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. |
The beautiful Li River and its
1. What did the man do just now?
A.He took some photos. | B.He did some reading. | C.He shared an article online. |
A.Seafood will be polluted. |
B.Ships won’t sail properly. |
C.The beauty of the ocean will be damaged. |
A.A reusable bag. | B.A metal straw. | C.A glass bottle. |
A.Stop buying bottled water. |
B.Organize beach cleanup events. |
C.Participate in club activities every month. |
When travelling overseas, do you buy water in plastic bottles or take your chances with tap water? Imagine you are wandering about on a Thai island or
That’s the conclusion of a recently
Confronted with this evidence, several bottled-water manufacturers including Nestle and Coca-Cola undertook
5 . Water companies have pumped waste water into Britain’s seas and rivers for more than nine million hours since 2016, new data suggests. The figure is an increase of 2,553% over five years, according to Environment Agency (EA) data, so the EA warned holidaymakers to avoid dozens of beaches across England and Wales this week.
Untreated waste water was spotted pouring into the sea near Bexhill, East Sussex on Wednesday. On Saturday, the red flags were removed, meaning the water was officially considered safe to bathe in. The beach, however, was nearly deserted.
Rachel Streeter moved to Bexhill in 2007 to enjoy wild swimming and the beach. “Flies actually flew above the surface of the water as well as the waste water. It’s quite horrible,” she said. Rachel says her friends and family have all become sick after swimming. Her 79-year-old mother went for a swim last week and fell ill with “a severe bacterial infection (感染)”.
Businesses say they are being affected by it too. Cliff Meadon, who runs business in the sea, says he has lost “thousands” pounds over the last two years due to water pollution. “We’ve been on the water with groups when we’ve had to come in as the waste comes out,” he said.
In Hastings people were advised not to swim due to a pollution risk this week. Beaches in Normans Bay as well as Bexhill were closed but have now reopened.
Southern Water argued that the water company had not been deliberately (故意的) pouring untreated water into the sea. A spokesperson for the company said, “This week’s heavy rain has fallen onto dry ground that can’t absorb surface run-off, meaning that more rain than usual has entered our waterway networks. This led to some overflows, spilling some untreated water into the sea.”
Southern Water was fined £90 million last year for widespread pollution after sending out more than 6,000 untreated waste water.
1. What warning has the EA given?A.Holidaymakers not going to certain beaches. |
B.A severe bacterial infection breaking out in the UK. |
C.Southern Water stopping pouring waste water into the sea. |
D.Cliff Meadon stopping running business in the sea. |
A.Heavy rainfalls. | B.Too many holidaymakers. |
C.Damaged waterway networks. | D.Poor management of water companies. |
A.Holidaymakers facing pollution risk |
B.Dozens of Britain’s beaches closed to holidaymakers |
C.Lots of families pouring untreated waste water into seas |
D.Huge increase in untreated waste water entering Britain’s seas |
A.Health. | B.Business. | C.Environment. | D.Sports. |
6 . 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. |
7 . In the first test of its kind in Europe, and only the second in the world, Belgian researchers tested 39 brands of straws (吸管) for the group of synthetic (合成的) chemicals known as poly-and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The straws are made from five materials — paper, bamboo, glass, stainless steel and plastic. PFAS were found in the majority of the straws tested and were most common in those made from paper and bamboo. They were not found only in steel straws tested.
PFAS are used to make everyday products, from outdoor clothing to non-stick pans, resistant (抵抗to water, heat and stains. They are, however, potentially harmful to people, wildlife and the environment. They have been related to a number of health problems, including lower response to vaccines (疫苗), lower birth weight, thyroid disease, liver damage, kidney cancer and testicular cancer. They break down very slowly over time and can last thousands of years in the environment, a property that has led to them being known as “forever chemicals”.
A growing number of countries, including the UK and Belgium, have sopped the sale of single-use plastic products, including drinking straws, and plant-based versions have become popular. The PFAS concentrations (浓缩物) were low in them and, bear in mind that most people tend to only use straws occasionally, bringing a limited risk to human health. However, PFAS can remain in the body for many years and concentrations can build up over time.
It isn’t known whether the PFAS were added to the straws by the producer for waterproofing or the PFAS were the result of contamination. Potential sources of contamination include the soil the plant-based materials were grown in and the water used in the production process. However, the presence of the chemicals in almost every brand of paper straws means it is likely that it was, in some cases, being used as a water-resistant coating, say the researchers.
1. Why are PFAS called “forever chemicals”?A.They are commonly seen in daily life. |
B.They bring humans health problems. |
C.They remain in the environment for long. |
D.They can resist water, heat and stains. |
A.By bringing people air pollution. |
B.By polluting humans’ food. |
C.By building up little by little in humans’ body. |
D.By making people addicted to drinking easily. |
A.Pollution. | B.Discovery. | C.Experiment. | D.Development. |
A.More and more countries give up single-use plastic products. |
B.PFAS are widely used in the production of daily necessities. |
C.Certain kinds of new synthetic chemicals were discovered. |
D.Environment-friendly drinking straws are actually harmful. |
The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced a shocking finding about the air we breathe. It has found that almost everyone on Earth breathes unhealthy air. The WHO made
The WHO said its report highlighted the need to move away from fossil fuels. It asked governments to do more
9 . JP Morgan Chase, the world’s biggest fossil fuel funder, has noted in an internal report leaked to Extinction Rebellion that the company “cannot rule out catastrophic outcomes where human life as we know it is threatened.”
Most of the science inside the report is not shocking to the casual reader, but the analysis is most concerned about climate change caused by fossil fuel. These include possibilities like the sudden collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet, which would send sea levels more than 10 feet higher than current levels and displace millions of humans. Another terrible case is that the melting permafrost sends more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, causing more warming, and in turn more the melting of ice sheets, and carbon emissions. Of course, these are already happening. The real danger behind the motivation for this internal report lies in the possibility that the Earth’s climate could reach a tipping point.
Many believe the emergence of the internal report should serve as proof convincing enough for world leaders to take collective and decisive action. However, the attitude of many world governments towards the development of fossil fuel can surely make the global situation even worse for future generations now.
However, the report doesn’t mention other banks, or even JP Morgan itself, even though these institutions are often the ones blamed in enabling this crisis, according to a Gizmodo report. “Changes are occurring at the micro level, involving shifts in behavior by individuals, companies and investors,” says the Extinction Rebellion report. It goes on to suggest that these micro-level changes “will push emissions in the right direction,” but says nothing about government oversight, or actions that many believe is necessary to reverse the current course of the climate crisis.
It’s still half way even though one has made 90 miles out of a 100-mile journey. Humans may still fail the journey if they doesn’t persist to the last. Therefore, something will have to change at some point if the human race is going to survive.
1. What does Paragraph 2 mainly tell us about fossil fuel?A.It may cause catastrophic outcomes. |
B.It has nothing to do with climate changes. |
C.It kills millions of humans every year. |
D.It has sent sea levels 10 feet higher. |
A.Ambitious. | B.Approving. | C.Constructive. | D.Opposed. |
A.It’s never too late to act actively. |
B.Many hands make light work. |
C.A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. |
D.A job half-done is still a job left unfinished. |
A.A government report. | B.A science fiction. |
C.A news report. | D.A health magazine. |
10 . 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. |