1 . Slat's life began to change after a holiday trip to Greece with his family when he was 16. What he actually saw in the ocean was an awful lot or plastic waste. From that moment on, Slat dived into a project to find a solution to this alarming problem. Struck by the idea of a floating barrier that could collect plastic, he founded his company, The Ocean Cleanup, at the age of 18. Although the idea was named one of the best inventions of 2015 by TIME magazine, he received negative feedback from the specialists in environmental issues.
Slat was not discouraged and saw his mission as a race against time. It is estimated that up to 14 million tons of plastic enter the oceans from land every year. Plastic gradually breaks down into very small pieces called microplastics, which can eventually enter the food chain.
After five and a half years' hard work, the Dutch inventor launched the world's first ocean plastic cleanup system: System 001. The U-shaped pipe, about 609 meters in length, snakes its way out under the Golden Gate Bridge into the Pacific. These floating barriers will capture plastic waste as the ocean currents flow past. Ships will collect the waste and bring it to land for recycling every few months. According to Slat, if all goes to plan, an array of 60 systems could reduce the amount of plastic there by as much as 50 percent by 2025.
However, there remains a problem: What will happen to the plastic brought back to shore from Slat's systems? It's likely that lots of the waste will eventually be recycled into more single-use plastics that end up back in the oceans. That doesn't mean Slat will give up.
1. What contributes to Slat's idea of solving plastic waste in the ocean?| A．A vacation abroad. | B．Negative feedback from the experts. |
| C．Diving deep into the ocean. | D．A floating barrier to collect plastic. |
| A．It will pollute the ocean. | B．It will make the ocean too dirty to swim in. |
| C．It will make it difficult ocean currents to flow. | D．It will be contained in the foods for humans. |
| A．It's the world's best ocean plastic cleanup system. |
| B．It winds its way into the Pacific. |
| C．Ships will capture the plastic waste. |
| D．The amount of plastic will be decreased by a quarter. |
| A．To praise. | B．To warn. | C．To inform. | D．To entertain. |
2 . There have been numerous wake-up calls about the effects of climate change on sea life. As ocean waters heat up, they are making coral lose color. Growing levels of carbon dioxide are making seawater more acidic. Now climate change is starting to affect fish's sense of smell, a phenomenon that will worsen in the coming years if global warming continues growing.
A sense of smell is what the fish can't do without. They use it to find food, detect upcoming danger, escape from predators (捕食者）find safe environments, and even recognize one another. "Future levels of carbon dioxide can have large negative effects on the sense of smell of fish, which can affect fish population numbers and the entire ecosystem, ”said an ocean life expert. "This can be prevented, but we must reduce carbon emissions now before it's too late.”
Experts believe that about half of carbon dioxide emissions produced by human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels--have over time ended up in the oceans, lowering the pH of seawater, and making it more acidic.
Researchers found that sea bass (鲈鱼）exposed to the more acidic conditions swam less and were less likely to react when encountering the smell of a predator. Also, they were more likely to "freeze", a sign of anxiety, according to the study. They found the longer the fish were in high CO2,the worse they got along. The researchers also measured the ability of the fish to detect certain odors (气味）in different levels of acidity (酸度）。 The study showed that their ability to detect and respond to some odors connected with food and threatening situations was more strongly affected than other odors.
The research is important because 20 percent of the protein consumed by 3 million people comes from seafood, and about 50 percent of this comes from fish caught from the wild. “Therefore, increases in carbon dioxide in the ocean have the potential to affect all fish species, including those that many people rely on food and livelihood, "the ocean life expert warned.
1. What do we know from the first paragraph?| A．Global warming will continue in the coming years. |
| B．Global warming is starting to affect fish's sense of smell. |
| C．The temperature of seawater is rising to a dangerous level. |
| D．Few people are worried about the impact of climate change. |
| A．It can affect the survival of fish. |
| B．Fish can stay safe with their sense of smell. |
| C．Fish rely on their sense of smell to find food. |
| D．Fish can find each other by their sharp noses. |
| A．He wants to blame human beings for global warming. |
| B．He wants to criticize human beings for overuse of fossil fuels. |
| C．He concludes that human activities can destroy the sense of smell of fish. |
| D．He concludes that human activities can improve the ecosystem of the ocean. |
| A．Satisfied. | B．Enthusiastic. | C．Disappointed. | D．Concerned. |
3 . Off the Marianas Islands, in a remote stretch of the Pacific Ocean, lies a deep trench. A trench so deep that it could accommodate the tallest mountain range—the Himalayas, and still have a mile of water above!
The Mariana Trench stretches for 2, 550km along the Pacific Ocean floor and is 70km wide. The deepest part of the trench, Challenger Deep, lies 7 miles below the ocean surface. Mariana Trench is part of a network of trenches that cross the ocean floor.
How do these trenches form? Our Earth is made up of tectonic plates which connect with each other like giant jigsaw puzzles. The plates are constantly moving because of the molten lava inside our Earth. When one tectonic plate dives under another plate, trenches are formed.
The sheer depth of Mariana Trench makes it hard to explore. Sunlight does not reach that far down, covering it in permanent darkness. The water pressure at the deepest point is nearly 1,000 times more than at the surface. Despite these inhospitable conditions, some of the strangest creatures are found in the trench—creatures that produce their own light.
A team of researchers decided to study the zone, an area of water that is 3.7 miles to 6.8 miles below the surface.
The research team sent traps underwater to catch the tiny prawn-like amphipods (片脚动物) and tested them. They found extremely high levels of chemicals, known to cause health issues like cancer. These family of chemicals known as POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants) were used extensively in pesticides until they were banned in the 1970s, and some are still in use today.
The POPs do not break down. They are ingested by the larger marine animals and when they die and sink to the bottom of the oceans, the smaller creatures feast on them. The chemicals then enter the bodies of these amphipods and other smaller marine creatures, and disrupt their hormone balances. And thus, the cycle continues.
While we may think that our oceans are pristine, this latest finding tells us that in a trench far……far away from any industrial city, we humans are leaving our footprint.
1. According to the text, the Mariana Trench ________.| A．covers the Pacific Ocean floor |
| B．remains dark all the time |
| C．is like a giant jigsaw puzzle |
| D．lies 7km below the ocean surface |
| A．the molten lava inside the earth |
| B．the cause of moving plates |
| C．the formation of the trench |
| D．the make-up of tectonic plates |
| A．By taking some soil from the ocean bottom. |
| B．By measuring the water pressure. |
| C．By getting some water from the trench. |
| D．By analyzing the creatures living in the trench. |
| A．The Mariana Trench is seriously polluted. |
| B．The Mariana Trench is totally dark. |
| C．The Mariana Trench is deadly poisonous. |
| D．The Mariana Trench is greatly wonderful. |
4 . The loud continuous noise of the cars or the sound of a plane can force its way into the deepest forest, yet it’s not only humans that are bothered by the noise.
Bioacoustician Bernie Krause has been studying the effect of noise pollution on wildlife, and has come across some interesting behaviors, especially among animals that communicate by vocalization（发声）, like humans. Birds use sound to communicate, but in noisy places, these animals have to shout over the natural noise to be heard.
Krause mentions a study of nightingales to clarify what he means. The birds responded to traffic noise by singing louder and louder until they actually went beyond noise pollution standards in the city. To belt out (sing loudly) their songs, they increased their lung pressure fivefold, but scientists state that this is not dangerous for the birds themselves.
Studies show that sudden noise can cause certain birds to leave their nests, exposing the young to their enemies. One study also showed that songbirds that nested close to busy motorways were much less productive than those that nested farther away. Mammals（哺乳动物）too are affected. A recent study showed that nursing caribou responded to plane noise by not producing enough milk to feed their young.
In some cases noise pollution can actually help some animals while harming others. Toads（蟾蜍）and frogs are known to vocalize in synchrony（同步；同步方式）so that no predator (their enemies) can zero in on them. Krause found that when planes flew overhead and disturbed the toad’s song, they lost their synchronicity, and it took them 45 minutes to get it back again. That gave their natural enemies plenty of time to find and catch individual toads by sound.
According to Kruse, “Not only will noise pollution bother wildlife, but it won’t help our lives either.”
1. How do young caribou suffer from aircraft noise?| A．They receive less food. | B．They can’t sleep at night. |
| C．They are often displaced. | D．They can’t hear their mothers. |
| A．They might become defenseless. |
| B．They would stop communicating. |
| C．They would soon regain their rhythm. |
| D．They might ne unable to hunt in groups. |
| A．The effects of noise pollution on wildlife. |
| B．The causes of noise pollution. |
| C．Animals’ reaction to noises. |
| D．The ways animals communicate with each other. |
5 . In today's world, almost everyone knows that air pollution and water pollution are harmful to people's health. However, not all the persons know that noise is also a kind of pollution, and that is harmful to human health, too.
People who work and live under noisy conditions usually become deaf（聋）. Today, however, scientists believe that 10 percent of workers in Britain are being deafened by the noise where they work. Many of the workers who print newspapers and books, and who weave（织）cloth become deaf. Quite a few people living near airports also become deaf. Recently it was discovered that many teenagers in America could hear no better than 65-year-old persons, for these young people like to listen to pop music and most of pop music is a kind of noise. Besides, noise produced by jet planes or machines will make people's life difficult and unpleasant, or even make people ill or even drive them mad.
It is said that a continuous noise of over 85 decibels（分贝）can make people deaf. Now the governments in many countries have made laws to control noise and make it less than 85 decibels.
In China, the government is trying to solve not only air and water pollution problems but also noise pollution problems.
1. The text is mainly about ____________ .| A．air pollution | B．water pollution |
| C．noise pollution | D．world pollution |
| A．they are working in noisy places | B．they often listen to pop music |
| C．they live near airports | D．they are too busy to listen to others' talk |
| A．less than 85 | B．less than 65 |
| C．about 65 | D．over 85 |
| A．only air pollution | B．only air and water pollution |
| C．only water pollution | D．air, water and noise pollution |
6 . In our modern world, when something wears out, we throw it away and buy a new one. The
How did we
Another cause is our
Our appetite for new products also
All around the world, we can see the
Maybe there is another way out. We need to repair our possessions
| A．key | B．reason | C．project | D．problem |
| A．gifts | B．rubbish | C．debt | D．products |
| A．face | B．become | C．observe | D．change |
| A．hide | B．control | C．replace | D．withdraw |
| A．Thanks to | B．As to | C．Except for | D．Regardless of |
| A．safe | B．funny | C．cheap | D．powerful |
| A．love | B．lack | C．prevention | D．division |
| A．sensitive | B．kind | C．brave | D．busy |
| A．ways | B．places | C．jobs | D．friends |
| A．donate | B．receive | C．produce | D．preserve |
| A．adapts | B．returns | C．responds | D．contributes |
| A．tired of | B．addicted to | C．worried about | D．ashamed for |
| A．newer | B．stronger | C．higher | D．larger |
| A．pick up | B．pay for | C．hold onto | D．throw away |
| A．advantages | B．purposes | C．functions | D．consequences |
| A．show | B．record | C．decrease | D．measure |
| A．technology | B．environment | C．consumers | D．brands |
| A．However | B．Otherwise | C．Therefore | D．Meanwhile |
| A．by | B．in favour of | C．after | D．instead of |
| A．spending | B．collecting | C．repairing | D．advertising |
