With alarming regularity, we read about oil tankers having accidents near land and the terrible consequences of the oil spills(泄露) on people, nature, and the environment.

       Millions of dollars have been used in developing special chemicals to help dismiss the spills and to clean up the animals, beaches, and land spoiled by the oil. Unfortunately, when many of these chemicals are used, more damage is caused to the environment, especially to lives in the sea.

       Of all of today’s environmental disasters, an oil spill may actually be one of the least serious. Although oil is poisonous, it is a natural material. In the end, it breaks down naturally. There are, of course, long-term effects, but it is usually more serious in the short term.

       Nature by itself works better than chemical materials, but when there is a spill we demand that governments act immediately with as much hi-tech knowledge as possible. In 1967 the tanker Torrey Canyon sank off the Sicily Isles near the coast of England and spilled 120,000 tones of oil into the ocean. If you go there today, you will find it hard to see any sign that it ever happened.

       Governments seem to accept the risk of transporting millions of tons of oil by ship every day so that we can fill up our cars and drive around and cause even more environmental damage. Interestingly, the biggest companies in the world produce cars, and the next biggest supply the gasoline to make them run!

       We should be thinking more about reducing our dependency on oil. Governments should be encouraging research into new technologies, such as cars run by solar power(太阳能), electricity, hydrogen, and so on. Much of this research has, in the past, been held back by the oil, gas, and coal.

       If the world’s millions of cars were 10% more efficient(高效的) — and the industry could easily produce cars at least twice as efficient — we would need many fewer tankers crossing the oceans each year. If this happened, the risks of oil spills would be reduced, and the air we breathe would be cleaner and fresher, too.

What is the passage mainly talking about?

A. Oil tanker accidents.  B. What oil pollution is.

C. Oil spills pollution.          D. How to reduce oil pollution.

How does the author support the idea that oil spills are not as serious as people believe?

A. By giving an example.      B. By making an argument.         

C. By giving a description.    D. By drawing a diagram.

What does the underlined word “risk” in Paragraph 5 refer to?

A. Transportation depending more on oil.          

B. More environmental damage being caused.

C. Millions of tons of oil spilling into the sea.           

D. Poisonous oil breaking down naturally.

Which suggestion is made for reducing oil tank accidents according to the passage?

A. We should build safer oil tankers in the near future.

B. Tankers should not be allowed to sail near the coastlines.

C. We should develop new technologies to cut oil use.

D. Countries should build more oil pipelines under the sea.

With alarming regularity, we read about oil tankers having accidents near land and the terrible consequences of the oil spills(泄露) on people, nature, and the environment.

       Millions of dollars have been used in developing special chemicals to help dismiss the spills and to clean up the animals, beaches, and land spoiled by the oil. Unfortunately, when many of these chemicals are used, more damage is caused to the environment, especially to lives in the sea.

       Of all of today’s environmental disasters, an oil spill may actually be one of the least serious. Although oil is poisonous, it is a natural material. In the end, it breaks down naturally. There are, of course, long-term effects, but it is usually more serious in the short term.

       Nature by itself works better than chemical materials, but when there is a spill we demand that governments act immediately with as much hi-tech knowledge as possible. In 1967 the tanker Torrey Canyon sank off the Scilly Isles near the coast of England and spilled 120,000 tones of oil into the ocean. If you go there today, you will find it hard to see any sign that it ever happened.

       Governments seem to accept the risk of transporting millions of tons of oil by ship every day so that we can fill up our cars and drive around and cause even more environmental damage. Interestingly, the biggest companies in the world produce cars, and the next biggest supply the gasoline to make them run!

       We should be thinking more about reducing our dependency on oil. Governments should be encouraging research into new technologies, such as cars run by solar power(太阳能), electricity, hydrogen, and so on. Much of this research has, in the past, been held back by the oil, gas, and coal.

       If the world’s millions of cars were 10% more efficient(高效的) — and the industry could easily produce cars at least twice as efficient — we would need many fewer tankers crossing the oceans each year. If this happened, the risks of oil spills would be reduced, and the air we breathe would be cleaner and fresher, too.

What is the passage mainly talking about?

   A. Oil spills pollution.                                            B. What oil pollution is.

C. Oil tanker accidents.                                     D. How to reduce oil pollution.

How does the author support the idea that oil spills are not as serious as people believe?

A. By giving a description.                                    B. By making an argument.         

C. By giving an example.                                        D. By drawing a diagram.

What does the underlined word “risk” in Paragraph 5 refer to?

A. Transportation depending more on oil.      B. Poisonous oil breaking down naturally.

C. Millions of tons of oil spilling into the sea.   D. More environmental damage being caused.

Which suggestion is made for reducing oil tank accidents according to the passage?

A. We should build safer oil tankers in the near future.

B. We should develop new technologies to cut oil use.

C. Tankers should not be allowed to sail near the coastlines.

D. Countries should build more oil pipelines under the sea.

With fifteen years Britain and other nations should be well on with the building of big industrial plants for the recycling of waste. The word rubbish could lose its meaning because everything which goes into the dustbin would be made into something useful. Even the most dangerous and unpleasant wastes would provide energy of nothing else.

The latest project is to take a city of around half a million citizens and discover exactly what raw (未经加工的) materials go into it and what go out. The aim is to find out how much of these raw materials could be provided if a plant for recycling waste were built just outside the city. This plant would recycle not only metal such as steel, lead and copper, but also paper and rubber as well.

Another new project is being set up to discover the best ways of sorting and separating the rubbish. When this project is complete, the rubbish will be treated like this: First, it will pass through sharp metal bars which will tear open the plastic bags in which rubbish is usually packed; then it will pass through a powerful fan to separate the lightest elements (元素) from the heavy solids; after that rollers will break up everything that can be broken. Finally, the rubbish will pass under magnets (磁铁), which will remove the bits of iron and steel; the rubber and plastic will then be sorted out in the final step.

The first full-scale (全方位的) big recycling plants are perhaps fifteen years away. Indeed, with the growing cost of transporting rubbish to more distant dustbins, some big cities will be forced to build their own recycling plants before long.

The underlined phrase “be well on with…” most probably means   __    .

  A. have completed what was started  B. get ready to start

  C. have achieved a great deal in    D. put an end to

What is NOT mentioned as a part of the recycling process (过程) described in

  Paragraph 3?

   A. Breaking up whatever is breakable.

   B. Sharpening metal bars.

   C. Separating light elements from the heavy ones.

   D. Sorting out small pieces of metal.

What’s the main reason for big cities to build their own recycling plants?

  A. To deal with wastes more economically.

  B. To protect the environment from pollution.

  C. To get raw materials locally.

  D. To get advantage from those plants.

The passage is mainly about         .

  A. a cheap way to get energy    B. the position of recycling plants

  C. new ways of recycling wastes D. the probability of city environment

With alarming regularity, we read about oil tankers having accidents near land and the terrible consequences of the oil spills(泄露) on people, nature, and the environment．

Millions of dollars have been used in developing special chemicals to help dismiss the spills and to clean up the animals, beaches, and land spoiled by the oil．Unfortunately, when many of these chemicals are used, more damage is caused to the environment, especially to lives in the sea．

Of all today's environmental disasters, an oil spill may actually be one of the least serious．Although oil is poisonous, it is a natural material．In the end, it breaks down naturally．There are, of course, long-term effects, but it is usually more serious in the short term．

Nature by itself works better than chemical materials, but when there is a spill, we demand that governments act immediately with as much hi-tech knowledge as possible．In 1967 the tanker Torrey Canyon sank off the Scilly Isles n ear the coast of England and spilled 120,000 tons of oil into the ocean．If you go there today, you will find it hard to see any sign that it ever happened．

Governments seem to accept the risk of transporting millions of tons of oil by ship every day so that we can fill up our cars and drive around and cause even more environmental damage．Interestingly, the biggest companies in the world produce cars, and the next biggest supply the gasoline to make them run.

We should be thinking more about reducing our dependency on oil．Governments should be encouraging research into new technologies, such as cars run by solar power, electricity, hydrogen, and so on．Much of this research has, in the past, been held back by the oil, gas, and coal．

If the world's millions of cars were 10% more efficient —and the industry could easily produce cars at least twice as efficient, we would need many fewer tankers crossing the oceans each year．If this happened, the risks of oil spills would be reduced, and the air we breathe would be cleaner and fresher, too．

What is the passage mainly talking about?

A. Oil spills pollution．                        B. What oil pollution is．

C. Oil tanker accidents.                   D. How to reduce oil pollution.

How does the author support the idea that oil spills are not as serious as people

believe?

A. By giving a description．                 B. By making an argument．

C. By giving an example．                 D. By drawing a diagram．

What does the underlined word "risk" in Paragraph 5 refer to?

A. Transportation depending more on oil．

B. Poisonous oil breaking down naturally．

C. Millions of tons of oil spilling into the sea．

D. More environmental damage being caused．

Which suggestion is made for reducing oil tank accidents according to the passage?

A. We should build safer tankers in the near future．

B. We should develop new technologies to cut oil use．

C. Tankers should not be allowed to sail near the coastlines．

D. Countries should build more oil pipelines under the sea．

With alarming regularity, we read about oil tankers having accidents near land and the terrible consequences of the oil spills（泄露） on people, nature, and the environment．
Millions of dollars have been used in developing special chemicals to help dismiss the spills and to clean up the animals, beaches, and land spoiled by the oil．Unfortunately, when many of these chemicals are used, more damage is caused to the environment, especially to lives in the sea．
Of all of today’s environmental disasters, an oil spill may actually be one of the least serious．Although oil is poisonous, it is a natural material．In the end, it breaks down naturally．There are, of course, long-term effects, but it is usually more serious in the short term．
Nature by itself works better than chemical materials, but when there is a spill we demand that governments act immediately with as much hi-tech knowledge as possible．In 1967 the tanker Torrey Canyon sank off the Sicily Isles near the coast of England and spilled 120,000 tones of oil into the ocean．If you go there today, you will find it hard to see any sign that it ever happened．
Governments seem to accept the risk of transporting millions of tons of oil by ship every day so that we can fill up our cars and drive around and cause even more environmental damage．Interestingly, the biggest companies in the world produce cars, and the next biggest supply the gasoline to make them run!
We should be thinking more about reducing our dependency on oil．Governments should be encouraging research into new technologies, such as cars run by solar power（太阳能）, electricity, hydrogen, and so on．Much of this research has, in the past, been held back by the oil, gas, and coal．
If the world’s millions of cars were 10% more efficient（高效的）— and the industry could easily produce cars at least twice as efficient — we would need many fewer tankers crossing the oceans each year．If this happened, the risks of oil spills would be reduced, and the air we breathe would be cleaner and fresher, too．
【小题1】What is the passage mainly talking about?

A．Oil tanker accidents．	B．Oil spills pollution．
C．What oil pollution is．	D．How to reduce oil pollution．

【小题2】How does the author support the idea that oil spills are not as serious as people believe?

A．By giving a description．	B．By making an argument．
C．By giving an example．	D．By drawing a diagram．

【小题3】What does the underlined word “risk” in Paragraph 5 refer to?

A．Transportation depending more on oil．

B．Poisonous oil breaking down naturally．

C．Millions of tons of oil spilling into the sea．

D．More environmental damage being caused．

【小题4】Which suggestion is made for reducing oil tank accidents according to the passage?

A．We should develop new technologies to cut oil use

B．Tankers should not be allowed to sail near the coastlines．

C．We should build safer oil tankers in the near future．

D．Countries should build more oil pipelines under the sea．