Question

    The idea of turning recycled plastic bottlesinto clothing is not new. During the last five years, a large number of clothing companies, businessesand environmental organizations have started turning plastics into fabric to deal with plastic pollution.But there’s a problem with thismethod. Research now shows that microfibers could be the biggest source of plastic in the sea.

Dr. Mark Browne in Santa Barbara, California, has been studying plastic pollution andmicrofibers for 10 years now. He explains that every time synthetic clothes go into a washing machine, a large number of plastic fibersfall off. Most washing machines can’t collectthese microfibers. So every time the water getsout of a washing machine, microfibers are entering the sewers and finally end up in the sea.

In 2011, Browne wrote a paper stating that asingle piece of synthetic(合成的) clothing can producemorethan 1, 900 fibers per wash. Browne collected samples from seawater and freshwater sites around the world, and used aspecial way toexamine each sample.Hediscovered that every single water samplecontained microfibers.

This is bad news for a number of reasons. Plastic can cause harm to sea life when eaten. Studies have also shown that plastic can absorbother pollutants.

Basedon this evidence, it may seemsurprising that companies and organizations havechosen to turn plastic waste into clothing as anenvironmental“solution.”Even though thescience has been around for a while, Browneexplains that he's had a difficult time gettingcompanies to listen. When he asked well-knownclothing companies to support Benign byDesign—his research project that seeks to getclothes that have a bad effect on humans and theenvironment out of the market, Browne didn’tget a satisfying answer. Only one women’sclothing company, Eileen Fisher, offered Brownefunding.

1.What has happened during the past five years?

A. Fabric has become much stronger.

B. Plastic pollution has been less serious.

C. Many plastic bottles have been reused.

D. Microfibers have been greatly improved.

2.What does Browne think of washing syntheticclothes?

A. It is adding microfibers to the clothes.

B. It is worsening environmental problems.

C. It is making synthetic clothes last longer.

D. It is doing great damage to washing machines.

3.What can be inferred about Browne’s Benignby Design research project?

A. It has achieved great success. B. It hasn’t got anything done.

C. It is known to very few people. D. It is facing some difficulties.

4.What’s the best title for the text?

A. It’s important to learn to recycle

B. It’s never easy to solve pollution problems

C. Recycled plastic clothing: solution orpollution?

D. Are human beings moving forward orbackward?

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.D

4.C

【解析】

这是一篇议论文。在过去的五年里，大量的服装公司、企业和环保组织已经开始将塑料变成织物来处理塑料污染。但是这种方法有一个问题。现在的研究表明，微纤维可能是海洋中塑料的最大来源。来自加州圣巴巴拉的马克·布朗博士的研究也证实了这一点。

1.推理判断题。由第一段“ During the last five years, a large number of clothing companies, businesses and environmental organizations have started turning plastics into fabric to deal with plastic pollution”可知，在过去的五年里，许多服装公司、企业和环境组织已经开始将塑料转变成织物来处理塑料污染。所以判断出在过去的五年里许多塑料瓶已被重新利用。故C选项正确。

2.推理判断题。由第二段“He explains that every time synthetic clothes go into a washing machine, a large number of plastic fibers fall off. Most washing machines can’t collect these microfibers. So every time the water gets out of a washing machine, microfibers are entering the sewers and finally end up in the sea.”可知，他解释说，每次合成纤维衣服进入洗衣机，都会有大量塑料纤维脱落。大多数洗衣机无法收集这些微纤维。因此，每当水从洗衣机中流出时，微纤维就会进入下水道，最终流入大海。所以通过Browne的解释可以判断出布朗认为洗合成纤维衣服正在使环境恶化。故B选项正确。

3.推理判断题。由最后段“When he asked well-known clothing companies to support Benign by Design..., Browne didn’t get a satisfying answer”可知，当他要求知名服装公司来支持他的研究项目 Benign by Design时，Browne并没有得到令人满意的答案。所以通过didn’t get a satisfying answer，可以判断出Browne要使服装公司支持他的研究项目，这是很困难的，故推断出布朗的Benign by Design正面临一些困难。故D选项正确。

4.标题归纳题。通读全文可知，在过去的五年里，大量的服装公司、企业和环保组织已经开始将塑料变成织物来处理塑料污染。但是这种方法有一个问题。现在的研究表明，微纤维可能是海洋中塑料的最大来源。来自加州圣巴巴拉的马克·布朗博士的研究也证实了这一点。所以短文主要是围绕着“回收塑料服装:是解决方案还是污染”而展开的。故短文最佳标题是“回收塑料服装:是解决方案还是污染”。故C选项正确。