Every day is Earth Day — probably you’ve heard it before. Nearly all Americans have access to a plastic recycling program. You may be surprised to learn how many types of plastic packaging can be recycled into new, useful products!
Ford Motor Company has been helping to promote the use of environmentally-friendly auto parts — and one way they’re doing that is by using recycled plastic bottles for underbody shields (底盘保护罩) and other auto parts on cars.
“The underbody shield is a large part, and for a part that big, if we use solid plastic, it would likely weigh three times as much,” said Thomas Sweder, a design engineer of Ford Motor Company. “We look for the most durable and highest performing materials to work with to make our parts, and in this case, we are also creating many environmental benefits.”
In the past decade, the global use of plastics in vehicle parts has grown quickly. Ford alone uses about 1.2 billion recycled plastic bottles per year, about 250 bottles per vehicle on average.
When plastic bottles are thrown into a recycling bin, they are collected with thousands of others and cut into small pieces. These pieces are typically sold to suppliers who turn them into fibers, by melting and pressing them. Then they are mixed together with other various types of fiber in a process and used to make a sheet of material which is formed into the auto parts.
Due to its light weight, recycled plastic is ideal for the manufacturing of underbody shields. These shields reportedly also help create a significantly quieter environment on the new 2020 Ford Escape.
This is not the only way that Ford has been committed to environmental protection; the automotive company recently partnered with McDonald’s coffee suppliers to recycle all of their coffee roasting biowaste into headlights.
“Ford is among the leaders when it comes to using recycled materials such as this,” Sweder said. “This material meets all of our requirements for durability and performance.”
1.Why does Ford choose recycled plastic as environmentally-friendly materials?
A.Because it’s new and useful. B.Because it’s durable and light.
C.Because it’s cheap and easy to get. D.Because it’s portable and well-performed.
2.What does Paragraph 5 mainly talk about?
A.The global use of plastics. B.The mixing process of fibers.
C.The advantages of plastic bottles. D.The formation of the new auto material.
3.What does the underlined word “This” in Paragraph 7 refer to?
A.Recycling coffee roasting biowaste. B.Improving vehicle parts.
C.Recycling plastic bottles into auto parts. D.Creating a quieter environment.
4.What can be the best title of the passage?
A.Ford Takes the Lead in Plastic Recycling.
B.Every Day is Earth Day.
C.Ecological Auto Underbody Shields.
D.A Pioneer in Promoting Environmental Protection.
The Australian state of New South Wales rolled out "high definition detection cameras" on Sunday, designed to catch drivers using cell phones behind the wheel.
Andrew Constance, New South Wales' minister for roads, said the "world-first" technology would target illegal cell phone use through "fixed and mobile cameras." The cameras will use artificial intelligence to review images and detect illegal use of cell phones, according to Transport for NSW.
Images identified as being likely to contain a driver illegally using a cell phone would then be verified by traffic police. These images would be "securely stored and managed".
Over the next three years, 45 portable cameras would be set up across the state, in unknown locations, and without warning signs, CNN branch Sky News Australia reported.
For the first three months, drivers caught out by the technology would receive a warning letter, Transport for New South Wales said in a statement, after which the drivers would face a fine of up to $344, or $457 in a school zone, and loss of points on their drivers’ license.
"The NSW Government is serious about reducing our state's road deaths and launching mobile phone detection cameras is another way we will do this." Constance said in a statement.
Officials said that a trial of the technology earlier in the year had caught more than 100,000 drivers illegally using a phone behind the wheel. Some 329 people died this year on New South Wales' roads, Reuters news agency reported, compared with 354 people for 2018, according to official statistics.
1.Why does the NSW Government set up detection cameras?
A.To get some real-time information about the traffic.
B.To warn people of the danger of crossing the street casually.
C.To catch drivers using cell phones illegally.
D.To improve the work efficiency of the police.
2.What does the underlined word “verified” in Paragraph 3 mean?
A.described. B.restored. C.edited. D.confirmed.
3.What can we infer from the passage?
A.Locations of the cameras will be informed in advance.
B.Illegal drivers will be fined once cameras are set up.
C.Illegal driving in school zones is punished more severely.
D.Cameras are the first attempt for the government to cut road deaths.
4.What’s the officials’ attitude towards the trial of the technology?
A.Supportive. B.Disapproving. C.Doubtful. D.Unconcerned.
In 2003, Mary Marggraff was a 47-year-old California mother, devoted to school committees and car pool schedules. But after losing her trusty notebook and buying a new one, she had an inspiration. “It was blank,” says Marggraff, now 64. “What else could I fill it with?” Soon she was thinking about her childhood love of flying, and next thing she knew, she determined to register in flight school. “In my first class, all the students were single men half my age. I felt like a housemother attending a fraternity (兄弟会), but I loved it too much to walk away.” she says.
Marggraff earned her first pilot’s license in 2005. Six years and four additional licenses later, her addiction to being in the air changed into something grander: a desire to go to space. To move closer to her starry dreams, Marggraff got a part-time job as a mission support representative at Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson’s commercial space line. In that role, she attended space-related gatherings where she educated people about the future of universe voyages. Though space tourism isn’t quite a reality yet, Marggraff has already begun space training in expectation of being on one of Virgin’s early flights. “I’ve completed acceleration force exercises,” she says, “which require getting inside a machine, spinning around at 2,500 miles per hour, and trying not to black out. ”
Marggraff’s training has meant more than getting her wings — it’s expanded her sense of what the future may hold. “It turns out I’m capable of much more than I imagined,” she says. “I used to think it’d be a miracle if I got my first license. Now I’ve completed nearly 1,000 hours of flight! I'm rotten in the kitchen and I burn anything I iron, but if you need someone to land a plane, call me.”
1.Why did Marggraff register in flight school?
A.To break away from car pool schedules. B.To fill her new blank notebook.
C.To pursue her childhood dream of flying. D.To prove women are equal to men in flying.
2.What did Marggraff do after earning 5 licenses?
A.She got into space on one of Virgin’s early flights.
B.She instructed people in how to make universe voyages.
C.She tried in vain to overcome faintness from high speed.
D.She received space training in preparation for space tourism.
3.What does Marggraff benefit from her space training besides getting a license?
A.It proves her a miracle. B.It increases her self-confidence.
C.It wins her a qualification. D.It improves her imagination.
4.Which of the following words can best describe Marggraff?
A.Aggressive and hopeful. B.Creative and fragile.
C.Energetic and sensitive. D.Considerate and persistent.
The Ig Nobel Prize, a spoof (滑稽模仿) of the actual Nobel Prize, exists to award the 10 strangest research projects of the year that bring you fun and make you think. The following are three of them in 2019.
Medicine Prize: Pizza
It’s one of the world’s most popular foods. According to the Ig Nobel Medicine Prize winner, eating more pizzas can lower the risk of cancer and heart disease — if your pizza is loaded with fruits and veggies. These provide flavonoids (类黄酮) to fight against certain diseases. So, if you’re a pizza enthusiast, you now have one more reason to love it!
Economics Prize: Dirty Money
Paper money, the most frequently passed items on the planet, is known to pick up all kinds of bacteria. Which country’s currency is the dirtiest? An international team compared seven countries’ paper money. The Romanian Leu was the only one to carry all three types of bacteria tested. And the US Dollar was also a finalist. Perhaps this will make cashless payments more popular.
Biology Prize: Cockroach
Cockroaches (蟑螂) are well known for their survival abilities, but few folks know they can sense magnetic fields. More surprisingly, an international team found that dead cockroaches have more magnetic properties (磁性) than live ones. That’s because magnetic properties decrease when the temperature gets higher. So if you can stand cockroaches, they may be good magnetic sensors.
1.What do the three prizes have in common?
A.They are well-known to the general public.
B.They are entertaining and unusual.
C.They’ve gained the recognition of the Nobel Prize.
D.They are stranger than any other project in previous years.
2.What can we learn from the passage?
A.People with heart disease should eat more pizzas.
B.US Dollar is relatively dirtier than Romanian Leu.
C.Dirty paper money leads to cashless payments.
D.Dead cockroaches are better magnetic sensors than live ones.
3.In which column can you find this passage in a newspaper?
A.Discovery. B.Sports. C.Health. D.Business.
你校正在组织英语作文比赛。请以身边值得尊敬和爱戴的人为题，写一篇短文参赛，内容包括:
1.人物简介；2.尊敬和爱戴的原因。
注意:词数100左右；
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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(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
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注意:1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
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Today I tried cooking a simply dish myself. I like eating frying tomatoes with eggs, and I thought it must to be easy to cook. My mom told me how to preparing it. First I cut the tomatoes into pieces but put them aside. Next I broke the eggs into a bowl and beat them quickly with chopstick. After that I poured oil into a pan and turned off the stove， I waited patiently unless the oil was hot. Then I put the tomatoes and the beaten eggs into pan together. ＂Not that way，＂ my mom tried to stop us but failed. She was right. It didn’t tum out as I had wished.
