全新版大学英语听说教程第二册 Unit15

2-15-A

The environment on our planet is a closed system: nothing new is ever added. Nature recycles its resources.

Today, the Earth is in trouble. Factories pour dirty water into our rivers. Many fish die and the water becomes unhealthy for people to drink. Cars and factories put poison into the air and cause plants, animals and people to get sick. People throw bottles and paper out of their car windows, and the roadside becomes covered with all sorts of wastes. Over the years, people have changed the environment, and we have pollution.

To continue to survive, we must learn how to use the Earth's resources wisely. We have to change our habits and stop dumping such enormous amounts of industrial waste into the water and air. We must cooperate with nature and learn better ways to use, not abuse, our environment.

2-15-B

Plastic Bags -- A Big Problem in Hong Kong

Every day people in Hong Kong get rid of 15 million plastic bags. They weigh about 600 tons. This is not including the tens of thousands of plastic bags people dump at the beaches and in local waters, which have caused serious pollution.

These bags cost taxpayers 1 over $70 million a year to deal with. Some of the bags are destroyed by burning. The problem with this is that, when they break down, they release poisonous chemicals, which can cause cancer. The chemical poisons penetrate 2 into the earth.

In order to attract the public's attention to the problem of plastic bags and to reduce the number of bags used at the same time, the Retail 3 Management Association launched the Use Fewer Bags Campaign. In the first stage of the campaign, 1,500 retail stores aimed to reduce the number of plastic bags given away to customers by 10 per cent. This has been achieved. The second stage of campaign will focus on the number of plastic bags given away in markets.

"Ideally, people going to buy food in the markets should carry their own reusable bags, such as canvas bags, that can be washed," said a campaign coordinator 4. She stressed that the campaign had two objectives. Besides reducing the number of plastic bags used, she hoped that the campaign would increase the public's overall awareness 5 of environmental problems.

2-15-C

The Rhine River

The River Rhine is Western Europe's most important waterway. Rising in the Alps, it passes through Switzerland, Germany, France and Holland, before flowing into the North Sea.

But for decades, industrial and domestic waste flowed untreated into the river and, not surprisingly, the Rhine was seriously polluted from the 1950s to the 1970s. Fish disappeared and it was dangerous to swim in it. Then in 1986 a fire at a chemical plant in Basel caused tons of pesticides 6 to leak into the river. Thousands of fish died. That was a wake-up call for the countries along the Rhine. They realized that they really had to get together and clean it up and keep it clean. Otherwise it could be the death of the Rhine. Switzerland, Germany and France now work together in Basel to keep the river clean. At various points, water is extracted and checked every six minutes, twenty-four hours a day. And industries that pollute the river can be traced and fined.

Thanks to international cooperation, the river is on the path to recovery. At Basel, in the evening summer sun, the river has a festive 7 atmosphere. People walk leisurely 8 along the river banks, listening to live music, and pause for a drink in one of the many open-air cafes. On the vast river itself, boats from Germany sail slowly past the old town of the city, towards the more modern structures of the chemical industries.