If you take a look around your kitchen or office right now, chances are that you’ll notice you’re surrounded by plastic—water bottles, to-go coffee cups, straws, plastic grocery bags, food wrappers, take-out containers, single-serve coffee pods and produce bags. 1.．
It’s certainly not realistic to remove all plastic from your life, but let’s examine some statistics that may encourage you to reduce your single-use plastic footprint by throwing away straws, switching to reusable water bottles, bringing cloth bags to the grocery store and more.
According to a study published in the journal Science Advances, the popularity of plastic, which began rising in the 1950s, is growing out of control. 2.．And there’s no sign of slowing down, considering scientists say that another 12 trillion kilograms will be produced worldwide by 2050.
“Every piece of plastic that has ever been created will remain in the environment in some form, but once we conveniently throw out our rubbish at home, wind and runoff carry our waste from landfills and streets to the ocean,” says Mystic Aquarium’s chief clinical veterinarian Jennifer Flower, DVM, MS. “Given that we are globally producing over 320 million tons of plastic annually, the marine environment is taking a big hit from our daily disposal of plastic.
3.. For example, newborn fish are mistaking tiny bits of plastic waste for food. If they die, there will be fewer big fish—and that could damage the food chain. Often our society is so focused on making our lives more convenient in the short term, but in the long run, our health and the health of marine life are at the expense of those everyday conveniences.”
4.．A recent report suggests that when heated, certain food additives (添加剂) can damage hormones, growth and development, as well as increase chances for children of being fat. 5.．It is found in plastic containers and metal cans. Parents are urged to avoid using microwaves to warm food and drinks or placing plastics in the dishwasher.
A.Using plastic containers in microwaves is also harmful to children’s health.
B.Our plastic consumption is directly affecting the life in the ocean.
C.8.2 trillion kilograms of plastic have been produced around the world.
D.People are concerned about the results of overusing plastic containers.
E.Let’s stop using plastic for the benefit of the environment and human beings.
F.The most concerning artificial additive BPA is a chemical used in the production of plastics.
G.These are all examples of single-use plastic products, which is a hot topic nowadays.
Technology offers conveniences such as opening the garage door from your car or changing the television station without touching the TV.
Now one American company is offering its employees a new convenience: a microchip implanted in their hands. Employees who have these chips can do all kinds of things just by waving their hands. Three Square Market is offering to implant microchips in all of their employees for free. Each chip costs $300 and Three Square Market will pay for the chip. Employees can volunteer to have the chips implanted in their hands. About 50 out of 80 employees have chosen to do so. The president of the company, his wife and their children are also getting chips implanted in their hands.
The chip is about the size of a grain of rice. Implanting the chip only takes about a second and is said to hurt only very briefly. The chips go under the skin between the thumb and forefinger. With a chip in the hand, a person can enter the office building, buy food, sign into computers and more, simply by waving that hand near a scanner. The chips will be also used to identify employees. Employees who want convenience, but do not want to have a microchip implanted under their skin, can wear a wristband (腕带) or a ring with a chip instead. They can perform the same tasks with a wave of their hands as if they had an implanted chip.
Three Square Market is the first company in the United Slates to offer to implant chips in its employees. Epicenter, a company in Sweden, has been implanting chips in its employees for a while.
Three Square Market says the chip cannot track the employees. The company says scanners can read the chips only when they are within a few inches of them. “The chips protect against identity theft, similar to credit cards.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the chips back in 2004, so they should be safe for humans, according to the company.
In the future, people with the chips may be able to do more with them, even outside the office. Todd Westby is Chief Executive Officer of Three Square Market. He says, “Eventually, this technology will become standardized allowing you to use this as your passport, public transit, all purchasing opportunities, etc.”
1.What is the third paragraph mainly about?
A.The substitutes of the chips.
B.The potential risks of implanting the chips.
C.The places to implant the chips.
D.The advantages of the chips.
2.What does the underlined word “them” in Paragraph 5 refer to?
A.the hands B.the scanners
C.the employees D.the credit cards
3.We can infer that ________.
A.the chips have magic powers
B.the price of the chips is reasonable
C.the chips are very popular among the employees
D.most people suspect the application of the chips
4.Which of the following best describes Todd Westby’s attitude towards the chips?
A.Defensive. B.Disappointing.
C.Casual. D.Optimistic.
White-collar workers increasingly unhealthy
An increasing number of white-collar workers in Shanghai are getting failing grades on their physical examinations, according to a white paper on the health of white-collar workers in Shanghai.
Carried out by Shanghai Foreign Service Group, a human resources company, the report indicated that more than 53 percent of males are overweight, 46 percent suffer from a fatty live and about 26 percent have elevated blood lipids(血脂). However, females are more often diagnosed as having breast lesions(乳房病变) that could lead to cancer (85 percent), thyroid(甲状腺) disorder (34 percent) and hemorrhoids(痔疮) (23 percent).
Though the report also found that white-collar workers were paying increasing attention to their health—with about 84 percent saying they followed their condition closely or very closely—those with healthy lifestyles dropped to 64 percent last year from 77 percent in 2015.
The report came from about 500,000 physical exams taken by while-collar workers in Shanghai over the past five years. “I always eat and drink too much and never exercise,” said Wei Ruoxi, a 26-year-old working in finance who is struggling with being overweight. “I know what a healthy lifestyle looks like, but the job just brings too much pressure and squeezes out exercise time,” she added. Hu Xiaolong, 30, an accountant in Shanghai, said he was determined to live healthily from now on. “My recent physical examination shows a little shadow in the lung, which startled me when I heard it. I really need to quit bad habits like smoking and staying up late.”
The white paper also showed that more people are turning to commercial health insurance to cope with financial risks caused by health problems.The popularity of insurance purchases among the participants reached 15.3 percent last year, a rise of 4 percentage points in just one year. Most participants also expected their companies to help them with effective health management, such as offering membership cards for gyms, flexible working schedules and regular physical examinations.
1.The female white-collar workers with breast lesions suffer from ________ most.
A.breast lesions B.fatty liver
C.hemorrhoids D.cancer
2.What does the underlined word “startled” in the 4th paragraph probably mean?
A.confused B.curious
C.shocked D.annoyed
3.The main idea of the last paragraph is that ________.
A.more and more white-collar workers have realized their health problems
B.the health insurance firm has profited from white-collar workers
C.people are trying to handle the white-collar workers’ health problems
D.companies have taken measures to improve white-collar workers’ health
4.In which column of a newspaper do we probably find the passage?
A.Health. B.Business.
C.People. D.Technology.
Some people believe that a Robin Hood is at work, others that a wealthy person simply wants to distribute his or her fortune before dying. But the donator who started sending envelopes with cash to deserving causes，accompanied by an article from the local paper, has made a northern German city believe in fairytales.
The first envelope was sent to a victim support group. It contained €10,000 with a cutting from the Braunschtveiger Zeitung about how the group supported a woman who was robbed of her handbag; similar plain white anonymous (匿名) envelopes, each containing €10,000, then arrived at a kindergarten and a church.
The envelopes keep coming, and so far at least €190,000 has been distributed. Last month, one of them was sent to the newspaper’s own office. It came after a story it published about Tom, a 14-year-old boy who was severely disabled in a swimming accident. The receptionist at the Braunschweiger Zeitung opened an anonymous white envelope to find 20 notes of €500 inside, with a copy of the article. The name of the family was underlined.
"I was driving when I heard the news.”Claudia Neumann, the boy’s mother, told DerSpiegel magazine.“I had to park on the side of the road; I was speechless.”
The money will be used to make the entrance to their house wheelchair-accessible and for a course of treatment that their insurance company refused to pay for.
“For someone to act so selflessly, for this to happen in such a society in which everyone thinks of himself, was astonishing," Mrs. Neumann said. Her family wonder whether the donator is a Robin Hood character, taking from banks to give to the needy.
Henning Noske, the editor of the Braunschweiger Zeitung, said:“Maybe it is an old person who is about to die. We just do not know.” However, he has told his reporters not to look for the city’s hero, for fear that discovery may stop the donations.
1.The Braunschweiger Zeitung is the name of_____________ .
A.a church B.a newspaper
C.a bank D.a magazine
2.Which of the following is TRUE about the donation to Tom?
A.The donation amounted to €190,000. B.The donation was sent directly to his house.
C.His mother felt astonished at the donation. D.The money will be used for his education.
3.It can be inferred from the passage that____________.
A.the donation will continue to come B.the donator is a rich old man
C.the donation comes from the newspaper D.the donator will soon be found out
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A.Money Is Raised by the Newspaper B.Newspaper Distributes Money to the needy
C.Robin Hood Returns to the City D.Unknown Hero Spreads Love in Envelopes
A Book Review—The Snake-Stone by Berlie Doherty
The setting: Urban England (the cities), but also rural England (the countryside) including remote English villages.
The theme: The main theme is a teenage search of self-discovery, in this case the search for a mother from whom the hero was separated at an early age. Its other concerns are love, getting on with others, being persistent and courageous and trying to deal with doubts, troubles and worries. As the book moves to a close, James’ swimming coach says to him: “You are not like a kid obeying instructions any more. You are diving like a young man who knows where he is going.”
The characters: James is the hero of the story. He is a championship diver, and has a comfortable life with his foster parents (养父母). Yet he also has the qualities to take him on a long journey to find his birth mother. The other characters in The Snake-Stone, James’ parents, his diving instructor, best friend, the villagers, people he meets on his journey, are pictured realistically.
The turning point: The turning point in the story comes while James’ foster parents are away in London, and he wonders about the identity of his birth mother. The only clue he has is a fossil, “the snake stone” which she left behind along with a note on which she had written: “Take good care of Sammie.” It was written on a torn envelope with parts of an address still there.
The journey: Instead of going to London, James decides to find his birth mother. With help from his geography teacher, James sets out for the remote country village where his mother might be found. James has painful, challenging, but also humorous and happy travels. The mother he finally meets, Anne, has a minor yet powerful voice in the novel. He comes to understand why she left him at a stranger’s door fifteen years before. Although the meeting is not long, it leaves him with a feeling of completeness. As a journey of self-discovery, The Snake-Stone also provides its readers with a happy ending. Its hero says, on returning to his foster parents, “I was home.”
1.What is the main theme of the novel?
A.Life with foster parents. B.Life in the world of diving.
C.A journey of self-discovery. D.A travel around the country.
2.What do the coach’s words in Paragraph 2 suggest?
A.James is a successful diver. B.James is an independent young man.
C.James is an outgoing young man. D.James is a hopeful swimmer.
3.The snake stone in the novel is .
A.a stone with an address on it B.a fossil left by the foster parents
C.a gift from the swimming coach D.a clue left by the birth mother
阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。 续写的词数应为150左右。
I sat at the breakfast table with my four-year-old son, Matthew, trying to ignore the ache in my stomach. “Mama, want to play?” “Not today, baby,” I shook my head. These days I could barely get out of bed. I was still recovering from a surgery. I hoped for strength and happiness. But the future seemed so hopeless.
Suddenly, Matthew jumped up from his spot on the kitchen floor. “Bird!” he shouted, rushing to our courtyard. Sure enough, there was a white dove seated in a rubber tree. It sat there for a few moments, and then flew away. Strange, I'd never seen one in our neighborhood before.
When I dragged myself to the kitchen the next morning, the dove was back. This time with a mate carrying twigs. “Look, Matthew,” I said, pointing to the tree. “They ’re going to make a nest.” The doves flew in and out of the courtyard all week, building on top of the rubber tree.
Matthew could hardly contain his excitement. Every morning, he'd run into the kitchen and take his spot by the sliding glass door, talking to the birds while they worked. His enthusiasm was influential. As much as I was grieving, I couldn't help but look forward to the doves' visits too.
Then it all went wrong. The courtyard was a safe enough spot for a nest, but the rubber tree's broad, thin leaves were far from stable. One night, a strong wind blew, throwing the doves' nest to the ground. I heard the twigs break apart.
I surveyed the damage. Nothing good ever lasts. I wouldn't blame the doves if they never came back. But they returned. And they paid no attention to the pile of sticks that had once been their nest.They started again from scratch. Again, though, the wind destroyed all their hard work. The next day, and the next, they renewed their efforts, as if nothing had happened.
Paragraph I:
I knew I had to do something.____________________________________________________
Paragraph II:
“It works! The birds are back!” Matthew announced.__________________________________
