Honking cars, blasting stereos and babbling neighbors are     1     (whole) affecting people’s daily life: consider it all part of the symphony that plays daily on New York City streets. Everyone knows the city is loud, and a losing war against noise     2     (wage) for a long time. Now they have a new weapon     3     (invite) to many citizens: noise cameras.

The cameras     4     (pair) with a sound meter to detect noise of at least 85 decibels (分贝) from a source 50 ft or more away have recently been fixed on certain streets in Manhattan’s wealthy Upper West Side. It’s part of a program run by the city’s department of environmental protection.

However, Erica Walker, who studies the joint     5     community noise and health, believes most noise   comes from poor city planning rather than individual bad actions, and that noise cameras are merely Band -Aids for a more systemic issue. Actually,     6     (far) research still needs to be done on the economic effects of noise cameras. The public is supposed to zero in on the dangers and economic costs of noise pollution     7     can blight some proceeds and urge that appropriate actions     8     (carry) out.

On the other hand,     9     lecturer at Columbia University expressed concern about the surveillance (监视) capabilities of noise cameras. “It is being tried for the possibility     10     (leak) privacy still. Does this present a   privacy risk for residents of the city? ” she held the question.

A recent research shows that 86% of the world’s rivers have been damaged by human activities. The research     1     (conduct) by experts from a university in Toulouse, France,     2     examined data on over 2,500 rivers around the world.     3     (look) into changes in biodiversity (多样性) over the past 200 years, the scientists discovered that biodiversity in over half of the rivers has been seriously damaged by humans. The researchers said there were many reasons     4     this damage. A big reason is the     5     (introduce) of new species of fish into rivers. Other reasons include pollution, dams, overfishing, farming     6     climate change.

Unsurprisingly, the worst-hit rivers are in western Europe and North America. This is because these regions have large and rich     7     (city) crowded with people. The lead researcher Brosse said: “Rivers which have the most economic development around them, like the Mississippi River, are the most     8     (strong) affected.” The River Thames in London was one of the worst-affected rivers in the study. The least-affected rivers are in Africa and Australia. This is probably due to a     9     (slow) rate of industrialization in Africa and smaller population around rivers in Australia. Brosse added that rivers in many rich nations are unrecognizable compared with how they     10     (be) 200 years ago.

There are     1     (vary) causes of water pollution. Large amounts of industrial waste poison the water after they enter water bodies. Moreover, animal and human waste pollutes the water. Water pollution is also caused by     2     (poison) chemicals used in agriculture.

    3     (pollute) water bodies not only do harm to animals and plants; they also have a long-lasting effect     4     humans. For example, in many parts of the world, the poor quality of the local     5     (drink) water gives rise     6     public health problems.

    7     (prevent) further damage     8     water bodies, it is necessary to take some measures. First, we must draw public attention     9    the problem. Second, more strict laws should    10     (pass) to help reduce water pollution. Third, we can volunteer to take part in clean-up activities.

China will closely track     1     assess the impacts of Japan's "extremely selfish and     2    (responsible) " plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean, the National Nuclear Security Administration said.

Japan's plan prioritizes its own interests     3     the long-term well-being of humanity, the administration said in     4     media release on Thursday, the same day that Japan is set to start releasing     5     (treat) radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean     6     part of its plan to decommission the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida     7     (give) the final go-ahead for the plan to gradually release more     8    1 million metric tons of radioactive water from the plant into the ocean at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

"We urge the Japanese government to listen to the voice of the international community and     9     (effective) dispose of the nuclear-contaminated water in a     10     (science), safe and transparent manner under strict international supervision," the administration said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced a shocking finding about the air we breathe. It has found that almost everyone on Earth breathes unhealthy air. The WHO made     1    (it) air quality update ahead of World Health Day on April 7. The update reported that 99 per cent of the world’s population breathes air     2     goes beyond WHO air quality limits. It looked at data from over 6,000 cities in 117 countries. People     3    (live) in lower- and middle-income countries breathe the poorest-quality air. Millions of people die in these countries because of pollution-related diseases. The WHO said: “After surviving a pandemic, it is unacceptable to still have 7 million preventable deaths due     4     air pollution.”

The WHO said its report highlighted the need to move away from fossil fuels. It asked governments to do more     5     (reduce) levels of air pollution. It said: “Current energy concerns highlight the importance of speeding up the transition to cleaner and     6    (healthy) energy systems.” It added that high gas prices, energy     7    (secure), the dangers of air pollution, and climate change mean the world must be less dependent on fossil fuels. The WHO report     8    (include) many recommendations for change. One of these is     9     use of clean energy for cooking, heating and lighting. Another is to “build safe and affordable public transport systems and pedestrian- and cycle-friendly     10    (network)”.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan was     1     (severe) damaged by a tsunami in 2011, leading to a major nuclear disaster. Since then, water has been continuously used     2    (cool) the damaged reactors (反应堆) and prevent further damage.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the     3    (operate) of the plant, said that the storage tanks took up too much space due to the wastewater. So Japan initially said that it     4    (begin) releasing the water into the ocean in the spring of 2023.

On March 17, part of the equipment     5    was related to the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant started operation for     6    first time, according to Japanese media TV Asahi.

According to The Guardian, the Japanese government argued that the water     7    (treat) to remove most of the radioactive isotopes (同位素), so the water would be safe to be released into the ocean.

However, not everyone agrees with this decision. Environmental groups and local fishermen have expressed concern about the impact of the wastewater     8    marine life and the fishing industry, the BBC reported.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on March14 once again denounced (谴责) Japan’s unilateral (单边的) decision to dump nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the sea,     9    (consider) the move an attempt to shift the risk of nuclear pollution to all of mankind.

The ministry also warned the country not to start the plan     10    full consultation (磋商) with its neighbors and relevant international institutions.

World leaders at the 5th meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) agreed that by 2024, they would create and sign a new treaty on plastics. The new treaty would create international laws     1     could help bring plastic waste under control.

Because plastic is useful for so many purposes, it has become a part of nearly all areas of our lives. It’s hard to look anywhere without finding dozens of     2     (object) made of plastic.

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) reports that     3     (current) 400 million tons of plastic is produced every year. By 2040, that number is predicted to double. And even though there’s a lot of talk about recycling, only 9% of all the plastic ever     4     ( produce) has been recycled.

Plastic gives off dangerous gases when it’s made and also when it’s burned or buried in the ground. Scientists say plastics are responsible     5     4.5% of the world’s greenhouse gases — the gases that are driving the climate crisis.

Plastic doesn’t “decompose (腐烂)” like natural materials. Instead, it just breaks into smaller and smaller pieces. And as the plastics     6     (fill) our world break down, they create     7     new problem — microplastics.

Microplastics are so tiny that     8     (they) existence is usually ignored. In the past few years, microplastics     9     (find) almost everywhere, from the North pole to Antarctica, from the top of the Earth’s     10     (high) mountain to the deepest point in the sea. They’ve even appeared in the bodies of animals including humans.