1 . Space is where our future is — trips to the Moon, Mars and beyond.
The first piece of space junk was created in 1964, when the American satellite Vanguard I stopped operating and lost its connection with the ground center.
| A．But how should we deal with so much trash? |
| B．I’m sure future plans will make a difference. |
| C．To avoid this, scientists have invented several ways for clearing the sky. |
| D．Most people would think that aside from comets (彗星) and stars there is little else out there. |
| E．The major problem with the space trash is that it may hit working satellites and damage traveling spaceship. |
| F．It is said that there are now over 500,000 pieces of man-made trash orbiting the Earth at speeds of up to 17,500 miles per hour. |
| G．However, since it kept orbiting around the Earth without any results, scientists became increasingly comfortable abandoning (抛弃) things that no longer served any useful purpose in space. |
When you think of the Arctic (北极), you imagine an icy land of pure white snow. Others imagine it as the last really clean place left on Earth. We have polluted the deepest oceans with plastic trash, and now, CNN says, “It’s the Arctic’s turn”
German scientists have recently found micro plastics (微塑料) in Arctic snow, the Associated Press reported. Micro plastic are pieces of plastic smaller than 5 millimeters. Sadly, the scientists found 1,800 pieces of micro plastic per liter of snow.
How is plastic pollution reaching the Arctic? According to scientists, “It’s readily apparent (显然的) that the majority of the micro plastics in the snow comes from the air.” they fall off of plastic objects and are moved by the wind, just like dust. They mix with ice in the air and fall to the ground as snow. Finding these plastics in Arctic snow means that we may breathe them in. An even higher amount of micro plastic was found in the snow around cities.
The high concentrations (浓度) found in snow samples (样本) suggest micro plastics, which contain rubber or chemical used in synthetic fabrics (合成纤维), may cause significant air pollution.
Are they bad for us? Scientists cannot answer this question for now, according to the World Health Organization. We do know that our bodies cannot take in “large” pieces of micro plastics. However, if the plastics are small enough, they can find ways into our bodies and stay there for a long time, which can be bad for our health. What’s more, earlier studies have shown that micro plastics may contributes to lung cancer risk, heightening the need to further assess (评估) the risks of taking them in, the study said.
Micro plastics have also been found in rivers and oceans around the world. Previous research has found that they flow long distances and into tour oceans, damaging ecosystems (生态系统) along the way. They start in our wastewater when we wash clothes with plastic fibers. The waste water then flows into rivers and out to sea, where they are eaten by sea animals. If people then eat these animals, it means that we’re eating the plastic as well.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Factory farming involves
The main
On the other hand, opponents of factory farming say that it is cruel to the animals. For instance, many farm animals are kept in small spaces
To sum up, despite producing cheap food, factory farming is bad for the planet and for the animals themselves. We should try to reduce this kind of farming, although we would have to pay more for our eggs
4 . In May 2021, a hole was found in a robotic arm aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The main cause was believed to be a piece of space junk. While thankfully no astronauts were injured, it has refocused attention on the growing problem of orbital debris (残骸).
It’s easy to forget that just seventy years ago the Moon was the only thing orbiting the Earth. On January 1st, 2021, there were 6,542 satellites in orbit. Actually, only over half of them were active. That’s a lot of useless metal rushing around the planet at 28,000 kilometers per hour.
Jan Wörner, the former European Space Agency Director General, put it this way, “Imagine how dangerous sailing the high seas would be if all the ships ever lost in history were still moving around on top of the water.” In fact, even the smallest pieces can cause huge amounts of damage.
The problem is very bad and getting worse. There are now about half a million pieces of debris about one centimeter wide or larger and 100 million pieces of debris above one millimeter across. Yet only 27,000 pieces are actively tracked.
Space is only going to get more crowded, with the number of satellite launches set to increase by five times in the next ten years. In January 2021, 143 satellites were launched into space on a single SpaceX Falcon rocket alone. And 12,000 more are to be put in orbit by Starlink over the next five years. All this greatly raises the chances of crashes.
Better control of new launches would help as right now it’s a bit of a free-for-all. Increased tracking of existing space junk could also help because active satellites can be moved off a crash course—yet dead satellites are sitting ducks and there’s nothing we can do to prevent a crash. That’s why many are calling for a clean-up job. A space debris removal task called ClearSpace-1 will be launched in 2025 and attempt to deorbit (使...脱离轨道) the upper stage of a rocket left in space back in 2013.
1. What can we learn about space junk?| A．It can be recycled for other uses. | B．It has injured astronauts in space. |
| C．It first appeared over seventy years ago. | D．It threatens the safety of space activities. |
| A．The high speed of orbital debris. | B．The complex procedures of debris clean-up. |
| C．The large amount of untracked space debris. | D．The ineffective functions of clean-up facilities. |
| A．By listing numbers. | B．By offering solutions. |
| C．By explaining the causes. | D．By stressing the efforts. |
| A．Orbital Debris: What Results in It? | B．Satellite Launches: The More the Merrier? |
| C．Space Junk: Is It a Disaster Waiting to Happen? | D．Satellite crashes: Who Should Be Responsible? |
5 . London is in a valley. So towns in valleys see the surrounding air staying to the lower point. During the night, cold air from surrounding hills falls down in the valleys. The fog reputation of London, which called the smog, comes from the fact that the houses were, in the past, heated by coal. Houses and factories gave off much pollution in the air and, in order to condense (浓缩) into tiny water droplets, moisture (湿度) needs to be in contact with something that has a mass. So, the valley, the city, the coal heating, a high pressure with no wind and staying air... and you get the London’s smog.
In common with many countries, Britain has serious environmental problems. In 1952,more than 4,000 people died in London because of the worst smog. The government introduced new laws to stop smog from coal fires and factories and the situation improved a lot.
Today, London is much cleaner but there is a new problem: smog from cars. In December 1991,there was very little wind in London and pollution increased a lot. As a result, about 160 people died from pollution in just four days.
Part of the problem is the new “out of town” shopping centers. In the past, people often walked to shops near their homes or went by bus. Now, many people drive to the new shopping centers. As a result, the small shops have disappeared and more people have to travel to do their shopping.
Many people are trying to reduce the use of cars in Britain. Some cities now have special bicycle paths and many people cycle to work. Some people also travel to work together in one car to reduce the pollution and cost.
Sometimes people take “direct action”. In 1995,for example, many people wanted to stop a new road from being built near Newbury. They set up houses in trees and lived there for many months. It took a long time to force the people out of the trees before the construction work on the road could continue.
1. Which of the following isn’t the direct cause of smog in London?| A．The valley. | B．The staying air. | C．The coal heating. | D．The developed industry. |
| A．The government once introduced a law against smog from cars and factories. |
| B．London is much cleaner than before so nobody dies from pollution any longer. |
| C．Now smog in London mainly comes from cars. |
| D．The “direct action” taken in 1995 was a successful example of people reducing the use of cars. |
| A．They prefer to do shopping in big shopping centers outside the town. |
| B．Small shops near their homes have disappeared. |
| C．Many new shopping centers have appeared outside the town. |
| D．It has become a fashion to do shopping in large shopping centers. |
| A．To Reduce the Use of Cars | B．The Disadvantages Brought by the Use of Cars |
| C．Smog from Cars in Britain | D．People’s Actions against Smog |
My aim in life is
There is no
7 . The world’s largest garbage dump doesn’t sit on some barren field outside urban centre. It resides thousands of miles from any land—in the Pacific Ocean.
The dump, known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, stretches for hundreds of miles across the North Pacific Ocean.
But how did so much garbage get there?
| A．Plastic makes up 90 percent of all trash floating in the world’s oceans. |
| B．The environmental risks caused by the patch are serious. |
| C．The patch contains about 3. 5 million tons of garbage. |
| D．The patches are connected by a thin 6,000-mile-long current called the Subtropical Convergence Zone. |
| E．Roughly the size of Texas, the patch is sometimes referred to as the “eighth continents”. |
| F．The garbage patch formed and continues to exist because of ocean currents. |
Environmental problems are becoming more and more serious all over the world. For example, cars have made the air
There are different kinds of
The forms of pollution can be mainly divided into three kinds—solids, liquid and gas. The pollution is threatening our existence. Massive destruction of environment has brought about negative
We must face the situation that exists and take action
The earth is our home and we have the duty to take care
9 . Blue Planet Ⅱ’s latest episode (情节) is about how plastic is having a terrible effect on the ocean and slowly poisoning our sea creatures. Researchers have also found that sea creatures living in the deepest place on Earth, Mariana Trench, have plastic in their stomachs. Indeed, oceans are drowning in plastic.
Though it seems that the world couldn’t possibly function without plastic, plastic is a very recent invention. The first plastic bags were introduced in the 1950s, the same decade (十年) that plastic packaging began gaining popularity in the United States. This growth has happened so fast that science is still catching up with the change. Plastic pollution research, for example, is still a very early science.
We put all the plastic into the environment, but we still don’t really know what the outcomes are going to be. What we do know, though, is disturbing. Ocean plastic is expected to kill millions of sea animals every year. Hundreds of species, including endangered ones, are known to have been affected by it. One in three leatherback turtles, which often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, have been found with plastic in their stomach. Ninety percent of seabirds are now eating plastic regularly. By 2050, that figure is expected to rise to 100 percent.
And it’s not just wildlife that is threatened by the plastic in our seas. Humans are consuming plastic through the seafood we eat. I could understand why some people see ocean plastic as a disaster, worth mentioning in the same breath as climate change. But ocean plastic is not as complicated (复杂的) as climate change. There are no ocean waste deniers (否认者), at least so far. To do something about it, we don’t have to remake our planet energy system.
This is not a problem where we don’t know what the solution is. We know how to pick up garbage. Anyone can do it. We know how to deal with it. We know how to recycle. We can all start by thinking twice before we use single-use plastic products. Things that may seem ordinary, like using a reusable bottle or a reusable bag — when taken collectively, these choices really do make a difference.
1. Why is plastic pollution research still a very early science?| A．The plastic pollution research is too difficult. |
| B．Plastic has produced less pollution than coal. |
| C．Plastic has gained popularity too fast for science to catch up. |
| D．The world couldn’t possibly function without plastic. |
| A．By presenting reliable data. |
| B．By citing quotes from leading experts. |
| C．By making a comparison and contrast. |
| D．By listing examples from his own experiences. |
| A．We reap what we sow. |
| B．The shortest answer is doing. |
| C．All things are difficult before they are easy. |
| D．Actions speak louder than words. |
| A．The oceans become choked with plastic. |
| B．Ocean plastic is a global problem. |
| C．Blue Planet Ⅱ has left viewers heartbroken. |
| D．Plastic gains in popularity all over the world. |
10 . The Dutch inventor Boyan Slat spends a lot of time thinking about the ocean.
After five and a half years of hard work, the 23-year-old Slat will watch from dry land as System 001 — a floating barrier nearly 2, 000ft long — snakes (曲折前行) its way out under the Golden Gate Bridge into the Pacific.
If all goes to plan, Slat says, a group of 60 systems could reduce the amount of plastic there by half by 2025. “I hope that this will be a turning point for the plastic pollution problem,” Slat tells TIME in a phone interview. “For sixty years it has only gotten worse and worse. Now hopefully we’re going to make a difference.”
Saving our oceans has been Slat’s single-minded goal ever since he was 16 years old, when a trip to Greece provided more plastic bag sightings than fish. Coming up with the idea for a floating barrier that could collect plastic using the power of ocean currents (洋流) alone, Slat founded his business, The Ocean Cleanup, aged just 18.
The idea caught people’s imagination around the world. In 2015, an early design of System 001 was featured on TIME’s list of the best inventions of 2015. The project has received millions of dollars of funding thanks to fast-changing public opinion on plastic.
Slat sees his mission as a race against time. Plastic gradually breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces called microplastics which can finally enter the food chain. “So the sooner we get it out, the better,” Slat says.
A big question that remains is what will happen to the plastic once it is brought back to land from The Ocean Cleanup’s systems. It’s possible that lots of the waste returned to land will be recycled into more single-use plastics that might one day return to the oceans again. “Big problems require big solutions,” he says. “If anyone has any better ideas, we’d love to know.”
1. What can Slat’s invention System 001 be used for?| A．Cleaning up ocean plastic. |
| B．Keeping a beach dry and clean. |
| C．Transporting passengers by sea. |
| D．Protecting living things in the Pacific. |
| A．He has a good head for business. |
| B．He is good at selling his idea to the media. |
| C．He has a deep sense of social responsibility. |
| D．He wants to change public opinion on the ocean. |
| A．It received great technical support worldwide. |
| B．It was unacceptable to fishermen. |
| C．It came into use very soon. |
| D．It was highly rated. |
| A．Making his invention available to the public. |
| B．How to deal with the collected plastic waste. |
| C．Recycling the waste created by his invention. |
| D．How to get more funding from the government. |
