Man did not have to think about the protection of his environment in the past. There were not many people on the Earth, and natural resources seemed to be unlimited.
Today, things are different.
Everyone realizes today that if too many fish are taken from the sea, there will soon be none left.
We realize that if rivers are polluted with waste products from factories, we will die. However, in most countries, waste products are still put into rivers or into the sea, and there are few laws to stop this.
We know, too, that if the population of the world continues to rise at the present rate, in a few years, there will not be enough food.
If we eat more vegetables and less meat, we will easily get more food. Land that is used to grow crops can feed five times more people than land where animals are kept.
The world population will not rise so quickly if people use modern methods of birth control.
2 . Many people know that rubbish is a big problem on the Earth. What many people don’t know is that rubbish is becoming a problem in outer space too. Years of space exploration (探索) have left tons of “space junk” (太空垃圾) around the planet.
According to the reports of BBC, there are more than 22,000 pieces of rubbish in space around the Earth. And these are just the objects that are easy to see. There may be millions of smaller pieces of rubbish that we can’t see.
The pieces of space junk move around the planet at very high speeds. They move so fast that even a very small piece can become dangerous. If they crashed (碰撞) into each other, it could cause explosions that might even hurt people on the Earth. If the tiniest piece of rubbish crashed into a space shuttle (航天飞机), it could blow open a hole as big as an elephant.
To help solve this problem, countries around the world have agreed to limit the time their space tools stay in space to 25 years. Each tool must fall safely into the Earth’s atmosphere, or upper parts of the sky. There, it will burn up, and it won’t crash near the Earth.
1. What is becoming a problem in outer space?| A．Unseen things. | B．Many big holes. |
| C．Too much space junk. | D．A lot of explosions. |
| A．It may kill elephants. |
| B．It causes air pollution. |
| C．It moves faster than space shuttles. |
| D．It may cause explosions and hurt people. |
| A．Burn them on the Earth. | B．Limit their time in space. |
| C．Let them crash in the sky. | D．Make them move slowly. |
During the last twenty years there has been increasing concern with the quality of the environment. Along with air and water pollutants, noise pollution has been recognized as a serious pollutant. As noise levels have risen, the effects of noise have become more obvious.
Noise is described as unwanted sound. Causes of noise pollution include traffic, aircraft, rock bands, barking dogs, television, garbage trucks, and noise from neighbors, voices, alarms and boats. Studies show that over forty percent of Americans are disturbed at home or lose sleep because of noise pollution.
Noise has bad effects on people. Noise interferes (干扰) with human activities at home and work, and is in various ways dangerous to people’s health and well-being.
When we think, talk, listen to music, or sleep, we need quiet. Even low levels of noise can be annoying or frustrating. Sudden increases in volume can make sounds annoying. The quieter the background is, the more unpleasant a noise can be.
Noise can also make instructions or warning unclear, resulting in accidents.
Long exposure to noise levels above eighty-five decibels (分贝) can damage inner ear cells and lead to hearing loss. Noise can result in the uncontrolled fear response and can cause adrenaline (肾上腺素) to be pumped into the bloodstream, the heart rate to quicken, muscles to tense, breathing to increase, and the digestive system to slow down.
Local government has the responsibility to fight noise pollution. For example, it can regulate the speed of trains through their community. On the other hand, ad responsible citizen will never make noise pollution wherever he is.
| Title | ||
| Definition (定义) | ||
| Traffic, aircraft, rock bands, barking dogs, television, garbage trucks, and noise from neighbors, voices, alarms and boats. | ||
| Bad | ●Disturbing | ·When we think, talk, listen to music, or sleep, even low levels of noise can be ·Accidents may |
| ●Being dangerous to people’s health and well-being | ·Long exposure to loud noise can lead to ·Noise can result in the uncontrolled fear response. | |
| ● ●Citizens: never make noise pollution. | ||
4 . Conifers (针叶树) are generally better than broad-leaved trees at purifying air from pollutants. But deciduous (落叶的) trees may be better at taking in particle-bound pollution. A new study led by the University of Gothenburg shows that the best trees for air purification depend on the type of pollutants involved.
Trees and other greener in cities provide many benefits that are important for the well-being of residents. Leaves and needled on trees filter air pollutants and reduce exposure to poisonous substance in the air. But which trees purify the air most effectively? Researchers from the University of Gothenburg have collected leaves and needle from eleven different trees growing in the same place in the Gothenburg Botanical Garden (GBG) to analyse which cub-stances they have absorbed.
“This tree collection provided a unique opportunity to test many different species of trees with similar environmental conditions and exposure to air pollutants,” said Jenny Klingberg, a researcher of the GBG
A total of 32 different pollutants were analysed, some of which are bound to articles of various sizes. Others are gaseous. This project has focused on paths (多环芳烃). In cities, traffic is the biggest source of these pollutants, which are released due to incomplete burning in engines.
“Our analysis show that different species of trees have different abilities to absorb air pollutants. Conifers generally absorb morn gaseous paths than broad-leaved trees. Another advantage of conifers is that they also act as air purifies in winter, when air pollution is usually at its highest,” said Jenny Klingberg.
“This study contributes to improving our understanding of the ability of trees to clean the air and which species are best at absorbing air pollutants,” said Jenny Klingberg. This known-edge is important for urban planning when designing sustainable cities. While trees and green-era can contribute to better air quality in cities, at the end of the day, the most important measure is to reduce emissions.
1. Which is the determining factor in choosing the most suitable tries to purify air?| A．Air quality. | B．Geographical location. | C．The height of plants. | D．The kind of pollutants. |
| A．To compare their shapes. | B．To create a tree collection. |
| C．To figure out what they absorb. | D．To display them on exhibition. |
| A．Fuel vehicle’s. | B．Electric engines. | C．Traffic accidents. | D．Complete burning. |
| A．Decreasing emissions. | B．Planting more conifers. |
| C．Raising public awareness. | D．Designing sustainable cities. |
5 . Hundreds of years ago, life was harder than it is today. People didn't have modern machines.
Life today has brought new problems. One of the biggest problems is pollution. Water pollution has made our rivers and lakes dirty. It kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us talk louder and become angry more easily. Air pollution is the most serious kind of pollution to all living things in the world.
Cars, planes and factories all pollute our air every day. Sometimes the polluted air is so thick that it is like a quilt over a city. This kind of quilt is called smog.
Many countries are making rules to fight against pollution. Factories must now clean their water before it is thrown away, and they mustn't let dirty smoke go into the air.
We need to do many other things. We can put waste things in the dustbin and do not throw them on the ground. We can go to work by bus or with our friends in the same car. If there are fewer people driving, there will be less pollution.
Rules are not enough. Every person must help to fight against pollution.
1. Hundreds of years ago, life was much harder than it is today because_________| A．there were many problems | B．there were too many people |
| C．there were wars now and then | D．there were no modern machines. |
| A．noise pollution | B．water pollution | C．air pollution | D．waste things |
| A．The air. | B．The city. | C．The quilt. | D．The smog. |
| A．clean water after it is thrown away | B．throw waste things in the dustbin |
| C．let dirty smoke go into the air | D．encourage more people to drive to work |
6 . 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| A．Recycling: a Big Project | B．Wish-cycling: a New Trend |
| C．Wish-cycling: a Growing Concern | D．Pre-cycling: an Effective Method |
7 . Are you a tea drinker? If so, you’re not alone. Every day around the world millions of cups of this popular brew are drunk, and it’s been that way for thousands of years. The oldest discovered tea is from the Han Dynasty, dating from 206BC to 220AD. But it’s thought that the tea trend really took off during the Tang Dynasty in the 8th Century, when it became China’s national drink. Now, Turkey, the Republic of Ireland and the UK are believed to be the biggest tea—drinking nations, per capita.
Tea is consumed in many ways-slurped, sipped or glugged. It can be poured from pots, infused or brewed in the cup using tea bags—and it’s this latter process that is causing concern. Research last year found some premium tea bags might be leaving billions of microscopic plastic particles in the cup. Scientists from McGill University in Montreal found that some ‘plastic’ tea bags shed high levels of micro plastics into water. However, The World Health Organization says such particles in drinking water do not appear to pose a risk.
Most tea bags are made from paper, with a small amount of plastic used to seal them shut— made from oil. This has led to debate about whether they can be recycled, but many are still composted. However, gardener Mike Armitage has told the BBC that the plastic contained in the soil could be washed into streams and rivers and ultimately out to sea.
Unilever, the owners of the tea brand PG Tips, said their tea bags are made with a small amount of plastic—used to seal them—and that they are suitable for composting. And the brand Yorkshire Tea said their bags do contain 25% polypropylene, but they were “actively developing plant—based and biodegradable alternatives”.
While tea bag manufacturers might be doing their bit to reduce plastic pollution, it could be a good time to switch your favourite beverage to coffee, or if that isn’t your cup of tea then try using loose-leaf tea, which can have a better flavour.
1. What is the main idea of paragraph 2?| A．Tea can be consumed in many ways. |
| B．The use of tea bags doesn’t appear to pose a risk |
| C．The use of tea bags is causing concern. |
| D．Some tea bags might be leaving microscopic plastic particles in the cup. |
| A．reduce the amount of plastic used to seal tea bags |
| B．wash the plastic in the soil into streams, rivers and sea |
| C．develop plant-based and biodegradable alternatives |
| D．switch to coffee or try to use loose-leaf tea |
| A．Supportive | B．Indifferent | C．Opposed | D．Neutral |
| A．Potential Plastic Pollution |
| B．Chinese tea culture |
| C．What is your favorite drink? |
| D．The Humble tea bag |
8 . Composite image of Europe and North Africa at night, 2016. Credit： NASA Earth NPP Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using Suomi VIIRS data from Miguel Roman, is oftenNASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Artificial light seen as a sign of progress: the march of civilization shines a light in the dark； it takes back the night； it illuminates. But a chorus of scientists and advocates argues that unnaturally bright nights are bad not just for astronomers but also for nocturnal (夜间活动的)animals and even for human health.
Now research shows the night is getting even brighter. From 2012 to 2016 the earth's artificially lit area expanded by an estimated 2. 2 percent a year (map), according to a study published last November in Science Advances. Even that increase may understate the problem, however. The measurement excludes light from most of the energy-efficient LED lamps that have been replacing sodium-vapor technology in cities all over the world, says lead study author Christopher Kyba, a postdoctoral researcher at the German Research Center for Geosciences in Potsdam.
The new data came from a NASA satellite instrument called the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). It can measure long-wavelengths of light, such as those produced by traditional yellow-and-orange sodium-vapor street lamps. But VIIRS cannot see the shortwavelength blue light produced by white LEDs. This light has been shown to disrupt human sleep cycles and nocturnal animals, behavior.
Credit: Mapping Specialists ； Source: Artificially Lit Surface of Earth at Night Increasing in Radiance and Extent," by Christopher C. M. Kyba et al. , in Science Advances, Vol. 3, No. 11, Article No. E1701528 ； November 22, 2017.
The team believes the ongoing switch to LEDs caused already bright countries such as Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the U. S. to register as having stable levels of illumination in the VIIRS data. In contrast, most nations in South America, Africa and Asia brightened, suggesting increases in the use of traditional lighting. Australia actually appeared to lose lit area一but the researchers say that is because wildfires skewed the data.
"The fact that VIIRS finds an increase (in many countries) , despite its blindness in the part of the spectrum that increased more, is very sad," says FabioFalchi, a researcher at Italy's Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute, who did not participate in the study. In 2016 Falchi, along with Kyba and several other members of his research team, published a global atlas of artificial lighting that showed one third of the world's population currently lives under skies too bright to see the Milky Way at night.
The data also cast doubt on the idea that the LED lighting revolution will lead to energy cost savings. Between 2012 and 2016 the median nation pumped out 15 percent more long- wavelength light as its GDP increased by 13 percent. And overall, countries, total light production correlated with their GDP. In other words, Kyba says, "we buy as much light as we are willing to spend money on."
1. Which is not true about the spread of lit areas?| A．Lit area expanded by an estimated 2. 2 percent a year. |
| B．Artificial light is often seen as a sign of progress. |
| C．The increase in GDP is due to the increase in light. |
| D．It is bad for noctumal animals and even for human health. |
| A．It is a kind of NASA satellite device. |
| B．It can record and analyzed long-wavelength light. |
| C．The blue light generated by white LEDs can disrupt human sleep cycles. |
| D．VIIRS has found an increase of traditional lighting in lots of nations. |
| A．Artificial LED lights at nights are harmful to people's health. |
| B．It is a sign of civilization in modern society. |
| C．The blue light disrupts human and animals" life cycles. |
| D．Artificially lit surface of Earth increasing because of LEDs. |
| A．show the VIIRS data from NASA |
| B．demonstrate the significance of VIIRS for its measurement of wavelengths |
| C．reveal the relationship between wavelength light and GDP |
| D．arouse peoples awareness of light pollution |
1. 垃圾问题的现状；
2. 垃圾分类的意义；
3. 询问对方城市垃圾分类的情况。
注意：1. 词数不少于100；
2. 适当增减细节，使文章连贯；
3. 开头、结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Chris,
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
10 . The idea of turning recycled plastic bottles into clothing is not new. During the last five years, a large number of clothing companies, businesses and environmental organizations have started turning plastics into fabric to deal with plastic pollution. But there’s a problem with this method. Research now shows that microfibers could be the biggest source of plastic in the sea.
Dr. Mark Browne in Santa Barbara, California, has been studying plastic pollution and microfibers for 10 years now. He explains that every time synthetic clothes go into a washing machine, a large number of plastic fibers fall off. Most washing machines can’t collect these microfibers. So every time the water gets out of a washing machine, microfibers are entering the sewers and finally end up in the sea.
In 2011, Browne wrote a paper stating that a single piece of synthetic(合成的) clothing can produce more than 1, 900 fibers per wash. Browne collected samples from seawater and freshwater sites around the world, and used a special way to examine each sample. He discovered that every single water sample contained microfibers.
This is bad news for a number of reasons. Plastic can cause harm to sea life when eaten. Studies have also shown that plastic can absorb other pollutants.
Based on this evidence, it may seem surprising that companies and organizations have chosen to turn plastic waste into clothing as an environmental “solution.” Even though the science has been around for a while, Browne explains that he's had a difficult time getting companies to listen. When he asked well-known clothing companies to support Benign by Design-his research project that seeks to get clothes that have a bad effect on humans and the environment out of the market, Browne didn’t get a satisfying answer. Only one women’s clothing company, Eileen Fisher, offered Browne funding.
1. What has happened during the past five years?| A．Fabric has become much stronger. | B．Plastic pollution has been less serious. |
| C．Many plastic bottles have been reused. | D．Microfibers have been greatly improved. |
| A．It is adding microfibers to the clothes. |
| B．It is worsening environmental problems. |
| C．It is making synthetic clothes last longer. |
| D．It is doing great damage to washing machines. |
| A．It has achieved great success. | B．It hasn’t got anything done. |
| C．It is known to very few people. | D．It is facing some difficulties. |
| A．It’s important to learn to recycle |
| B．It’s never easy to solve pollution problems |
| C．Recycled plastic clothing: solution or pollution? |
| D．Are human beings moving forward or backward? |
