Question

    We’re drowning in plastic. If you want to reduce your own contribution to the plastic pollution problem, recycling might seem like an easy solution.

But what happens after you clean out those plastic containers and pour them into a recycling bin? Unfortunately, the outcome isn’t as rosy as many people think; recycling is unlikely to give plastic to-go containers new life. “Of all the waste produced in 2017, only 8.4% of it eventually got recycled. It’s not that consumers aren’t motivated to recycle or that they don’t have ready access to recycling programs; the United States simply doesn’t have the proper facilities (设施),” said John Hocevar, a marine biologist with Greenpeace USA.

A recent report surveyed the United States’ 367 materials recovery facilities—the facilities that sort our recycling—and found only plastic bottles were regularly recycled. The fate of most other types of plastic such as packaging usually ends up being buried or burnt.

Not all plastic is created equal. If you turn over a transparent plastic bottle, like those used to hold water, you’ll notice a number “1” inside a triangular recycling symbol. Non-transparent jugs, like the kind that hold milk, get a “2”. At materials recovery facilities, or MRF’s, plastics get sorted based on these numbers, which indicate how recyclable they are.

Numbers 1 and 2 are relatively recyclable. Recycling gets more difficult with higher numbers, called “mixed plastic”. This waste makes up around 69% of all the plastic we use. It’s much more expensive to process than numbers 1 and 2.

So what the United States needs is facilities equipped to process other kinds of plastic. But Hocevar came up with a different solution: “The really simple answer is that we have to stop making so much throwaway plastic.”

That said, is recycling worth it? For bottles labeled (贴标签) “1” or “2”, the answer is “yes”. There’s also a growing market for plastics labeled “5”. For other numbers, Hocevar’s answer was simple: a resounding (响亮的) “no” on numbers 3, 4, 6 and 7.

1.Which problem is the USA facing according to the text?

A.People don’t know the best way to recycle.

B.Ready recycling programs are not accessible.

C.People lack awareness about plastic recycling.

D.There isn’t suitable equipment for plastic recycling.

2.What may John Hocevar think of plastic recycling in the USA?

A.Productive. B.Promising.

C.Unsatisfying. D.Controversial.

3.What information can the numbers on plastic bottles convey?

A.Whether it is easy to recycle them.

B.The recycling technology they need.

C.They places where they were produced.

D.Which dustbin we should put them into.

4.What should we do with plastic according to Hocevar?

A.Give up the use of plastic.

B.Develop more cheaper facilities.

C.Only recycle plastics labeled 1 to 5.

D.Reduce the production of mixed plastic.

Answer

1.D

2.C

3.A

4.D

【解析】

本文为说明文。讲述了塑料垃圾回收问题，标有不同数字符号的塑料瓶回收的成本也不同，有些可以回收，有些应该停止制造。

1.细节理解题。根据第二段It’s not that consumers aren’t motivated to recycle or that they don’t have ready access to recycling programs; the United States simply doesn’t have the proper facilities（这并不是说消费者没有回收利用的动机，也不是说他们没有现成的回收利用的途径;美国就是没有适当的设施）可知，美国所遇到的问题没有适当的设施，故选 D。

2.推理判断题。根据“Of all the waste produced in 2017, only 8.4% of it eventually got recycled. …the United States simply doesn’t have the proper facilities (设施),” said John Hocevar, a marine biologist with Greenpeace USA.（“在2017年产生的所有垃圾中，只有8.4%最终得到回收利用。…美国就是没有适当的设施。”美国绿色和平组织的海洋生物学家John Hocevar说，）可知，John Hocevar 对美国塑料回收不满意，故选C。

3.细节理解题。根据第五段Numbers 1 and 2 are relatively recyclable. Recycling gets more difficult with higher numbers, called “mixed plastic”. （数字1和2是相对可回收的。塑料的数量越高，回收就越困难，被称为混合塑料。）可知，塑料瓶上的数字代表了回收难度，故选A。

4.细节理解题。根据倒数第二段Hocevar came up with a different solution: “The really simple answer is that we have to stop making so much throwaway plastic.”（ Hocevar想出了一个不同的解决方案:“真正简单的答案是我们必须停止制造这么多的一次性塑料。”）可知，按照Hocevar所说，对于无法回收的混合塑料，我们应该减少生产，故选D。