Question

The Alice Ferguson Foundation is a non-profit group that works to improve the environment by building relationships between people and nature. It teaches people ways to protect the environment. At the end of the year, it designs events to help children celebrate Christmas without increasing the amount of waste they create.

Hanna Seligmann works for the foundation. VOA joined Seligmann recently during one of her talks. “So let’s figure out what is in our bag of trash.” She shows adults and children how to reduce waste during the holiday gift-giving season. “You can sort it as a cardboard item of you can sort it as a plastic item,” Seligmann works with volunteers. “We encourage using things that arc already in your house like newspaper, old magazines, using a gift within a gift. You can wrap something in a reusable napkin, wrap something in a scarf, or a shawl(围巾)or even a reusable to tote bag (大手提袋)。”

Lori Arguelles is the executive director for environmental education at the Alice Ferguson Foundation. “Over time we realized that really just doing trash, cleanups was the symptom of the problem, not getting to the root cause. And 50 it was just a little over a decade ago that we started the initiative itself.”

One activity is called the Trash Timeline Game. It teaches children that the things they throw away do not decompose at the same rate. For example paper dissolves in about four weeks. An apple core takes two months. A metal can takes up to 100 years. A plastic bag will not decompose for 450 years Glass takes 1,000 years And, they say, Styrofoam (泡沫聚苯乙烯) never dissolves.

Young people taking part in the program learn that reducing waste is important not just during the holidays, but every day of the year.

1.Why is the Alice Ferguson Foundation created?

A. To help children celebrate Christmas.

B. To reduce the amount of waste.

C. To make the environment better,

D. To bu id relationships between people and mature

2.What suggestion docs Seligmann give on wrapping gifts?

A. It is better to use cardboard items to wrap gifts.

B. It is better to wrap gifts in some things capable of being used again.

C. It is better not to wrap gifts in plastic items.

D. It is better not to wrap gifts at all.

3.What can we infer from Lori Arguelles’s words?

A. Doing trash cleanups means a lot to protecting the environment.

B. We still need to make great efforts on the way to protecting the environment.

C. Over a decade our efforts to protect the environment proved fruitless.

D. Over time we found the root cause of protecting the environment

4.What’s the meaning of “decompose”?

A. break down

B. break out

C. store up

D. store away

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.B

4.A

【解析】社会文化类阅读，属于记叙文。The Alice Ferguson Foundation是一个致力于让公民参与环保的非盈利组织，本文以此展开讨论，主要讲述了这个组织在引导人们环保方面做出的措施与行动。

1.C细节理解题。The Alice Ferguson Foundation is a non-profit group that works to improve the environment by building relationships between people and nature. It teaches people ways to protect the environment.可知The Alice Ferguson Foundation是一个致力于让公民参与环保的非盈利组织，目的是让环境更好。故选C。

2.B细节理解题。根据第二段“We encourage using things that arc already in your house like newspaper, old magazines, using a gift within a gift. You can wrap something in a reusable napkin, wrap something in a scarf, or a shawl(围巾)or even a reusable to tote bag (大手提袋)。”可知鼓励人们用用过的东西来包装礼物，故选B。

3.B推理判断题。根据第三段Over time we realized that really just doing trash, cleanups was the symptom of the problem, not getting to the root cause. And 50 it was just a little over a decade ago that we started the initiative itself. 随着时间的推移，我们意识到其实只是制造垃圾，清理是问题的症状，而不是根本原因。可知要解决根本问题还是要重视环境。故选B。

4.词义推测题。根据第四段It teaches children that the things they throw away do not decompose at the same rate.可知，它教导孩子，他们扔掉的东西不以相同的速度分解。故此处decompose意为“分解”，故选A。