''It can't be done. '' Boyan Slat heard this over and over when he first proposed a way to clean up millions of tons of plastic polluting our oceans.
Slat, who grew up in the city of Delft in the Netherlands, was on a diving trip in Greece three years ago when he was deeply impressed by plastic. ''There were more plastic bags than fish, '' he says. ''That moment I realized it was a huge issue and that environmental issues are really the biggest problems my generation will face. ''
That fall, Slat, then 17, decided to study plastic pollution as part of a high school project. Soon, Slat learned that no one had yet come up with practical way to clean up this massive garbage patches. Most proposed solutions involved ''fishing'' up the plastic using ships equipped with nets—which, as Slat discovered, would likely take more than 1,000 years, cost too much, let off too much sea life along with the trash.
Slat proposed an alternative that mostly avoided these problems: a solar-powered system using a floating plastic tube which will go around the garbage and trap it is 600 meters long. Wind, waves and ocean currents will push the trash toward the tube. A ship will pick up the trash and take it back to the shore. Best of all, Slat predicted his system could clean up the North Pacific Garbage Patch within five to 10 years.
The following, Slat entered the aerospace engineering program at the Delft University of Technology and officially announced his ocean cleanup concept at TEDxDelft. But nothing much moved forward.
Slat organized a team of volunteers and employees for The Ocean Cleanup, which now numbers about 100. In answer to opposition, Slat and his team raised $100,000 from a crowd funding campaign and began testing a 40-meter collecting barrier near the Azores Islands last March.
Over the next three to four years, Slat will push toward a fully operational large-scale project by testing a series of longer and longer barriers.
1.What inspired the boy to study plastic pollution?
A.One of his high school projects.
B.Others' opposition to his proposal.
C.Humans’ failure in cleaning up the ocean.
D.The shockingly heavy plastic pollution in ocean.
2.What can we say about Slat's design?
A.It is powerful but only used in California and Hawaii.
B.It is huge but causes great damage to sea lives.
C.It makes full use of natural forces and is friendly to nature.
D.It was welcomed by all the public and worked very well.
3.What hasn't Slat done to make his idea into reality?
A.Presenting his idea at TEDxDelft.
B.Raising funds with his team.
C.Doing test.
D.Stopping plastic from washing into the ocean.
4.What does the author mainly do in this article?
A.Explain a strange idea. B.Introduce a fascinating person.
C.Describe a social phenomenon. D.Praise a point of view.
Would you eat a six-month-old yogurt? This is a question you may have asked if you read the recent story about a US grocer and his year-long experiment eating expired food.
It started in October 2016, when Scott Nash, founder of the Mom's Organic Market chain of grocery stores, wanted to make a smoothie (果昔). He likes his smoothie with yogurt. As he was at his holiday cabin in Virginia, though, the only pot he had to hand was one he had left behind on his last trip there by accident, six months earlier. He opened it. No bad smell. He decided to take the risk and dumped the yogurt in the smoothie. ''I drank and waited, '' he wrote on his blog. And nothing happened.
The first thing to point out is that Nash is based in the US, where regulations on food dating differ significantly from those in the UK. While British foods carry just one date-either ''use by'' or ''best before''– Nash was faced with ''quality guarantee period, use by, best by, sell by, best if used by …'' He sells food for a living, and even he doesn't understand the system.
Clearly, this lack of clarity has influence on both the health of the environment and the health of the nation. What you don't eat, you'll end up throwing it away, even if you could have safely eaten it; and what you don't know not to eat could make you sick. A report from the Natural Resources Defense Council and Harvard Law School in 2013 said that 40% of American food goes uneaten each year, and the confusing effect of the US date labeling system is in large part to blame.
1.The underlined phrase ''expired food'' probably means the food ______.
A.which is fresh
B.which is sour
C.which is not within the quality guarantee period
D.which is not cooked
2.What can we learn from para.2?
A.Nash hadn't eaten expired food before October 2016.
B.Nash left the yogurt in the cabin for his experiment.
C.Nash was sure the yogurt would do no harm to him.
D.Nash liked drinking six-month-old yogurt.
3.What does Nash think of the US's date labels on food?
A.They are clearer than the UK's.
B.They are more advanced than the UK's.
C.They are confusing to people.
D.They are concrete and helpful to the Americans.
4.What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A.The date labeled on the bag of food plays an important role in people's health.
B.The food you throw away can do harm to your health if eaten.
C.People often get sick for eating the expired food.
D.The lack of clarity of date labeling system leads to a large amount of waste of food.
The Summer Holiday Activities for Families in the UK
While the Astronaut spacewalk, Manchester last year remains in the memory of some families, our week-by-week guide to the school summer break this year features a host of special events and outdoor fun for kids, from open-air cinema and live music to coming face to face with dinosaurs.
Polar fun, Edinburgh
Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh is keeping cool this summer with lots of polar-themed activities, including family science shows on the Arctic and Antarctic, icy experiments, and craft designs where kids can make their own penguin, walrus or polar bear.
Until 28 August, ￡15 adults, ￡9.50 children, dynamicearth. Co. uk.
Dinosaur events, various locations
Dinosaurs in the Wild is a vivid, walk-through experience taking visitors back 67 million years to the late Cretaceous period. Dinosaur Babies is an exhibition of dinosaur embryos and eggs, plus a model nest. Dinosaurs of China displays fossils and skeletons never before seen in Europe.
Until 23 August, NEC in Birmingham, then 7 October to 7 January, Event City Manchester, ￡29.50 adults, ￡26 children, dinosaursinthewild. Com.
Proud Country House kids fest, Brighton
Just 15 minutes from the centre of Brighton, this 18th century Georgian manor house in Stammer Park has a packed program of events and activities on throughout the summer, including storytelling in the forest, guided bike rides, tree climbing and family yoga.
1 July~10 September, prices vary, usually from￡5~10，booking for events required but house and gardens can be visited without booking, stammer house. co. UK / kids fest.
1.Which activity is not included this year?
A.Astronaut spacewalk. B.Open-air cinema.
C.Live music. D.Face to face with dinosaurs.
2.If you want to take the activity in December, where should you go?
A.Edinburgh. B.Birmingham.
C.Manchester. D.Brighton.
3.Which activity should be booked?
A.Polar fun. B.Dinosaur events.
C.Family yoga. D.Visiting gardens.
心理健康对我们非常重要，决定着我们的生活质量。请以 How to keep mental health为题写一篇英语文章，向校报投稿。文章应包含以下内容：
1. 心理健康的重要性；
2. 保持心理健康的建议：了解自我，接纳自我；善于与他人相处；热爱生活与工作。
注意：1. 词数100左右;
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（﹨）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，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。
Dear Sir/Madam,
I’m one of your customer, I ordered a set of books on your website two weeks ago, but I didn’t received it until yesterday. And much to my disappointment, the books were too poorly packed up that the cover of one book were torn. To make matters worse, it is not a complete set, as I found one book missed.
I’m sorry to have received such poorly service, and I believe I have every right ask you to deal with this problem. I hope you either return my money back or deliver a new set of books to me. Beside, I’d like to be informed of the process of your deal with my complaint.
I’m looking forward to your reply.
Li Hua
1.2.3.4.5.
6.7.8.9.10.
阅读下面课文段落，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
John Snow looked 1. the source of the water for these two streets. He found that it came from the river 2.(pollution) by the dirty water from London. He immediately told the 3.(astonish) people in Broad Street to remove the handle from the pump 4. that it could not be used. Soon afterwards the disease slowed 5.. He had shown that cholera was spread by germs and not in a cloud of gas.
Now when people 6. (reference) to England you find Wales included 7. well. Next England and Wales were joined to Scotland in the seventeenth century and later the name was changed to “Great Britain”. This was 8.(accomplish) when King James of Scotland became King of England and Wales. Finally the English government tried in the early 9.(twenty) century to form the United Kingdom by getting Ireland 10. (connect) in the same peaceful way.
