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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 3, 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.
文章剖析：
这篇文章介绍了聚碳酸酯瓶被撤事件及相关原因。第一段、第二段介绍了聚碳酸酯瓶被商家撤柜的情况;第三段讲述该瓶子兴盛起来的原因;第四段讲述人们对制造这种瓶子的化学物质B.P.A的一些担忧;第五段、第六段分别列出一些认为这种瓶子对人类没有危害的研究和评论。
词汇注释：
polycarbonate n.聚碳酸酯
ubiquitous adj.到处存在的
shatter-resistant adj. 防摔的
disrupt v.使瓦解, 破坏
难句突破：
(1) 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.
[主体句式] The retailer said that it would not …until…
[结构分析] 这是一个简单句，宾语从句比较复杂。该宾语从句为带有时间状语从句的复杂句;该从句中，宾语bottles后有一个以which引导的非限定性定语从句，在该定语从句中，a unit…是前面Nalge Nunc International的同位语;在时间状语从句中，a chemical used …是前面B.P.A的同位语。
[句子译文] 该零售商称不会再重新进这些瓶子，直到“健康加拿大”完成了双酚a(即B.P.A.)的调查后再予以考虑。这些瓶子的制造商下属于Thermo Fisher Scientific位于罗彻斯特的Nalge Nunc国际制造。双酚a 是一种用于制造透明高硬度塑料及食物罐镶条的化学物质。
(2) 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.S.A. on humans was a concern that required further investigation.
[主体句式] Rick Smith said that a paper found that…
[结构分析]这是一个简单句，有一个复杂的宾语从句;主语Rick Smith带有一个同位语the executive director of …;在宾语从句中，a paper后面是一个过去分词短语作它的定语，在从句的宾语从句中的宾语后面有一个that 引导的定语从句。
[句子译文] “环境防卫”执行理事Rich Smith称美国38名科学家在一次政府资助的会议结束后发表了一篇论文，该论文指出B.S.A.对人类的影响方面的研究不足，需要进一步的调查。
题目分析：
[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选项。
[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。
[答案] A
[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C、D符合后半句的陈述。因此答案为A选项。
[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选项。
[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。
参考译文：
由于担心在制造过程中使用了一种化学物质，一款本来已经成为环保标志的水瓶被加拿大最有名的户外用品零售商移出了其橱窗。
周三，位于不列颠哥伦比亚省的温哥华的“高山设备Co-op” 将其11个大型商场中Nalgene牌子的瓶子和其他聚碳酸酯容器撤柜。该零售商称不会再重新进这些瓶子，直到“健康加拿大”完成了双酚a(即B.P.A.)的调查后再予以考虑。这些瓶子的制造商下属于Thermo Fisher Scientific位于罗彻斯特的Nalge Nunc国际制造。双酚a 是一种用于制造透明高硬度塑料及食物罐镶条的化学物质。“高山设备”的发言人Tim Southam说：“我们跟踪B.P.A.事件已经有三年了，我们这周所作的决定并不代表今后聚碳酸酯制品永远都不会上柜了。我们目前试图得到关于这种化学物质的肯定结果。”
加拿大教会和环境组织曾经因为担心容器需要使用大量的塑料，而发动了反对瓶装水的运动。最后，这种可重复使用的Nalgene瓶子就在大学校园和其他地方普及开来。
聚碳酸酯塑料只能用B.P.A.才能制造，用这种塑料制造的瓶子透明，硬度与玻璃一样，但却非常防摔。但是，最近在加拿大多伦多的“环境防卫”组织对使用B.P.A.塑料制造食品容器提出了质疑。美国的环境保护主义者也对该化学物质表示担忧。去年，旧金山的州长会议通过了一项地方法律，禁止将该化学物质用于儿童用品。但是，在该法令还没有实施之前，B.P.A.就在一起行业起诉后从该法律中被移除了。批评者指出早在1936年人们研究就表明这种化学物质可以破坏荷尔蒙系统。
虽然在这点上没有争议，但是塑料行业引用了日本、北美和欧洲政府机构的研究，认为聚碳酸酯中该化学物质含量极少，且只会将微量的B.P.A.释放到使用者体内。“对一种化学物质进行如此周密的科学测验和审查是很罕见的，再说全世界重要的机构都认为聚碳酸酯瓶对人体没有危害。” Nalge Nunc研发部主任Tom Cumins在一次声明中这样说。
“环境防卫”执行理事Rich Smith称美国38名科学家在一次政府资助的会议结束后发表了一篇论文，该论文指出B.S.A.对人类的影响方面的研究不足，需要进一步的调查。美国化学委员会聚碳酸酯组织执行理事Steven G·Hentges反对该报告提出的担忧，指出上个月美国健康与人类服务部United States Department of Health and Human Services发表了一篇独立的专家小组报告。这个长达396页的报告中仅仅着眼于B.S.A.对于生殖的影响，该专家小组在报告中表示该化学物质对成人生殖系统“影响甚微”，但是却表示对孩子和怀孕妇女有一定影响。
