1 . Just when you thought you were taking care of your health by eating enough fruit and vegetables every day, new research has come out revealing that you might be swallowing microplastic particles (颗粒) along with all those vitamins, minerals, and fiber. A groundbreaking 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, as well as Sousse and Monastir universities in Tunisia, 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 (血管化) 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 mainly about?| A．The main cause and influence of soil pollution. |
| B．The microplastic pollution in fruits and vegetables. |
| C．The benefits of daily fruits and vegetables consumption |
| D．The great changes in people's dietary habits. |
| A．The age of root system. | B．The huge size of fruit tree roots. |
| C．The complex preservation method. | D．The large amounts of the fruit pulp. |
| A．It needs to be further studied. | B．It wasted them quite a lot of time. |
| C．It has caused harm to health. | D．It has attracted attention to diets. |
2 . Most environmental pollution on Earth comes from humans and their inventions, such as cars or plastic. Today, car emissions (排放物) are a major source of air pollution leading to climate change, and plastics fill our ocean, creating a significant health issue to marine (海洋的) animals.
And what about the electric light, thought to be one of the greatest human inventions of all time? Electric light can be a beautiful thing, guiding us home when the sun goes down, keeping us safe and making our homes bright. However, like carbon dioxide emissions and plastic, too much of a good thing has started to impact the environment. Light pollution, the inappropriate use of outdoor light, is affecting human health, wildlife behavior and our ability to observe stars.
Light pollution is a global issue. This became obvious when the World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness, a computer-generated map based on thousands of satellite photos, was published in 2016. Available online for viewing, the map shows how and where our globe is lit up at night. Vast areas of North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia are glowing (发光) with light, while only the most remote regions on Earth (Greenland, Central African Republic and Niue) are in total darkness. Some of the most light-polluted countries in the world are Singapore, Qatar, and Kuwait.
Sky glow is the brightening of the night sky, mostly over cities, due to the electric lights of cars, streetlamps, offices, factories, outdoor advertising, and buildings, turning night into day for people who work and play long after sunset.
People living in cities with high levels of sky glow have a hard time seeing more than a handful of stars at night. Astronomers are particularly concerned with sky glow pollution as it reduces their ability to view stars.
More than 80 percent of the world’s population, and 99 percent of Americans and Europeans, live under sky glow.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 2?| A．Electric light is the greatest human invention. |
| B．The use of outdoor light must be forbidden. |
| C．Electric light is the main factor to keep us safe. |
| D．Electric light has both advantages and disadvantages. |
| A．Qatar. | B．Kuwait. | C．Niue. | D．Singapore. |
| A．Sky glow costs too much. | B．Sky glow has a bad effect on their sleep. |
| C．Sky glow wastes too much electricity. | D．Sky glow affects their viewing stars. |
| A．Different kinds of pollution | B．Plastic pollution |
| C．Air pollution | D．Light pollution |
The color of the ocean has changed
More than 56% of the world’s oceans have changed color,
Tropical (热带的) oceans close to the equator
“
Though the researchers are still working to understand exactly
The researchers studied changes in ocean color from space by
4 . Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has brought new problems. One of the biggest is pollution. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear it.
Men have been polluting the earth. Many years ago, the pollution was not so serious because there were not so many people. When the land was used up or the river was dirty in one place, men moved to another place.
Air pollution is now the most serious. Air makes people sick. And lots of people now are trying to use something to clear the air. Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us become angry more easily.
Many countries are making rules to fight air pollution. They stop people from burning coal in houses and factories in the city, and from putting dirty smoke into the air.
Pollution by SO2 is now the most dangerous kind of air pollution. It is caused by heavy traffic. It is true that if there are fewer people driving, there will be less air pollution.
Although most of the pollution is caused by us, we are the ones who can change the situation. The earth is our home. We must take care of it. And we must pay more attention to the information in pollution at the same time.
1. Why was the pollution in the past less serious?| A．Because life in the past was easier. | B．Because there were not so many people. |
| C．Because men stayed in one place. | D．Because people used less coal to make fire. |
| A．Air pollution. | B．Noise pollution. |
| C．Light pollution. | D．Water pollution. |
| A．Try to use something to clear the air. | B．Ask people to use public transport more. |
| C．Stop putting dirty smoke into the air. | D．Encourage people to move to another place. |
| A．To prove life is much easier today. | B．To call on us to take care of our earth. |
| C．To show the danger of pollution. | D．To introduce how to fight air pollution. |
Every year a huge amount of waste ends up in the world’s oceans and causes problems for the animals living there.
About 80% of all marine waste is plastic from bottles and packaging, most of
One organization that does this is Ocean Conservancy,
Cleaning up the oceans seems like an
| A．The sea is getting smaller. |
| B．The sea is being polluted. |
| C．The sea is getting cleaner. |
7 . Human and their inventions, such as cars or plastic, have caused most environmental pollution on Earth. Today car emissions (排放物) are a major source of air pollution leading to climate change. In the meanwhile, plastics fill our ocean, creating a significant health issue to marine (海洋的) animals.
And what about the electric light, which is thought to be one of the greatest human inventions of all time? Electric light can be a beautiful thing, guiding us home when the sun goes down, keeping us safe and making our homes bright. However, like CO2 emissions and plastic, too much of a good thing has started to influence the environment. Light pollution, the wrong use of outdoor light, is affecting human health, wildlife behavior and our ability to observe stars.
Light pollution is a global issue. This became obvious when the World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness, a computer-created map based on thousands of satellite photos, was published in 2016, which can be viewed online. The map shows how and where our globe is lit up at night. Vast areas of North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia are glowing (发光) with light, while only the most distant regions on Earth (Greenland, Central African Republic and Niue) are in total darkness. Some of the most light-polluted countries in the world are Singapore, Qatar, and Kuwait.
Sky glow is the brightening of the night sky, mostly over cities, due to the electric lights of cars, streetlamps, offices, factories, outdoor advertising, and buildings, turning night into day for people who work and play long after sunset.
People living in cities with high levels of sky glow have a hard time seeing more than a handful of stars at night. Astronomers (宇航员) are particularly concerned with sky glow pollution as it reduces their ability to view stars.
Mostly over 80 percent of the world's population, and 99 percent of Americans and Europeans live under sky glow.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 2?| A．Electric light should be not be used outdoors. | B．Electric light is the main factor to keep us safe. |
| C．Electric light has both advantages and disadvantages. | D．Electric light is the greatest human invention. |
| A．Niue. | B．Singapore. | C．Kuwait. | D．Qatar. |
| A．Keeping the streetlamps on. | B．Littering plastics about. |
| C．Driving cars around. | D．Overfishing marine animals. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Unclear. | C．Worried. | D．Satisfied. |
8 . Have you ever had the feeling that you can’t think when there is too much noise around? Did you ever think a fish could experience that feeling too? A recent paper published in Science titled “Soundscape (声景) of the Anthropocene Oceans”, combined over 10,000 scientific papers, confirming that undersea life knows that exact same feeling, more often than not. Anthropogenic (人为的) ocean noise, also known as underwater noise pollution, has created a dramatic impact on marine life due to “human-caused” activity within and neighboring our oceans.
Disney Pixar’s animated film Finding Nemo educated us about the ocean, and specifically within the ordinary world of a clown fish. A fact many may not know is that clown fish spend the first part of their lives as larvae (幼体), drifting with the current of the ocean until they become strong enough to swim against it. Once they are powerful and strong, they head home in sheltered coral reefs. There is only one drawback-the fish can’t physically see the reef, but they can hear it. The only problem is, if they can’t hear it, will they ever make it home?
Our anthropogenic ocean noise, such as cargo ships, ship and boat propellers (螺旋桨), surfing, deep sea mining, etc. are causing destruction of marine life. According to Time, sound is the sensory signal that travels the farthest through the ocean. Anthropogenic noise drowns out the natural soundscapes, putting marine life under immense stress. Altogether, this stress then affects their general health, disrupts their behavior, physiology, reproduction and, in extreme cases, causes death. Marine life can adapt to noise pollution, however, only if they can escape it. This only renders further complications of forcing species to leave their traditional breeding regions or their families.
Now, what if we told you there is already a solution? Multiple solutions, ideas and designs are currently in the works or already exist to reduce and reverse the damage of anthropogenic ocean noise. As Time explains, from wind-powered ships to noise-reducing propellers, floating wind turbines and “bubble curtains” that muffle construction noise, the solutions are already available and in some cases, cost-effective. The authors of the paper hope it will catch the attention of policymakers, who historically speaking, have ignored the matter still to this day.
Of all the challenges ocean creatures are battling, luckily sound pollution is the easiest compromise (妥协方案) humans can make. Once the noise has decreased, marine life will be able to better manage everything else it is up against.
1. What do we know about “Soundscape of the Anthropocene Oceans”?| A．It analyses how sound travels in the ocean. |
| B．It discusses different types of ocean pollution. |
| C．It explores the effects of noise pollution on sea life. |
| D．It studies how sea animals communicate with each other. |
| A．present their life cycles |
| B．show how terrible their living conditions are |
| C．introduce a famous animation about the ocean world |
| D．stress the importance of natural soundscapes to sea life |
| A．Reduces. | B．Causes. | C．Solves. | D．Prevents. |
| A．publicize the knowledge of soundscape |
| B．regulate human’s activities on the ocean |
| C．emphasize the importance of animal protection |
| D．draw people’s attention to anthropogenic ocean noise |
Light pollution is a serious problem. This became completely obvious when the World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness, a computer-created map based on thousands of satellite (卫星) photos,
Sky glow is the brightening of the night sky, mostly over cities, because
People
According to research, more
10 . Drive through any suburb in the U. S. today, and it’s hard to miss the recycling bins that have become companions to America’s trash cans. Recycling has become common, as people recognize the need to care for the environment. Yet most people’s recycling awareness extends (延伸) only as far as paper, bottle, and cans. People seldom find themselves facing the growing problem of e-waste.
E-waste rapidly increases as the techno-fashionable frequently upgrade to the most advanced devices, and the majority of them end up in landfills (填埋). Some people who track such wastes say that users throw away nearly 2 million tons of TVs, VCRs, computers, cell phones, and other electronics every year. Unless we can find a safe replacement (替代品), this e-waste may get into the ground and poison the water with dangerous toxins (霉素), such as lead, mercury, and arsenic. Burning the waste also dangerously contaminates the air.
However, e-waste often contains reusable silver, gold, and other electrical materials. Recycling these materials reduces environmental problems by reducing both landfill waste and the need to look for such metals, which can destroy ecosystems.
A growing number of states have passed laws to ban (禁止) getting rid of e-waste. Still, less than a quarter of this waste will reach lawful recycling programs. Some companies advertising safe disposal (处理) in fact merely ship the waste to some developing countries, where it still ends up in landfills. These organizations prevent progress by unsafely disposing of waste in an out-of-sight, out-of-mind location.
However, the small but growing number of cities and corporations that do handle e-waste responsibly represents progress toward making the world a cleaner, better place for us all.
1. What can we know from the first paragraph?| A．E-waste cannot be put into trash cans in the U. S. |
| B．Many Americans now have access to recycling bins. |
| C．Most Americans have realized the dangers of e-waste. |
| D．Most of America’s trash cans are made of recycled material. |
| A．Pollutes. | B．Heats. | C．Attacks. | D．Reduces. |
| A．Much e-waste is still not properly handled. |
| B．Some developing countries welcome e-waste. |
| C．Laws have played a major role in getting rid of e-waste. |
| D．The e-waste buried in the landfills won’t destroy ecosystem. |
| A．To tell us how to recycle &waste. |
| B．To talk about the future of e-waste. |
| C．To discuss if it’s necessary to, recycle e-waste. |
| D．To encourage people to deal with e-waste properly. |
