胡靜

The fashion industry has a dark side， a lot darker than many of us realise. Here’s three cold truths you might not have realised damage wildlife and ecosystems.

You may wonder how a cheap woollen sweater affects the Mongolian grassland. Actually， the grasslands were already degraded due to climate change， soil erosion and the drying up of lakes and rivers. Besides， studies suggest that 80 percent of the 70 percent degradation of the grasslands is due to overgrazing. The major factor driving this activity is the global market demand for cheaper cashmere.

We know that the volume of plastic that enters oceans and waterways is already at catastrophic. But less known is that one of the routes is through our washing machines. When clothes made from synthetic fibres are washed in a machine， millions of tiny microfibres are released via water treatment plants into waters. The study of plastic microfibre ingestion by deep-sea organisms show microfibre ingestion in a wide variety of species， including crabs and lobsters… Microfibres have even been found in the food we eat. This situation is bad news for wildlife： the fibres can block the digestion tract and damage stomach lining leading to reduced feeding and starvation.

Dissolving pulp（溶解木漿） is used in many garments by the fashion industry. What you might not know is that the pulp is often taken from trees in endangered or ancient forests. This means that the clothes we buy and wear are contributing directly to deforestation and habitat destruction. Deforestation also has an impact on climate change. These fashion habits are extremely damaging： forest habitats are home to biodiverse populations of thousands of species， with many already rare and endangered.

In recent years， retailers have increased the number of fashion collections they release each season. Every year， 100 billion new garments made from new fibres are produced many of which soon end up in landfill. This results in an enormous carbon footprint and leads to pollution. A dress might cost a few pounds for the consumer， but there is a hidden cost to the wider environment， both for ecosystems and other species.

（材料出自BBC Earth網(wǎng)站，有刪改）

1. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about？

A. The negative effects of climate change.

B. The causes of degradation of grasslands.

C. The terrible living conditions of herders and wildlife.

D. The cheaper cashmere produced by Mongolia.

2. How does plastic impact sea creatures？

A. It has little effect on them.

B. It may make them not easy to be starving.

C. It can prevent food from moving in digestive systems.

D. It enters waters by washing clothes.

3. What do the underlined words “a hidden cost” mean in the last paragraph？

A. Additional fees. B. Severe pollution.

C. Rising prices. D. Difficult situations.

4. What will the author talk about in the following paragraph？

A. The reasons for retailers releasing fashion collections.

B. The causes of enormous carbon footprint.

C. What can be done to deal with new garments.

D. What can be done to reduce pollution made by clothes.

1. B。解析：主旨大意題。材料第二段的大意為——你可能會想知道一件廉價的羊毛衫對蒙古草原有什么影響。事實上，由于氣候變化、土壤侵蝕和湖泊、河流的干涸，草原已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)退化。此外，研究表明，70%的草原退化中有80%是由于過度放牧。推動這一活動的主要因素是全球市場對廉價羊絨的需求。選項B的意思為“草原退化的原因”，故選B。

2. C。解析：細節(jié)理解題。材料第三段中提到“甚至在我們吃的食物中也發(fā)現(xiàn)了微纖維”“這種情況對野生動物來說是件壞事——纖維會阻塞消化系統(tǒng)，破壞胃黏膜，導致進食減少和挨餓”。據(jù)此，我們可以看出塑料會阻礙食物在消化系統(tǒng)中移動，故選C。

3. B。解析：詞義猜測題。材料最后一段中提到“每年有1000億件由新纖維制成的新衣服被生產(chǎn)出來，其中許多很快就被送入垃圾填埋場，這導致了巨大的碳足跡，并造成了污染”，結合畫線詞所在句子的大意“一件衣服對消費者來說可能要花幾英鎊，但對更廣泛的環(huán)境來說也有一個隱藏的成本，無論是對生態(tài)系統(tǒng)還是其他物種”，我們可以看出“隱藏成本”指的是“環(huán)境被嚴重污染”，故選B。

4. D。解析：推理判斷題。通讀材料，我們可知其介紹了常見的時尚行業(yè)污染環(huán)境的冰冷真相。同時，材料最后一段又以“近年來，零售商們增加了每一季發(fā)布的時裝系列的數(shù)量”導入，介紹了這種更新快的時尚對于環(huán)境的危害。因此，下一段應該會談到如何減少時尚行業(yè)帶來的污染。故選D。