects of this are made even worse by the fact     4     cruises tend to visit the same places over and over again, thus concentrating the waste in specific places.

Trash on top of the world

From remote ocean habitats to the world’s highest mountain, our trash is everywhere. Though far fewer people go climbing the Himalayas than on a cruise, their impact     5    (still feel). Tourism is vital to the economy of Nepal,     6     it is to many non-industrial countries. But for decades, climbers have been abandoning their unwanted equipment on Everest. For the last few years, clean-up teams of local and international climbers have been organizing hiking trips just     7    (pick) up the waste. One group has brought over eight tons of waste down from the mountain!

When more is not better

Tourism of a different kind is causing problems in Europe. Construction on the Mediterranean coast has been     8     control for years. Beach resorts form an almost unbroken line from Gibraltar to Greece, and natural habitats have disappeared under miles of concrete. And so we pollute the sea, the land, and the air. Low-cost air travel is booming, in spite of (or perhaps     9     (help) by) economic problems. For many Europeans, low-cost flights allow them to take several short vacations a year. Yet curiously, short flights actually have a much bigger effect on climate change than long flights. So, are there    10     (damaging) ways of seeing the world? Traveling by train, for example, is a much greener way of getting around.

4 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan was     1     (severe) damaged by a tsunami in 2011, leading to a major nuclear disaster. Since then, water has been continuously used     2    (cool) the damaged reactors (反应堆) and prevent further damage.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the     3    (operate) of the plant, said that the storage tanks took up too much space due to the wastewater. So Japan initially said that it     4    (begin) releasing the water into the ocean in the spring of 2023.

On March 17, part of the equipment     5    was related to the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant started operation for     6    first time, according to Japanese media TV Asahi.

According to The Guardian, the Japanese government argued that the water     7    (treat) to remove most of the radioactive isotopes (同位素), so the water would be safe to be released into the ocean.

However, not everyone agrees with this decision. Environmental groups and local fishermen have expressed concern about the impact of the wastewater     8    marine life and the fishing industry, the BBC reported.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on March14 once again denounced (谴责) Japan’s unilateral (单边的) decision to dump nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the sea,     9    (consider) the move an attempt to shift the risk of nuclear pollution to all of mankind.

The ministry also warned the country not to start the plan     10    full consultation (磋商) with its neighbors and relevant international institutions.

5 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

The beautiful Li River and its amazing surrounding scenery is one of the most well-known tourist destinations in China. However, the    1     (grow) in tourism meant the increase of the local population as well as     2     number of commercial and industrial enterprises. Chemicals used to increase crop production led to severe water quality issues,     3     (cause) a decrease in the number of fish species.

6 . The African penguin is expected to go extinct in the wild in just over a decade, given its current population decline. The main reason is a lack of food caused by disturbance to ocean conditions from global heating and competition from the commercial fishing industry. According to a study, scientists have identified a possible additional cause, one that is an entirely new threat and that further prevents the penguins from finding food: noise pollution from marine (海洋的) ships in a bay.

Since 2016, a new shipping practice has started at Algoa Bay. The bay offers ship-to-ship refueling for ships anchored offshore. Since the start of this practice, marine traffic in the bay has doubled. The number of bulk carriers (散货船) pulling into the bay has increased by ten times as much. Thus the noise levels in the area had doubled and the population of penguins has dropped sharply. High noise levels affect the ability of marine animals to find food, communicate or navigate properly.

Researchers used data from ship identification tools to estimate underwater noise from passing ships. They also attached underwater microphones and accelerometers (感应器) to some of the penguins. Recording the noise will tell researchers what the penguins are hearing, if they’re talking while hunting, if they’re changing their movements in response to noise, and if the noise is drowning out their hunting conversations. This will allow researchers to determine whether the sound disturbance is a direct cause of the penguins’ ongoing difficulties in finding sufficient food.

The study is the first to explore the effects of ocean traffic noise pollution on seabirds and the consequences of offshore shipping activities on underwater noise levels. Experts are considering proposing various global best-practice approaches to reduce some of the impacts of noise pollution, such as policies that limit the number and size of ships allowed into a bay of this kind. “We also need more scientific monitoring of noise, before these measures are put in place and afterward, so that we have a proper understanding of what works.” a researcher said.

1. What is caused by the noise pollution?

A．The penguins’ lack of food.

B．The penguins’ proper navigation.

C．People’s communication disability.

D．The commercial competition.

2. Why did scientists attach microphones to penguins?

A．Because they wanted to study the way of relieving marine traffic pressure.

B．Because they could determine and analyze the source of ocean noise pollution

C．Because it helped to calculate underwater noise levels caused by different ships.

D．Because the impact of ocean on penguins’ hunting behavior could be found.

3. How can the noise pollution be reduced?

A．By exploring the real effects of ocean traffic.

B．By restricting the ships to go into the bay.

C．By banning all the offshore shipping activities.

D．By increasing ship-to-ship refueling activities.

4. What will researchers probably do next?

A．Evaluate the risk of the noise.

B．Establish a monitoring system.

C．Put the measures in place.

D．Try to understand what happens.

7 . Blue whales eat up to 10 million pieces of microplastic every day, research estimated Tuesday, suggesting that the pollution causes a bigger danger to the world’s largest animal than previously thought.

A US-led research team put tags on 191 blue whales that live off the coast of California to observe their movements. “It’s basically like an Apple Watch, just on the back of a whale,” said Shirel Kahane-Rapport, a researcher at California State University, Fullerton, and the study’s first author.

The whales mostly fed at depths of between 50 to 250 meters, which is home to the “greatest concentration of microplastics in the sea,” Kahane-Rapport said. The researchers then estimated the size and number of mouthfuls the whales had daily, modeling three different situations. Under the most likely situation, the blue whales ate up to 10 million microplastic pieces a day. Over the 90 to 120 days’ annual feeding season, which represents more than a billion pieces a year.

The largest animal ever to live on Earth is also likely the biggest microplastic consumer, eating up to 43.6 kilograms a day, the study said. While it is easy to imagine whales sucking (吞没) in vast amounts of microplastics as they ate, the researchers found that was not the case.

Instead, 99 percent of the microplastics entered the whales because they were already inside their prey (猎物). “That’s concerning for us,” Kahane-Rapport said, because humans eat that prey. “We also eat sardines,” she said, adding that “krill (磷虾) is the basis of the food web.” “Previous research has shown that if krill is in a tank with microplastic, they will eat it,” Kahane-Rapport said.

Now that the researchers know how much microplastic is being consumed by whales, next they aim to determine how much harm it could be doing. “The quantity defines the poison,” Kahane-Rapport said.

1. Why is a tag placed on the back of the whales?

A．It can treat the illness of whales.	B．It can track the living of whales.
C．It can ensure the safety of whales.	D．It can record the danger of whales.

2. How do the researchers show their findings in the study?

A．By providing data.

B．By giving examples.

C．By explaining the reason.

D．By expressing their guess.

3. Which of the following may Kahane-Rapport agree with?

A．The research process was very complicated.	B．The whales live in the area free from pollution.
C．Most microplastics entered the whales directly.	D．Humans may eat microplastics through their diet.

4. What can we infer about the study from the last two paragraphs?

A．It will be highly profitable.	B．It will be further conducted.
C．It will involve food poison.	D．It will help whales avoid risk.

8 . Of the 8,300 million tons of virgin (原始的) plastic produced up to the end of 2015, 6,300 million tons have been discarded (丢弃). Most of that plastic waste is still with us, buried in landfills or polluting the environment. Microplastics have been found in Antarctic sea ice, in the guts of animals that live in the deepest ocean trenches and in drinking water around the world.

But what if we could wave a magic wand and remove all plastics from our lives? For the sake of the planet, it would be a tempting prospect — but we’d quickly find out just how far plastic has spread to every aspect of our existence.

In hospitals, the loss of plastic would be devastating. “Imagine trying to run a dialysis (透析) unit with no plastic”, says Sharon George, senior lecturer in environmental sustainability and green technology at Keele University in the UK. Plastic is used in gloves, tubing, blood bags, sample tubes and more.

Some everyday plastic items are also vital for protecting health. Face masks, including plastic-based surgical masks and respirators (人工呼吸器), as well as reusable cloth masks, have helped slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. “A mask that you have for COVID is related to our safety and the safety of others,” says George. “The impact of taking that away could be loss of life if you took it away on a big scale.”

Our food system would also quickly come apart. We use packaging to protect food from damage in transit and preserve it long enough to reach supermarket shelves, as well as for communication and marketing. “I cannot imagine how plastic would be replaced completely in our system,” says Eleni Iacovidou, a lecturer in environmental management at Brunel University London.

Swapping out plastic packaging would have knock-on (产生连锁反应的) environmental effects. While glass has some advantages over plastic, such as being endlessly recyclable, a one-liter glass bottle can weigh as much as 800 g compared to a 40 g plastic one. When those heavier bottles and jars need to be transported over long distances, carbon emissions grow even more.

It’s clear that replacing one material with another won’t solve all our plastic problems.

1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To give a definition.	B．To report on a study.
C．To introduce a topic.	D．To describe a phenomenon.

2. What does the underlined word “devastating” in Paragraph 3 most probably mean?

A．Interesting.

B．Practical.

C．Predictable.

D．Destructive.

3. What is Eleni Iacovidou’s attitude toward removing plastic totally in food system?

A．Doubtful.

B．Supportive.

C．Optimistic.

D．Uninterested.

4. Which would be the best title for the text?

A．What if we stopped using plastic?

B．Is plastic packaging bad for the environment?

C．More recycling won’t solve plastic pollution

D．Swapping out plastic for sustainable living

9 . Microplastic pollution is increasing greatly around the globe, according to a study of plastic particles (微粒)carried in the air.

People are already known to breathe, drink and eat microplastics, and research suggests that pollution levels will continue to rise rapidly. The researchers said that breathing in these particles can be harmful to lung tissue and lead to serious diseases.

Professor Natalie Mahowald, at Cornell University in the US and part of the research team, said, “ But maybe we could solve this before it becomes a huge problem, if we manage our plastics better, before they accumulate in the environment and move around everywhere.”

The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Acadenry of Sciences, examined airborne (空气传播的)microplastics, which have been far less studied than plastics in oceans and rivers.

The team gathered more than 300 samples of airborne microplastics from 11 sites across the western US. These were the basis for atmospheric modeling that estimated the contribution from different sources (来源),and it was the first such study to do so.

They found that roads were the main factor (因素)in the western US, linked to about 85% of the microplastics in the air. These are likely to include particles from tires and brake pads on vehicles, and plastics from litter that had been broken down.

The researchers extended their modeling work to a global level and this suggested that while roads are also likely to be the major driver of airborne plastics in Europe, South America and Australia, plastic particles blown up from fields may be a much bigger factor in Africa and Asia.

Professor Andreas Stohl of the University of Vienna’s Faculty of Earth Sciences said, “The study confirms the global-scale (全球规模的)nature of microplastic transport in the atmosphere and does a good job in highlighting highly relevant and concerning possibilities, but more measurement data is needed to get a better idea of the sources.”

1. What can be known about microplastic pollution from this text?

A．The particles can do great harm to our lungs.

B．Airborne microplastics have been widely studied.

C．It has become the most pressing environmental problem.

D．There is less plastic in the air than in oceans and rivers.

2. What did the researchers find out about microplastic pollution?

A．Its results differ across many continents.

B．Africa and Asia are suffering most from it.

C．Roads and fields are largely to blame for it.

D．It spreads fast from one continent to another.

3. What should the researchers do next according to Professor Andreas Stohl?

A．To predict the potential damage of microplastics.

B．To understand the nature of microplastic pollution.

C．To improve the method of collecting samples of microplastics.

D．To collect more data to understand the sources of microplastics.

4. What can be the best title for this text?

A．Effects of microplastics on human health

B．Microplastic pollution on the global scale

C．Possible solutions to microplastic pollution

D．Microplastic pollution rising quickly in the air

10 . A cap and trade system is a method for managing pollution, with the end goal of reducing the overall pollution in a nation, region, or industry. Many supporters of pollution control are in favor of the concept of such systems, arguing that well-designed cap and trade systems are extremely effective, and that they make sense economically as well.

Under a cap and trade system, a government authority first sets a cap, deciding how much pollution in total will be allowed. Next, companies are issued credits, essentially licenses to pollute, based on how large they are, what industries they work in, and so forth. If a company comes in below its cap, it has extra credits that it may trade with other companies.

For companies that come in below their caps, this system is great, because they can sell their extra credits, profiting while reducing their pollution. For companies that cannot get their pollution under control, the system punishes them for their excess pollution while still bringing overall pollution rates down. In a sense, the need to purchase credits acts as a fine, encouraging companies to reduce their emissions.

By creating a cap, nations make it clear that they want to reduce overall emissions, rather than just fining companies for excessive emissions or trying to force all companies to reduce their emissions by a set percentage. Cap and trade systems allow for flexibility, which usually benefits the market. Some people view the concept as preferable to a taxation or fining system, because it is easier to administer and it results in a pollution reduction. These systems are most commonly used for carbon emissions, leading people to refer to it as “carbon trading”, and there is a potential for a global carbon trading market, in which more efficient nations could trade credits with other countries.

1. What can be inferred about the cap and trade system?

A．It can greatly promote economy in a nation.

B．It will soon be welcomed by all companies.

C．It is well-designed and extremely effective.

D．It is environmentally and economically friendly.

2. What kind of companies can trade their extra credits?

A．Those who always have more extra credits.

B．Those whose overall pollution is below their caps.

C．Those who have never been fined for overall pollution.

D．Those who help other companies reduce their pollution.

3. What do we learn from the last paragraph?

A．All the pollution will be reduced by the cap and trade system.

B．Carbon trading is likely to be conducted among countries.

C．Carbon trade is more effective than the cap and trade system.

D．The taxation and fining system now is out of use.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．The use of credits in reducing pollution.

B．Efficient ways to manage overall pollution.

C．An introduction of the cap and trade system.

D．Potential application of the cap and trade system.