Clothing rental is a hot new industry and retailers (零售商) are demanding to get on board in hopes of attracting green shopper.
But is renting fashion actually more environmentally-friendly than buying it, and if so, how much more? Journalist and author Elizabeth Cline investigated (调查) this question and concluded that it's not as sustainable as it seems.
Take shipping, for example, which has to go two ways if an item is rented — receiving and returning. Cline writes that consumer transportation has the second largest carbon footprint of our collective fashion habit after manufacturing.
She writes, ''An item ordered online and then returned can send out 20 kilograms of carbon each way, and increases up to 50 kilograms for rush shipping. By comparison, the carbon impact of a pair of jeans purchased from a physical store and washed and worn at home is 33.4 kilograms, according to a 2015 study by Levi's.''
Then there's the burden of washing, which has to happen for every item when it's returned, regardless of whether or not it was worn. For most rental services, this usually means dry cleaning, a high impact and polluting process. All the rental services that Cline looked into have replaced perchloroethylene (氯乙烯), a carcinogenic (致癌的) air pollutant, still used by 70 percent of US dry cleaners, with alternatives, although these aren't great either.
Lastly, Cline fears that rental services will increase our appetite for fast fashion, simply because it's so easily accessible. There's something called ''share washing'' that makes people waste more precisely because a product or service is shared and thus is regarded as more eco-friendly. Uber is one example of this, advertised as ''a way to share rides and limit ear ownership.'' and yet ''it has been proven to discourage walking,bicycling, and public transportation use.''
Renting clothes is still preferable to buying them cheap and throwing them in the dustbin after a few wears, but we shouldn't let the availability of these services make us too satisfied. There's an even better step — that's wearing what is already in the closet.
1.What is Elizabeth Cline's attitude toward clothing rental?
A.Approving. B.Unfavorable.
C.Objective. D.Enthusiastic.
2.The Uber example in Paragraph 6 indicates that .
A.rental services are on the rise
B.clothing rental will be as successful as Uber
C.renting clothes might waste more than expected
D.renting clothes might make people lose interest in fast fashion
3.The author suggests that we should .
A.give up renting any clothing
B.purchase inexpensive clothes
C.rent clothes rather than buy them
D.make full use of clothes we've possessed
4.What is the passage mainly about?
A.Clothing rental is a new fashion.
B.Clothing rental is retailers' preference.
C.Renting clothes is not that eco-friendly.
D.Renting-clothes business is in a dilemma.
Maybe you pop vitamins supporting brainpower, or stock upon these foods that boost brain health. But new guidelines from the American Academy of Neurology suggest there's something better you can do to keep your mind sharp.
A quarter of adults aged 80 to 84 experience mild cognitive (认知的) impairment, according to AAN. To address the widespread problem, a group of neurologists and Alzheimer's (阿尔兹海默氏症的) specialists went through existing studies to define the best ways to prevent and treat cognitive decline-and you might be surprised by what they included and what they didn't.
Surprisingly, the AAN guidelines don't include any medication (药物) or dietary recommendations. The authors stress that there haven't been any high-quality, long-term studies finding foods or medication can help cognitive decline. The guidelines also say doctors can consider suggesting cognitive training to patients with memory loss but not to rely on it. So far, the report's authors say the evidence is too inconclusive to say for sure if brain exercises, like memory and attention training or problem solving for everyday issues associated with memory loss, are beneficial. Still, these morning brain exercises can't do any harm.
But there was one big discovery from the new guidelines: Exercising just twice a week could improve cognitive decline. One study showed adults with mild cognitive impairment who did resistance training twice a week scored better on executive function and associative (联想的) memory tests than a group that worked on balancing, stretching, and relaxing.
What's more, another study had older adults attend either biweekly health classes or sessions of aerobics, strength training, balance exercises, and multitasking training. Six months later, the ones who'd exercised regularly scored better on cognitive health and memory tests, plus had less brain shrinkage.
AAN now recommends doctors tell patients with memory loss to exercise twice a week to keep their minds sharp. This is the best time to exercise if you want to improve your memory. It looks like you've got just one more reason to clear time in your schedule for a workout — even if it's only on the weekends.
1.What does the underlined word ''impairment'' in paragraph 2 refer to?
A.Error. B.Decline. C.Development. D.Presence.
2.AAN may be uncertain about .
A.strength training B.resistance training
C.exercises twice a week D.brain exercise
3.Which of the following may the author agree with?
A.Daily exercises are beneficial to Alzheimer.
B.The AAN guidelines attach importance to workout.
C.Medication is of significance in the AAN guidelines.
D.Stocking up on vitamins supporting brainpower means nothing.
4.In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?
A.Exercise. B.Entertainment. C.Science D.Health
Last month, my husband and I completed what some of our friends considered a foolish task: a 32-day, 5, 232-mile camping trip with children in our Volkswagen van, without ''high-tech'' to occupy the children.
It was the screen less journey that showered me with doubts. But is ''boredom'' senseless? My friend Renee, who has driven cross-country with her three kids eight times, calls boredom the mother of creativity. She's not the only one who sees virtue in blank time. In a recently published paper, researchers at East Anglia University in England concluded that the trance like (发呆的) state helps recharge the mind and is ''central to learning and creativity''. I wasn't trying to make my kids smarter. Neither do I dislike high-tech. But I understand too well the power of mini screens to transform our kids into zombies (木讷的人) .
On Day 1, our 7-year-old son announced ''Texas is so boring!''. The next day, struggling against his seat belt, he yelled he couldn't take much more of this. His 5-year-old sister was better at the long hours playing make-believe with the stuffed animals. On Day 3, he began count mountains and see pandas and dolphins in distant clouds in the Texas sky. I often joined the kids in the back, where we did thumb-and-toe wrestle. With well-known mountains ahead, my husband told the children the past legends of them. ''Arizona is not as boring as Texas,'' our son declared.
I hope the trip gave kids some lazy, unstructured time to learn something about valuing the trip instead of looking for the fastest way to burn it up. I don't always make the right call as a parent but I know that in banning the small screen we made the right choice this time.
1.Why did the author choose a high-tech free journey?
A.Her friends are highly against it.
B.She disliked advanced technology.
C.She feared the passive influence of mini-screens.
D.The researchers proved the harm of modern technology.
2.What happened during the cross-country drive?
A.Their son got worse at boredom.
B.Her kids had a tough time riding in the vehicle.
C.Their son relieved himself by watching animals outside.
D.The time spent without screens strengthened the family bond.
3.The underlined part ''the fastest way'' in the last paragraph refers to .
A.the speediest route to finish the journey
B.the ability to observe the surroundings
C.the interest of playing games with others
D.the choice of killing time by playing digital devices
4.Which is the best title for the text?
A.Is Driving Long Distances Good for Children?
B.A Touching Cross-country Trip of My Family
C.What's Wrong with Boredom without High-tech?
D.Creative Kids out of Parents' Reasonable Choice
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1.What is promoted in this text?
A.A travel package.
B.A train service.
C.A family plan.
D.An accommodation service.
2.All ticket holders can enjoy without extra charge.
A.Wi-Fi signals B.priority boarding
C.on-board breakfast D.charging points
3.What is the lowest round-trip fare for a married couple with their two pet dogs?
A.￡230. B.￡330. C.￡660. D.￡740.
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。
Kent was a manager of a furniture agency. His establishment nearly went bankrupt (倒闭）because of the wrong decision he had made. He was so regretful and depressed that he planned to drive to a bar alone to release his emotions.
It was near midnight in an extremely cold winter, and the temperature was minus 9 degrees centigrade. There were few people in the street. Suddenly, a figure of an old madam entered his line of sight. She was standing sideways near a platform, dressed in a plain coat, dragging a suitcase, and holding a plastic bag in the other hand. The slight old lady was seemingly more than 80. She was trembling in cutting wind. Now she kept motioning Kent for a ride. Although Kent was somewhat angry about the old madam's disturbing，he wouldn't like to leave her in the cold night. He noticed she coughed violently and thought that she might be ill and really needed help. So he braked near her.
The madam said, "Would you please take me for a ride? I can offer double fare. . . " Kent interrupted her, "I will charge you nothing! Come on!" The madam pointed to her luggage and said, "Could you put my suitcase into the car?" Kent stepped out and put it in the trunk.
Kent proceeded to drive. He stopped at a petrol station where he wanted to purchase gallons of gasoline (汽油). During the interval they waited in a queue，the madam began her narration, "Could you please send me to the charity house in the suburbs? I want to send them something. I had been given help there 50 years ago. The president and workers were all good guys." She burst into tears，"Now they've all passed away. The life was tough at that time, but we all loved and cared about each other. I've held a desire to be back there again for long." Kent realized the madam was recalling a section of the good missing days. A complicated feeling surrounded him, and he decided to cancel his plan and stay with the old madam.
Paragraph 1 ：
After a two-hour drive，they came to the gate of their destination.
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Paragraph 2 ：
Hearing this, Kent lapsed into silence, because he knew the rest home was for patients with incurable diseases.
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假定你是李华。你的美国朋友Tom来信说,他将在暑假期间来中国学习中国画,希望能在本市参加一个短期课程。你帮他联系了一所艺术学校,请给他回信,告知以下内容:
1.学习内容:水墨山水画(Chinese ink landscape painting);
2.课程时间:六周;
3.收费及食宿安排。
注意:1.词数80左右;
2.可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯;
3.短文中不得出现学校或地区名称。
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