1 . For centuries, historians and archaeologists have defined periods of human history by the technologies or materials that made the greatest impact on society — like the Stone Age, Bronze Age, or Iron Age. But what age are we in now? For some researchers, according to Atlas Obscura’s Cara Giamo, that question can be answered with one word: plastics.
“Plastic has redefined our material culture and the artifacts we leave behind. It will be found in stratified (分层) layers in our trash deposits (沉积层)” That’s according to archaeologist John Marston.
The wide variety of synthetic polymers (合成聚合物) would not exist if it weren’t for human action. Since the first plastic polymers were invented, about six billion tons of plastics have been made and spread around the planet, from forests to oceans ever since the first plastics polymers were invented.
Plastics are one of the most significant changes that humans have made to the Earth’s makeup. Most plastics don’t easily degrade. This only adds to the problem. Recycling isn’t an adequate solution. Not all types of plastic are easily recyclable. And there are only a few recycling plants that can process all varieties of plastic.
According to Debra Winter, writer for The Atlantic, this means that many of the materials thrown into recycling bins can cross the planet several times before they are processed. They are made into produce rugs, sweaters, or other bottles. Although millions of tons of plastic are recycled every year, millions more end up in landfills or the ocean. The problem has reached the point where it’s possible that in just a few decades there might be more plastic in the world’s oceans than fishes.
“Plastics have a supposed life span of over 500 years, it’s safe to say that every plastic bottle you have used exists somewhere on this planet, in some form or another,” Winter writes.
The damage may already be done. It may be too late for human populations worldwide to change their plastic-using ways. So the Plastic Age might soon take its place next to the Bronze Age and the Iron Age in the history of human civilization.
1. Why do people call our age the Plastic Age?| A．Because plastics are not naturally made. | B．Because humans create plastics. |
| C．Because plastics influence the world greatly. | D．Because historians and archaeologists think so. |
| A．They are recycled | B．They are degraded |
| C．They are thrown away | D．They are made into bottles |
| A．Human beings are in the Plastic Age | B．Plastics have ruined our environment |
| C．We must stop using plastics altogether | D．Plastics are significant to human development |
2 . Living downstream from a waste-treatment plant can leave fish tired, a new study finds, led by Graham Scott, a biologist in Canada. “Wastewater treatment plants are pretty good at taking out the waste and treating it before it gets into our waterways,” he said. “But not everything can be taken out,” he added.
For example, some plants beside the stream were not designed to remove remains of drugs. So when some medicines are left over after people use them, they can be released into the environment. These include the drugs used to treat depression and high blood pressure.
Life-sustaining chemical reactions in an animal’s body (including ours) allow it to grow, move and reproduce. These reactions, taken together, are known as the creature’s metabolism (新陈代谢). Some studies have shown that even just one drug can change the metabolism of fish, making their metabolism slow down. Then that will impair their bodies.
That creates a problem for the animals — using the extra energy to rid their bodies of the pollutants which can damage their cells and tissues. “That’s energy they burn just to stay alive,” explained Scott. That is also the energy no longer available to avoid predators (天敌), to find food and to mate.
And they report that fish exposed to a mix of chemicals can use up some of their energy just to deal with those pollutants. Therefore, they will have less energy to eat and avoid being eaten, says Paul Craig, a biologist in Ontario.
“It is up to us to help reduce the types of pollutants in. wastewater,” Craig says. “That includes not throwing leftover medicines down the toilet.” he recommends.
1. What do Scott’s words mean in paragraph 1?| A．There are still some pollutants in the treated water. |
| B．Wastewater treatment plants don’t work well. |
| C．Things in waterways are difficult to deal with. |
| D．Canadians tend to throw waste down the toilet. |
| A．Form. | B．Harm. | C．Benefit. | D．Examine. |
| A．They will stop growing. |
| B．They will avoid their mates. |
| C．They will have to rid their bodies of the polluted cells. |
| D．They will consume extra energy to survive. |
| A．To explain how pollutants affect animals. |
| B．To show ways of fighting against pollution. |
| C．To advise people to stop buying polluted fish. |
| D．To urge people to reduce pollutants in wastewater. |
1. Where does the conversation probably take place?
| A．In a shop. | B．In a classroom. | C．In a canteen. |
| A．The woman hasn’t used plastic plates and cups before. |
| B．Paper plates and cups have replaced plastic ones in the U.S. |
| C．The man is not interested in plastic materials. |
4 . Peru demanded compensation (赔偿金) Wednesday from Spanish energy giant Repsol over an oil spill (石油泄漏). It might be caused by sudden and big
Authorities
Officials of the factory
The oil-processing factory could face a
| A．fishes | B．waves | C．fires | D．stones |
| A．closed | B．discovered | C．destroyed | D．named |
| A．before | B．unless | C．until | D．after |
| A．uploading | B．repairing | C．offloading | D．supplying |
| A．agricultural | B．snowy | C．ecological | D．nuclear |
| A．waste | B．damage | C．crime | D．storm |
| A．fishing | B．poor | C．teaching | D．rich |
| A．escape | B．advertisement | C．encouragement | D．payment |
| A．in advance | B．in air | C．at risk | D．at work |
| A．measuring | B．decorated | C．swimming | D．covered |
| A．recovering | B．affecting | C．creating | D．leaving |
| A．traditionally | B．proudly | C．originally | D．honestly |
| A．clean up | B．take up | C．build up | D．cut up |
| A．animals | B．people | C．plants | D．zones |
| A．specialists | B．students | C．journalists | D．stars |
| A．impressed | B．spent | C．blamed | D．put |
| A．truck | B．ship | C．line | D．store |
| A．failure | B．fine | C．prize | D．fund |
| A．environment | B．education | C．finance | D．defense |
| A．organization | B．entrance | C．account | D．investigation |
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号 (∧) ，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线 (﹨)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划—横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Last winter, the smog occurred a lot of time. It brought much inconvenience to our daily life or did great harm to our health. Many traffic accidents had happened just because of the heavy smog weather. In addition, quite a lot of flights had to put off and a great number of people stayed at home to keep them away from the harmful air. Some people suffered of bad coughs, sore throats and other serious diseases cause by the smog. I think whomever lives on the earth should try to play the part in the environmental protection. I support the idea that we can try to drive more and buy environmentally friendly products to improve the air quality.
6 . Taking in dirty air does great harm to our health. Air pollution lowers the average life spans by a year worldwide and in more polluted parts of Asia and Africa, dirty air shortens lives up to twice that much. Scientists shared their new findings in Environmental Science & Technology Letters. The study used data gathered in 2016 as part of a project known as the Global Burden of Disease and was the first major country-by-country look at the connection between the length of life and what’s known as fine PM.
Air pollution has been linked to many health problems. Most earlier studies had looked at how tiny air pollutants affected rates of illness or death. Joshua Apte is an environmental scientist at the University of Texas at Austin. By looking at life expectancy (预期寿命), his team had hoped to make the threat easier to understand. PM2.5 is what scientists call tiny particles (颗粒) of pollution in the air. Higher levels of PM2.5 can cause health problems and cut months, if not years, from the average length of life. This analysis shows how pollution affects life expectancy in different parts of the world.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends limiting PM2.5 to 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air. Apte’s group calculated how holding pollution to this low level would help people. In countries with very dirty air, meeting this standard would lengthen people’s lives. However, in countries whose air already meets this standard, the study shows no gain in life expectancy. In other words, meeting the WHO standard won’t reduce health costs resulting from dirty air because even below 10 micrograms per cubic meter, pollution still causes serious risks. Meanwhile, the scientists compared how other threats including smoking and cancer shorten the length of life across the globe.
1. What is special about the study?| A．It won recognition from a professional journal. |
| B．It discussed health problems caused by air pollution. |
| C．It gathered lots of data for the Global Burden of Disease. |
| D．It analyzed the link between life spans and PM by country. |
| A．Help people better understand air pollution. |
| B．Study life expectancy in different countries. |
| C．Know how small air pollutants affect health. |
| D．Deal with different kinds of health problems. |
| A．People’s life spans will surely increase. |
| B．It will guarantee people clean air. |
| C．People’s health may not be much improved. |
| D．It will be awarded by the WHO. |
| A．How other threats shorten life expectancy. |
| B．How cleaning up the air can lengthen lives. |
| C．How air pollution shortens lives by country. |
| D．How all the countries deal with severe pollution. |
7 . In the deepest dive in a manned submersible(潜水器), US explorer Victor Vescovo spotted and video-recorded a plastic bag and a pile of candy wrappers on the seabed.
His
Since the patent(专利) for plastics was
Most of the discarded(丢弃) plastic products
Every year, about 8 million tons of plastic waste flow into the ocean. It is
This plastic waste
We must do something to
But that’s so much
| A．report | B．discovery | C．record | D．accumulation |
| A．everywhere | B．anywhere | C．somewhere | D．nowhere |
| A．as | B．although | C．but | D．so |
| A．abolished | B．acquired | C．registered | D．advertised |
| A．with | B．without | C．off | D．above |
| A．end up | B．wake up | C．grow up | D．walk up |
| A．continent | B．park | C．island | D．garden |
| A．suggested | B．estimated | C．weighed | D．congratulated |
| A．thousand | B．hundred | C．million | D．billion |
| A．feeds | B．saves | C．cares | D．kills |
| A．looking | B．winding | C．floating | D．jumping |
| A．earth | B．air | C．water | D．environment |
| A．pollution | B．existence | C．temperature | D．cycle |
| A．production | B．supply | C．pyramid | D．trade |
| A．change | B．clean | C．satisfy | D．realize |
| A．otherwise | B．instead | C．therefore | D．meanwhile |
| A．exercise | B．activity | C．fact | D．habit |
| A．harder | B．more effective | C．more courageous | D．easier |
| A．calling for | B．looking for | C．sending for | D．waiting for |
| A．start | B．refuse | C．continue | D．hope |
8 . The fertile land of the Nile delta is being eroded (侵蚀) along Egypt’s Mediterranean coast at an astonishing rate, in some parts estimated at 100 metres per year. In the past, land washed away from the coastline by the currents of the Mediterranean Sea used to be replaced by sediment (沉淀物) brought down to the delta by the River Nile, but this is no longer happening.
Up to now, people have blamed this loss of delta land on the two large Aswan dams in the south of Egypt, which hold back almost all of the sediment that used to flow down the river. Before the dams were built, the Nile flowed freely carrying huge quantities of sediment. But when the Aswan dams were constructed to provide electricity and irrigation, and to protect the huge population centre of Cairo from annual flooding and drought, most of the sediment with its natural fertilizer accumulated up above the dam in the southern upstream half of Lake Nasser, instead of passing down to the della.
Now, however, there turns out to be more to the story. It appears that the sediment-free water picks up sand as it erodes the river bed and banks on the 800-kilometre trip to Cairo. Daniel Jean Stanley of the Smithsonian Institute noticed that water samples taken in Cairo indicated that the river sometimes carries more than 850 grams of sediment per cubic metre of water — almost half of what it carried before the dams were built.
International environmental organizations are beginning to pay closer attention to the region, partly because of the problems of erosion and pollution of the Nile delta, but mainly because they fear the impact this situation could have on the whole Mediterranean coastal ecosystem.
But there are no easy solutions. In the immediate future, Stanley believes that one solution would be to make artificial floods to flush out the delta waterways, in the same way that natural floods did before the construction of the dams. He says, however, that in the long term an alternative process such as desalination (脱盐) may have to be used to increase the amount of water available.
1. What stopped the sediment coming down to the delta?| A．The Mediterranean Sea. | B．The River Nile. |
| C．The Aswan dams. | D．Lake Nasser. |
| A．To flush out the river beds. |
| B．To offer electricity and protection. |
| C．To make the water in the River Nile clean. |
| D．To keep the soil in the region nearby nutrient-rich. |
| A．There is no need to worry about the delta. |
| B．The methods of measurement need improving. |
| C．Whether the situation is good or not remains to be seen. |
| D．The dams’ consequences are beyond people’s expectation. |
| A．Difficulties to be settled. |
| B．Rewards for the challenge. |
| C．Severe influence of the situation. |
| D．Possible solutions to the problem. |
9 . Every minute, every single day, about a truckload of plastic enters the ocean.
We buy a bottle of water, drink it for a few minutes, and throw its permanent packaging (包装) “away”. We eat potato chips, finish them, then throw their permanent packaging “away”. We buy produce, take it out of the unnecessary plastic wrap, then throw its permanent packaging “away”.
The cycle is endless, and it happens countless times every single day.
For years, we’ve been told the problem of plastic packaging can be solved through better individual action.
Recycling alone will never stop the flow of plastic into the ocean; we have to get to know the source of the problem and slow down the production of all the plastic waste. Think about it: if your home was flooding because you had left the tap on, your first step wouldn’t be to start mopping. You’d first cut the flooding off at its source — the tap.
We need corporations — those like the Coca-Cola company, Unilever, Starbucks and Neatle that continue to produce throwaway (一次性的) plastic bottles — to step up and take responsibility for the mess they’ve created.
| A．This is their problem to deal with. |
| B．Plastic pollution is becoming very serious. |
| C．But here is the problem — there is no “away’’. |
| D．In some ways, our plastic problem is no different. |
| E．We think that if we simply recycle we’re doing our part. |
| F．It’s impossible for us to get rid of plastic pollution completely. |
| G．Since the 1950s, some 8.3bn tons of plastic have been produced worldwide. |
10 . 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 |
