1 . People often recommend planting trees to make cities greener, cleaner and healthier. But during heat waves, city trees can actually increase air pollution. Indeed, a new study finds that up to 60% of the ozone (臭氧) in a city’s air on hot days may have its origin in chemicals released by trees.
City trees offer a host of benefits. They provide cooling shade, absorb carbon dioxide, and also release oxygen into the air. But oxygen is far from the only gas that trees and certain other green plants release into the air. One of these chemicals is a hydrocarbon(碳氢化合物) that can react with burning pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (氮氧化合物). The result is the formation of ozone which can cause airway diseases.
Galina Churkina works in Germany at Humboldt University of Berlin. She and her team wanted to explore how much chemicals released by trees could affect city air. To do this, the researchers turned to a computer. They asked it to model the likely reactions between plant chemicals and nitrogen oxides in air throughout the Berlin city area. To do that, the researchers fed in local weather data for two summers. One was 2006, when there was a heat wave. The other was 2014, when temperatures were mild.
An average daily high there in summer tends to be at roughly 25℃. On such a day, chemicals released by area greenery would likely have contributed to making about 6 to 20 percent of the ozone in the city’s air. But during a heat wave, when temperatures are more than 30℃ , tree-chemical emissions (发出物) are also high. As a result, they are now likely to be responsible for up to 60 percent of the ozone in air.
Churkina says her team was not surprised to see the contrary relationship between plants and pollution. The results, Churkina says, suggest city tree-planting programs should not ignore the role this greenery may play in bad summer air pollution. Adding more trees will improve quality of life only if those cities also undertake plans to sharply cut vehicle pollution (汽车污染).
1. What might people think of the new study finding?| A．Reasonable. | B．Intelligent. | C．Surprising. | D．Disappointing. |
| A．It is released by trees and other green plants. |
| B．It directly comes from the burning of oxygen. |
| C．A part of nitrogen oxides results in ozone in the end. |
| D．It is from the chemical reaction between a hydrocarbon and burning pollutants. |
| A．The higher the temperature is, the more ozone forms. |
| B．There’re no emissions of chemicals in spring or autumn. |
| C．Churkina suggests the number of city trees be lessened. |
| D．Churkina was surprised at seeing the contrary finding first. |
Global warming refers to the fact that the earth's atmosphere is warming near
One popular theory relates to the “greenhouse effect”. Gases that make up the atmosphere are similar to
While scientists agree that human-produced compounds (化合物) like carbon dioxide and others are being released into the atmosphere, some argue it's not clear how this results
Global warming can
3 . The measurable threat to the environment has been worsened 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 majority of plastic has been buried inland, and it is increasingly polluting the environment. We hear mostly about ocean plastic and the harm done to sea creatures that mistake plastic bags and bits for food. But microplastic is even more worrisome. Plastic doesn't break down biologically but instead breaks down into tiny particles（a very small piece of something）, which 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 for recycling has made it 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 to ban single-use plastic bags and may be the first state to transform the way goods are packaged. The state also came close to passing 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.
1. Why does the author mention the release of greenhouse gas in paragraph 1?| A．To show the harm of plastic |
| B．To warn of the climate change. |
| C．To call for the development of fossil fuels. |
| D．To highlight the importance of plastic equipment. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Tolerant. |
| C．Curious. | D．Opposed. |
| A．A pioneer. | B．A failure. |
| C．An objector. | D．A predictor. |
| A．Microplastic Products Are Harmful |
| B．Waste Recycling Is an Urgent Matter |
| C．Plastic Waste Pollution Is a Wake-up Call |
| D．Global Environmental Disasters Are Increasing |
4 . UNICEF is calling on world leaders to reduce air pollution, saying it leads to the deaths of more children yearly than malaria and HIV/AIDS combined.
Around 600,000 children under age 5 die every year from diseases caused by or worsened by outdoor and indoor air pollution, especially in poor nations, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said in the introduction to a report titled “Clear the Air for Children.”
“Pollutants don't only harm children’s developing lungs, they can actually cross the blood brain barrier and permanently damage their developing brains, and, thus, their futures. No society can afford to ignore air pollution.”
UNICEF is asking world leaders to take four steps:
Reduce pollution by cutting back on fossil fuel burn and investing in energy efficiency.
Increase children's access to health care, including more immunization programs and information programs about pneumonia, a leading killer of children under 5.
Minimize children's exposure to air pollution by keeping schools away from factories and other pollution sources and using cleaner cookstoves in homes.
Improve monitoring of air pollution.
UNICEF said its air pollution report uses satellite imagery to show the global scope of the air pollution problem.
Around 2 billion children live in places with outdoor pollution exceeding World Health Organization air quality guidelines, the report said. Most of these children live in low and middle income countries.
That includes 620 million in South Asia, 520 million in Africa and 450 million in East Asia and the Pacific, UNICEF said.
The outdoor air pollution is most common in low-income, urban areas and is caused by vehicle emissions, heavy use of fossil fuels, dust and burning of waste, the report said.
The satellite map doesn't take into account the dangers of indoor pollution, primarily a problem in lower-income, rural areas where people use solid fuels like coal and wood for cooking and heating.
More than 1 billion children live in homes where solid fuels are used in this way, UNICEF said, For example, 81% of rural households, in India use this kind of fuel because it's cheap and Air pollution is an especially serious threat for children because their lungs and immune systems are developing, the report said.
Unborn children are also at risk. Studies show long-time exposure to high levels of dust matter is associated with high rates of fetal loss, premature births and lower birthrates.
1. UNICEF calls on the following steps except .| A．Reduce fossil fuel combustion | B．Give children more access to health care |
| C．Stop Children's exposure to air pollution. | D．Strengthen monitoring of air pollution |
| A．America | B．South Africa | C．East Asian and the Pacific | D．India |
| A．positive | B．negative | C．supportive | D．not mentioned |
| A．a story | B．an advertisement. | C．a geography magazine | D．a news report |
| A．The sea is getting smaller. |
| B．The sea is being polluted. |
| C．The sea is getting cleaner. |
6 . Last night’s meteor(流星) shower left many people in the community dissatisfied and demanding answers. According to Gabe Rothsclild, Emerald Valley’s mayor, people gathered in the suburbs of the city, carrying heavy telescopes, expecting to watch the brightly burning meteors passing through the sky. What they found instead was a sky so brightened by the city’s lights that it darkened the light of the meteors passing overhead.
“My family was so frustrated,” admitted town resident Duane Cosby, “We wanted to make this an unforgettable family outing, but it turned out to be a huge disappointment.”
Astronomers—scientists who study stars and planets—have been complaining about this problem for decades. They say that light pollution prevents them from seeing objects in the sky that they could see quite easily in the past. They call on people and the government to take measures to fight against it.
There is yet a population besides professional and amateur star observers that suffers even more from light pollution. This population consists of birds, bats frogs, snakes, etc. For example, outdoor lighting severely affects migrating birds. According to the International Dark-Sky Association. “100 million birds a year throughout North America die in crashes with lighted buildings and towers.”
Countless more animals casualties result from the use of artificial lighting. Clearly, people enjoy the benefits of lighting their evenings, but some scientists think it can be harmful for humans, too. They worry that exposure to light while sleeping can increase person’s chances of getting cancer.
Emerald Valley is only one community that is becoming aware of the negative effects of high pollution. For years, Flagstaff, Arizona, has enforced lighting regulations in its city in order to assist astronomers at the Lowell Observatory. Similar efforts have been made worldwide, and a movement is underway to remind us to turn off lights when we are not using them, so that other creatures can share the night.
1. It happened last night that .| A．the meteors flew past before being noticed | B．the city’s lights affected the meteor watching |
| C．the city light show attracted many people | D．the meteor watching ended up as a social outing |
| A．Light pollution has remained unsolved for years. | B．Their observation equipment is in poor repair. |
| C．Meteor showers occur less often than before. | D．Their eyesight is failing due to artificial lighting. |
| A．create an ideal observation condition | B．lessen the chance of getting cancer |
| C．ensure citizens a good sleep at night | D．enable all creatures to live in harmony |
| A．Saving wildlife is saving ourselves. |
| B．Great efforts should be made to save energy. |
| C．New equipment should be introduced for space study. |
| D．Human activities should be environmentally friendly. |
7 . Garbage has been negatively connected with germs(细菌), dirt and useless junk. However, a recent art exhibition proved that “useless” things can have practical significance.
Dear Pretty Rubbish, an art event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWFN) and digital media art company Blackbow, was held in Beijing. It looked at wasteful consumption (消耗) and asked questions about the relationship between our lifestyles and our garbage.
“We hope that everyone who visited the show can think about how ‘useless things’ are produced why they are throw away, and whether ‘useless things’ are really useless, ”said Cao Yujia, the design director of Blackbow.
The organizers said that all the raw materials for the exhibition were collected from community garbage cans.
Artists Zhou Yuxuan and Liu Yifan collected nylon cable ties (尼龙扎带), LED lights and beverage bottles from designers’ workshops to create a work where plastics, in the shape of cells “grow” in a corner. There, the lights blink (闪烁) regularly to imitate (模仿) “breathing”. When people walk near it, the work responds by forming light patterns, as if communicating with the visitor.
Speaking about the work, Zhou said. “It’s like some kind of communication between humans and plastics.” Plastic has a life longer than almost any creature, taking centuries to break down. Though people blame plastics for damage to the environment, they are a big part of our daily lives.
“So we want to ask the question: Although the damage continues, whether there is a way for humans to reconcile (调和) with plastics,” said Zhou.
Liu said that plastic waste can be used to make clothes “Re-use of plastics will be a future trend, ” he said. Cable ties are a useful and common material for fastening. Many people will buy a large bundle of them but only use a few pieces. The rest of cable ties could be re-used as a decoration in handicrafts.
“This exhibition calls for everyone to re-think their wasteful lifestyle full of single-use plastics and make changes, ”said Cao.
1. What was the purpose of Dear Pretty Rubbish?| A．To inspire people to reflect on waste management. |
| B．To remind people to live a healthy lifestyle. |
| C．To encourage people to use more plastic. |
| D．To teach people how to recycle different kinds of garbage. |
| A．Communication is important for everyone. |
| B．A community’s garbage is full of hidden treasures. |
| C．Creativity can change your life. |
| D．Plastics could be reused to reduce pollution. |
| A．An art exhibition held in Beijing. |
| B．The rise of a new lifestyle. |
| C．The many uses of plastics. |
| D．An introduction of two artists and their works. |
8 . Hardware in general, and smartphones in particular, have become a huge environmental and health problem in the Global South’s landfill sites(垃圾填埋场).
Electronic waste (e-waste) currently takes up 5 percent of all global waste, and it is set to increase rapidly as more of us own more than one smartphone, laptop and power bank. They end up in places like Agbogbloshie on the outskirts of Ghana’s capital, Accra. It is the biggest e-waste dump in the world, where 10,000 informal workers walk through tons of abandoned goods as part of an informal recycling process. They risk their health searching for the precious metals that are found in abandoned smartphones.
But Agbogbloshie legally should not exist. The Basel Convention, a 1989 treaty, aims to prevent developed nations from unauthorized dumping of e-waste in less developed countries. The e-waste industry, however, circumvents regulation by exporting e-waste labelled as “secondhand goods” to poor countries like Ghana, knowing full well that it is heading for a landfill site.
A recent report found Agbogbloshie contained some of the most dangerous chemicals. This is not surprising: smart phones contain chemicals like mercury(水银), lead and even arsenic(砷). Reportedly, one egg from a free-range chicken in Agbogbloshie contained a certain chemical which can cause cancer and damage the immune system at a level that’s about 220 times greater than a limit set by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Most worryingly, these poisonous chemicals are free to pollute the broader soil and water system. This should concern us all, since some of Ghana’s top exports are cocoa and nuts.
Some governments have started to take responsibility for their consumers’ waste. For example, Germany has started a project that includes a sustainable recycling system at Agbogbloshie, along with a health clinic for workers. However, governments cannot solve the problem alone, as there is an almost limitless consumer demand for hardware, especially when governments’ green policies are focused on issues like climate change.
Only the manufacturers can fix this. A more economically sustainable and politically possible solution is through encouraging hardware manufacturers to make the repair, reuse and recycling of hardware profitable, or at least cost-neutral.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 2?| A．Electronic waste requires more landfill sites. |
| B．Electronic waste is too complex to get fully recycled. |
| C．Electronic products need to be improved immediately. |
| D．Electronic pollution is a burning question in Agbogbloshie. |
| A．Relaxes. | B．Abolishes. | C．Avoids. | D．Tightens. |
| A．The violation of EFSA’s standards. | B．The threat of polluted food worldwide. |
| C．The lack of diversity in Ghana’s exports. | D．The damage to chicken’s immune system. |
| A．Letting governments take on the main responsibility. |
| B．Reducing customers’ demands for electronic products. |
| C．Governments adjusting their green policies about e-waste. |
| D．Manufacturers’ developing a sustainable hardware economy. |
9 . Somewhere between 40,000 and 110,000 tons of plastic waste produced by Americans ends up in the ocean, according to a study published in the journal Science.
It's difficult to point out where all that waste comes from, and researchers think that much or most of it probably comes from the nation's seriously-populated coasts. But there's also evidence that the nation's inland waterways serve as a passage for plastic to travel thousands of miles into the oceans.
While researchers have documented plastic and human trash floating in the world's oceans, there has been relatively little attention paid to plastics in rivers, streams and lakes. "To my knowledge, no one has studied particular routes, with the exception of places like L.A, and Baltimore Harbor where there are measures in place to prevent trash in rivers from entering the ocean." said Kara Lavender Law, an oceanographer.
The few studies that exist, however, suggest that it may be a huge problem. A 2011 study of two southern California urban rivers---including Santa Ana River---found that every square meter of water contained from 125 to 819 pieces larger than 4.75 millimeters. Another survey of the Meuse River, which flows 575 miles through France, Belgium and the Netherlands to the North Sea, found that it contained 70,000 pieces of plastics per square meter of water, about 500 of which were roughly an inch or bigger in size.
If there's anything positive in this, it's you that can do something, at least on a personal level, to reduce the amount of plastic that goes into the oceans. "Put trash where it goes." said Jenna Jambeck, an associate professor of environmental engineering at the University of Georgia. "Use reusable items---bags, cups and bottles---to reduce waste."
Finally, Jambeck urges people to pick up litter along waterways, and record it with a phone app called the Marine Debris Tracker. The data you provide can help scientists to get a better handle on the trash problem.
1. According to the text, the least polluted place might be __________.| A．Santa Ana River | B．Meuse River |
| C．Baltimore Harbor | D．The North Sea |
| A．By referring to experts' views. | B．By listing statistics. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By following time order. |
| A．Make use of plastic items. | B．Reduce the size of waste we throw away. |
| C．Stay positive about the oceans' future. | D．Start from small things to deal with waste. |
As we all know, there are many kinds of pollution all over the world, air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution and so on. Although we can't save the world in a short time, we can take some measures to protect
