1 . Many of the negative impacts humans have on the environment are visible to the naked eye. Trash washes up on our beaches, the ice caps are visibly shrinking, and smog darkens our skies. But some environmental threat, such as microplastics, are nearly invisible.
The U. S. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration classifies microplastics as any piece of plastic less than five millimeters. Some are as small as three microns—half the size of a red blood cell. This comes from a variety of sources, including the microbeads found in cosmetics, paint, tire dust, industrial waste, and clothing.
These tiny fragments can become fixed in animals’ tissue through taking food or breathing. Various marine species, such as deposit-feeding lugworms, are shown to have microplastics in their intestinal tracts (肠道). The production and disposal of microplastics, among other unaware actions by humans, have played a significant role in boosting the worsening of marine ecosystems. But microplastics are not just a problem for marine life. Humans are consuming them too, sometimes through eating seafood containing microplastics.
Microplastics also run uncontrollably in drinking water. A 2017 investigation by Orb Media, which looked at tap water samples from over a dozen countries, found that 83 percent of the samples were contaminated with plastic fibers. Once taken, most of the microplastics stay in our systems forever, and little is known about their long term impact on our health.
Microplastic pollution is not an easy problem to deal with, but there are small changes that you can make to reduce your contribution to the problem. One strategy is to stop fibers before they enter the wastewater stream. Patagonia announced that it will sell the Guppy Friend, a bag that you can place clothing in before tossing it into the wash, which will prevent the fibers from being flushed away. You can also avoid buying any facial scrubs (面部磨砂膏) that use plastic microbeads. Lastly, you can reduce your plastic consumption and waste altogether by buying reusable water bottles and grocery bags, and being sure to always recycle any plastics you come across.
1. Why did the author mention the negative impacts visible to the naked eye?| A．To blame people for their behaviors |
| B．To show the notable threats on earth. |
| C．To stress the urgency of ecology protection. |
| D．To introduce the hidden dangers of microplastics. |
| A．They are so small that can be ignored. | B．They are produced by human deliberately. |
| C．They have a lasting effect on people’s body. | D．They gain attention for the bad influence. |
| A．To promote the sales of a new type of bag. |
| B．To give ways to reduce microplastic presence. |
| C．To tell how to reduce waste and consumption. |
| D．To state the difficulties of decreasing microplastics. |
| A．Many hands make light work. | B．Constant dropping wears the stone. |
| C．Actions speak louder than words. | D．Practice makes perfect. |
2 . Plastic waste is choking our planet. People are trying to help fix it by recycling, but their efforts aren’t going far enough. Even when plastic producers are held responsible and attempt to solve the problem, it doesn’t always go smoothly. Such has been the case for the company Torus Pak, which produces novel packaging for frozen meals on a large scale.
Like many other black plastic products, the Torus Pak packages used a carbon-based pigment (颜料). This pigment troubles the sorting technology which is used by many recycling facilities, so black plastic usually ends up being thrown away because the machines can’t identify it. Now the company is midway through the complex process of phasing out that pigment and switching that pigment to one that doesn’t use carbon.
But that doesn’t mean the problem is solved, for the recycling rate at the waste facility itself is not encouraging. Your discarded plastic may end up in a landfill even if you send it to be recycled. Worldwide, only about nine percent of all the plastic waste has been recycled, which amounts to less than 600 million tons out of over 6 billion. While one might assume the proportion of plastic being recycled is on the increase due to improved tech and increased public awareness of environmental protection, it’s actually become even lower in many places in recent years.
“The world wasn’t always flooded with single-use plastic products,” said Lisa Ramsden, senior plastic campaigner for Greenpeace USA. “We know how to live without them. We’ve just got used to a convenience culture that relies so heavily on them.”
The solution is obvious. To get out of this habit, we should stop using so much plastic, starting with many of the items we use just once for a few minutes. Companies need to shift toward using more refillable and reusable containers, and packaging made from materials that are less harmful to the environment. Governments must mandate (强制执行) such changes a goal we’re now finally inching closer to every day.
1. What is the problem with Torus Pak packages?| A．They are expensive for customers. |
| B．Their production process is complex. |
| C．Their pigment is hardly appealing. |
| D．They are hard to define recyclable. |
| A．The reason for recycling plastic waste. |
| B．The potential of recycling plastic waste. |
| C．The outcome of recycling plastic waste. |
| D．The objective of recycling plastic waste. |
| A．Advancing recycling technology. |
| B．Reducing the use of plastic products. |
| C．Setting higher environmental goals. |
| D．Making some stricter relevant laws. |
| A．Recycling fail to solve plastic pollution. |
| B．A company contributes a lot to recycling. |
| C．Great changes happen in recycling plastic. |
| D．Plastic pollution is increasingly worsening. |
3 . Southern California’s Catalina Island is a popular destination for nature lovers. It is reachable by boat from Los Angeles and San Diego. Most of the small island is a government-protected wild area. But, a report last October in the Los Angeles Times newspaper raised public concern about the water surrounding Catalina. The newspaper discovered that industrial companies for years had been dumping (倾倒) the insect poison DDT into the ocean near Catalina. The practice began in the 1940s and ended in the 1970s.
The newspaper report led to a search and study of the area by scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego (UCSD). The research team discovered about 25,000 large containers, below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. The scientists suspected the containers held DDT, and other chemicals used to make the poison.
Eric Terrill, who led the Scripps program that worked on the project, said the finding was a surprise as the containers were spread over a very large area. The Scripps examination also showed the companies responsible for the chemical dump disobeyed rules about where to place the containers.
The researchers mapped about 15,000 hectares of ocean floor where past studies had shown evidence of poisonous chemicals. The area lies between coastal Los Angeles and Catalina. “The long-term effect on ocean life and humans is still unknown, and needs extensive study,” said Lihini Aluwihare, a member of the Scripps program. But, in 2015,she co-wrote another study that found high amounts of DDT and other chemicals in the fat of bottle nose dolphins. Aluwihare said some studies among small groups showed that DDT-linked health problems have been passed from parents to children.
1. What can we know about Catalina Island?| A．It’s the smallest island off Los Angeles. | B．Various chemical plants are still there. |
| C．No man has ever set foot on the island. | D．It’s a good option to explore nature. |
| A．It’s an illegal activity. | B．It lasted half a century. |
| C．It’s caused by an accident. | D．It poses no effect on wildlife. |
| A．Many dolphins were poisoned to death. | B．Further research should be conducted. |
| C．Her previous study was a great success. | D．Parents tended to get recovered soon. |
| A．How to Respond to Water Pollution | B．What to Be Done to Save Ocean Life |
| C．Shocking DDT Dump Around Catalina | D．Breathtaking Views in Southern California |
4 . Researchers from London’s Queen Mary University studied how participants were affected by pollution based on where they live. In the journal Circulation on Friday, the scientists revealed that air pollution can harm the heart to the point where it resembles (类似) the early stages of heart failure.
According to Emory Healthcare, deaths have decreased around 12 percent per decade on average over the past 50 years, but 287,000 people die frorn heart failure each year. There are more hospitalizations from heart failure each year than all cancers combined.
In this study, the scientists examined information from 4,000 participants that were in the UK Biobank study. Volunteers had blood tests, health scans and heart MRIs, which measured the function, size and weight of their hearts. They also recorded their lifestyle, health record and where they’ve lived.
The team found participants had larger right and left ventricles (心室) in the heart when they lived closer to busy roads and were exposed to nitrogen dioxide(NOz), which enters the air when fuel is burned. The right and left ventricles are crucial for pumping blood. They were healthy but resembled the ventricles in early-stage heart failure. The scientists found that the higher the exposure to the pollutants, the greater the changes in the heart.
“Air pollution should be seen as a modifiable risk factor,” Dr. Nay Aung, who led the data analysis of the study, said in a statemnent from Queen Mary University. “The public all need to be aware of their exposure when they think about their heart health, just like they think about their blood pressure and their weight.”
Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation said in the statement from Queen Mary University, “We can’t expect people to move home to avoid air pollution, so government and public bodies must act right now to make all areas safe and protect the population from these harm.”
1. What is the finding of the study?| A．Air pollution causes many people to die. |
| B．People have big problems of heart health. |
| C．People’s houses have a great effect on the heart. |
| D．Air pollution makes our hearts at risk of heart failure. |
| A．It can be cured easily. | B．It remains a serious threat. |
| C．It’s the most common illness. | D．It causes people to suffer cancers. |
| A．They had many health problems. | B．Their ventricles worked better. |
| C．Their hearts were out of danger. | D．The size of their hearts was bigger. |
| A．Moving to safer areas. | B．Living far away from crowds. |
| C．Taking notice of air pollution. | D．Taking blood pressure regularly. |
5 . Catch your reusable bag and kiss your plastic bags goodbye. Plastic waste is on its way out, thanks to these governmental bans from around the world.
From Indiana to Maine, governments at all levels in the US are forcing bans and improving recycling. People are shopping smarter and companies are doing better to ensure the protection of our environment. Slowly but surely, the world is entering a brighter future as more and more countries follow. But there’s still a lot of work to be done—or undone.
Since the 1950s, researchers say that about more than 8.3 billion tons of plastic has been produced. And 60% of that waste has ended up in the environment. That number has increased quickly over the years. For example, it was recorded that the world’s plastic production doubled from 1976 (50 million tons) to 1989 (100 million tons). It was highest at 368 million in 2019 before decreasing to 367 million in 2020.
A million tons decrease of plastic production is not enough to deal with the rising pressures plastic puts into the environment. We still do not know how long it takes for plastic to breakdown. It means that about 12 million tons of plastic waste that entered the ocean in 2010 is still breaking into micro plastics and filling up the stomachs of birds and sea animals. The plastic going into our environment is not going away. While recent studies of plastic-eating enzymes and bacteria offer some hope for the future of plastic waste management, the best way to deal with our environmental stress is through decrease.
In 2020, New York City began to ban plastic bags. But this wasn’t the first plastic bag ban in a US state. In fact, the US wasn’t even the first country to introduce this idea. Back in 2002, Bangladesh became the first country to implement a plastic bag ban. Since then, other countries have followed, introducing their own ways to fight with the continuing plastic bags.
1. What do we know about plastic waste?| A．We have completely cleaned it up | B．It is hardly increasing all over the world. |
| C．We have done nothing to deal with it. | D．There is a long way to solve the problem of it. |
| A．More than 8.3 billion tons. | B．About 5 billion tons. |
| C．About 100 million tons. | D．Less than 368 million tons. |
| A．It doesn’t take long to breakdown it | B．Sea animals can be eating most of it. |
| C．Some enzymes and bacteria help a lot. | D．Cutting plastic waste down is still the best way. |
| A．Carry out. | B．Keep up. | C．Look at. | D．Take away. |
6 . How do you deal with plastic bags from the supermarket? Throw them away or reuse them? How about eating them?
Indian company EnviGreen has made a bag with natural ingredients (成分). It looks and feels just like plastic, but can be broken down easily. The bags bring no harm to the environment. Both humans and animals can safely eat them.
EnviGreen founder Ashwath Hedge spent four years doing experiments with a combination of 12 natural ingredients. They include potato, corn, vegetable oil and banana. He made the ingredients into liquid and used the liquid to make the bag. Although the EnviGreen bag is about 35 percent more expensive than a common plastic bag, it has many advantages. According to the Wall Street Journal, it takes 1,000 years for common plastic bags to break down. But an EnviGreen bag can naturally break down in less than 180 days. It also breaks down in less than a day in water, and in about 15 seconds in boiling water. Hedge was happy to show it in his interview with The Better India. In the interview, he put an EnviGreen bag in water and ate it with a smile.
According to India’s Minister of State for Atmosphere, Forest and Weather Change, the country produces more than 15,000 tons of plastic waste every day. But only 9,000 tons are processed. In China, 3 billion plastic bags are used every day. Maybe the EnviGreen bag could be a solution to the world problem of plastic pollution.
1. Why is the EnviGreen bag eatable?| A．Because it looks like plastic. |
| B．Because it can be broken down easily. |
| C．Because it consists of natural ingredients. |
| D．Because it does no harm to the environment. |
| A．¥ 0.85. | B．¥ 0.675. | C．¥ 0.65. | D．¥ 0.475. |
| A．It took him less than four years to succeed. |
| B．He made a special liquid to form the material. |
| C．He combined 4 kinds of food to create the EnviGreen bag. |
| D．The EnviGreen bag can naturally break down in 15 seconds. |
| A．Plastic pollution can be controlled with combined efforts. |
| B．India has benefited a lot from adopting the EnviGreen bag. |
| C．Chinese government has paid attention to plastic pollution. |
| D．Plastic pollution is a severe problem in some developing countries. |
7 . Scientists have come up with a new way to measure ocean trash(垃圾) and the numbers are even worse than thought. In 2010, eight million tons of plastic trash ended up in the ocean from coastal countries far more than the trash floating on the surface of the ocean. That ' s bad news. The even worse news is that the tonnage may increase by as much as ten times in the next decade unless the world finds a better way to improve how trash is collected and managed.
The new study identifies the major sources of plastic trash and names the top 20 countries producing the greatest amount of ocean trash. The United States is 20th. The rest of the list includes 11 Asian countries, Turkey, five African countries, and Brazil.
The size of the difference is huge --- 20 to 2,000 times more than the amount of floating trash. To make the figure eight million tons understandable, Jenna Jambeck, who led the study, compares it to lining up five grocery bags of trash on every foot of coastline around the globe. "And by 2025, those five grocery bags of plastic are going to be ten bags," she says. That would be 155 million tons a year if present trash management practices remain the same."
Ocean plastic has turned up everywhere. It has been found in the deep sea and buried in Arctic ice with terrible consequences for some 700 species of wildlife in the ocean.
The study has also created a new mystery. Because what flows into the ocean is so large, scientists now have to figure out where else it collects and in what amounts. "But what we need to do now is close the gap." says Richard Thompson, a scientist from the U.K.
1. What is the most serious problem concerning ocean trash?| A．There is no way to get rid of it. |
| B．Eight million tons of trash goes into the ocean. |
| C．A lot more trash may be put into the ocean in the future. |
| D．The way to measure ocean trash hasn't been found. |
| A．showing the causes | B．describing a process |
| C．making comparisons | D．making a classification |
| A．what is harmless and what is dangerous |
| B．what is on the surface and what is in the deep sea |
| C．what is found and what can be recycled |
| D．what is from America and what is from other countries |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Hopeless. | C．Critical. | D．Concerned. |
8 . You may think that light pollution isn’t something extraordinarily important. You may believe that every other type of pollution has a larger impact on the environment than light pollution does. But light pollution is serious.
Light pollution, or “sky glow”, is the glow you can see at night above cities and towns. Light pollution is a problem that has been accompanying man ever since he started his first fire some 15,000 years ago. Light pollution is the light that comes from streetlights, buildings, parking lots and any other source of light that is reflected or directed into the atmosphere.
Urban light pollution means that one-fifth of the world’s population can no longer see the Milky Way with the naked eye(肉眼). Many city kids, even if they did look through the orange smog above their heads, would probably see only a handful of stars. We have lost our view of the stars, and we have mucked up our night-time environment as well. Astronomers are calling for the dark places on Earth to be preserved as national parks.
Lots of people find the ever-brightening night annoying, and animals that are programmed to prefer the dark may avoid a brightened habitat. Sea turtles can get lost searching for a beach to lay eggs, and their hatchlings(孵化的幼仔)may confuse over-lit beachfront resorts for the ocean horizon, wasting precious energy needed to find the sea and escape predators(食肉动物). Because their necks aren’t yet long enough to see things far away, baby turtles rely on the mirror image of the moon to guide them to the sea, to begin their new life. A car may even hit a particular turtle, which was thinking the light from a nearby city was moonlight reflecting off the ocean waves. Birds that live in and around cities can die because of sky glow, too. The bright lights can blind them, leading to countless collisions with buildings and other tall structures.
On an individual level, people can help reduce much sky glow by using lighting only when necessary. The stars above us are priceless heritage— for not only for astronomers but for all humans. More of our children should be able to look up at night and see the Milk Way.
1. According to Para.2, light pollution_________.| A．has existed for nearly a century |
| B．is mainly caused by the light at night |
| C．doesn’t include the light coming from buildings |
| D．refers to the light only shining directly into the atmosphere |
| A．protected | B．blamed |
| C．praised | D．spoiled |
| A．the moon | B．the ocean waves |
| C．the sky glow | D．the mirrors |
| A．light pollution isn’t something important |
| B．the Milk Way can’t be seen with naked eye |
| C．we should take action to reduce light pollution |
| D．most kids are looking forward to seeing the Milk Way |
9 . Josh Hill, a biology teacher at Mar Vista High School in California, US, often gets sick after swimming in the ocean at Imperial Beach in California.
He and a group of students are raising awareness(意识)about water pollution by taking weekly water samples(样本)of the ocean and publishing their results online.
Every Thursday, Hill and his students collect water from the ocean. Students then take the samples to their school and test them for levels of bacteria. Usually, samples closer to the border have higher levels of bacteria, Hill said.
“Water quality is usually the worst at the southern end and it increasingly gets better,” he said.
Hill collects the samples on Thursdays so that students can publish the results on the Surfrider Foundation’s website in time for the weekend. The Surfrider Foundation has give Mar Vista lab equipment and promote the students’ results on its site.
Most of Hill’s students grew up in Imperial Beach. Many have gotten sick from the water or know someone who has.
Cameron Bell, 17, who is currently applying to college, wants to pursue a STEM career. He appreciates the fact the he can get lab experience at school. “Our research really impacts our community because it’s keeping people safe,” he said.
On a recent Thursday morning, Anthony Gass, 15, collected some samples. Before he got into the water, his classmates helped him put on waterproof(防水的)clothes and tie a rope around his waist to protect him from the onrush of water.
Hill said the protection probably wasn’t necessary, but that it was better to be safe than to be sorry. “We just want to make sure we protect the students,” he said.
1. What did Josh Hill and his students discover after checking the water samples?| A．Water quality at the northern end isn’t polluted. |
| B．Water nearer to the border is bless polluted. |
| C．Water pollution is getting worse and worse. |
| D．Different levels of bacteria are found in the water. |
| A．He is now applying for a job in college. | B．He doesn’t want to have a career in STEM. |
| C．He thinks that their research is meaningful. | D．He isn’t grateful for his research experience. |
| A．The results of the students’ research are not published online. |
| B．Many students in Imperial Beach get sick due to the water pollution. |
| C．Very few safety measures are adopted in students’ research work. |
| D．Mar Vista High School is not equipped with modern science labs. |
| A．US students’ research on water pollution. | B．Severe ocean water pollution in the US. |
| C．US students’ tests for water resources. | D．Tips on how to reduce water pollution. |
10 . With its tall buildings and crowded streets, Hong Kong is one of the last places you would expect to find a wild animal. But green sea turtles have become regular visitors to beaches found in more peaceful parts of the metropolis.
Over the last month, people living in Hong Kong and Hainan Province have been lucky enough to see the giant turtles lay their eggs on the beaches at night. Male turtles spend their entire lives in the sea. But every two to six years, the females swim thousands of miles from their feeding grounds to lay eggs in their own birthplaces
Unluckily, few of the baby turtles survive with only one in 1,000 living into adulthood. If they manage to grow big, which takes 20 to 30 years, they can live for more than a century.
Man is the main reason why turtles are dying out. The creatures’ habitats are destroyed by fishing and pollution, while the turtles themselves are killed for food and leather.
“Sea turtle eggs and meat saved us during Japan's occupation of Hong Kong in World War II,”
said 65-year-old resident Chan Kam-wan. But the days of eating turtle eggs have long since passed. Hong Kong banned the eating and sale of them in 1976, hoping to help save the endangered creatures.
In recent years, the government has closed beaches between June and October so the turtles can lay eggs in peace. Scientists also try and keep a count of the number of turtles, even following them using satellites. Through tracking the turtles, they hope to learn new ways of protecting them.
Officials in Hong Kong have recently finished a study on sea life in the area. They are considering setting up a sea park to protect the sea turtles from water pollution and illegal fishing.
1. We can learn from the passage EXCEPT_________.| A．Most of the baby turtles die before growing up |
| B．It is difficult to find wild animals in Hong Kong |
| C．Turtles can live for more than one hundred years |
| D．You can find some male turtles on the beaches if lucky enough |
| A．1976 | B．1978 |
| C．1944 | D．1898 |
| A．The Problems that the turtles were facing have been settled. |
| B．The government has built walls on the beaches to protect turtles. |
| C．The government will plant many trees on the beaches to set up a park. |
| D．The government is using some advanced equipment to protect turtles |
| A．In a novel. | B．In a tour guidance. |
| C．In a newspaper. | D．In a history book |
