Plastic pollution at sea is reaching
As plastic breaks down into smaller pieces, it also enters the marine food chain,
While consumers can help reduce plastic pollution by changing their behavior, governments have to step up and accept
2 . A new study suggests classic paintings by well-known Impressionists Joseph Turner and Claude Monet may have been influenced by air pollution during the Industrial Revolution.
The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by authors from Harvard and Sorbonne universities, analyzed 60 oil paintings by Turner from 1796 to 1850 and 38 paintings by Monet from 1864 to 1901.
Scientists don't know exactly how polluted the cities were during that time for lack of data. However, researchers say examining the works of Turner and Monet can give a picture of long-term environmental change with the air pollution.
In particular, researchers said changes in local sulfur dioxide emissions from burning coal may explain changes in the colour contrast and intensity of Turner, Monet, and others' works, even after taking into account the artistic trends and subject matter of the time.
Scientists successfully measured painters' representation of nature, focusing on differences in local weather patterns which influenced colour in works painted in different parts of Europe. Paintings' done in Britain generally feature a paler blue sky than other works in other parts of the continent. Generally, artists can historically accurately represent their environment, so Turner and Monet were chosen because they are famous for their landscape and cityscape paintings and also because they were active during the Industrial Revolution, when air pollution grew at a rate never seen before.
Additionally, researchers say that as the air in London and Paris became more polluted, the cities would appear hazier to the eyes as well as in photographs. By comparing the paintings of Turner and Monet to pictures from the era, they were able to determine the artists were at least partly influenced by the change in emissions.
1. How did the researchers conduct the study?| A．By referring to relevant historical records. |
| B．By comparing the paintings of Turner and Monet. |
| C．By relating the paintings to the air conditions then. |
| D．By analyzing the data during the Industrial Revolution. |
| A．Air pollution at that time. | B．Change in subject matter. |
| C．Social trends of the period. | D．Development of photography |
| A．European artists preferred landscape paintings. |
| B．Scientists focused on studying weather patterns. |
| C．Turner and Monet intended to present pollution. |
| D．Britain suffered from air pollution most in Europe. |
| A．To inform people of a new discovery. | B．To instruct people to appreciate paintings. |
| C．To introduce the Industrial Revolution. | D．To call on people to protect the environment. |
1. What did wildlife officials decide to do with the washed-up dolphin?
| A．Clear her stomach. | B．Put her back to the sea. | C．Kill her in a painless way. |
| A．Why the dolphin got sick. |
| B．Whether the dolphin was pregnant. |
| C．What was in the dolphin’s stomach. |
| A．In a lecture hall. | B．At a radio studio. | C．On the beach. |
4 . Conifers (针叶树) are generally better than broad-leaved trees at purifying air from pollutants. But deciduous (落叶的) trees may be better at taking in particle-bound pollution. A new study led by the University of Gothenburg shows that the best trees for air purification depend on the type of pollutants involved.
Trees and other greener in cities provide many benefits that are important for the well-being of residents. Leaves and needled on trees filter air pollutants and reduce exposure to poisonous substance in the air. But which trees purify the air most effectively? Researchers from the University of Gothenburg have collected leaves and needle from eleven different trees growing in the same place in the Gothenburg Botanical Garden (GBG) to analyse which cub-stances they have absorbed.
“This tree collection provided a unique opportunity to test many different species of trees with similar environmental conditions and exposure to air pollutants,” said Jenny Klingberg, a researcher of the GBG
A total of 32 different pollutants were analysed, some of which are bound to articles of various sizes. Others are gaseous. This project has focused on paths (多环芳烃). In cities, traffic is the biggest source of these pollutants, which are released due to incomplete burning in engines.
“Our analysis show that different species of trees have different abilities to absorb air pollutants. Conifers generally absorb morn gaseous paths than broad-leaved trees. Another advantage of conifers is that they also act as air purifies in winter, when air pollution is usually at its highest,” said Jenny Klingberg.
“This study contributes to improving our understanding of the ability of trees to clean the air and which species are best at absorbing air pollutants,” said Jenny Klingberg. This known-edge is important for urban planning when designing sustainable cities. While trees and green-era can contribute to better air quality in cities, at the end of the day, the most important measure is to reduce emissions.
1. Which is the determining factor in choosing the most suitable tries to purify air?| A．Air quality. | B．Geographical location. | C．The height of plants. | D．The kind of pollutants. |
| A．To compare their shapes. | B．To create a tree collection. |
| C．To figure out what they absorb. | D．To display them on exhibition. |
| A．Fuel vehicle’s. | B．Electric engines. | C．Traffic accidents. | D．Complete burning. |
| A．Decreasing emissions. | B．Planting more conifers. |
| C．Raising public awareness. | D．Designing sustainable cities. |
5 . It feels good to recycle. There’s a certain sense of accomplishment that comes from carefully sorting soda bottles, plastic bags and yogurt cups from the rest of the garbage. The more plastic you put in that blue bin, the more you’re keeping out of landfills and the oceans, right?
Wrong. No matter how meticulous you are in cleaning and separating your plastics, most end up in the trash anyway. Take flexible food packages. Those films contain several layers of different plastics. Because each plastic has to be recycled separately, those films are not recyclable. The polypropylene (聚丙烯) in yogurt cups and other items doesn’t usually get recycled either; recycling a hodgepodge of polypropylene produces a dark, smelly plastic that few manufacturers will use.
Only two kinds of plastic are commonly recycled in the United States: the kind in plastic soda bottles, polyethylene terephthalate, or PET; and the plastic found in milk containers — high-density polyethylene, or HDPE. Together, those plastics make up only about a quarter of the world’s plastic trash. And when those plastics are recycled, they aren’t good for much. Melting plastic down to recycle changes its consistency, so PET from bottles has to be mixed with brand-new plastic to make a sturdy final product. Recycling a mix of multicolored HDPE pieces creates a dark plastic good only for making products like park benches and waste bins, in which properties like color don’t matter much.
The difficulties of recycling plastic into anything manufacturers want to use is a big reason why the world is littered with so much plastic waste, says Eric Beckman, a chemical engineer at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2018 alone, the United States landfilled 27 million tons of plastic and recycled a mere 3 million, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Low recycling rates aren’t just a problem in the United States. Of the 6.3 billion tons of plastic that have been discarded around the world, only about 9 percent has gotten recycled. Another 12 percent has been burned, and almost 80 percent has piled up on land or in waterways.
1. What is the purpose of paragraph 1?| A．To show a lifestyle. | B．To describe a phenomenon. |
| C．To introduce a topic. | D．To make a proposal. |
| A．Painful. | B．Forgetful. | C．Regretful. | D．Mindful. |
| A．Manufacturers don’t want to use recycled plastic. |
| B．There is an urgent need to reduce plastic waste. |
| C．More plastic can be dealt with by burning. |
| D．U.S. is to blame for the plastic problem. |
| A．The causes of plastic pollution. |
| B．The characteristics of different plastics. |
| C．The ways that most plastics are recycled. |
| D．The reasons why many plastics are not recycled. |
6 . The River Thames has some of the highest recorded levels of microplastics for any river in the world.
Scientists have estimated that 94,000 microplastics per second flow down the river in places. The quantity is larger than that measured in other European rivers, such as the Danube and Rhine. Tiny bits of plastic have been found inside the bodies of crabs living in the Thames.
Researchers at Royal Holloway, University of London, are calling for stricter regulations on the labelling and disposal of plastic products. They warn that careless disposal of plastic gloves and masks during the coronavirus pandemic might make the problem of plastic pollution worse.
“Taken together, these studies show how many different types of plastic, from microplastics in the water through to larger items of debris physically altering the foreshore, can potentially affect a wide range of organisms in the River Thames,” said Prof Dave Morritt from Royal Holloway, “The increased use of single- use plastic items, and the inappropriate disposal of such items, including masks and gloves, along with plastic- containing cleaning products, during the current COVID-19 pandemic, may well make this problem even worse.”
Many forms of microplastics were found in the Thames, including glitter, microbeads from cosmetics and plastic debris from larger items. Most of the microplastics came from the break-down of large plastics, with food packaging thought to be a significant source. “Flushable” wet wipes were found in high abundance on the shoreline forming “wet wipe reefs”.
Study researcher, Katherine McCoy, said, “Our study shows that stricter regulations are needed for the labelling and disposal of these products. There is great range to further research the impacts of microplastics and indeed microfibres on Thames organisms.”
1. What did the researchers mainly suggest?| A．Stricter regulations should be made. | B．People shouldn't eat crabs for a while. |
| C．People should cut the use of plastic gloves | D．Plastic masks shouldn't be thrown away carelessly. |
| A．Wet wipes. | B．Food packaging. |
| C．Cleaning products. | D．Single-use plastic masks. |
| A．Wildlife Being Threatened by Microplastics. | B．Forms of Microplastics Found in the Thames. |
| C．River Thames Severely Polluted with Plastic. | D．Inappropriate Disposal of Single-use Plastics. |
| A．Science. | B．Environment. | C．Health. | D．Education. |
Many of us wonder what lies in outer space. When we look up
The amount of space junk
It’s clear
8 . There is an "environmental silver lining" as a result of the coronavirus (冠状病毒) —carbon emissions have been reduced by more than 4%, many wildlife markets around the world have been shuttered and air quality in some places has slightly improved, Dave Ford, founder of the environmental literacy organization SoulBuffalo, says.
But thanks to an increase in pandemic-related, non-recyclable materials such as take-out plastic containers and masks, 30% more waste has entered our oceans, he notes. "There's 129 billion facemasks being made every month—enough that you could cover the entire country of Switzerland with facemasks at the end of this year if trends continue," he says. "And a lot of these masks are ending up in the water." The masks look like jellyfish—in other words, food—to turtles and other wildlife creatures, thus, attractive to those animals and then endangering them, he says.
Very little of the plastic we use is actually recyclable. Sharon Lerner of The Intercept told Here & Now last year that "the vast majority of plastic that has ever been produced—79%—has actually ended up in landfills or burned, but not refashioned into new products." Even if the plastics we have can be reused, Ford says recycling programs across the globe are facing drastic budget cuts.
"We're starting to see recycling programs shuttered, waste picking communities operating at 50% or actually shutting down. They are the last line of defense between plastic and the environment," he says.
Last year, Unilever planned to cut its use of non-recycled plastics in half by 2025. In an interview with Here & Now, Richard Slater, Unilever's chief research and development officer, drew on the industry argument that plastic packaging is lighter, which means less shipping and therefore fewer dangerous emissions that cause climate change.
Yes, plastics are lightweight and can cut down on fuel spending. But on the other hand, plastic waste is being found in every facet of life—even in the deepest ocean.
1. What does "environmental silver lining" in Papagraph 1 refer to?| A．An environmental organization. |
| B．The closure of some wildlife markets. |
| C．The decrease of carbon dioxide emissions. |
| D．Benefits on environment from the coronavirus. |
| A．They resemble the sea creatures' food. |
| B．They contain certain unique chemicals. |
| C．Many sea creatures like to chase plastic by nature. |
| D．There is a continuous shortage of food in the ocean. |
| A．Most of it is recycled into new products. |
| B．The majority of it is buried or burned. |
| C．129 billion facemasks end up in the ocean. |
| D．There is enough budget for plastic recycling. |
| A．Plastic can cut down fuel spending |
| B．Recycling programs are shutting down |
| C．The coronavirus has caused more ocean plastic |
| D．Solutions to ocean plastic pollution are being explored |
9 . Coca-Cola announced on Wednesday that it will begin transitioning (转变) from green to clear plastic on Aug. I to increase the material’s likelihood of being remade into new beverage (饮料) bottles. The beverage giant is committed to making 100% of its packaging recyclable by 2025 and using at least 50% recycled material in its packaging by 2030.
Sprite, an important brand of Coca-Cola, currently uses plastic bottles containg a green additive called Polyethylene Telephthalate (PET). These bottles are commonly changed into single-use items like clothing and carpeting that can’t be recycled into new PET bottles.
“Taking colors out of bottles improves the quality of the recycled material,” said Julian Ochoa, CEO of R3CYCLE, which is working with Coca-Cola to improve bottle-to-bottle recycling. “When recycled, clear PET Sprite bottles can be remade into bottles, helping drive a circular economy for plastic.”
Sprite, the popular lemon-flavored soft drink, which first hit shelves in 1961, is also getting a new logo and packaging design. Sprite’s packaging will keep the brand’s recognizable green colour and include noticeable “Recycle Me” message. Other drinks that use green bottles, including Fresca, Seagram’s, and Mello Yello, will also transition to clear packaging in the coming months.
Both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have been criticized for contributing to the world’s plastic pollution. In 2021, both companies ranked as the world’s top plastic polluters for the 4th consecutive (连续的) year by the environmental organization Break Free From Plastic. Global beach cleanups were carried out by more than 11,000 volunteers in 45 countries to identify the most common plastic polluters. Break Free From Plastic found that 20,000 Coca-Cola branded products were picked up, representing more pollution than the next two top polluters combined.
Coca-Cola announced its “World Without Waste” sustainable packaging program in 2018, in which it promised to make all of its packaging recyclable — excluding the caps and labels — as well as have at least 25% of its beverages sold in refillable packaging by 2030.
1. What’s the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To state the main idea of the text. | B．To introduce Coca-Cola’s new product. |
| C．To give the news’ background information. | D．To draw people’s s attention to Coca-Cola. |
| A．Their material is of low quality. |
| B．They can only be changed into single-use items. |
| C．They contain more pollutants than clear bottles. |
| D．They are more expensive to recycle. |
| A．20,000 Coca-Cola products were produced in 2021. |
| B．Plastic was the most common polluter in 45 countries. |
| C．The top three and four polluters made less pollution than Coca-Cola in 2021. |
| D．Coca-Cola and PepsiCo were responsible for the environmental protection. |
| A．Coca-Cola’s releasing new soft drinks. |
| B．“Recycle Me” message on the clear Sprite bottle. |
| C．Colored bottles decreasing the quality of the recycled material. |
| D．Sprite retiring its signature green plastic bottles after more than 60 years. |
10 . Lacking a nose, insects such as butterflies and bees use their antennae (触须) to detect smells. Those smells help them find food and more. What happens, though, when air pollution beats the smells on which these creatures depend? Those insects become less likely to visit a flower. That’s the finding of a new study.
People depend on insects to help the plants to make many of the fruits, nuts and vegetables we eat. Past studies showed urban air pollution might hide the smells insects use to find flowers. For instance, ozone(臭氧), an ingredient in smog, can break down the smells from flowers. Computer models predicted this would cause problems for insects seeking flowers for a meal. But scientists weren’t sure that would happen in real life.
James Ryalls and his team decided to find out if it would. Ryalls is a biologist at the University of Reading in England. Working in a field of black mustard plants, his group created a system made up of rings eight meters in diameter. Each area was open, so nearby insects could fly into it. The researchers pumped pollutant gases into these rings: Two rings received diesel fumes(柴油废气). Two more got ozone. Another two got both gases. A final pair of rings was a control and received no added gases.
The tests took place over two summers. During each field season, the scientists counted how many times insects visited the flowers in each ring. “The results were much more severe than we thought,” Ryalls says. Adding both the diesel fumes and ozone pollution “caused up to 90 percent less insects to be able to find the flowers that they need for food,” he says. This was in comparison to the pollutant-free rings. This surprised the scientists and made them worried about the food resources of humans.
1. What is the finding of the new study?| A．Insects have noses. | B．Insects can feel smells. |
| C．Smells are helpful for insects to get food. | D．Polluted air makes insects hard to find food. |
| A．Part. | B．Shape. | C．Flower. | D．Colour. |
| A．Seven rings had gasses. | B．They lasted two summers. |
| C．They were led by a biologist. | D．They were done on the playground. |
| A．Save Flowers. | B．Poor Insects. |
| C．Tests by Researchers. | D．Environment and Food. |
