1 . If humans were truly at home under the light of the moon and stars, we would go in darkness happily, the midnight world as visible to us as it is to the vast number of nocturnal (夜间活动的) species on this planet. Instead, we are diurnal creatures, with eyes adapted to living in the sun’s light. This is a basic evolutionary fact, even though most of us don’t think of ourselves as diurnal beings. Yet it’s the only way to explain what we’ve done to the night: We’ve engineered it to receive us by filling it with light.
The benefits of this kind of engineering come with consequences -- called light pollution -- whose effects scientists are only now beginning to study. Light pollution is largely the result of bad lighting design, which allows artificial light to shine outward and upward into the sky. Ill-designed lighting washes out the darkness of night and completely changes the light levels -- and light rhythms -- to which many forms of life, including ourselves, have adapted. Wherever human light spills into the natural world, some aspect of life is affected.
In most cities the sky looks as though it has been emptied of stars, leaving behind a vacant haze (霾) that mirrors our fear of the dark. We’ve grown so used to this orange haze that the original glory of an unlit night -- dark enough for the planet Venus to throw shadows on Earth -- is wholly beyond our experience, beyond memory almost.
We’ve lit up the night as if it were an unoccupied country, when nothing could be further from the truth. Among mammals alone, the number of nocturnal species is astonishing. Light is a powerful biological force, and on many species it acts as a magnet (磁铁). The effect is so powerful that scientists speak of songbirds and seabirds being “captured” by searchlights on land or by the light from gas flares on marine oil platforms. Migrating at night, birds tend to collide with brightly lit tall buildings.
Frogs living near brightly lit highways suffer nocturnal light levels that are as much as a million times brighter than normal, throwing nearly every aspect of their behavior out of joint, including their nighttime breeding choruses. Humans are no less trapped by light pollution than the frogs. Like most other creatures, we do need darkness. Darkness is as essential to our biological welfare, to our internal clockwork, as light itself.
Living in a glare of our own making, we have cut ourselves off from our evolutionary and cultural heritage-the light of the stars and the rhythms of day and night. In a very real sense, light pollution causes us to lose sight of our true place in the universe, to forget the scale of our being, which is best measured against the dimensions of a deep night with the Milky Way -- the edge of our galaxy -- arching overhead.
1. According to the passage, human beings ________.| A．prefer to live in the darkness |
| B．are used to living in the day light |
| C．were curious about the midnight world |
| D．had to stay at home with the light of the moon |
| A．provide examples of animal protection |
| B．show how light pollution affects animals |
| C．compare the living habits of both species |
| D．explain why the number of certain species has declined |
| A．light pollution does harm to the eyesight of animals |
| B．light pollution has destroyed some of the world heritages |
| C．human beings cannot go to the outer space |
| D．human beings should reflect on their position in the universe |
| A．The Magic Light | B．The Orange Haze |
| C．The Disappearing Night | D．The Rhythms of Nature |
2 . Cleaning the ocean of plastic
These days, we’re all well aware of the plastic problem the world’s facing. Although we all realize what a serious issue plastic pollution is, it’s different when you actually see the overwhelming results of it for yourself.
A team of researchers recently published a study on the so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the journal Scientific Reports. According to the study, the patch, which is located off the coast of California in the US, is made up of 79,000 tons of plastic waste. At 1.6 million square kilometers, it’s over four times the size of Japan, or almost 100 times the size of Beijing.
“I’ve been doing this research for a while, but it was depressing to see the patch in person,” Laurent Lebreton, lead author of the study, told The Guardian. “There were things you just wondered how they made it into the ocean. There’s clearly an increasing influx of plastic into the garbage patch.”
It’s believed that eight million tons of plastic ends up in the sea each year, and a lot of it ends up collecting near large ocean currents around the world, forming “islands” of plastic. This causes problems not only for sea creatures, but also for humans. The swirling ocean currents eventually break down some of the plastic, with a lot of it ending up in the stomachs of fish and birds. As a result, it’s believed that plastic has worked its way up the food chain directly onto our plates - not to mention the countless creatures that choke on plastic waste, or are poisoned by the chemicals in it.
So what can we do about this? Lebreton is a member of the Ocean Cleanup Foundation, a group that’s developed technology to collect plastic waste from the ocean. This is a huge project. The group claims it will take around five years just to clean up half of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch alone. But rather than discourage people from using plastic altogether, Lebreton believes that we should simply be more careful of how we use it. “In my opinion, plastic is very useful ... But I think we must change the way we use plastic, particularly in terms of single-use plastic and those objects that have a very short service lifespan,” he told the BBC.
1. What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch made up of?2. Why does plastic also cause problems for humans?
3. Please paraphrase the following sentence.
It’s believed that the eight million tons of plastic ends up in the sea each year, and a lot of it ends up collecting near large ocean currents around world, forming “islands” of plastic.
4. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Laurent Lebreton thinks that plastic is very useful, but we have to stop using plastic completely to protect the ocean.
5. Please provide at least two suggestions on what we can do to change the way we use plastic. (about 20 words)
3 . We are what we eat, and what we eat reveals something about what we are in return. So it shouldn’t be all that surprising that humans are now apparently eating plastic.
A small trial at the Medical University of Vienna found tiny pieces of it in the digestive systems of people from eight different countries. The study involved just eight people and doesn’t tell us what if any effect eating plastic was having on their bodies. We already knew fish were eating plastic. Did we really think it wouldn’t reach back up to the top of the food chain, that the consequences of our own actions couldn’t return to us?
This goes beyond cleaning up the oceans. Six of the eight subjects of the study ate sea not all of them did. Other possible theories involve drinking out of plastic bottle. eating food that’s been wrapped in plastic, or tiny plastic pieces floating in the air which then land on our food. But our environment is so filled now with plastic that it seems that we were going to absorb it somehow.
Does it actually matter? This study can’t answer that question, because all it tells us is that microplastics were found in human wastes. If it’s just passing through the body, then perhaps there’s no damage done. However, if there were evidence of plastics being absorbed and gathering in our internal organs, as some animal studies have suggested, that would potentially be a red flag.
Solving plastic pollution is nowhere near as simple as some campaigners make it sound. Switching away from plastic packaging to other materials would create other environmental dilemmas. Bottling liquids in glass rather than plastic makes them heavier which potentially means more trips to transport them, paper production has a bigger carbon footprint. Even if it were possible to stop using the stuff tomorrow, it would take up to 1,000 years for some of what’s being produced right now to break down.
But just because it’s difficult, it doesn’t mean we shrug our shoulders and do nothing. There is something genuinely mad about a society that is on the one hand crazy about the quality of the food we put in our mouths, and yet also mindlessly eats its own garbage. The war on plastic, it seems, just got personal.
1. What does the study show?| A．Food chain is damaged by plastic. |
| B．Eating plastic affects human greatly. |
| C．Plastic is discovered in human bodies. |
| D．Sea fish are the victim of plastic pollution. |
| A．A final result. | B．A warning sign. |
| C．An expected finding. | D．A similar situation. |
| A．It’s impossible to stop using plastic. |
| B．It’s challenging to deal with plastic issue. |
| C．It’s urgent to choose different wrappings. |
| D．It takes time to improve the environment. |
| A．Plastic should be replaced by other materials. |
| B．The damage towards food chain is long lasting. |
| C．The effect of plastic pollution isn’t fully recognized |
| D．The causes of environmental issues are complicated |
Microplastics, referring to plastic fragments and particles (碎片和微粒) less than 5 millimeters in diameter (直径), have been found on Mount Qomolangma as high as 8,440 meters above sea level, just 408.86 meters below the peak of the mountain, according to a recent study published in the journal One Earth. Scientists collected snow and water samples from 19 different
It seems like common sense: eating local food should be better for the environment, because it
6 . Human activity is changing the surface and temperature of the planet. But new research shows it is also changing the sound of the Earth’s oceans and seas.
Scientists say the changes in the sounds of our oceans and seas affect many marine(海洋) animals—from very small fish to huge whales. Sound travels “very far underwater,” Francis Juanes told the reporter. Juanes is an ecologist at the University of Victoria and co-writer of the recent research published in a magazine. “For fish,” he explained, “sound is probably a better way to sense their environment than light.”
Sounds help fish and other marine animals survive. They use sounds to communicate with each other. Sounds also help some ocean animals find food and avoid their hunters. Many ocean animals use sounds to find good places to give birth. However, increased noise from humans is making it harder for these animals to hear each other. The noise comes from shipping traffic, underwater oil and gas exploration, offshore construction, and other noisy human activity.
“For many marine species, their attempts to communicate are being masked by sounds that humans have produced,” said Duarte. The marine ecologist at the Red Sea Research Center co-wrote the paper with Juanes. The Red Sea, Duarte said, is one of the world’s most important shipping passages. It is full of large ships traveling to Asia, Europe, and Africa. Some fish and other animals, he said, now avoid the noisiest areas. Also, the overall number of marine animals has gone down by about half since 1970. In some parts of the ocean, scientists now record “fewer animals singing and calling than in the past—those voices are gone,” said Duarte.
Juanes and Duarte examined studies and research articles about changes in noise volume(音量) and frequency in the world’s oceans. Then they put together a detailed picture of how the ocean soundscape is changing and how marine life is affected.
Climate change, the researchers found, also affects physical processes that shape ocean sounds. These include such things as wind, waves, and melting ice.
Some studies suggest that noise may cause hearing loss of marine animals. Besides, many marine animals are showing higher levels of stress due to noise, which might also affect the immune(免疫) system.
Scientist Juanes says sound pollution may be easier to deal with than other ocean threats. “In theory,” he said, “you can turn down or turn off the sound immediately. It’s not like plastics or climate change, which are much harder to undo.”
1. What can we learn from the passage?| A．Sound noise may result in hearing loss of human beings. |
| B．Sound pollution killed most of the marine animals in the Red Sea. |
| C．Sound noise can influence the communication of marine animals. |
| D．Sound is unlikely to be a better way to sense their environment than light. |
| A．Channel. | B．Address. |
| C．Industry | D．Company. |
| A．what is the main cause of climate change |
| B．what should be done to reduce sound pollution |
| C．how to record changes in noise volume and frequency |
| D．how to enhance the immune system of marine animals |
| A．The Future of Oceans Exploration |
| B．The Changes in the Sounds of Oceans |
| C．Sounds Help Marine Animals Survive |
| D．Humans are Making Oceans Too noisy |
A promising approach
As for what to do with the collected PM waste, The designer has currently set up a business to make jewelers out of the waste. If collected on a big scale, the designer believes
8 . Something strange was happening inside LeeAnne’s home. During the summer of 2014，14-year-old J.D. had stomach severe pains, but his CT scan found nothing wrong. LeeAnne and her husband lost hair and suffered dizziness and headaches. LeeAnne even lost her eyelashes.
In January 2015, the city of Flint sent out a notice that the water supply, switched from the Detroit water system to the Flint River to cut cost, contained high levels of trihalomethanes (三卤甲烷). The notice warned that people with poor immune (免疫的) systems might be at increased risk for liver, kidney, and nervous system problems but emphasized that the water was otherwise safe to drink.
Alarmed, LeeAnne researched the water supply and searched the Internet. Then she distributed a fact sheet to city officials, listing the side effects of exposure to trihalomethanes. Then she urged her neighbors to attend city council meetings, where they shared their health problems. Still, officials insisted the water was safe to drink. So LeeAnne demanded that the city test her water.
The results were disturbing. The trihalomethanes were the least of her problems. The lead levels in her water were nearly seven times the legal amount. But the city maintained her plumbing (管道) was the cause.
LeeAnne immediately had her children tested for lead. All the kids showed lead exposure. She read Flint’s water quality reports and discovered the city wasn’t applying the proper corrosion (腐蚀) control standards to its pipes; the standards prevent the metal in pipes from leaching into the water.
In March, a follow-up test of LeeAnne’s water showed lead levels nearly 27 times higher than the EPA’s threshold. LeeAnne’s pipes could not be responsible for the high lead levels, since they were plastic.
In September, Virginia Tech lab released a report that concluded the Flint River water was 19 times more corrosive than the Detroit water.
The governor eventually admitted the water was unsafe. He ordered that Flint’s water supply be switched back to Detroit’s. In Washington, President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Flint and ordered federal aid to help the city recover.
1. How did LeeAnne react to the city notice?| A．She had her children tested for lead. |
| B．She asked the city to replace her pipes. |
| C．She urged the officials to test Flint’s water. |
| D．She collected side effects of trihalomethanes. |
| A．The lead in their water. |
| B．Corrosion to their pipes. |
| C．Their poor immune systems. |
| D．Exposure to Trihalomethanes. |
| A．unconcerned | B．cautious |
| C．doubtful | D．objective |
| A．Revealing the truth takes time. |
| B．Nothing can stop a determined heart. |
| C．It takes courage to challenge authority. |
| D．Joint effort is the key to solving problems. |
9 . The online takeaway industry is growing in China along with the rapid development of the Internet economy. But environmental activists complain that the huge volume of plastic utensils (用具), wrapping and containers presents a great challenge to the environment, and that the heavy use of throwaway wooden chopsticks is reducing natural resources.
On September 1, the Beijing No.4 Intermediate People’s Court accepted a lawsuit filed by the Chongqing Green Volunteer League, an environmental non-government organization (NGO), against the country’s three largest food delivery platforms—Baidu Waimai, Ele.me and Meituan. The NGO stated that the companies failed to provide customers with the choice to not receive throwaway plastic utensils along with their food deliveries. Meanwhile, these utensils have created large amounts of rubbish and caused serious ecological damage.
In response, both Meituan and Ele.me, which acquired Baidu Waimai in August, have promised to take measures to reduce plastic waste. Meituan announced that it would appoint a chief environmental officer to oversee environmental issues from plastic waste and upgrade its smartphone app to provide consumers with the option of ordering food without single-use chopsticks, spoons or napkins. Ele.me followed by offering a similar choice and putting forward a plan to introduce suppliers of degradable (可降解的) plastic utensils to restaurants in the long term.
Is there a possible way out? Combined efforts by delivery platforms, consumers, restaurants and government departments are required to address plastic waste pollution.
For platforms, promoting environmental protection and introducing this idea to consumers are a meaningful move. Moreover, in the future, they should also make strict rules on the use of plastic utensils. For example, no more than one plastic bag should be used to wrap soup dishes, and all plastic products should be degradable. It is a long and difficult task for them, and the recent reactions from Ele.me and Meituan are just beginnings.
Considering most takeout food packaging is thrown into garbage bins and then taken away along with other household garbage, sorting of waste also becomes more important. Government departments could play a major role in this, and by recycling some materials, waste pollution could be reduced and resources saved. Furthermore, there have been growing calls that the government should also invest more in developing degradable plastic products or environmentally friendly alternatives.
Though consumers enjoy the convenience yet also suffer exposure to the pollution, many of them have paid little attention to the plastic waste problem. Environmental groups suggest that consumers change their habits a little by using their own utensils and dishes and refusing unnecessary plastic containers.
1. The Chongqing Green Volunteer League accused the three food delivery platforms of ________.| A．causing damage to people’s health |
| B．violating environmental standards |
| C．using many wooden chopsticks |
| D．offering no utensil option |
| A．raise people’s awareness | B．research possible alternatives |
| C．upgrade their application design | D．hire a chief environmental officer |
| A．Government departments. | B．Food delivery platforms. |
| C．Environmental groups. | D．Fast food restaurants. |
| A．why environmental problems arise |
| B．who food delivery platforms affect most |
| C．how plastic utensil pollution can be solved |
| D．what efforts environmental groups have made |
