A line of water bottles that had become a symbol of environmental responsibility has been removed from the shelves of Canada’s leading outdoor gear retailer over concerns about a chemical used in its manufacture.

The Mountain Equipment Co-op, which is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, removed the bottles, sold under the brand name Nalgene, and other polycarbonate containers from its 11 large-scale stores on Wednesday. The retailer said that it would not restock the bottles, which are made by Nalge Nunc International in Rochester, a unit of Thermo Fisher Scientific, until Health Canada completed a review of bisphenol-a, or B.P.A., a chemical used to make hard, transparent plastics as well as liners for food cans. ’’We’ve been following the B.P.A. issue for at least three years,’’ said Tim Southam, a spokesman for Mountain Equipment. ’’The decision we’ve taken this week does not mean that polycarbonate products will never return to our stores. We’re just seeking some certainty about this chemical.’’

Church and environmental groups in Canada have mounted campaigns against bottled water because of concerns about the huge amount of plastic used in containers. As a result, the reusable Nalgene bottles have become ubiquitous on college campuses and elsewhere.

Polycarbonate plastic, which can only be produced by using B.P.A., creates bottles that are transparent and almost as hard as glass, but particularly shatter-resistant. Recently, however, the use of B.P.A.-based plastics in food containers has been questioned in Canada by Environmental Defence , a Toronto-based group. Environmentalists in the United States are also raising concerns about the chemical. Last year, San Francisco’s board of governors passed a local law banning the use of the chemical in children’s products. B.P.A. was removed from the ordinance before it went into effect, however, after an industry lawsuit. Critics point to studies dating back to 1936 showing that the chemical can disrupt the hormonal system.

While there is little dispute about that, the plastics industry, supported by several studies from government agencies in Japan, North America and Europe, contends that polycarbonate bottles contain very little of the chemical and release only insignificant amounts of B.P.A. into the bodies of users. ’’Rarely has a chemical been the subject of such intense scientific testing and scrutiny, and still, important agencies across the globe agree that there is no danger posed to humans from polycarbonate bottles,’’ Tom Cummins, the director of research and development at Nalge Nunc, said in a statement.

Rick Smith, the executive director of Environmental Defence, said that a paper published by 38 scientists after a government-sponsored conference in the United States found that the lack of research on the effects of B.P.A. on humans was a concern that required further investigation. Steven G. Hentges, the executive director of the American Chemistry Council’s polycarbonate group, takes issue with that report’s worries and points to a separate expert panel report published by the United States Department of Health and Human Services last month. In its 396-page report, which looked only at the impact of B.P.A. on reproduction, the panel said it had ’’negligible concern’’ about the chemical’s effect on adult reproductive systems but raised some concerns about its impact on children and pregnant women.

1. The word "ubiquitous" (Line 2, Paragraph 3) most probably means_____.

[A] omnipresent

[B] popular

[C] common

[D] usual

2．Which one of the following statements is TURE of the local law passed by San Francisco’s board of governors?

[A] this law forbade the use of B.P.A. in food containers for children

[B] this law was not enforced because of an industry lawsuit that was against the use of B.P.A

[C] this law was revised to allow  B.P.A. be used in children’s products

[D] this law went into effect before B.P.A. was removed

3. According to Tom Cummins, which one of the following is NOT true of B.P.A.?

[A] B.P.A. is rarely tested and scrutinized so intensely.

[B] The testing and scrutiny done to the other chemical are no comparison with that to B.P.A.

[C] That Polycarbonate bottles containing B.P.A. are not dangerous to humans is supported by multiple evidence.

[D] Polycarbonate bottles containing B.P.A. can be used safely by humans.

4．From the separate expert panel report it can be inferred that____.

[A] B.S.A. has no effect on reproduction

[B] B.S.A. has trifling impact on children and pregnant women

[C] B.S.A. has trifling impact on adult reproductive systems

[D] B.S.A. has great effect on reproduction.

5. The author’s attitude to the use of Nalgene bottles is _____.

[A] negative

[B] positive

[C] biased

[D] unclear

1. The word "ubiquitous" (Line 2, Paragraph 3) most probably means_____.1. "ubiquitou" (第三段第二行)的意思最有可能是_____。
[A] omnipresent[A] 无所不在的[B] popular[B] 普遍的[C] common[C] 普通的[D] usual[D] 平常的
[答案]A
[难度系数] ☆☆☆
[分析] 猜词题。根据上下文来判断该词的意思，文章第四段讲述当时由于加拿大教会和环境组织因害怕制造容器大量使用塑料，所以发动了许多运动。而因为Nalgene瓶子可以重复使用，具有环保特征，因此在校园和许多地方应该是普及了，到处能看得到了。答案为A。

2．Which one of the following statements is TURE of the local law passed by San Francisco’s board of governors?2. 关于旧金山州长会议通过的法律，下列哪个选项是正确的？
[A] this law forbade the use of B.P.A. in food containers for children[A] 该法律禁止在儿童的食品容器制作中使用B.P.A.
[B] this law was not enforced because of an industry lawsuit that was against the use of B.P.A[B]该法律因为一个行业反B.P.A诉讼而没有得以实施。
[C] this law was revised to allow  B.P.A. be used in children’s products[C] 该法律经修订后允许在儿童产品中使用B.P.A.
[D] this law went into effect before B.P.A was removed[D] 该法律在去除B.P.A之前已经生效
[答案] C
[难度系数] ☆☆☆
[分析] 细节题。文章第四段提到旧金山州长会议曾经就通过了一项法律，该法律禁止在儿童产品中使用B.P.A., 但是这个法律还没有实施的时候，就因为有一个行业诉讼，B.P.A.就从这项法律中免去了。可以推测，该法律可能同时规定了几种化学物质都不能用于儿童产品制造中，后来只是重新修订了该法律，将B.P.A.除去了。因此，答案C符合题意。

3. According to Tom Cummins, which one of the following is NOT true of B.P.A.?3. 根据汤姆·卡明斯所说的，关于B.P.A.下列哪个选项是不正确的？
[A] B.P.A. is rarely tested and scrutinized so intensely.[A] B.P.A.很少受到这么严格的审查和测验。考试大收集整理
[B] The testing and scrutiny done to the other chemical are no comparison with that to B.P.A.[B] 对其他化学物质所作的审查和测验和对B.P.A.所作的是没法比的。
[C] That Polycarbonate bottles containing B.P.A. are not dangerous to humans is supported by multiple evidences.[C] 有多种证据显示含有B.P.A.的聚碳酸酯瓶子对人类没有危险。
[D] Polycarbonate bottles containing B.P.A. can be used safely by humans.[D] 含有B.P.A.可以让人类安全地使用。
[答案] B
[难度系数] ☆☆☆
[分析] 细节题。这个题目是有关汤姆·卡明斯的看法的，这在第五段提及。选项A、B都是他陈述的前半部分内容，关键看这个句子如何理解：Rarely has a chemical been the subject of such intense scientific testing and scrutiny，意思是说很少有一种化学物质能受到这么严格的测验，意思是B.P.A. 受到的测验很严格，那么选项A是错误的。选项CD符合后半句的陈述。

4．From the separate expert panel report it can be inferred that____.4．由独立专家小组报告可以推断出_____。
[A] B.P.A. has no effect on reproduction[A] B.P.A.对生殖没有影响。
[B] B.P.A. has trifling impact on children and pregnant women[B]B.P.A.对孩子和怀孕妇女有很微弱的影响。
[C] B.P.A. has trifling impact on adult reproductive systems[C]B.P.A. 对成人生殖系统影响甚微。
[D] B.P.A. has great effect on reproduction.[D]B.P.A.对生殖有很大的影响。
[答案]C
[难度系数] ☆☆☆☆
[分析] 推理题。题目是关于独立专家小组报告的，这在文章第六段提及。这个报告只研究了B.P.A.对于生殖的影响，研究不怎么担忧该化学物质对成人生殖系统的影响，但对该化学物质对儿童和怀孕妇女的影响却有一定担忧。由此可以推断，该化学物质可能对儿童和怀孕妇女有一定影响，但对成人生殖系统影响不大。选项A说没有影响，过于绝对，因为文中多次提到有一定影响，但是不是很大。因此，答案为C。

5. The author’s attitude to the use of Nalgene bottles can be said to be _____.5. 作者对于使用Nalgene瓶子的态度可以说是_____。
[A] negative[A] 否定的[B] positive[B] 肯定的[C] biased[C] 有偏见的[D] unclear[D] 不明朗
[答案]B
[难度系数] ☆
[分析]态度题。这篇文章分析了人们对于聚碳酸酯瓶子中的B.P.A.化学物质的看法和争议，列出了一些科学的研究和判断，可以得出结论就是该瓶子中B.P.A.对人类影响有限，因此作者对使用该瓶子的态度是肯定的。