Ask someone what they have done to help the environment recently and they will almost certainly mention recycling. Recycling in the home is very important of course. However, being forced to recycle often means we already have more material than we need. We are dealing with the results of that over-consumption in the greenest way possible, but it would be far better if we did not bring so much material home in the first place.

The total amount of packaging increased by 12% between 1999 and 2005. It now makes up a third of a typical household’s waste in the UK. In many supermarkets nowadays food items are packaged twice with plastic and cardboard.

Too much packaging is doing serious damage to the environment. The UK, for example, is running out of it for carrying this unnecessary waste. If such packaging is burnt, it gives off greenhouse gases which go on to cause the greenhouse effect. Recycling helps, but the process itself uses energy. The solution is not to produce such items in the first place. Food waste is a serious problem, too. Too many supermarkets encourage customers to buy more than they need. However, a few of them are coming round to the idea that this cannot continue, encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags, for example.

But this is not just about supermarkets. It is about all of us. We have learned to associate packaging with quality. We have learned to think that something unpackaged is of poor quality. This is especially true of food. But it also applies to a wide range of consumer products, which often have far more packaging than necessary.

There are signs of hope. As more of us recycle, we are beginning to realize just how much unnecessary material we are collecting. We need to face the wastefulness of our consumer culture, but we have a mountain to climb.

【小题1】What does the underlined word “over-consumption” refer to?

A．Using too much packaging.

B．Recycling too much waste.

C．Making more products than necessary.

D．Having more material than is needed.

【小题2】The author uses figures in Paragraph 2 to show ________.

A．the tendency of cutting household waste

B．the increase of packaging recycling

C．the rapid growth of supermarkets

D．the fact of packaging overuse

【小题3】What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?

A．Unpackaged products are of bad quality.

B．Supermarkets care more about packaging.

C．It is improper to judge quality by packaging.

D．Other products are better packaged than food.

【小题4】What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．Fighting wastefulness is difficult.

B．Needless material is mostly recycled.

C．People like collecting recyclable waste.

D．The author is proud of his consumer culture.

   Ryan Hickman is only seven years old, but he’s already been saving for his college fund with profits he’s making from his recycling business.

When Ryan was three-and-a-half, he went with his dad to the local recycling center and made money from a few bags of cans and bottles. When he learned money can be made from that, Ryan decided recycling was his future.

“We had gone to the center with a couple of bags, and he really loved the actual act of putting all the cans and bottles into the machine and getting the money from it, and that kind of act got him hooked, ” described Damion Hickman, Ryan’s father.

Ryan told his parents that he wanted to give empty plastic bags to all the neighbors and hoped they would save their recyclables for him. Not only did the neighbors save their cans and bottles for Ryan but so did their co-workers, families, and friends. Soon after, Ryan started his own business, Ryan’s Recycling, and has since recycled over 200,000 cans and bottles. Every week, he and his family sort through bags of recyclables and they take them to the local recycling center where they are sorted and weighed.

So far, Ryan has saved more than $ 10,000 for college from his profits and he also sells T-shirts on his website and donates the profits to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach. “For the sea lions to get food and medicine,” he said.

Ryan has an important message for everyone, “If you already recycle, just keep on recycling. If you don’t recycle, start recycling.” Always a great businessman, Ryan added, “If you want to buy one of these T-shirts, it’s $ 13 on ryansreecycling.com.”

【小题1】When did Ryan think of recycling as his future?

A．When he was taken to the recycling center.

B．When he was 3 years old.

C．When he got some rewards for selling T-shirts on his website.

D．When he learned recycled cans and bottles could be sold for money.

【小题2】What did Ryan do when he planned to begin his career?

A．He went to ask his family and neighbors to sell him the used bottles and cans.

B．He gave empty plastic bags to all the neighbors to get their used cans and bottles.

C．He went to the local recycling center first and sold the cans and bottles.

D．He and his family sorted through bags of recyclables of their own.

【小题3】Which of the following words can best describe Ryan based on this passage?

A．Caring and determined.

B．Honest and generous.

C．Independent and energetic.

D．Rich and thoughtful.

假如你是李明，昨天学校组织你班学生去东方红化工厂参观，你发现工厂附近的环境受到了严重污染，河水污浊不堪，于是决定写一封信给China Daily投稿，呼吁政府加强对工厂的管理，要求工厂采取措施处理污染，保护环境。
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注意：1. 词数100左右；
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Dear Editor,

I’m sorry to trouble you, but _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you!

Yours,

Li Ming

The hottest“green”toy in Germany isn't made of organic or recycled materials.This one has a solar panel and only runs if kids remember to insert bright red “energy stones”that power the space station.Germany，a pioneer in many renewable energy initiatives，is also at the forefront of creating environment­friendly toys aimed at making kids think about where energy comes from and how much of it they can use，raising awareness through play.A number of high­tech green toys are on display at this year's Nuremberg toy fair，which runs through Sunday.
Among them，there are hydroelectric­powered(水电动力的)toy cars，and doll houses with wind turbines and rainwater catchers.The bright green “Future Planet”space station features an inner atrium(中庭)with a fan that is powered by a functioning solar cell.Its aim is to get kids to use their imagination about how energy will be created in the future.
Makers and retailers believe such toys will play an increasingly important role in their future—and that of our kids.“Energy is the question of the future and we are definitely thinking about this as we move ahead，”said Judith Schweinitz，a spokeswoman for Playmobil，maker of the solar panel­fitted space station.“It is increasingly being brought into our play concept.”Green toys—which range from those made of sustainable materials to ones like the space station that just raise environmental awareness—make up only a sliver of the $ 84 billion international toy market，but their share is growing，studies indicate.Environmental research firm Earthsense，based in Syracuse，New York，predicts that green toys will account for about $ 1 billion，or 5 percent of U．S.toy sales in the next five years.Parents are smart and they want information about what's in the product.That's what's really driving the market.
【小题1】The hottest “green”toy in Germany is ________.

A．made of rubbish

B．made of organic or recycled materials

C．equipped with a solar panel

D．driven by an advanced motor

【小题2】The purpose of making the green toys is to ________.

A．raise kids' awareness about energy and environment

B．improve kids' imagination

C．give kids the knowledge of technology

D．improve the safety of toys

【小题3】We can infer from the last paragraph that the green toys ________.

A．can help save little energy

B．are not accepted by parents

C．will sell well in the future

D．have not been produced

【小题4】Which of the following BEST describes the opinion of Earthsense about green toys?

A．Doubtful.	B．Optimistic.
C．Disappointed.	D．Proud.