Section B: Information Matching
Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on your Answer Sheet.
If we care about plastic waste, why won't we stop drinking bottled water?
[A] For all the innovation and choice that define the food and drink industries, if you want to make money, you could do a lot worse than fill a bottle with water and sell it. A litre of tap water, the stuff we have cleverly piped into our homes, costs less than half a penny. A litre of bottled water can cost well over a pound, especially for something fancy that has been sucked through a mountain.
[B] Yet the bottled water market is livelier than ever. It defies our increasing awareness of the harm plastics do to the environment and a broader, growing sense that something has to change. Sales in the UK were worth a record £558.4 million this past year, an increase of 7%, according to the latest figures from the market analyst Kantar. Separate data from other analysts show that last year the British consumed more than 2.2 billion litres of bottled water, including 'take-home' and 'on-the-go' products. That's an annual rise in volume of 8.5%.
[C] Environmental campaigners are struggling to understand why nations blessed with clean tap water grow only fonder of the bottle. 'It's very surprising to me,' says Sam Chetan-Walsh, a political adviser at Greenpeace and campaigner against ocean plastic. 'Public awareness has never been higher, but the message is not quite reaching all the people it needs to.' Where it is heard, the message is causing concern. Plastic water bottles require oceans of fossil fuels to make and ship. Additionally, single-use plastics of all types are polluting our cities and seas. Numerous documentaries have shown how plastic is ultimately killing wildlife.
[D] Moves against various plastics have gathered pace, from shopping bags to straws and plastic-lined coffee cups. Chetan-Walsh argues that bottled water is different because the alternatives are so obvious. 'If a product that is so nakedly unnecessary can exist then the whole system is failing,' he says.
[E] Hope is not entirely out of reach. The rate of growth has begun to ease (sales were up 7% in the year, compared with 8% in the previous year).
[F] But even if large numbers of people are quitting bottled water because of care for the environment, others are taking it up. The introduction of the 'sugar tax' on juices and soda drinks has pushed more people to bottled water, while health awareness has boosted its desirability. Tap water consumption is growing at roughly the same pace (UK consumers still drink almost three times as much tap water as bottled water).
[G] So the plastic tide only creeps higher. The industry is quick to point out that all its bottles are recyclable. 'But collection rates are, at the most generous estimates, 56%, so the actual recycling rate will be lower than that,' Chetan-Walsh says. And while bottles may be recyclable, very few are made of recycled plastic. One water bottle company launched recycled half-litre 'eco' bottles alongside its standard bottles. Another has pledged to use only recycled plastic across its range by 2025. Chetan-Walsh believes in a ban on single-use bottles. Bans do exist in some places. Organisers of a famous music festival announced that water bottles will not be sold this summer. San Francisco has banned them from city property and events. Last year, the UK government set out plans to ban single-use plastic from its estate.
[H] Water bottlers, unsurprisingly, don't support bans. But they raise concerns about health rather than profit margins. Last month one chief executive of a water bottling company said that bans would 'result in greater consumption of sugary drinks, adding to all the health dangers of obesity, diabetes and tooth decay'. Kinvara Carey, general manager of an association of the biggest bottled water manufacturers, cites a survey in which people were asked what they would do if bottled water were not available. 'Forty-four per cent would buy another drink which is not great, 14% would go without, and 4.5% said they would find a fountain.' she says. 'The choice is important.'
[I] What if fountains were more numerous, and tap water more clearly available in cafes, restaurants and elsewhere? Dozens of fountains are being installed in London. There are similar initiatives elsewhere. Before plastic and the marketing that made people think they needed bottled water in the first place, fountains were an urban fixture. Greenpeace, among others, is also pushing for a 'deposit return' scheme. This would mean tax on bottled water would be refunded to customers who returned the plastic for recycling.
[J] Even if bottled water sales are growing slightly more slowly, the industry is racing to adapt to changing concerns and tastes. Flavoured water is booming: sales of the sparkling variety shot up by 20%, according to the latest analyst data. Meanwhile, international water brands, as well as a range of new companies, are selling high-end reusable bottles. And if you must fill them with tap water, why not add flavouring?
[K] As the owner of multiple sugary drink brands and bottled water, PepsiCo is facing challenges on health and environmental fronts. Last year, the company bought SodaStream (a drinks company that sells machines for making tap water bubbly and then consumers add flavours) for $3.2 billion. It also launched a range of fancy bottles that work with tap water and flavour packets. The bottle is reusable. The packets? Not so much, and, yes, they are made of plastic, although the company invites users to post them back for recycling.
[L] As is so often the case, clever marketing can beat reason; awareness is rarely enough. 'There is always this kind of slip between concern, intent and changed behaviour,' says Giles Quick an analyst of bottled water. 'The best example is five a day, the recommendation to have at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day. Almost everyone is aware of this, but something like 15% of us achieve it.' Unless a far-reaching bottle ban does come into force, it will be up to consumers to not only demand change, but to act themselves.
36. Judging from the slowing rate of sales growth, there is still hope to combat bottled water.
37. Bottled water manufacturers base their arguments against bans of plastic bottles on health concerns rather than on profits.
38. Sales of bottled water in Britain hit a record high last year even though people are increasingly aware that plastics are environmentally unfriendly.
39. It often happens that people can lack reason when faced with skillful marketing.
40. One city on the west coast of America has banned single-use bottles from its property and events.
41. Manufacturing and shipping of plastic water bottles consume a tremendous amount of fossil fuels.
42. One large beverage company has adapted its operations when confronted with challenges from health and environmental advocates.
43. Bottled water is considerably more expensive than tap water.
44. Fountains could be seen in cities before bottled water became popular.
45. More people have taken to bottled water because of their health awareness.
Answers & Explanations
36. E。解析：题干 mentions slowing rate (增速放缓)，[E] 段提到从 8% 降到 7%，并说 Hope is not entirely out of reach。
37. H。解析：题干指厂商以健康而非利润为由反对禁令，[H] 段明确提到 raise concerns about health rather than profit margins。
38. B。解析：题干说销量创纪录尽管人们意识到塑料有害，[B] 段提到 Sales... worth a record £558.4 million 以及 It defies our increasing awareness...之感。
39. L。解析：题干说面对巧妙营销会失去理智，[L] 段首句直接点出 clever marketing can beat reason。
40. G。解析：题干指美国西海岸城市（旧金山），[G] 段明确提到 San Francisco has banned them...。
41. C。解析：题干提到制造运输消耗大量化石燃料，[C] 段对应 Plastic water bottles require oceans of fossil fuels to make and ship。
42. K。解析：大型饮料公司（百事）调整运营，[K] 段描述 PepsiCo 面对挑战收购 SodaStream 并推出新瓶子。
43. A。解析：题干指瓶装水比自来水贵，[A] 段详细对比了不到半便士与超过一英镑的价格差。
44. I。解析：题干指流行前城市就有饮水器，[I] 段对应 Before plastic... fountains were an urban fixture。
45. F。解析：题干指因为健康意识更多人喝瓶装水，[F] 段提到 health awareness has boosted its desirability。
核心搭配与亮点句型
【核心搭配与高频短语】
- defy awareness：违背/无视意识（指明明知道有害却还去做）
- blessed with：幸运地拥有；享有...的福气
- gather pace：加快步伐；势头增强
- nakedly unnecessary：显而易见地没必要；赤裸裸地多余
- urban fixture：城市固定设施
- profit margins：利润率；利润空间
- into force：生效；开始执行
【亮点句型解析】
- "As is so often the case, clever marketing can beat reason." (类比/状态引导)：
这是一个非常地道的固定结构 `As is (often) the case`，意为“通常情况都是这样”。在四级作文中，可以用来引出一个普遍存在的现象。 - "Nations blessed with clean tap water grow only fonder of the bottle." (讽刺/对比)：
这里用了 `fond of` 的比较级 `fonder`，通过“拥有洁净自来水”和“愈发痴迷瓶装水”的矛盾，深刻讽刺了消费主义的荒诞。 - "There is always this kind of slip between concern, intent and changed behaviour." (心理学洞察)：
`slip` 在这里指“脱节/落差”。这句话精辟地总结了现代人的环保困境：关注(concern)和意图(intent)很好，但很难转化为实际行动(changed behaviour)。
全文翻译
[A] 我在中国旅行时，惊讶地看到所有阶层的人都依赖瓶装水。它在商店、街头小贩和自动售货机都有售。我的导游甚至劝我不要喝酒店房间和餐厅里提供的自来水。事实上，他说他的"梦想"是有一个自动倒热水的龙头。作为一个来访者，我不习惯饮用瓶装水，甚至没有考虑它可能包含什么。我随大流，似乎每个人都这样做了，我毫不怀疑地喝着它。[B] 即使在家里，许多人也饮用瓶装水，相信它比自来水更安全、更干净。但这是真的吗？瓶装水在它包含什么方面不像自来水那样受到严格监管，这意味着它可能含有自来水没有的微小纳米塑料颗粒。我们无法看到或品尝它们，但它们很普遍——它们存在于我们的食物、水和空气中。在最近的一项研究中，研究人员报告说，平均而言，一升瓶装水含有24万个来自七种塑料的可检测塑料颗粒，其中90%是纳米塑料。纳米塑料指的是长度小于一微米或不到人类头发平均宽度七十分之一的塑料颗粒。
[C] 瓶装水中的大多数塑料颗粒非常小，专业的显微镜都无法看到。实际上，在瓶装水中检测纳米塑料是极其困难的，因为它们的尺寸极小。因此，瓶装水中的纳米塑料在很大程度上是一个未被充分研究的领域。但在2018年的一项研究证实普通瓶装水中含有微塑料后，公众的关注增加了。微塑料是指小于五毫米的塑料碎片。那项研究之后，研究人员测试了自来水，发现在大多数发达国家，它含有比瓶装水更少的微塑料。
[D] 研究人员仍在试图了解纳米塑料的消费是否对人类有严重影响。一些研究表明，塑料颗粒上的化学物质如某些类型的可能干扰体内激素或增加各种健康问题的风险。其他研究表明微塑料促使免疫系统产生炎症反应和细胞损伤。尽管有这些发现，目前仍不清楚长期或高水平的纳米塑料消费是否对人类有害。
[E] 考虑到围绕塑料消费的负面结果，许多人可能会选择完全放弃瓶装水。然而，这可能很难做到，因为它已经成为我们日常生活的常见部分。瓶装水满足了我们在远离可靠自来水时对安全饮用水的需求。它还提供了一种方便的方式来在旅途中保持水分。由于这些原因，尽管存在潜在风险，它已经成为我们生活中无处不在的一部分。好消息是，研究人员说，大多数人从纳米塑料消费中得到严重疾病的风险相对较低。瓶装水确实含有纳米塑料，但我们大多数人可能不需要像某些新闻媒体描绘的那样担心这些污染物。
[F] 在研究人员研究纳米塑料消费的影响的同时，我们可以采取措施减少我们对它的暴露。尽可能避免饮用瓶装水是一个好的开始。重复使用水瓶来减少塑料废物是一个更环保的决策。消费者还可以选择由不同材料或符合特定监管标准的品牌制成的包装。任何变化，无论多么小，都可以产生影响。即使你没有将瓶装水作为你的主要水源，制造个人改变还是很好的。即使是很小的步骤也可以累积成显著的改进。