Every year, people around the world buy about 526 billion bottles, and that number is     1     the increase. More than 8 million pieces of plastic pollution find their way into our oceans every day. Much of other plastic     2     (throw) in landfills or rivers also has bad effects on wildlife. Many people are now trying     3     (cut) down on plastic use, while also turning these single-use plastics into something     4     (benefit)—like auto parts.

The Ford Motor Company has used recycled plastic since the 1990s. Today, it     5     (transform) recycled plastic into vehicle parts in an effort to reduce its carbon footprint, specifically under-body shields(车底护板) on all cars.

“The under-body shield is a large part.     6     is likely for such a big part to weigh three times     7     much if we use solid plastic, ”says Thomas Sweder, design engineer of the Company. “We’re looking for the most durable and     8     (green) materials to make our parts.”

Finding new and     9     (innovate) ways to recycle single-use plastics is essential for our planet. With one of the largest     10     (company) committed to working with recycled plastics, there’s hope that others will follow suit.

The     1    (measure) threat to the environment     2    (worse) by the spread of COVID-19 that increases the need for plastic protective equipment. Most plastic is made from fossil fuels. Millions of tons of greenhouse gas are released from the development of these resources and plastic production and burning.

The end life of plastic is just worrisome. Less than 10% of the plastic produced has been recycled. Even more of it has been burned. But the vast     3    (major) of plastic has been buried in land, and it is increasingly polluting the environment. We hear     4    (most) about ocean plastic and the harm done to sea creatures that mistake plastic bags and bits for food. But micro-plastic is even more worrisome. Plastic doesn’t break down     5    (biology) but instead breaks down into tiny particles (a very small piece of something),    6    have been found in every corner of the planet, on land and in the air, in drinking water and food sources.

Yet the public has not given this global environmental disaster the attention it requires. Instead, they have viewed single-use plastic—which makes up about 40% of plastic used each year—as a litter issue that can be solved through better recycling and waste management. That attitude must change because the recent global breakdown of the market     7     recycling has made     8     clear that it has never been, nor ever will be, able to keep up with plastic trash use.

California has been the forerunner of plastic waste reduction—it was the first state     9    (ban) single-use plastic bags and may be the first state to transform the way goods are packaged. The state also came close to     10    (pass)an act which would have required that products sold in plastic packaging in the state have a proven recycling rate of 75% by 2032. California, though influential, can’t solve this crisis alone. The US has long been producing a great amount of plastic trash and it should engage in reducing the use of plastic as well.

Air pollution is no doubt a major concern in many big cities across the world. More than 80% of people living in urban areas     1     (expose) to unsafe air, according to a report     2     (deliver) by the World Health Organization.

“Urban air pollution continues to rise at     3     alarming rate, doing great ham to human health,” said Dr. Maria Neira, the director of Public Health and Environmental Policy at the WHO. “At the same time,     4     (aware) is rising and more cities are monitoring their air quality.”

In the past two years, the number of cities monitoring air pollution     5     (double)-now covering about 3,000 cities in 103 countries. The WHO warned of the serious effects poor air quality could have     6     the health of urban residents,     7     (link) it to the risk of strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and many other diseases.

The report also showed that low-and middle income countries     8     (general) have poorer air quality. About 98% of cities with 100,000 or more people in low-and middle-income countries do not meet WHO air quality guidelines,     9     56% in high-income countries fail to meet the standard. The report also urged local governments to take stronger and     10     (effect) measures to fight against air pollution.

From monkeys to crabs, wildlife faces threat from face masks

Masks that helped save lives during the coronavirus pandemic are proving a    1    (dead) danger for wildlife, with birds and marine creatures trapped in a number of thrown-away facial coverings littering animal habitats.

Single-use surgical masks    2    (find) scattered around pavements, water ways and beaches worldwide since countries began ordering their use in public places.

    3    (wear) once, the thin protective materials can take hundreds of years to decompose(降解).

Monkeys have been spotted chewing the strips off old and tossed-aside masks in Malaysia. And in an incident    4    captured headlines in Britain, a gull was rescued by the RSPCA after its legs became tangled in the strips of a disposable mask for up to a week.

The biggest impact may be in the water. More than 1.5 billion masks made    5    (they)way into the oceans last year, according to environmental group Oceans Asia.

Already there are signs that masks are increasingly    6    (worse) threats to marine life. Conservationists in Brazil found one inside the stomach of     7    penguin after its body washed up on a beach, while French campaigners Operation Mer Propre found a dead crab trapped in a mask in a saltwater lake near the Mediterranean.

Masks and gloves are "particularly problematic” for sea creatures, says George Leonard, chief scientist from Ocean Conservancy. "When those plastics break    8     in the environment, they form smaller and smaller particles," he told AFP. "Those particles then enter the food chain and impact entire ecosystems," he added.

Campaigners have urged people to throw away single-use masks    9    (proper) and snip the straps to reduce the risk of animals becoming trapped. Oceans Asia has also called on governments    10    (encourage) the use of washable masks.

Experts in a Scottish University are urging world governments to step up their efforts on fighting microplastics pollution in the sea.

The University is part of a global organization     1     (make) up of 28 island universities which are devoted to increasing awareness of oceanic environmental issues. According to the group，although people     2     (warn) many times these years that oceans are suffering, they are often ignorant of the scale of the microplastics threat. Global efforts to fight ocean plastic pollution focus too heavily     3     the visible plastic, while the microplastic pollution often goes unchecked.

Unlike large plastic such as bottles，     4     can be seen with the naked eye, microplastics are much       5     (hard) to detect. They come from cosmetic products like shampoo, toothpaste, face wash and so on. When you shower with these products, the water together with the little pieces of plastic roes     6     (travel) into the water systems every day. And most of our water systems don't trap these microplastics that often end     7     in the ocean.

Sun and waves can break down big plastics,     8     in a very long time, longer than, hundreds of years. Scientists have predicted that by 2050, there will have been more plastic in the sea     9     fish. Sea creatures mistake it as their food. So they eat it and it remains in their stomachs. Just imagine your     10     (swallow) tiny plastics every day!