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中考真题2024年山东省泰安市阅读理解D篇-被光遮蔽的星空:现代社会的光污染危机

When you look up at the night sky, what do you see? 80% of people around the world see nothing but skyglow (天光,人为白昼现象). This man-made brightening of the sky masks the stars.

The night sky has played an important role in human life for thousands of years. Ancient peoples named the constellations (星座). Around the same time, Polynesian sailors used the sun and stars to sail on the sea in the correct direction. Later, the Maya civilization (文明) used the position of the stars to predict the changing of the seasons.

But today, few people are able to see sky full of stars. So what happened?

Light pollution is the reason. When man-made light enters into the night sky, it hides the stars. This excess (过多的) light comes from streetlights, office buildings, stores, flashing billboards, etc.

Of course, people in modern societies need to light the night. Nighttime driving, walking, working, exercising, and more are all safer with man-made outdoor lighting. However, too much light at night can be harmful. It masks the stars and disturbs our natural sleep patterns, causing greater risk of cancer and heart disease.

Light pollution can be greatly reduced (减少) with a few simple actions. The first is to stop wasting light. Outdoor lights can be covered so that the light shines down to the ground only where it’s needed. People can be more careful about using lights only when and where they are necessary. Besides, people can choose light bulbs (灯泡) with the smallest effective amount of brightness. Most bright white lights, including LEDs, give off a large amount of shorter-wavelength (波长较短的) blue light, which brightens the sky more than any other color of light. Choosing light bulbs with longer-wavelength light in yellow or orange can help prevent harmful light pollution.