3 . A new report says plastics are responsible for $13 billion in damage to the oceans and the undersea environment. The findings were announced recently at a United Nations conference.       1    

Plastic thrown away carelessly makes its way into rivers and other waterways. The plastic eventually reaches coastal areas and ocean waters. After a while, it collects in the sea. And plastic never goes away. Plastic is not biodegradable — destroyed by bacteria or natural processes. Instead, it just breaks up into smaller pieces over time. The oceans contain a lot of chemicals and other pollutants.     2     . That means harmful materials may get into our food supply.

    3     . Human beings cause pollution and they can take steps to stop it. They can use fewer single use product containers and throw plastics away correctly. Plastic recycling programs also works — where old bottles and other plastics are collected, broken down and used to make new products. We could reuse bottles in our households many times if we wish to, rather than end it after the first use. We could, when we get rid of that plastic, recycle and reuse it, which replaces the need for raw materials.

The report also calls on companies to improve methods for using plastics.     4    And it calls for information about the way plastic is thrown out or removed from use. By putting a new value on plastic, industry has a special reason to clean up the environment. But all of the companies must join to deal with the problem.

A．But people can make a big difference.

B．Plastics should be gathered together and reused.

C．Then, fish may eat the plastics.

D．It is convenient to use plastic bags in everyday life.

E．It asks for them to better measure and direct plastic use.

F．The report tells about harm to sea life and what might be done to improve the situation.

4 . Directions : Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

Environmental pollution kills 1. 7 million children under the age of five every year worldwide. This is according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO warns that child deaths will increase greatly if pollution continues to worsen.

The most common causes of death among children aged one month to five years are diarrhea, malaria and pneumonia. This is according to the WHO.       1     This means providing access to safe water and sanitation, limiting exposure to dangerous chemicals, and improving waste management.

    2     The WHO estimates that air pollution is responsible for about 6. 5 million premature, or early, deaths every year. That number includes nearly 600, 000 deaths of children under age five. Most of these deaths take place in developing countries.

Air pollution is a leveler between rich and poor, according to WHO environment and health chief Maria Neira.       3     And one of the most important ways to reduce air pollution is to produce cleaner fuels for cooking and heating. “Almost half of the world population is using dirty fuels for cooking, heating, and lighting at home. And, this is affecting very much mothers who are staying and cooking at home, but the children who are around mothers -- they are exposed as well. ” Early exposure to harmful pollutants can lead to increased risk of chronic respiratory disease, asthma, heart disease, stroke and cancer later in life.

Cleaning up how the world cooks, heats and lights homes and other buildings is a big- picture goal. The WHO is advising government departments and industries such as construction and the health sector to work together to clean up their environment.

    4     The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency has the following suggestions:

• Avoid walking where there is a high volume of vehicle traffic.

• Equip homes with air filters and air conditioning units.

• Limit your time outside if you live in an area that issues warnings about air quality.

• Wear high-grade, rated face masks tightly to the face when air quality is poor.

• Remove your clothes and wash immediately after entering your house if you live or commute in a very polluted area.

A．However, of all the environmental pollutants, air pollution is being called the most dangerous.

B．But what can individuals do to limit our family's exposure to air pollution?

C．Therefore, the WHO stresses that governments around the world need to take the lead on ensuring that children grow up in a clean environment.

D．The organization also says reducing environmental risks can prevent such deaths.

E．A polluted environment is a deadly one—particularly for young children.

F．Everybody, she says, needs to breathe.

5 . Directions: Read the passage carefully. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

Many people know that trash is a big problem on planet Earth. What many people don’t know is that trash has become a problem in outer space too.     1    

Statistically, there are more than 22,000 pieces of junk in space around the earth. And these are just the items that we can see from the surface of the earth by telescopes or radars.     2    

Objects, like bits of old space rockets or satellites, move around the planet at very high speeds, so fast that even a very small piece can break important satellites or become dangerous to people, particularly astronauts. If the tiniest piece of junk crashed into a spacecraft, it could damage the vehicle. That’s because the faster an object moves, the greater the impact if the object collides with something else.

To help minimize additional space junk, countries around the world have agreed to limit the time their space tools stay in orbit to 25 years. Each tool must be built to fall safely into the earth’s atmosphere, or the mass of gases that surround the earth, after that.       3    

Many scientists are also proposing different ways to clean up space junk. The Germans have been planning a space mission with robots that would collect pieces of space trash and bring them back to Earth so that they can be safely destroyed.

"In our opinion the problem is very challenging, and it's quite urgent as well," said Marco Castronuovo, an Italian Space Agency researcher who is working to solve the problem.       4     Many of these objects are tools that help people use their cell phones or computers.

"The time to act is now; as we go farther in time we will need to remove more and more fragments," he says.

A．One reason that it’s urgent is that countries are sending more and more objects into space.

B．There are also millions of smaller pieces of junk that we can’t see.

C．Blowing up older satellites with a missile may create thousands of smaller pieces!

D．In the upper parts of the atmosphere, it will burn up.

E．When two objects in space collide, the two objects break into many smaller pieces.

F．Years of space exploration have left tons of “space junk” in orbit around the planet.

6 . Is New-car Smell Bad for Your Health?

The smell of a new car can be appealing in showrooms, for which there’s a good reason. That new car smell comes from a mixture of chemicals, some of which can be highly poisonous.

    1     Many of these contain volatile (挥发性的) organic compounds (VOCs), some of which can be deadly in sufficient quantities. Others are just bad for you.

“It’s a chemical cocktail made up of lots of poisonous substances,” said Jeff Gearhart, Research Director of the Ecology Center in the US state of Michigan. The Ecology Center has been monitoring and testing chemical levels in the inside of the car for years, and has noted some improvement. But Gearhart says there is still work to be done.

“There are over 200 chemical compounds found in vehicles,” he said. “Since these chemicals are not regulated, consumers have no way of knowing the dangers they face.”

    2     Immediate symptoms can range from a sore throat to headaches, dizziness, etc., depending on the sensitivity of an individual.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, continued exposure to some of these can lead to reproductive impacts and damage to some organs and central nervous system—or even cancer.

    3    

The danger is the greatest when the car is new, and that new car smell is most noticeable.     4    

It is the release of chemical vapours, which leads to the smell. Heat from a vehicle left in the sun can make matters worse, and speed up the chemical reaction. The danger is reduced over time, and experts say the worst is usually over within about six months.

Experts advise the best thing that buyers can do to limit exposure is to keep the inside of the car well ventilated (通风的), especially during the first six months of ownership. Park in the shade with the windows open when it’s safe to do so, or at least try to air it out before getting inside—especially on hot days.

A．It’s that long-term exposure that experts find most worrisome.

B．Car manufacturers are unaware of standards regulating air quality inside new cars.

C．This is when components are still unstable and tend towards what is called off-gassing.

D．Just reading a list of the substances is scary enough, and the danger of exposure is scarier still.

E．The source of the smell so many buyers find appealing is in the various substances used in car construction.

F．Fortunately, high concentrations of these compounds gradually disappear just a few months after manufacture.