Pollution is the introduction of a substance into an environment that results in damage, interferes with

ecosystems or endangers human health. However, it wasn’t until the Industrial Revolution that the
effects of human activities on the environment began to show, particularly the reduction in air quality.
Since then, pollution has become one of the biggest threats to our environment, massively impacting
the health of humans all over the world.

Millions of people die prematurely each year from diseases caused by air pollution. For example, in the
UK alone, around 36,000 deaths are caused by air pollution each year. Air quality is measured by the
amount of particulate matter in the air – predominantly those that are smaller than 2.5 micrometres
(PM2.5). Particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres can enter the bloodstream and worsen fatty buildup in
the arteries. This has the potential to disrupt the functioning of the heart, raising the risk of a stroke.

Air pollution is just one of many different types of pollution, which all contribute to the degradation of
the environments. Other forms include water, land and plastic pollution. Followings are some of the
worst polluted places on Earth, which are either blanked by smog, poisoned by plastic or recovering
from radiation.

THECHERNOBYL DISASTER’SLEGACY
35 years after the infamous explosion at the
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, radioactive fallout
is still present. 58,000 square miles of land in
Belarus, Russia and Ukraine remains classified as
contaminated, and the 1,100 square miles closest
to the power plant is considered a no-go zone. In
April 2020, fears about the levels of radioactivity
in Chernobyl reignited when wildfires ripped
through no-go zone forests. This caused radiation
levels to go up more than 17 times the normal
background levels, as the burning trees released
previously absorbed radioactive elements such as
plutonium-238 and caesium-137.

AGBOGBLOSHIE, GHANA
Welcome to the world’s largest digital dumping
ground. On the banks of the Korle Lagoon,
mountains of ‘e-waste’ from various corners of
the world dominate the landscape; discarded
refrigerators, crushed car parts and cracked
computers appear to be permanent neighbours
of the 80,000 residents. Only 20 per cent of e-
waste is recycled worldwide – the rest enters
dumping sites. The waste is treated by burning it,
resulting in toxic sea of smoke enveloping the air.
 LAHORE PAKISTAN
The tall buildings of Lahore - Pakistan’s second
largest city with a population of more than 12
million people - are often concealed by dense
smog, created from a combination of vehicle and
industrial emissions. Lahore frequently ranks at
the top of the most polluted cities around the
world for its air quality. During 2020, Lahore’s
PM2.5 average was 79.2 micrograms per cubic
metre. Air pollution is a severe problem in
Pakistan, accounting for an estimated mortality
rate of 128,000 people each year

Source:

1. According to the passage, how is air quality determined?

A. By determining how much PM2.5 is present in the air
B. By calculating how many people die prematurely each year
C. By measuring how much PM2.5 there is in a person’s bloodstream.
D. By determining how many people suffer from breathing problems.
2. The word “degradation” in line ….. is closest in meaning to
A. Improvement
B. Decline
C. Drop
D. Reduction
3. Why did a wildfire in 2020 near Chernobyl raise concerns?
A. It threatened to damage the nuclear power plant.
B. It destroyed a large area of a rare forest.
C. It resulted in an increase in radioactive pollutants.
D. It turned the area nearby into a no-go zone.
4. What can be inferred about the pollution problem in Agbogbloshie, Ghana?
A. Most of the waste comes from other countries.
B. Most of the e-waste here is produced locally.
C. The waste consists of mostly broken computers.
D. The e-waste benefits the neighborhood nearby.
5. According to the passage, what happens to most of e-waste worldwide?
A. They are recycled.
B. They are fired.
C. They are landfilled.
D. They are dumped at sea.
6. What’s is mostly responsible for air pollution in Lahore?
A. Tall buildings
B. Its large population
C. Dense smog
D. Traffic and factories
7. How many people die each year from air pollution in Pakistan?
A. 12 million
B. 2.5 million
C. 79.2 thousand
D. 128 thousand