Plastics at Sea Create Raft of Problems etc.

Plastics at Sea Create Raft of Problems

If you could somehow weigh all the plastic floating in the world's oceans， it would equal the mass of roughly 38 000 African elephants.

That estimate comes from a new global study of plastics floating in the oceans. After six years of research， scientists estimate the seas contain about 5.25 trillion pieces of this trash. Its combined weight： an estimated 269 000 metric tons.

"We found plastics are widely distributed across all oceans，" says Marcus Eriksen. This environmental scientist is part of a research team that published a December 10 paper in PLOS ONE. Eriksen works with the 5 Gyres Institute in Los Angeles， Calif. This group looks for solutions to problems caused by plastic trash.

Scientists find the extent of the ocean's plastic trash problem worrying. Fish and other marine organisms can ingest tiny plastic fragments. This trash can then move up the food chain as seabirds， seals and other marine predators eat those fish.

Plastic is harmful for another reason， too. Previous studies have shown that plastics can work like sponges， soaking up and storing toxic chemicals. These include PCBs， pesticides and flame retardants. When ingested， such plastic can release the pollutants， triggering health problems. A 2013 study showed that such ocean plastics also provide homes for germs， some of which can cause disease.

Eriksen and his team travelled more than 50 000 nautical miles while making their measurements. They surveyed five subtropical gyres. These are large areas of rotating currents. Floating plastic accumulates in these large circular loops. The team also measured concentrations of plastic off the coast of Australia， on the Bay of Bengal and in the Mediterranean Sea.

The experts used a fine mesh net to capture plastic particles smaller than 4.75 millimeters. Later， they weighed all the tiny bits.

The researchers found that more than half of the weight of all ocean plastics is made up of such tiny pieces. This discovery concerned the team because smaller particles have a greater surface area. This allows them to absorb more pollution per unit weight than larger pieces will.

But bigger pieces also are a problem. Plastic bags， six-pack rings for canned drinks and fishing nets - all can entangle sea birds， turtles and even whales.

1. What is the mission of the 5 Gyres Institute in Los Angeles？ ____.

A. To work out solutions to problems caused by plastic trash

B. To save the endangered species in the ocean

C. To find out the sources of the ocean trash

D. To measure the concentrations of plastic trash around the world

2. What does the word "entangle" in the last line probably mean？ ____.

A. make sth become caught

B. attract

C. kill

D. make sth get drowned

3. What is the main idea of the passage？ ____.

A. Scientists are looking for solutions to the problem of plastic pollution

B. Ocean plastics are threatening the health of human beings

C. The huge quantity of ocean plastics

D. Plastics pollute the world's oceans

British Tea Consumption

You might be attracted to taste a beverage other than tea in Britain. Well， okay， possibly a pint of beer or a cup of coffee. But still， a hot cup of tea is a typical British （1） d .

So it came as a bit of shock this week when Mintel， a consumer research （A） c ， reported that tea sales in the U.K. had fallen 22 percent between 2010 and 2015， to 76 million kilograms. What's more， it said， the trend is continuing， and predicted that tea sales would drop to 68 million kilograms by 2020. A big problem for British tea companies is that 86 （B） p of tea in the U.K. is consumed at home， almost all of it made with tea bags. And between 2012 and 2014， Mintel says， tea bag sales sank by 13 percent. Standard black tea is struggling to maintain consumers' （2） i

amid growing competition from other drinks - held back by a rather uninspiring image. Besides， younger （C） c ， are less loyal to tea than their elders. Mintel points out that 54 percent of Britons still drink at least one cup a day.

Meanwhile sales of specialty teas， including herbal and fruit teas， are booming. Between 2012 and 2014， Mintel says， sales of those （3） s teas jumped 31 percent. One thing the British are not doing is replacing tea with （D） c . They still drink around 165 million cups of tea daily， compared to just 70 million cups of coffee. And not all tea companies are feeling the squeeze. Twinings - which has 19 percent of the U.K. （E） m ， second only to PG Tips' 25 percent market share - has experienced strong growth. Twinings has benefited from anticipating a recent surge of interest in loose（非茶袋式的）， specialty teas， and has brought out a wider range of non-traditional teas than its rivals. The British tea （F）

i has been slow to innovate. It is way behind the coffee boys， but it is catching up. One thing that is （4） m from the High Street landscape in Britain is a successful chain of tea houses mainly because it's still a drink that most folks prefer to make for themselves at home.

（A， B， C， D， E， F FOR CROSS， 1， 2， 3， 4 FOR DOWN. The first letters of the absents were given.）