Indoor skiing in the desert has become a symbol of Dubai’s status as a w
2 . Sixty-six years ago, there was one human-built object in Earth’s orbit. It was Sputnik, the world’s first satellite, launched in October 1957. Try to guess how many human-made objects are circling the planet now. Ready?
Your answer is wrong, unless you guessed 100 trillion. That’s a jaw-dropping number. It was provided by an international team of researchers writing in the journal Science. For years, this junk has formed an ever-growing mass near Earth. It’s a danger to spacecraft. The researchers are calling for a global treaty to limit the number of satellites and the amount of rubbish in space.
There are 9,000 active satellites in orbit, the scientists report. That could grow to more than 60,000 by 2030. The rest of that 100 trillion figure includes everything from used-up booster rockets and stray bolts to metal flecks and paint chips. Don’t think a paint chip is harmless. Travelling at 17,500 miles per hour, it can strike a spacecraft hard. The International Space Station is dotted with dents and holes. Astronauts often take shelter in an attached spacecraft to wait out a passing swarm of space debris (残骸). That way, if the station is severely damaged, they can escape in a hurry.
The mess we’ve made in space is like the mess we’ve made in the oceans. Think of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It’s a mass of floating junk twice the size of Texas. We’ve had centuries to make the ocean dirty. But it has taken just decades for us to do the same in space. That’s why the Science authors include experts in satellite technology and in ocean plastic pollution. “As a marine biologist, I never imagined writing a paper on space,” writes Heather Koldewey, who works at the Zoological Society of London. Cleaning up space, she says, has a lot in common “with the challenges of tackling environmental issues in the ocean.”
Coauthor Moriba Jah is an aerospace engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin. “Marine debris and space debris,” he writes, “are both a human-made damage that is unavoidable.”
1. Why is Sputnik mentioned in paragraph 1?| A．To provide background information. |
| B．To introduce the topic. |
| C．To make a comparison. |
| D．To tell a story. |
| A．What caused space debris. |
| B．The number of space debris. |
| C．The seriousness of space pollution. |
| D．What astronauts often do in space. |
| A．Ocean pollution is very serious. |
| B．Ocean is the same as space. |
| C．Space pollution is getting worse. |
| D．She is going to write a paper on space. |
| A．There is the same amount of marine debris and space debris. |
| B．Humans are to blame for the space pollution. |
| C．Marine and space pollution are unavoidable. |
| D．Humans can do nothing to prevent space pollution. |
1. What is the woman doing?
| A．Joining a protest. | B．Interviewing the man. | C．Giving a speech. |
| A．She is looking for her husband. |
| B．Her salary hasn’t been paid by the boss. |
| C．The factory is polluting the environment. |
| A．The woman’s husband. |
| B．People in the community. |
| C．The workers in the factory. |
| A．To shout with her. |
| B．To go to the government. |
| C．To cover the event. |
4 . Many of us might not give a second thought to dropping a small piece of litter. After all, if it is so small, it cannot possibly be that harmful, can it? In today’s world, the answer is certainly “Yes, it can! “With the growing use of plastic bags and the rising number of smokers, there is more litter being produced than ever before.
Although cigarette butts are small, they are bad for the environment. Worldwide, about 4. 3 trillion cigarette butts are littered every year. As well as spoiling the beauty of the environment, they contain poisonous chemicals. These find their way into the water supply where they affect water quality and endanger plants and animals. Cigarette butts can take up to 25 years to break down, and the poisonous chemicals add up to a large amount with so many littered. So, if people want to smoke, they should dispose of the butts properly in a rubbish bin.
Plastic bags are another common form of litter that is dangerous to the environment. They are easily blown by wind and float in water, so they can travel long distances. They find their way to rivers, parks, beaches and oceans, killing many birds, mammals, fish, and sea animals each year worldwide. They can last for hundreds of years in the environment. We should not let plastic bags become litter. We should use fewer plastic bags, and reuse and recycle what we have already used.
One way to reduce the use of plastic bags is to charge for them. Shops used to give plastic bags for free. But in some countries, including China, customers are now charged for each bag. Some shops also have a “bag -for-life “ scheme. They sell strong bags that can be reused, and they replaced them for free if the bags ever break.
Waste is a big problem for the environment, so we need to do something. Not littering at all or cleaning up “small waste” saves money spent on coping with litter properly. However, it would be better not to smoke or use plastic bags at all.
1. Small pieces of litter can be harmful because_________| A．Litter from smokers and plastic bags have greatly increased. |
| B．Plastic bags and litter are easily blown by wind and float in water. |
| C．Plastic bags and cigarette butts spoil the beauty of the environment. |
| D．Plastic bags and cigarette butts definitely contain poisonous chemicals. |
| A．set off | B．deal with | C．figure out | D．bring about |
| A．People recycle the used plastic bags and smoke less. |
| B．Shops offer the customers plastic bags free of charge. |
| C．Smokers leave cigarette butts regularly in a rubbish bin. |
| D．We all save money spent on disposing of litter properly. |
| A．More charge, less litter. |
| B．Strict control, little litter |
| C．Small waste, big problem |
| D．Small butts, bad environment |
5 . Though you might think you were taking care of your health by eating enough fruit and vegetables every day, new research has come out suggesting that you might be swallowing microplastic particles（微塑科颗粒）along with all those vitamins, minerals, and fibre. A study published in the journal Environmental Research has found that fruits and vegetables absorb microplastic particles from the soil and move them through vegetal tissues, where they remain until eaten by hungry diners, thus getting transferred to human bodies.
The researchers, who are from the University of Catania in Italy, analyzed a variety of common fruits and vegetables--carrots, lettuce, broccoli, potatoes, apples, and pears. These were chosen for the fact that they are frequently consumed, usually one per day, which allowed the researchers to better assess the dietary intakes of MPs（microplastic particles）and NPs（nano-plastics）. The samples were purchased from different sources in the city of Catania, including a small fruit vendor and a supermarket.
The researchers found that apples, followed by pears, were the most polluted fruit samples, and carrots were the most polluted vegetable. In the study’s discussion section, the authors wrote, “We can assume that the fruits contain more MPs not only because of the very high vascularization（血资化）of the fruit pulp（果肉）but also due to the greater size and complexity of the root system and age of the tree（several years）compared to the vegetables（60-75 days for the carrot）.”
This study is important because it’s the first to detect microplastics in fruits and vegetables. They have been found in other sources before, such as sea salt, beer, water（bottled, in particular）, shellfish, sugar, soil, and even air, but never inside fresh produce. It’s an alarming discovery that raises yet another red flag about microplastic pollution in the natural environment.
It’s an area that will likely see a lot more attention in coming years, with the study authors calling for further research into the question of microplastic and whether it harms the health of both plants and humans.
1. What is the study about?| A．The main cause of soil pollution. |
| B．The great changes in people’s diets. |
| C．The microplastic pollution in fruits and vegetables. |
| D．The benefits of eating fruits and vegetables. |
| A．The large amounts of the fruit pulp. | B．The planting method. |
| C．The complex preservation method. | D．The long growth period of fruit trees. |
| A．It discovered MPs in fresh produce for the first time. |
| B．It proved the source of microplastic pollution. |
| C．It presented the danger of MPs to human’s body. |
| D．It showed the influences of MPs on plants. |
| A．It has raised people’s awareness of health. |
| B．It wasted them quite a lot of time. |
| C．It needs to be further studied. |
| D．It has attracted people’s attention to diets. |
6 . Darrell Blatchley, a marine biologist and environmentalist based in the Philippine city of Davao, received a call from the philippines’ Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (渔业与水产资源局) early Friday morning reporting a death of a young whale.
When the necropsy (尸检) was performed, Blatchley told NPR, he was not prepared for the amount of plastic they found in the whale’s stomach. “It was full of plastic- nothing but nonstop plastic,” he said. “It was filled to the point that its stomach was as hard as a baseball.” “That means that this animal has been suffering not for days or weeks but for months or even a year or more.” Blatchley added.
Blatchley is the founder and owner of the D’ Bone Collector Museum, a natural history museum in Davao. In the coming days, the museum will display all the items found in the whale’s system.
Blatchley and his team work with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and other organizations to assist in rescue and recovery of marine animals.
“Within the last 10 years, we have recovered 61 whales and dolphins just within the Davao Gulf,” he said. “Of them, 57 have died due to man --whether they took plastic or fishing nets or other waste, or gotten caught in pollution-- and four were pregnant.”
Blatchley said he hoped that the latest incident would launch the issue of plastic pollution in the Philippines and across the globe. “If we keep going this way, it will be more uncommon to see an animal die of natural causes than it is to see an animal die of plastic.” he said.
1. What can be inferred from the second paragraph?| A．The whale was starved to death. |
| B．Blatchley didn’t make preparations for the necropsy. |
| C．The dead whale must have swallowed a baseball. |
| D．Blatchley was shocked at what he found. |
| A．Uncommon. | B．Inspiring. |
| C．Worrying. | D．Puzzling. |
| A．Natural Death or Merciless murder. |
| B．Stand Up for Protecting Whales. |
| C．Plastic Threatening Our Existence. |
| D．A Whale Found Dead of Plastic. |
1.校园位于山脚下,小河边,校内环境优美；
2.附近两年前建起了一家化工厂；
3.校园环境和师生健康受到严重影响；
4.请予以关注报道,引起有关部门重视。
话题参考词汇：排放污水: drain waste water 释放有毒气体: emit poisonous gas
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