1 . For most of human history, the stars shone brightly in a dark night sky. But today, cities and towns, increasingly lit by artificial light at night, dramatically reduce the visibility of stars.
Satellite data suggests that light pollution has been increasing in many parts of the world over the last decade. However, satellites miss the blue light of LEDs (发光的二极管), which are commonly used for outdoor lighting, resulting in an underestimate of light pollution.
An international citizen science project called Globe at Night (环球夜景) aims to measure how everyday people’s view of the sky is changing. The data shows that the night sky got, on average, 9.6% brighter every year. For many people, the night sky today is twice as bright as it was eight years ago. The brighter the sky, the fewer stars you can see. If this trend continues, a child born today in a place where 250 stars are visible now would only be able to see 100 stars on his/her 18th birthday.
The main factors leading to increasing brightness of the night sky are industrialization and the growing use of LEDs for outdoor lighting. The loss of dark skies threatens our ability as astronomers to do good science. But everyday people feel this loss too. Starry night skies have inspired artists, writers, musicians and philosophers for thousands of years. Light pollution also has a bad effect on the daily cycle of light and dark that plants and animals use to adjust their lifestyle. Two-thirds of the world’s key biodiversity (生物多样性) areas are affected by light pollution.
Individuals and their communities can make simple changes to reduce light pollution. The secret is using the right amount of light, in the right place and at the right time. Making outdoor lights shine downward, using lights that give out more yellow-colored light instead of white light and putting on light timers can all help reduce light pollution. A view of about 2,500 stars in a truly dark sky might convince you that dark skies are a resource worth saving.
1. How is the first paragraph mainly developed?| A．By giving an example. | B．By making a comparison. |
| C．By reaching a conclusion. | D．By raising a question. |
| A．The light pollution is getting more serious. |
| B．The night sky today gets darker than before. |
| C．It’s difficult to imagine a child’s fast growth. |
| D．LEDs are commonly used for outdoor lighting. |
| A．The bad effects of light pollution. | B．The factors causing light pollution. |
| C．The functions of starry night skies. | D．Key biodiversity areas in the world. |
| A．To explain a phenomenon. | B．To suggest a solution. |
| C．To remember a scientist. | D．To increase public awareness. |
2 . We all have an idea about the common types of environmental problems. However, light pollution may be a new term to many of us. But, the fact is that it does affect mankind, other living forms and the environment as a whole.
What is light pollution? It presents all forms of misused man-made light. The obvious cause of light pollution is the use of outdoor lighting products improperly. It can be office lighting, car headlights, station lights, streetlights and many more.
Light pollution is harmful to both animals and plants. Upon studies, it is found that obvious effects are observed in the behaviour of animals that are active at night. Needless to mention, bright light at night makes it difficult for these animals to hunt, wander and perform their regular activities. Light pollution is directly or indirectly responsible for causing several diseases. Its effects are related to disturbance in the physical rhythm (节奏). It contributes to risks of developing cancerous cells. So, it’s nothing less than a threat to human health.
You have already seen the negative effects of light pollution on animals and human health. Apart from this, the actual cost of misused light is about millions of dollars every year. It also leads to the release of greenhouse gases and global warming. After all, coal or gas is used for producing electricity.
While outdoor lighting and using man-made lighting products are part of our modern lifestyle, some simple ways will surely help in reducing light pollution. For example, while installing (安装) outdoor lighting, make sure that they are pointed downwards. Also, use only the required lighting equipment for both home and offices. Believe it or not, many people living in the urban areas cannot view clear sky and stars at night. Let’s contribute our part in reducing the pollution.
1. What can we learn about light pollution?| A．It has little effect on plants. |
| B．It contributes to most cancers. |
| C．It is a negative fruit of light technology. |
| D．It affects animals’ behavior during the day. |
| A．It increases the temperature at night. |
| B．It creates clouds in parts of the Earth. |
| C．It stops the release of greenhouse gases. |
| D．It is related to the burning of coal and gas. |
| A．Forbid the use of outdoor lighting. |
| B．Use clean energy to produce electricity. |
| C．Avoid unnecessary lights at home and offices. |
| D．Reduce money spent on light in urban areas. |
| A．Citizens should be banned to install outdoor lighting. |
| B．Only simple ways can help reduce light pollution. |
| C．There is no clear sky or stars over the urban areas. |
| D．Light pollution needs to be dealt with urgently. |
3 . Millions of tons of electronic waste, known as e-waste, is produced ever year. In 2016, the world’s population make 49 million tons of electronic waste. It has been calculated that there will be more than 60 million tons by 2021. The amount of electronic waste is growing so rapidly that it has become a global problem that needs to be addressed.
What is causing the upsurge(激增)in e-waste? Technology is becoming more and more widespread, covering almost every aspect of our lives. Meanwhile, the lifespan of devices is getting shorter— many products will be thrown away once their batteries(电池)die, to be replaced by new devices. Companies update the design or software so quickly and it is usually cheaper and easier to buy a new product than to repair an old one. Since prices are falling, electronic devices are in demand around the world.
As more people buy electronic equipment, manufacturers(制造商)are beginning to face shortages of the raw material needed to make their products, so recycling and reusing materials from discarded(废弃的)products and waste makes economic and environmental sense. Recycling e-waste is practiced both formally and informally. Formal e-waste recycling usually involves taking apart the electronics, separating and sorting through the materials and cleaning them. Companies must obey health and safety rules to reduce the health and environmental harm of handling e-waste by using pollution-control technologies. All this makes formal recycling expensive.
With the amount of e-waste growing around the world, recycling alone will not be enough to handle the problem. In order to reduce e-waste, manufacturers need to design electronics that are safer, and more durable (耐用的)repairable. As a customer, you’d better get our old product repaired if possible and buy a new device only when you really need.
1. The underlined word “addressed” in paragraph 1 can be replaced by _________.| A．reduced | B．changed |
| C．controlled | D．solved |
| A．The problems caused by the upsurge in e-waste. |
| B．The reasons for e-waste’s sharp increasing. |
| C．The bad effect of updating devices. |
| D．The causes of devices’ price dropping. |
| A．Improving the quality of e-devices. |
| B．Lowering the costs of technology innovation. |
| C．Relieving companies’ lacking raw materials. |
| D．Increasing the variety of electronic products. |
| A．Recycling is the only way to reduce e-waste. |
| B．Companies should be mainly responsible for reducing e-waste. |
| C．Repairing a device is better than buying a new one. |
| D．Everyone should take action to reduce e-waste. |
4 . During a waste collection session in May at the base of Mount Qomolangma, in the Tibet Autonomous Region, participants put garbage（mostly plastics）into bags and prepared to transport them downhill.
Dressed in camouflage and a blue vest, Samdrub dragged a sack to a blue truck parked a few hundred meters away. Scores of similar sacks were piled up along the roadside, waiting to be loaded onto the vehicle. Not far away, a couple of sheep roamed the deserted land looking for grass. “Loads of it here. Loads of it. This is the fifth consecutive time we have come here and we still haven’t finished the clean-up, ” said Samdrub, 64, who, like many Tibetans only uses one name. Samdrub and her companions are members of a regular clean-up campaign organized by the Lhasa Ban-White Association, an environmental advocacy group that taps the volunteer spirit to control abandoned plastic trash, also known as “white pollution”. The volunteers are of all ages and come from different walks of life. Now retired and with time to kill, Samdrub and her friends have taken to the city’s ravines and riverbanks to battle the pollution. “In recent years, I’ve read reports that livestock choked and died after eating plastic. I was born and raised in rural Shigatse, and I know how big a financial loss that is for herders. ” Samdrub said.
Tersing Dorji, 62, a member of the Lhasa Ban-White Association, said the worst pollution results from rural farmers’ markets and the common use of plastic bags, which are super-thin and relatively expensive to recycle. “They are of various colors and very light, and when the wind blows they fly everywhere. ” she said.
A rule was then implemented by authorities in Lhasa that banned the production of super-thin plastics and ordered retailers to charge customers a fee if they wanted a regular plastic bag. The ban was later extended to the entire region. It has worked well generally, especially in supermarkets and other large operations, where additional charges for plastic bags have prompted many shoppers to opt for reusable items, such as cloth bags.
1. Why do the local volunteers like Samdrub participate in waste collection?| A．They are retired and have little time left. |
| B．They can make money by collecting waste. |
| C．They are encouraged by an environmental group. |
| D．They fight against pollution to help the Tibetans. |
| A．It will soon finish with people’s efforts. |
| B．People put it into sacks and dragged them downhill. |
| C．Clean-up campaigns are regularly organized to battle it. |
| D．It has been the main cause that leads to the death of livestock. |
| A．Caused. | B．Advised. | C．Promised. | D．Supported. |
| A．Ban on Plastic Bags |
| B．Pollution Caused by Plastic Bags |
| C．Action Against Plastic Waste in Tibet |
| D．Waste Collection Participated in by Locals |
5 . It was once thought that air pollution affected only the areas immediately around large cities with factories and heavy automobile traffic. Today, we know that although these are the areas with the worst air pollution, the problem is actually worldwide. On several occasions over the past decade, a heavy cloud of air pollution has covered the entire eastern half of the United States and led to health warnings even in rural areas away from any major concentration of manufacturing and automobile traffic. In fact, the very climate of the entire earth may be affected by air pollution. Some scientists feel that the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the air resulting from the burning of fossil fuels (coal and oil) is creating “a greenhouse effect”, holding in heat reflected from the earth and raising the world’s average temperature. If this view is correct and the world’s temperature is raised only a few degrees, much of the polar ice cap will melt and cities such as New York, Boston, Miami, and New Orleans will be under water.
Another view, less widely held, is that increasing particulate (废气排到空中而形成的微粒、颗粒) matter in the atmosphere is blocking sunlight and lowering the earth’s temperature—a result that would be equally disastrous. A drop of just a few degrees could create something close to a new ice age and would make agriculture difficult or impossible in many of our top farming areas. At present we do not know for sure that either of these conditions will happen (though one recent government report prepared by experts in the field concluded that the greenhouse effect is very likely). Perhaps, if we are very lucky, the two tendencies will offset each other and the world’s temperature will stay about the same as it is now.
1. As pointed out at the beginning of the passage, people used to think that air pollution ________.| A．caused widespread damage in the countryside |
| B．affected the entire eastern half of the United States |
| C．had damaging effects on health |
| D．existed merely in urban and industrial areas |
| A．shares the same view with the scientists |
| B．is uncertain of its occurrence |
| C．rejects it as being ungrounded |
| D．thinks that it will destroy the world soon |
| A．slip into | B．make up for |
| C．set up | D．catch up with |
| A．lowering the world’s temperature merely a few degrees would lead many major farming areas to disaster |
| B．raising the world’s temperature only a few degrees would not do much harm to life on earth |
| C．almost no temperature variations have occurred over the past decade |
| D．the world’s temperature will remain constant in the years to come |
6 . During the twenty years there has been increasing concern with the quality of the environment. Alone with air and water pollutants, noise pollution has been recognized as a serious pollutant. As noise levels have risen, the effects of noise have become more obvious.
Noise is defined as “unwanted sound”. Causes of noise pollution include traffic, aircraft, rock bands, barking dogs, televisions, garbage trucks, and noise from neighbors, voices, alarms, and watercrafts. Studies show that over forty percent of Americans are disturbed at home or lose sleep because of noise pollution.
Noise has bad effects on people and the environment. Noise causes hearing loss, interferes with human activities at home and work, and is in various ways dangerous to people’s health and well-being.
When we think, talk, listen to music, or sleep, we need quiet. Even low levels of noise can be annoying or frustrating. Sudden increases in volume can make sounds annoying. The quieter the background is, the more penetrating a noise can be.
Noise can also make instructions or warning unclear, resulting in accidents. Louder noise bursts can cause more problems. Continued stress caused by living in noisy conditions can lead to high blood pressure, which is the major cause of some diseases.
Long exposure to noise levels above eight-five decibels can damage inner cells and lead to hearing loss. Noise can result in the involuntary fear response and can cause adrenaline to be pumped into the bloodstream, the heart rate to quicken, muscles to tense, breathing to increase, and the digestive system to slow down.
Local government has the responsibility to fight noise pollution. For example, it can regulate the speed of trains through their community. On the other hand, a responsible citizen will never make noise pollution wherever he is.
1. What does the underlined word “penetrating” in paragraph 4 mean?| A．High and exciting. | B．Deep and shocking. |
| C．Loud and unpleasant. | D．Clear and comfortable. |
| A．Quickening the digestive system. | B．Having low blood pressure. |
| C．Slowing down the heart rate. | D．Breathing fast. |
| A．individuals and government should work together to reduce noise pollution |
| B．the government should offer its people better education on noise pollution |
| C．the government should be responsible for noise pollution |
| D．people who make noise pollution should be punished |
| A．Measurement of noise levels. | B．Bad effects of noise pollution |
| C．Hearing damage from environmental noise | D．Community reactions to noise |
7 . Clean water is not only important for food production, but necessary for our life. However, large numbers of people in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are going without. The World Health Organization reports that almost 4,000 children die each day for dirty water or lack of water.
Agriculture is the primary user of water at 70-85% of fresh water in the world. Industrial uses of water don’t often come to mind, but you may be surprised to know that industry uses 59% of the water supply in developed countries.
Home use takes up only 8% in the world. But as cities grow, the local government has to cut down on water use. Many cities are turning to privatization (私有化) of water as a method of controlling use. The poor are paying as much as a quarter of their monthly income for water in some developing countries.
In 60% of large European cities, groundwater is being used at a faster rate. People are saving water by simply using less and being careful with what they do use. Sometimes it’s as simple as not throwing out water that they could use elsewhere.
In Australia overuse of water has always been a problem. The Australian government has encouraged households and industries to collect rainwater and reuse water from showers. Technology is helping householders for shower and bath water for reuse in toilets or gardens.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has made a water saving program designed to encourage families and businesses to examine their water use and save more water. Good water management has been considered by scientists and the UN as the key to solving the water problem. We can all work together to protect our valuable water in our daily life.
1. In developed countries, most water is used by ______.| A．industry | B．agriculture |
| C．families | D．businesses |
| A．Find more groundwater. |
| B．Make good use of rainwater. |
| C．Encourage people to have fewer showers |
| D．Recycle water for a second use. |
| A．popularize privatization of water |
| B．cut down on water use at home |
| C．have good control over water use |
| D．introduce water-saving technologies |
| A．Water — the source of all lives |
| B．Save water, save the world |
| C．New ways to save water |
| D．Water and people’s health |
Apparently, we are safe neither at home nor in the business office. We use water in both places, but the research shows that chemicals added to our local water supply to kill harmful bacteria can have unwanted side effects. These chemicals can cause potential harm through drinking and in seemingly harmless activities as cleaning one’s house. They are released(set free)from water by daily actions like water running out of tap, spraying from garden pipes，or splashing in dishwashers and washing machines. As the water is moving, these chemicals are released into the air and then breathed in. Once inside our bodies, they start to affect our health.
Does this mean we should stop bathing? No, say the scientists, but we should put all pollution into perspective. Activities at home such as the burning of coal, cooking oil, or even candles release carbon monoxide and particulates such as cigarette ashes which have been proven as harmful to health as working or living near heavy traffic. New tugs, bedding, and even clothing give off that “new smell,” which is a sure sign of chemicals. In the office, newly applied paint, newly purchased telephones and other telecommunications equipment, and computers release polluting chemicals, too. As offices and homes often have inadequate ventilation (通风), these chemicals can build up to become health problems. Their poisonous effects are only now being slowly recognized.
These facts suggest that, at a minimum, proper airing of newly purchased goods with an obvious chemical smell is a wise warning. Home and office windows should be opened during good weather. Even one’s car needs to be ventilated as well while in the garage.
We need further research to understand better other potential health dangers, too. For example, the effects of overcrowding of schools (carbon dioxide build-up), the factory work environment (an endless list of potentially dangerous substances), and even home heating and cooling (the air conditioner may be our enemies, not our friends) have only recently started to come to light. Until we understand the effects of our new technological environment better, we can only hope that “there is no place like home.”
1. What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
| A．The air we breathe in is harmful. |
| B．The water in everyday use is unsafe. |
| C．Chemicals are added to the drinking water. |
| D．Chemicals are released in the running water. |
| A．bathing should be done with caution |
| B．homes and offices should be aired often |
| C．any pollution should be taken into consideration |
| D．we should prevent any pollution from doing harm to us |
| A．To call on us to guard our water |
| B．To show us that no place is like home. |
| C．To make us aware of the pollution around us. |
| D．To argue that neither homes nor offices are safe. |
9 . As a result of pollution, Lake Erie, on the borders of the USA and Canada, is now without any living things.
Pollution in water is not simply a matter of “poisons” killing large numbers of fish overnight, Very often the effects of pollution are not noticed for many months or years because the first organisms（生物体）to be affected are either plants or plankton. But these organisms are the food of fish and birds and other creatures. When this food disappears, the fish and birds die too. In this way a whole food chain can be wiped out, and it’s not until dead fish and water birds are seen at the river’s edge or on the seashore that people realize what is happening.
Where do the substances which pollute the water come from? There are two main sources of sewage（污水）and industrial waste . As more detergent（洗涤剂）is used in the home, so more of it is finally put into our rivers, lakes and seas . Detergents harm water birds, dissolving the natural substances which keep their feathers water - proof. Sewage itself, if not properly treated, makes the water dirty and prevents all forms of life in rivers and the sea from receiving the oxygen they need. Industrial waste is even more harmful as there are many highly poisonous things in it, such as copper and lead（铅）.
So, if we want to stop this pollution, the answer is simple: sewage and industrial waste must be made clear before flowing into the water . It may already be too late to save some rivers and lakes, but others can still be saved if the correct action is taken at once.
1. Pollution of water is noticed________.| A．when the first organisms are affected |
| B．when a good many fish and birds die |
| C．when poisonous things are poured into water |
| D．as soon as the balance of nature is destroyed |
| A．water | B．fish |
| C．poison | D．oxygen |
| A．Organisms |
| B．Plants and plankton in the water |
| C．Waste water from cities |
| D．Industrial waste made clear before flowing into the water. |
| A．realize the serious situation clearly |
| B．put oxygen into the river |
| C．make the waste material harmless before flowing into the water |
| D．make special room in the sea for our rubbish |
