1 . Information from this year’s IQAir World Air Quality Report showed only seven countries met the World Health Organization’s pollution recommendations in 2023, which were Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius and New Zealand. Of the 134 countries and regions measured, 124 had higher levels than called for in the WHO pollution guidelines.
The report said the five countries with what it called the lowest air quality had particle (颗粒物) levels at least nine times higher than what the WHO recommends. Three South Asian countries — Bangladesh, Pakistan and India — had the world’s lowest air quality. In 2022, India was eighth and Bangladesh was fifth.
The information came from the Swiss company IQAir. The report used measurements from over 30,000 stations across 134 countries. IQAir used the WHO standard of PM 2.5 to measure the size of breathable pollutant particles in the air. The PM2.5 measurement means the particles are 2.5 microns (微米) or less in diameter (直径). The diameter of human hair, for example, is about 30 times larger than a particle of 2.5 microns.
In Bangladesh, the concentration of PM2.5 particles reached 79.9 micrograms per cubic meter in 2023. In Pakistan, the number was 73.7. India’s level was 54.4, Tajikistan in Central Asia was 49 and Burkina Faso in West Africa was the fifth-most polluted nation at 46.6.
Firoz Khan, an air pollution expert at North South University in Dhaka, Bangladesh, said 20 percent of the early deaths in the country were caused by air pollution. He added spending on pollution-related healthcare was equal to four to five percent of the nation’s economy.
Christi Chester Schroeder oversees air quality science for IQair. She said South Asia’s geography and climate conditions influence its air quality. “The pollution has nowhere to go,” she added. “Because of agricultural practices, industry and population density, it really does look like it is going to get worse before it gets better.”
1. What can be inferred from the text?| A．Bangladesh’s air quality may have decreased in 2023. |
| B．India’s air quality was greatly improved in 2022. |
| C．Mauritius had the fifth-worst air quality in the world in 2022. |
| D．Pakistan’s air quality was the third-worst in the world in 2023. |
| A．To demonstrate how to use hair products. |
| B．To offer suggestions to people with hair problems. |
| C．To emphasize the difficulty of measuring pollutant particles. |
| D．To explain the size of breathable pollutant particles in the air. |
| A．Developing agriculture will help improve air quality. |
| B．Geographical conditions have little influence on air quality. |
| C．The future of air quality in South Asia does not look bright. |
| D．South Asian countries should try to increase their populations. |
| A．A report on global air pollution. | B．Plans to fight against air pollution. |
| C．The harm of air pollution to humans. | D．Advice on cutting air pollution. |
2 . After a week of talks in Canada, negotiators (谈判者) from 170 countries have a “clear path to landing an ambitious deal” on plastic pollution at a final round of negotiations in South Korea in November, Inger Andersen, executive director of the U. N. Environment Programme, said in a statement.
“The work, however, is far from over,” she added. “Some countries continue to block a crucial measure: a global limit on the production of new plastic, which is essential to control pollution.”
Plastic is made from fossil fuels, and major oil and natural gas producers like Russia and Saudi Arabia have been widely criticized for throwing up roadblocks in the negotiations in order to protect future profits. However, scientists and environmentalists say the United States also bears a lot of blame. The country is the top producer of oil and gas globally, and it has the world’s biggest economy, which has historically given the U. S. huge power in environmental negotiations.
Critics say American negotiators haven’t been willing to push for a global cap (限额) on plastic production, and are instead throwing their weight behind measures like recycling that are favored by the country’s fossil fuel and petrochemical industries.
Erin Simon, head of plastic waste and business at the World Wildlife Fund who attended the talks in Canada, says the U. S. and a lot of other countries are brainstorming and trying to come up with creative solutions to meet everybody’s needs as best as possible.
The State Department has said that for an agreement to be effective, it needs to be supported by every country, including nations that are major producers of fossil fuels and plastics. More than 50 countries now say they want an agreement to include targets for reducing plastic production.
“The drumbeat to reduce plastic production is growing from countries worldwide,” Ana Rocha, the director of global plastics policy in Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, said in a statement. “More and more leaders are waking up to what the science and our lived experiences tell us: plastic is pollution, and we need to stop it where it starts.”
1. What is the key to controlling plastic pollution according to Inger Andersen?| A．Limiting the use of second-hand plastic. |
| B．Raising people’s environmental awareness. |
| C．Reducing the worldwide production of plastic. |
| D．Passing laws to regulate the disposal of waste plastic. |
| A．Stopping producing plastic. | B．Sharing quality plastic. |
| C．Forbidding using plastic. | D．Recycling used plastic. |
| A．All countries’ support. | B．The shared laws. |
| C．Everyone’s permission. | D．Creative solutions. |
| A．Plastic production is reducing all the time. |
| B．The plastic pollution should be handled technically. |
| C．People’s awareness of reducing plastic pollution is increasing. |
| D．More leaders realize lived experiences can help handle plastic pollution. |
Ben Drake, an expert on air pollution, is being interviewed on the radio. He said that smog was a severe problem in the early 20th century in Britain. At that time, Britain was experiencing a boom in industry. Factories and homes used lots of coal, which created smog. He also mentioned the heavy smog in London was particularly bad and caused over 4000 deaths in 1952. Later the UK government restricted burning coal in homes and forced factories to move away from city centers. As smog is harmful to everyone, the expert advised us to replace coal with cleaner forms of energy, use new energy-efficient vehicles and further develop green technology.
1. The expression “2. Smog became a severe problem in Britain because people at that time burnt lots of
3. The worst smog in British history happened in London in 1942.
4. The Great Smog of London claimed 5,000 lives.
5. Later, the UK government ordered people not to burn
4 . Plastic is everywhere, from the Arctic ice to vital organs in the human body. In fact, previous estimates suggest that the average person swallows a credit card-worth of microscopic plastic particles(颗粒) every week. But new research shows that this could actually be an understatement.
Microplastics are plastics smaller than 5 millimeters, found in industrial waste, beauty products, and formed during the degradation of larger plastic pieces. Over time, they break down into even smaller nanoplastics. These tiny particles can pass through our intestines and lungs into our bloodstreams, reaching vital organs like the heart and brain.
While the idea of eating plastic is unsettling in itself, the major concern here is that these plastic particles contain chemicals that can interrupt our body’s natural release of hormones, potentially increasing our risk of reproductive disorders and certain cancers. They can also carry toxins(毒素) on their surface like heavy metals.
In the past, researchers have shown bottled water can contain tens of thousands of identifiable plastic fragments in a single container. However, until recently, only the larger microplastics were detectable with available measuring tools, leaving the area of nanoplastics largely a mystery.
Using Raman microscopy (显微镜学), capable of detecting particles down to the size of a flu virus, the team measured an average of 240, 000 particles of plastic per liter of bottled water, 90 percent of which were nanoplastics, a revelation 10 to 100 times larger than previous estimates.
These plastics likely originate from the bottle material, filters used to “purify” the water, and the source water itself. “It is not totally unexpected to find so much of this stuff, ” the study’s lead author, Columbia graduate student Naixin Qian, said in a statement. His team hopes to expand their research into tap water and other water sources to better inform our exposure to these potentially dangerous particles. “The idea is that the smaller things get, the more of them I reveal, ” he added.
1. What is the primary focus of the new research?| A．The presence of plastic particles. | B．The use of plastic in everyday products. |
| C．The detection methods for microplastics. | D．The potential risks of nanoplastics to human. |
| A．Finding the source of plastic particles. | B．Helping to cure the deadly flu virus. |
| C．Detecting the smaller plastic particles. | D．Improving the quality of bottled water. |
| A．To focus on areas with higher plastic pollution. |
| B．To be aware of the dangerous particles in daily life. |
| C．To further measure the types of particles in tap water. |
| D．To detect the smaller plastic particles in industrial areas. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Objective. | C．Conservative. | D．Positive. |
5 . A new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the University of Victoria has shown that common levels of traffic pollution can damage human brain function in only a matter of hours.
“For many decades, scientists thought the brain may be protected from the harmful effects of air pollution,” said senior study author Dr. Chris Carlsten. “This study, which is the first of its kind in the world, provides fresh evidence supporting a connection between air pollution and cognition.”
For the study, the researchers briefly exposed 25 healthy adults to diesel exhaust (柴油废气) and filtered air at different times in a laboratory setting. Brain activity was measured before and after each exposure using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
The researchers analyzed changes in the brain’s default mode network (DMN), a set of inter-connected brain regions that play an important role in memory and internal thought. The fMRI revealed that participants had decreased functional connectivity in widespread regions of the DMN after exposure to diesel exhaust, compared to filtered air.
“We know that altered functional connectivity in the DMN has been associated with reduced cognitive performance and symptoms of depression, so it’s concerning to see traffic pollution interrupting these same networks,” said Dr. Jodie Gawryluk, a psychology professor at the University of Victoria and the study’s first author. “While more research is needed to fully understand the functional impacts of these changes, it’s possible that they may impair (损害) people’s thinking or ability to work.”
Notably, the changes in the brain were temporary and participants’ connectivity returned to normal after the exposure. Dr. Carlsten assumed that the effects could be long lasting where exposure is continuous. He said that people should be mindful of the air they’re breathing and take appropriate steps to minimize their exposure to potentially harmful air pollutants like car exhaust.
1. How does traffic pollution affect people according to the study?| A．Exhausting their body. | B．Decreasing their income. |
| C．Endangering their safety. | D．Harming their brain function. |
| A．Growth. | B．Sport. | C．Memory. | D．Behaviour. |
| A．Avoid being exposed to the polluted air constantly. |
| B．Be mindful of the air quality in a new city. |
| C．Measure the brain activity in laboratories. |
| D．Stay inside a house as often as possible. |
| A．A Role Of Brain Will Be Ruined |
| B．Traffic Pollution May Impair Brain Function |
| C．A Famous UK University Did A Vital Study |
| D．A Source Of Pollution Has Drawn People’s Attention |
6 . You are welcome to our channel. An interest in the way ocean currents move led Dr. Erik van Sebille to track garbage. This Dutch scientist hopes that by making us aware of how much we litter our oceans, we’ll be motivated to better stash (存放) our garbage.
Question: Where does the garbage in our oceans come from ?Answer: It can come from litter people leave behind on beaches. Or from things falling off ships. Almost every river’s garbage will end up in the ocean too. Plastic garbage is the biggest problem, though. That’s because it doesn’t easily break down. It can stay in the ocean for thousands of years. Eventually, it arrives at the garbage patches (垃圾带).
Question: Does this mean that ocean garbage is worse than garbage on land ?
Answer: Litter in the ocean is probably just as bad as litter in a forest or a park. The main problem in either place is that, if animals eat plastic pieces, they can become very ill. But we know how to solve the problem: Just stop polluting!
Question: Many persons love tossing a message in a bottle into the ocean. Is that a bad idea ?
Answer: Finding a bottle with a message in it is awesome, very special! But most bottles will never end up on a beach. They’ll turn up in the garbage patches, where it’s unlikely that someone will find them. If you want to play with ocean currents, go to the website and release virtual bottles. That way, you’re not littering our oceans.
1. Animals can become very ill if they _______________.
| A．turn up in the garbage patches. | B．arrive at the garbage patches. |
| C．eat plastic pieces. | D．play with bottles. |
| A．educative. | B．useful. | C．interesting. | D．meaningless. |
| A．story. | B．poem. | C．scientific article. | D．television interview. |
7 . Water companies have pumped waste water into Britain’s seas and rivers for more than nine million hours since 2016, new data suggests. The figure is an increase of 2,553% over five years, according to Environment Agency (EA) data, so the EA warned holidaymakers to avoid dozens of beaches across England and Wales this week.
Untreated waste water was spotted pouring into the sea near Bexhill, East Sussex on Wednesday. On Saturday, the red flags were removed, meaning the water was officially considered safe to bathe in. The beach, however, was nearly deserted.
Rachel Streeter moved to Bexhill in 2007 to enjoy wild swimming and the beach. “Flies actually flew above the surface of the water as well as the waste water. It’s quite horrible,” she said. Rachel says her friends and family have all become sick after swimming. Her 79-year-old mother went for a swim last week and fell ill with “a severe bacterial infection (感染)”.
Businesses say they are being affected by it too. Cliff Meadon, who runs business in the sea, says he has lost “thousands” pounds over the last two years due to water pollution. “We’ve been on the water with groups when we’ve had to come in as the waste comes out,” he said.
In Hastings people were advised not to swim due to a pollution risk this week. Beaches in Normans Bay as well as Bexhill were closed but have now reopened.
Southern Water argued that the water company had not been deliberately (故意的) pouring untreated water into the sea. A spokesperson for the company said, “This week’s heavy rain has fallen onto dry ground that can’t absorb surface run-off, meaning that more rain than usual has entered our waterway networks. This led to some overflows, spilling some untreated water into the sea.”
Southern Water was fined £90 million last year for widespread pollution after sending out more than 6,000 untreated waste water.
1. What warning has the EA given?| A．Holidaymakers not going to certain beaches. |
| B．A severe bacterial infection breaking out in the UK. |
| C．Southern Water stopping pouring waste water into the sea. |
| D．Cliff Meadon stopping running business in the sea. |
| A．Heavy rainfalls. | B．Too many holidaymakers. |
| C．Damaged waterway networks. | D．Poor management of water companies. |
| A．Holidaymakers facing pollution risk |
| B．Dozens of Britain’s beaches closed to holidaymakers |
| C．Lots of families pouring untreated waste water into seas |
| D．Huge increase in untreated waste water entering Britain’s seas |
| A．Health. | B．Business. | C．Environment. | D．Sports. |
8 . There are a lot of chemicals that can cause indoor air pollution. A recent project conducted has found over 900 different substances in our home are related to it. Many researchers have already examined the causes of indoor air pollution.
It has been proved that different kinds of chemicals can be released by building materials and new furniture. Everything from painting and decorating products, bathroom cleaners and beauty products can contain these chemicals.
As a research from Denmark has highlighted, cooking, particularly roasting can damage our body. Roast dinners contain many potentially harmful pollutants.
As far as cooking emissions are concerned, no one is suggesting switching to takeaways.
| A．In the long run, these changes lead to cancer. |
| B．They might also arise from cooking at home. |
| C．A wide range of sources are under investigation. |
| D．Therefore, what results from indoor air pollution? |
| E．However, most of us have ignored their bad effects. |
| F．So, what are the main contributors to poor air quality? |
| G．But we can change how we cook to deal with the emissions. |
9 . Around 40 million tonnes of electronic waste, known as e-waste, is produced every year. This includes electrical or electronic equipment that has been discarded. But where does it all go? In the US alone, 100 million mobile phones, 41 million computers and over 20 million televisions are thrown into landfills in a year. Even for standard waste this is a big headache, because any materials that are buried in the ground can’t be easily recovered and recycled. Recycling electronics can save energy and means that less of Earth’s natural resources need to be mined.
Failing to recycle e-waste is extremely damaging the environment due to the nature of the materials used in modern devices. While heavy metals and chemicals improve a device’s safety and user experience, these components become poisonous if they’re not dealt with properly. Your old phones, Gameboys, kettles, microwaves and more can end up in landfills, leaking their harmful contents into the soil, water and air. Not only does this kill wildlife and destroy ecosystems, but the accumulation of poison can impact human health too. As heavy metals and chemicals flow into lakes and rivers, drinking water becomes polluted. These poisons spread through the soil, impacting the health of crops and animals that people also rely on.
In some western countries, e-waste isn’t hidden out of sight in landfills but is burnt in giant, open junkyards. They even ship waste electronics to other countries to deal with, and this often ends up in dumps across Africa and Asia. Workers in these places are exposed to polluted lands and chemical gas.
It is urgent that we should reduce the damaging and unsustainable side of e-waste production. Rare earth metals, some plastics and chemicals can be fed into the next generation of electronics. The steps to proper recycling of e-waste are extensive and need large investment, but more and more countries around the world are turning to e-waste recycling.
1. What does the underlined word “discarded” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Repaired. | B．Protected. | C．Used. | D．Abandoned. |
| A．E-waste has a permanent effect on the environment. |
| B．E-waste may do harm to both ecosystems and humans. |
| C．Heavy metals and chemicals are poisonous to the users. |
| D．Burying e-waste into landfills is an effective way to recycle. |
| A．supportive | B．objective | C．concerned | D．uncertain |
| A．Solutions to destroying e-waste. | B．Ways to recycle e-waste properly. |
| C．Applications of recycled materials. | D．Investments in restoring ecosystems. |
10 . August 24, 2023 may be imprinted in history as the day of disaster for the marine environment. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has asked Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, to release nuclear wastewater into the ocean from Thursday, ignoring strong objections from both home and abroad.
It will be a public crime if the discharge goes through and the decision will prove to be extremely unrewarding. The international community can hold Japan accountable indefinitely.
According to Paris-based French TV network France 24, some 1.34 million tonnes of nuclear wastewater, equivalent to almost the water in 540 Olympic pools, will be released into the ocean off Japan’s northeast coast, at a maximum rate of 500 cubic meters per day. The whole process is expected to take 30 to 40 years and cost around eight trillion yen (55 billion USD).
Junichi Matsumoto, the TEPCO executive in charge of the water release, told the Associated Press in July that the company plans to release 7,800 tonnes of treated water for 17 days in the first round. By the end of March 2024, the aim is to release 31,200 tonnes. The pace is expected to pick up later.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong asked the Japanese ambassador to China Hideo Tarumi on August 22 to meet him and make serious representations over the Japanese government’s announcement that it would start releasing nuclear-contaminated water on August 24.
Sun said the Fukushima nuclear accident is one of the world’s most serious nuclear accidents to date, resulting in the release of a large amount of radioactive material, which has far-reaching implications for the marine environment, food safety, and human health.
“The ocean is the blue home that all humanity depends on for survival, and the Japanese side should not dump nuclear-contaminated water at will,” Sun said.
1. Who did Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ask to release nuclear wastewater into the ocean?| A．Spokesperson Wang Wenbin. |
| B．The TEPCO executive Junichi Matsumoto. |
| C．Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong. |
| D．The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. |
| A．1.34 million tonnes. | B．7,800 tonnes. | C．2,3400 tonnes. | D．31,200 tonnes. |
| A．It has no implications for the marine environment. |
| B．Has no implications for food safety and human health. |
| C．It is one of the most serious nuclear accidents in history. |
| D．It resulted in the release of a small amount of radioactive material. |
| A．A research paper. | B．A newspaper report. |
| C．A business report. | D．A geography textbook. |
