2 . 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.”

Since Japan began releasing nuclear-contaminated (核污染的) wastewater into the Pacific Ocean last Thursday despite strong opposition and     1     (criticize) from the international community, Chinese netizens have expressed their anger and concern, with a large number of them     2     (say) that they would no longer go to Japanese restaurants.

Experts say that the influence of Japan’s release of wastewater     3     the safety of people throughout the world is unpredictable. As a consequence, many domestic Japanese restaurants say that they will adjust     4     (they) product lines, and seafood will be selected from domestic sources or imported from other coastal countries.

Some even say that they will expect     5     (develop) other new cuisines. “The Chinese government will take necessary measures to firmly protect the marine environment     6     Japan is determined to go on with its discharge plan.” said a majority of Chinese, among     7     are those living and studying in Japan now. In a poll conducted on Sina Weibo, more than 200,000 netizens urge Japan to cancel its wrong decision and address the wastewater in     8     responsible way. “We don’t want August 24, 2023 to be a disaster day for marine environment and we hope that the issue     9     (give) priority (优先权) to and dealt with as soon as possible. If Japan does not change the plan, it will     10     (sure) bear the historic responsibility for this decision.”

5 . Have you ever found that you were able to sleep better with an air conditioner or fan running or perhaps with the sound of rain falling outside? If so, then you’re already familiar with white noise.

White noise refers to a noise that has a mixture of all the audible (听得见的) frequencies that the human ear can detect. It is a combination of all the frequencies of sound played at once. It can cover the sounds of other noises because of its various frequencies, leading many people to experience its calming effects.

Researchers have studied the effect of white noise on humans for many years, finding evidence it can reduce crying in infants and improve work performance. Many studies have also examined how white noise may affect human sleep. They found that listening to white noise positively affects sleep. For example, people living in a high-noise area of New York City fell asleep faster and spent more of their time in bed asleep while listening to white noise. In another study, listening to white noise through headphones improved sleep quality for seriously ill patients in a loud hospital room.

However, a recent analysis of multiple studies looking at white noise’s effect on sleep has produced mixed results. The researchers are doubtful about the quality of existing evidence and conclude that further research is necessary in order to widely recommend white noise as a sleep aid. They also note that in some instances, white noise can perturb a person and may affect their hearing.

Despite that, researchers are still optimistic that the steady white noise might reduce a sleeper’s sensitivity to unpredictable noises from the environment, such as transportation sounds like cars and planes, which are considered a major contributor to poor sleep.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan was     1     (severe) damaged by a tsunami in 2011, leading to a major nuclear disaster. Since then, water has been continuously used     2     (cool) the damaged reactors (反应堆) and prevent further damage.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the     3     (operate) of the plant, said that the storage tanks took up too much space due to the wastewater. So Japan initially said that it     4     (begin) releasing the water into the ocean in the spring of 2023. On March 17, part of the equipment     5     was related to the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant started operation for     6     first time, according to Japanese media TV Asahi.

According to The Guardian, the Japanese government argued that they     7     (treat) the water, which would be safe to be released into the ocean. However, not everyone agrees with this decision. Environmental groups and local fishermen have expressed concern about the impact of the wastewater     8     marine life and the fishing industry, the BBC reported.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on March14 once again denounced (谴责) Japan’s unilateral (单边的) decision to dump nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the sea,     9     (consider) the move an attempt to shift the risk of nuclear pollution to all of mankind. The ministry also warned the country not to start the plan before fully     10     (consult) with its neighbors and relevant international institutions.

9 . There is increasing alarm about the extent of micro plastic pollution, which has been found everywhere from Everest to the Arctic. However, it turns out there’s an even smaller and more poisonous form of plastic pollution entering remote reaches of the globe. A new study published in Environmental Research found significant quantities of nanoplastics in ice samples from both the North and South Poles.

“Now we know that nanoplastics are transported to these comers of the Earth in these quantities. This indicates that nanoplastics are really a bigger pollution problem than we thought,” study lead author Dusan Materic said in a press release.

Nanoplastics are plastics that are smaller than a micrometer in size. Their small size means they are more difficult to study than microplastics, or plastics between five millimeters and a micrometer. But they maybe even more dangerous.

“Nanoplastics are very toxicologically active compared to, for instance, microplastics, and that’s why this is very important” Materic said.

Materic and his team used new methods to measure nanoplastic pollution in ice samples from Greenland and Antarctica. They sampled a 14-meter-deep ice core (核) from the Greenland icecap and sea ice from Antarcia’s McMurdo Sound. They found that there were an average of 13.2 nanograms per milliliter of nanoplastics in the Greenland ice and an average of 52.3 nanograms per milliliter in the Antarctic ice.

But what was even more surprising than the amount of nanoplastics in the remote ice was just how long they had sat there. “In the Greenland core, we see nanoplastic pollution happening all the way from the 1960s. So organisms, despite the lack of the solid evidence, likely all over the world, have been exposed to it for quite some time now,” Materic said.

The study also looked at the types of plastic present in the samples. Half of the Greenland nanoplastics were polyethylene (PE), the kind of plastic used for plastic bags and packaging. A quarter came from tires and a fifth were polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is, used for clothing and bottles.