The first global plastic pollution treaty

西藏 格桑珍嘎

主题语境：人与自然 篇幅：307词 建议用时：6分钟

1The United Nations countries have agreed to create a treaty that deals with plastic pollution in the world's oceans,rivers and land.The UN Environment Assembly voted Wednesday at its meeting in Kenya's capital Nairobi for a resolution“to end plastic pollution”.It is the beginning of international negotiations designed to produce a treaty by 2024.

2“Today we wrote history.Plastic pollution has grown into a big threat,”said Espen Barth Eide.He is Norway's Minister of Climate and the Environment and the assembly's president.“With today's resolution we are officially on track for a cure,”he added.

3Negotiators debated on the resolution for a week.Plans presented by Peru,Rwanda,India and Japan were used as the basis of the global plan to prevent and reduce plastic pollution.The treaty would cover the production,design and removal of plastic.

4“It is not always that you get such a major environmental deal,”said Inger Andersen,executive director of the UN Environment Programme.Andersen called the agreement by representatives of 175 member countries“the most significant global environmental governance decision sinceThe Paris Agreementin 2015”.

5A recent study by the Pew Research Center said that the worldwide plastic industry is valued at $522.6 billion.The study also reported that 11 million metric tons of plastic end up in the oceans every year.

6The environmental group Greenpeace said the UN decision is a“big,bold step to end plastic pollution”.

7Graham Forbes is head of the global plastic project at Greenpeace USA.He said that until a strong international treaty is signed,the organization and its allies will keep working toward a world free of plastic pollution.

8“This is a big step that will keep the pressure on Big Oil and Big Brands to reduce their plastic footprint and switch their business models to refill and reuse,”Forbes said.

Reading Check

Detail 1.What do we know about the treaty?

A.It was produced in Paris.

B.It will be finished by 2024.

C.It involves four countries.

D.Its aim is to limit plastic production.

Inference 2.What did Espen Barth Eide think of plastic pollution?

A.It's a big trouble.

B.It's under control at present.

C.It's impossible to solve it now.

D.It's beyond people's imagination.

Vocabulary 3.What does the underlined word“bold”in paragraph 6 mean?

A.Unique. B.Cautions.

C.Different. D.Brave.

Inference 4.In which part of a newspaper can we read the text?

A.Environment. B.Education.

C.Travel. D.Life.

Language Study

Ⅰ.Difficult sentence in the text

The United Nations countries have agreed to create a treaty that deals with plastic pollution in the world's oceans,rivers and land.联合国成员国已同意制定一项处理世界海洋、河流和陆地塑料污染的条约。

【点石成金】本句是一个主从复合句。句中，that 引导定语从句，修饰先行词a treaty。

Ⅱ.Text-centered chunks

agree to do 同意做……；赞成做……

deal with 处理；应付

on track 走上正轨

end up 最终；结果