1 . After a week of talks in Canada, negotiators (谈判者) from 170 countries have a “clear path to landing an ambitious deal” on plastic pollution at a final round of negotiations in South Korea in November, Inger Andersen, executive director of the U. N. Environment Programme, said in a statement.
“The work, however, is far from over,” she added. “Some countries continue to block a crucial measure: a global limit on the production of new plastic, which is essential to control pollution.”
Plastic is made from fossil fuels, and major oil and natural gas producers like Russia and Saudi Arabia have been widely criticized for throwing up roadblocks in the negotiations in order to protect future profits. However, scientists and environmentalists say the United States also bears a lot of blame. The country is the top producer of oil and gas globally, and it has the world’s biggest economy, which has historically given the U. S. huge power in environmental negotiations.
Critics say American negotiators haven’t been willing to push for a global cap (限额) on plastic production, and are instead throwing their weight behind measures like recycling that are favored by the country’s fossil fuel and petrochemical industries.
Erin Simon, head of plastic waste and business at the World Wildlife Fund who attended the talks in Canada, says the U. S. and a lot of other countries are brainstorming and trying to come up with creative solutions to meet everybody’s needs as best as possible.
The State Department has said that for an agreement to be effective, it needs to be supported by every country, including nations that are major producers of fossil fuels and plastics. More than 50 countries now say they want an agreement to include targets for reducing plastic production.
“The drumbeat to reduce plastic production is growing from countries worldwide,” Ana Rocha, the director of global plastics policy in Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, said in a statement. “More and more leaders are waking up to what the science and our lived experiences tell us: plastic is pollution, and we need to stop it where it starts.”
1. What is the key to controlling plastic pollution according to Inger Andersen?| A．Limiting the use of second-hand plastic. |
| B．Raising people’s environmental awareness. |
| C．Reducing the worldwide production of plastic. |
| D．Passing laws to regulate the disposal of waste plastic. |
| A．Stopping producing plastic. | B．Sharing quality plastic. |
| C．Forbidding using plastic. | D．Recycling used plastic. |
| A．All countries’ support. | B．The shared laws. |
| C．Everyone’s permission. | D．Creative solutions. |
| A．Plastic production is reducing all the time. |
| B．The plastic pollution should be handled technically. |
| C．People’s awareness of reducing plastic pollution is increasing. |
| D．More leaders realize lived experiences can help handle plastic pollution. |
2 . Many news reports focus on climate change these days. Extreme heat, wildfires, floods, homeless polar bears... How do you feel when reading worrying news about climate change? You may believe that people are becoming insensitive to the warming planet, accepting that it is only getting worse.
A research team at Pennsylvania State University, US, reported otherwise. To record how the news can impact people’s emotions, participants were first exposed to negative news stories about climate change for three days. They then continued to read negative news headlines for seven days. In the first three days, the participants experienced greater fear and less hope, which can potentially hurt an audience’s belief that they can do anything to tackle the problem.
However, during the seven-day-long exposure, the fear peaked and then held steady (稳定的). “We saw the opposite pattern in our second study. The more exposure people had to these threatening news stories each day, the more likely they are to think that they can make a difference in tackling climate change,” Christofer Skurka, the paper’s lead author told the Pennsylvania State University website.
According to the researchers, one possibility is that when the public hears about climate change threats, they may convince themselves that they have control over the situation. They will then believe that their actions may make a difference.
Knowing that everyone is able to help is only the first step. According to a study that analyzed information from 430 different studies, what motivates people the most to change their behavior is social comparison. For example, if a person’s neighbors follow a low-carbon lifestyle, such as driving electric cars, the person may feel social pressure and become more likely to follow this behavior. This happens because people usually judge their own behavior and follow social norms (规范). Another effective motivation is providing financial rewards to consumers, helping them save money.
“There are so many routes to our goals,” Matthew Goldberg, the co-author of the study, told Scientific American. As Goldberg pointed out, future research like this can help policymakers decide how best to encourage people to ward more climate-friendly habits.
1. How did the participants react to negative news in the second study?| A．They found the news unbelievable. |
| B．They lost hope in tackling climate change. |
| C．They experienced greater fear for the future. |
| D．They felt a strong sense of social responsibility. |
| A．Effective policy. | B．Healthy lifestyle. |
| C．Social influence. | D．Financial support. |
| A．Responses to climate change education. |
| B．T he effectiveness of community initiatives. |
| C．T he impact of social norms on environment. |
| D．Ways to encourage climate-friendly behavior. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Optimistic. | C．Objective. | D．Indifferent. |
3 . On Christmas Eve, a team of reindeer (驯鹿) will help Santa Claus deliver gifts to children all around the world. The reindeer, led by their fearless leader Rudolph, won’t be the only ones doing something special. Back in the highest Arctic, their cousins have a remarkable ability changing their eye color.
During the summer months, when the days are long and the sun is bright, reindeer’s tapetum lucidum (荧光膜), a mirror-like layer at the back of their eye, appears golden, which helps bounce the majority of light off the eyes, effectively acting like a pair of natural sunglasses. As winter comes, and the days become shorter and darker, the tapetum lucidum turns blue to absorb more light, allowing reindeer to improve their night vision and see clear in low light conditions.
With these adaptations, reindeer can adapt and thrive in one of the harshest environments on Earth. Unlike humans, reindeer can see well into the shorter Ultra Violet (UV) range. This UV vision enables them to spot food and predators more effectively in the snowy landscape. Lichens, a key part of their winter diet, absorb UV, so they show up dark against UV-reflecting white snow. Wolf and polar bear fur also absorb UV, so instead of disappearing against snow they pop out in high contrast, allowing reindeer to spot potential threats from a distance.
Reindeer change their eyes by adjusting their tapetum lucidum, which is made of collagen fibers. In winter, the collagen fibers become packed tighter, causing the tapetum lucidum to mainly reflect blue light. This change happens when reindeer dilate their pupils (瞳孔). In summer, the reindeer’s pupils return to a smaller size, which helps reindeer reduce the amount of light entering the eye.
But their unique adaptation may hurt them. Today, the increasing use of artificial lighting, especially during the winter months, poses a potential threat to their sensitive eyes. It can make reindeer lose their way, affecting their ability to survive in their challenging environment. So it is crucial for us to be mindful of our use of electricity and make efforts to minimize light pollution to ensure the well-being and survival of these magnificent creatures.
1. What do we know from paragraph 2?| A．The shape of reindeer’s eyes varies with seasons. |
| B．It is difficult for reindeer to live in low light conditions. |
| C．The tapetum lucidum helps reindeer adapt to seasonal changes. |
| D．Reindeer’s eyes appear golden in winter while blue in summer. |
| A．To help them see clear in dark nights. |
| B．To distinguish food of different colors quickly. |
| C．To protect their eyes from harsh sunlight in summer. |
| D．To better locate food and enemies during snowy days. |
| A．Relax. | B．Expand. | C．Narrow. | D．Hide. |
| A．To call on people to protect reindeer from light pollution. |
| B．To show the reasons for the decline in reindeer population. |
| C．To present humans’ great efforts to reduce artificial lighting. |
| D．To prove reindeer’s strong adaptability to harsh environments. |
4 . Sleeping in a noisy room isn’t only distracting (使人分心的), and it can also harm your health. Although researchers have known for decades that longterm loud noises can harm us, it’s only recently become recognized as a widespread problem.
In a new review of previously published studies, researchers from Germany and Denmark took a look at the ways in which noises, such as an airplane passing by or jackhammer digging in the ground, can affect our hearts. Perhaps the most obvious impact of a loud sound while you are sleeping is that it can wake you up. But, even if you don't remember hearing the noise or you don’t physically get out of bed, it can disrupt you in ways you may not realize.
“Noise is not just causing annoyance, but it actually makes us sick,” said Dr. Thomas Münzel, a professor at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. “Regardless of where the sound is coming from, if it gets louder than 60 decibels (分贝),it can increase the risk of heart disease.”
When our body hears these noises, it reacts with a stress reaction. In this case, these sudden and unexpected noises cause hormones(荷尔蒙) to speed up and eventually damage the heart. Although the chance that a single noise will affect you is unlikely, it’s the continuous exposure (接触) to the sound that can finally affect you.
“But our heart health isn’t the only cause for concern. Long-term noise may also raise the risk of type 2 diabetes (糖尿病), depression, and anxiety disorders,” he warns. In the future, Münzel plans to examine how noises from cars, planes, and other vehicles affect the brain. But despite the amount or the depth of research he conducts, it’ll take the help of politicians to improve the effect of noise on our health.
“Politicians have to take into account, in particular, the new findings,” Münzel said, “As for aircraft noise and airports, it is important to make new laws and set new lower noise limits that protect people living close by the airport instead of the owners of the airport.”
1. What do researchers from Germany and Denmark find?| A．Noise does little harm to people who are asleep. |
| B．Noise can cause people’s memory to get worse sharply. |
| C．Noise has been a widespread concern for a long time. |
| D．Noise louder than 60 decibels may cause heart disease. |
| A．Defeat. | B．Harm. | C．Attract. | D．Discourage. |
| A．Politicians should take action to handle noise pollution. |
| B．Münzel will continue other studies on brain diseases. |
| C．Benefits of airport owners are more important than health. |
| D．Attention should be paid to heart health and other diseases. |
| A．Who Is to Blame for Noise Pollution | B．What Should Be Done to Stop Noise |
| C．How Münzel Carried Out His Research | D．How Noise Pollution Harms Our Body |
5 . Naturalist Enzo Suma, who is now 40, lives in Puglia, a region in southern Italy whose long coastline faces the Adriatic Sea. Floating waste accumulates in this relatively enclosed part of the Mediterranean, unlike the open ocean, where the waste tends to be spread over a vast area. Feeling concerned about that, Suma makes it a habit to pick up the washed-up waste along the shore, especially after big winter storms.
One day, Suma was walking along the beach near his home when he discovered a bottle of Coke. Suma noticed on the bottle that the price, clearly printed on the bottom, was in lire, a currency (货币) that hadn’t been used in Italy since it was replaced by the euro in 2002. Could a plastic container have well survived in the Mediterranean, he wondered, for about two decades?
That led him to founding the Archeoplastica museum. It has a collection of about 500 unique pieces recovered from Italian shores and the Coke bottle is the first one of them. All collection demonstrates the unsettling life force of plastic waste in the environment. “Seeing that a product people may have used 30, 40, or 50 years ago remains still unchanged, you’ll feel different. It’s a great shock,” Suma said to a reporter. So Suma often exhibits selected pieces from the Archeoplastica collection at local schools around his hometown of Ostuni.
“The playful side of the work allows you to arrive at the less beautiful side of things,” Suma acknowledged. “Plastic is a kind of useful substance. But it’s unthinkable that a water bottle, made from a material designed to last so long, can be used for just a few days—or even minutes—before becoming garbage. Clean the beaches. Clean the oceans. Recycle. But if we are still throwing out plastics, none of those are going to be long-term solutions.”
1. What’s Suma’s concern about his living place?| A．Its long coastline is disappearing. | B．Big storms frequently hit the area. |
| C．Floating waste spreads over a vast area. | D．The waste pollution on shore is worsening. |
| A．They have a history of more than half a century. |
| B．They were quite valuable before turning into waste. |
| C．They’re more like educational exhibits than garbage. |
| D．They have stronger life force than ordinary plastic products. |
| A．Creative, devoted and socially responsible. | B．Enthusiastic, ambitious and adventurous. |
| C．Generous, cautious and humorous. | D．Curious, efficient and playful. |
| A．The birth of plastics has greatly served humans. |
| B．The key to tackling the plastic pollution is to stop littering. |
| C．The plastic problem can be solved by cleaning and recycling. |
| D．People should be more aware of the powerful functions of plastics. |
6 . Environmentalists warn that gas stoves in our kitchens are bad for the climate and our health. First, there is unburned natural gas that can escape before the flame burns or leak from the stove, which is more than 90 percent methane(甲烷). Second, a burning stove can create pollutants to harm the lungs.
The big surprise in one new study, conducted by environmental scientists at Stanford University, was the amount of unburned gas that leaks into kitchens when a stove is off. They found that more than three quarters of methane that escapes from a stove does so when it is not in use, most likely through imperfect pipe fittings. With 40 million gas stoves across America, Jackson and his co-authors estimate that the heat-trapping potential of the methane they release annually is roughly equal to the carbon dioxide released by half a million gas-powered cars.
The Stanford study also looked at the amount of nitrogen oxides produced when using the stoves. The second study looked at the non-methane components of unburden gas from stoves. They found 21 dangerous chemicals. The amounts were small, but Michanowicz worries that, with winter coming and lots of us working at home, we’re reducing air exchange, which means indoor pollution will be great.
Not surprisingly, the American Gas Association has criticized both studies. Richard Meyers, a vice president of the association, said that the authors identified no health concern. As for the Stanford study, Meyers says the nitrogen oxides were measured improperly, using plastic sheets to create small spaces around the stoves. Stanford’s Jackson replies that the team’s health risk assessments were based on measurements in open, untended kitchens.
The team suggests that governments provide support for people to switch to electric ranges. Several US cities are reducing the use of natural gas(for stoves and heat) in new construction. As for me, weather permitting, I’ll open a window.
1. What’s the finding of the scientists at Stanford University?| A．Kitchens are a great source of pollution. |
| B．Stoves not in use leak lots of unburned gas. |
| C．Methane given off in the kitchen is harmful. |
| D．90% of methane is produced in the kitchen. |
| A．Non-methane elements in gas are dangerous. |
| B．Unbumed gas does harm equal to gas-burning cars. |
| C．People are unaware of the harm of unburden gas. |
| D．People kept indoors will be exposed to the danger. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Unconcerned. | C．Negative. | D．Ambiguous. |
| A．Using electric stoves. | B．Fixing imperfect pipes. |
| C．Opening the windows. | D．Getting financial support. |
7 . Car tyres produce particles (微粒) when picking up speed or stopping, which are considered by environmental scientists to be one of the most significant sources of microplastics in the ocean. Rainfall and wind carry them into rivers and the sea. They are also released into the atmosphere, where they can circulate into the ocean and back again. A 2020 study suggested windblown microplastics are a bigger source of ocean pollution than rivers.
While it is difficult to pin down the exact composition of microplastics, there is plenty of research which points to tyre dust making up a significant portion. In 2017, a global model found tyre wear to be the second largest source of primary microplatics in the ocean, at 28%. And in 2019, a report by scientists across Europe concluded abrasion (磨损) from car tyres was a large source of microplastics. While there remains a lack of data on risks to the environment and human health, the scientists concluded that if future emissions remain constant or increase, the ecological risks could be widespread within a century.
Tyre-wear particles are ubiquitous. The average tyre loses 4 kg over its lifetime, and tyre particles have been found everywhere from the deep sea to the atmosphere, even in the Arctic and the Antarctic.
The study of microplastic is just beginning. Fewer than 100 scientific papers about them have been published to date, all of them in the last decade. Edward Kolodziej, a professor at the University of Washington, cites two studies from China showing that tyre dust is an important contributor to urban air pollution. “There’re unknown chemicals present in these things that are ending up in our lungs.”
Experts call for more transparency from the tyre companies. “But the formula is what gives a manufacturer competitive advantage. Sharing ingredients is difficult and complicated. Very few people, except manufacturers, know what’s in the tyres,” said Allen. “When it comes to microplastic, we don’t know what a safe level is and we may have already passed it.”
1. What did the global model find about car tyres?| A．They cause more pollution to the sea than to rivers. |
| B．Their exact composition can be tracked down. |
| C．Tyre particles are one of the largest sea pollutants. |
| D．They have caused great risk to human survival. |
| A．Widespread. | B．Dangerous. |
| C．Complex. | D．Unique. |
| A．The two studies from China are leading the fashion. |
| B．The unknown chemicals in the air are dangerous. |
| C．Tyre particles are a major pollutant in the air in cities. |
| D．Further research should be done about tyre particles. |
| A．Tyres are to blame as a pollutant in the ocean. |
| B．Tyre companies should act against microplastic. |
| C．Tyre dust becomes a huge threat to ocean life. |
| D．Safety levels of microplastic have been raised. |
8 . Pollution is one of the biggest problems in the world today. In many places, rubbish is thrown into lakes and rivers.
In some cities, the air is filled with pollution.
If we do not act to improve the environment, more living things will be killed by pollution.
If we can do these, we will make the world a better place to live in.
| A．This makes some old people and children ill. |
| B．As well as people, animals are also harmed by pollution. |
| C．We can make our lakes and rivers cleaner and cleaner. |
| D．It’s time for all of us to take action right away! |
| E．Because of this, these places have already been polluted. |
| F．Trees reduce dust and help keep the air clean. |
| G．A few of us should take action to protect the environment. |
9 . The world’s coral reefs are in bad shape. Climate change has led to coral whitening. Overfishing has disturbed the ecosystems that keep reefs healthy. Poisonous runoffs from human industry are destroying the “rainforests of the sea.” A new study has highlighted another threat to coral reefs：plastics.
Researchers analyzed corals from reefs in Southeast Asia and Australia. Almost everywhere they looked, they saw bits of plastic, including chip wrappers, Q-tips, garbage bags.
The team estimates that at least 11 billion plastic items are trapped in coral reefs in the Asia-Pacific and that number is increasing alarmingly. This could spell disaster for the world’s reefs. The likelihood of the corals developing a disease jumps from 4 to 89 percent when corals come into contact with plastics.
Further investigations are needed to determine precisely how and why plastics make coral open to different diseases. But it seems that plastic debris（碎片）slices open the skin of the corals, exposing them to bacteria.
“Plastic debris can cause damage to coral tissues by accelerating invasion of bacteria or by exhausting resources for immune system function during wound-healing processes,” the authors of the study write. Drew Harvell, co-author of the study, says that plastics also “shade the light coral needs and cut off water flow.”
It is vital to preserve the health of coral reefs for a number of reasons. Many marine creatures make their homes within the reefs. Reefs also protect coastlines from waves and tropical storms, support fishing industries and generate billions of dollars for the worldwide tourism industry every year.
Throughout the research, scientists noticed that the plastics problem was not evenly distributed. Reefs near Indonesia had the highest amount of plastic rubbish, while reefs near Australia had the lowest. This could be because Australia has the best waste removal system. It suggests that there is a relatively easy fix to the issue.
“We can clean up the problem,” Harvell told Fears. “It’s so much easier than climate change.”
1. What does the underlined part in the first paragraph refer to?| A．coral reefs | B．ecosystems |
| C．runoffs from human industry | D．plastics |
| A．By cutting off the food supply. |
| B．By bringing bacteria to the sea. |
| C．By speeding up the immune system function. |
| D．By hurting the facial tissue and exposing them to diseases. |
| A．To advertise for the waste removal system. |
| B．To show optimism about solving the plastics problem. |
| C．To praise the efforts made by the Australian government. |
| D．To emphasize the importance of dealing with plastics problem. |
| A．Threats to Coral Reefs. | B．Plastics Endangers Coral Reefs. |
| C．Coral Reefs and Climate Change. | D．Protecting Coral Reefs for Our Future. |
10 . One of the problems damaging our planet is the number of things we throw away. A more recent addition to the list of things we throw away is e-waste — electronic items that are broken and not recycled.
Recently, there’s a growing trend for repair events and clubs which could be part of a solution to the growing amount of electrical and electronic junk. The BBC visited a Restart Project in London, which is one of many found around the world. One of its operators, Francesco Calo, said that “This project makes total sense.
| A．First of all, this project prolongs the life of electric objects |
| B．It is partly because it’s cheaper to replace them than fix them |
| C．It is reported that many people have made a big fortune from it |
| D．Now solutions have been put forward to give this e-waste a new life |
| E．So it’s thought that doing this could be more profitable than traditional recycling |
| F．As many electrical items contain valuable metals, another solution is e-waste mining |
| G．One of the reasons is that people don’t think their electronic items are fashionable enough |
