2026高考英语一轮复习阅读理解练习主题：环境保护（人类生存、社会发展与环境的关系）

Microplastics have become a common source of pollution across the Earth — they have settled in the deep sea and on the Himalayas, stuck inside volcanic rocks, filled the stomachs of seabirds and even fallen in fresh Antarctic snow. They are even appearing inside humans.

Now, new research suggests that a simple, cheap measure may significantly reduce the level of microplastics in water from your tap (水龙头): boiling and filtering (过滤) it. In a study published Wednesday in Environmental Science & Technology Letters, researchers from China found that boiling tap water for just five minutes — then filtering it after it cools — could remove at least 80 percent of its microplastics.

Crucially, this process relies on the water containing enough calcium carbonate (碳酸钙) to trap the plastics. In the study, boiling hard water containing 300 milligrams of calcium carbonate led to an almost 90 percent drop in plastics. But in samples with less than 60 milligrams of calcium carbonate, boiling reduced the level of plastics by just 25 percent. Additionally, the research didn’t include all types of plastics. The team focused only on three common types — polystyrene, polyethylene and polypropylene — and they didn’t study other chemicals previously found in water such as vinyl chloride.

Still, the findings show a potential path forward for reducing microplastic exposure — a task that’s becoming increasingly difficult. Even bottled water, scientists found earlier this year, contains 10 to 1,000 times more microplastics than originally thought.

Scientists are still trying to determine how harmful microplastics are — but what they do know has raised concerns. The new study suggests boiling tap water could be a tool to limit intake. “The way they demonstrated how microplastics were trapped through the boiling process was nice,” Caroline Gauchotte-Lindsay, an environmental engineer at the University of Glasgow in Scotland who was not involved in the research, tells New Scientist. “We should be looking into upgrading drinking water treatment plants so they remove microplastics.”

1. How does the author present the issue in the first paragraph?

A. By quoting an expert.

B. By defining a concept.

C. By giving examples.

D. By providing statistics.

2. What determines the effectiveness of trapping microplastics in water?

A. The hardness of water.

B. The length of cooling time.

C. The frequency of filtering.

D. The type of plastic in water.

3. What does the author try to illustrate by mentioning bottled water in paragraph 4?

A. The importance of plastic recycling.

B. The severity of the microplastic problem.

C. The danger in overusing pure water.

D. The difficulty in treating polluted water.

4. What is Gauchotte-Lindsay’s suggestion about?

A. Choice of new research methods.

B. Possible direction for further study.

C. Need to involve more researchers.

D. Potential application of the findings.

Keys:

1-4 CABD

文章分析

主题：环境保护（人类生存、社会发展与环境的关系）

语块积累

a common source of pollution 一个常见的污染源

show a potential path forward 展现一条未来可行的路径

microplastic exposure 微塑料暴露

bottled water 瓶装水

raise concerns 引起担忧

limit intake 限制摄入量

be involved in 参与

look into 调查；研究

drinking water treatment plants 饮用水处理厂

难句分析

Still, the findings show a potential path forward for reducing microplastic exposure — a task that’s becoming increasingly difficult. (para. 4) 

①本句是主从复合句。

②主句是the findings show a potential path forward for reducing microplastic exposure。其中，path forward为常见短语，表示“前进的方向或途径”。

③破折号后面的内容对reducing microplastic exposure作补充说明，其中包含一个定语从句that’s becoming increasingly difficult，修饰task。

【句意】不过，这些研究结果为减少微塑料接触提供了潜在的解决途径——尽管（减少微塑料接触）这项工作正变得愈发艰难。

问题分析

1. How does the author present the issue in the first paragraph?

A. By quoting an expert.

B. By defining a concept.

C. By giving examples.

D. By providing statistics. 

文章第一段列举了一系列微塑料存在的场景，例如深海、喜马拉雅山脉、火山岩、海鸟的胃、南极新雪甚至是人体内部。通过这些具体的例子，作者呈现出微塑料无处不在的现状和微塑料污染问题的严重性。statistics指的是具体的统计数字，文中未体现，故D项不正确。

2. What determines the effectiveness of trapping microplastics in water?

A. The hardness of water.

B. The length of cooling time.

C. The frequency of filtering.

D. The type of plastic in water. 

根据第三段中的Crucially, this process relies on the water containing enough calcium carbonate to trap the plastics. In the study, boiling hard water ... by just 25 percent可知通过煮沸和过滤的方式去除水中微塑料的过程依赖于水体本身的碳酸钙含量，即水的硬度。研究表明，煮沸含300毫克碳酸钙的硬水可以去除几乎百分之九十的微塑料。而当碳酸钙含量低于60毫克时，效果大打折扣。因此，水质越硬，其捕获微塑料的功效越高。A项中的hardness和原文中的hard为同根词，有所提示。D项The type of plastic in water的干扰性较强。第三段后半部分虽然提及了多种塑料类型，却是为了体现这一新的研究的范围和局限性，故D项不正确。

3. What does the author try to illustrate by mentioning bottled water in paragraph 4?

A. The importance of plastic recycling.

B. The severity of the microplastic problem.

C. The danger in overusing pure water.

D. The difficulty in treating polluted water.

根据第四段中的Still, the findings show a potential path forward for reducing microplastic exposure — a task that’s becoming increasingly difficult. Even bottled water, scientists found earlier this year, contains 10 to 1,000 times more microplastics than originally thought可知，减少微塑料接触正变得愈发艰难。科学家们发现，即便是瓶装水，其微塑料含量也比原先认为的高出10至1000倍。由此可以推断，作者提及瓶装水是为了体现微塑料问题的严重程度。文中虽提及瓶装水，但并未提及塑料回收（plastic recycling）、过度使用纯水（overusing pure water）以及污水治理（treating polluted water）。

4. What is Gauchotte-Lindsay’s suggestion about?

A. Choice of new research methods.

B. Possible direction for further study.

C. Need to involve more researchers.

D. Potential application of the findings.

根据文章最后一段中的The way they demonstrated how microplastics were trapped through the boiling process was nice 以及We should be looking into upgrading drinking water treatment plants so they remove microplastics可知，Gauchotte-Lindsay对煮沸过滤这一去除微塑料的方法大为赞赏。她认为我们应考虑升级饮用水处理厂的微塑料过滤技术以去除微塑料。这是将新的研究发现（煮沸过滤法）应用到实际场景（升级饮用水处理厂）之中，属于“研究成果的潜在应用（potential application）”。B项Possible direction for further study的干扰性较强。但“进一步的研究方向”是指在现有研究基础上，探索新的实验方法、理论框架或未涉及的领域（如研究其他塑料类型、化学成分等）。但Gauchotte-Lindsay的建议并非针对“研究”本身，而是强调“应用”，其本质是推广现有技术，而非开辟新的研究方向，故B项不正确。

拓展练习

I. Translate the sentences with the expressions given in brackets.

1. 尽管气球看似无害，但它们是一种常见的污染源。 (a common source of pollution)

__________________________________________________

2. 焚烧过多垃圾已引发对健康问题的担忧。(raise concerns)

__________________________________________________

3. 学生们被鼓励在大学期间参与科学研究。(be involved in)

__________________________________________________

4. 该公司正在研究更换旧设备以提高生产力。(look into)

___________________________________________________

-END-

点个关注也不错哦！