Question

    One of the problems damaging our planet is the number of things we throw away. Rubbish of all kinds is piling up in landfill and polluting our rivers and oceans. A more recent addition to the list of things we chuck away is e-waste — electronic items that are broken and not recycled. Now solutions are being found to give this stuff a new life.

Many millions of tonnes of televisions, phones, and other electronic equipment are discarded each year, partly because it’s cheaper to replace them than fix them, but also because we lack the skills to repair them. A UN report claims the 50 million tonnes of e-waste generated every year will more than double to 110 million tonnes by 2050, making it the fastest growing waste stream in the world.

However, there’s a growing trend for repair events and clubs which could be part of a solution to the growing amount of electrical and electronic junk. The BBC visited a Restart Project in London, which is one of many founded around the world. One of its volunteers, Francesco Calo, said that “this project allows you to reduce waste, extend the life of objects, and it helps people who cannot afford to get rid of items that have developed a fault.”

As many electrical items contain valuable metals, another idea is e-waste mining. An experiment at the University of New South Wales involves extracting (提取) these materials from electronic gadgets. It’s thought that doing this could be more profitable than traditional mining. With phones typically containing as many as 60 element, this could be part of the solution to our appetite for new technology.

These projects make total sense — collections of e-waste for recycling are “stagnating (停滞不前) or even decreasing” according to Ruediger Kuehr, of the United Nations University And in countries where there is no legislation, much of it just gets dumped. However, the European Union, for example, is trying to tackle the problem by insisting manufacturers have to make appliances longer-lasting and will have to supply spare parts for machines for up to 10 years.

1.According to the passage, electronic items are thrown away because ________.

A.they are totally useless

B.we have to recycle them

C.they will pollute our rivers and oceans

D.it’s cheaper to replace them than fix them

2.What is leading to the rise in e-waste?

A.Growing trend for repair events.

B.E-waste generating cleaner energy.

C.Our being hungry for new technology.

D.Mining valuable metals in electrical items.

3.What do we know about e-waste?

A.E-waste used to be the fastest growing waste stream in the world.

B.Tremendous amounts of e-waste are thrown away each year.

C.We can’t find the solution to the problem of c-waste.

D.Land-filling allows us to reduce e-waste.

4.Which is the best title for the passage?

A.Solving the Problem of E-waste

B.How to Stop Damaging Our Planet

C.Saying No to Throwing Away Things

D.How to Collect E-waste for Recycling

Answer

1.D

2.C

3.B

4.A

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，介绍了现在人们正在寻找办法解决日益严重的电子垃圾问题。

1.

细节理解题。根据第二段中的“Many millions of tonnes of televisions, phones, and other electronic equipment are discarded each year, partly because it’s cheaper to replace them than fix them, but also because we lack the skills to repair them.”可知，每年有数百万吨电视、电话和其他电子设备被丢弃，部分原因是更换它们比修理它们便宜，还因为我们缺乏修理它们的技能，故D项正确。

2.

推理判断题。根据第四段中的“With phones typically containing as many as 60 element, this could be part of the solution to our appetite for new technology.”（手机通常含有多达60种金属元素，这可能是满足我们对新技术需求的解决方案的一部分）可知，我们对新技术的渴求导致了电子垃圾的增加，故C项正确。

3.

细节理解题。根据最后一段中的“collections of e-waste for recycling are “stagnating or even decreasing” according to Ruediger Kuehr, of the United Nations University And in countries where there is no legislation, much of it just gets dumped.”（联合国大学的Ruediger Kuehr说，回收电子垃圾的工作停滞不前，甚至在倒退，在没有立法的国家，大部分电子垃圾都被丢弃了）可知，每年都有大量的电子垃圾被扔掉了，故B项正确。

4.

主旨大意题。通读全文，特别是根据第一段中的“A more recent addition to the list of things we chuck away is e-waste — electronic items that are broken and not recycled. Now solutions are being found to give this stuff a new life.”（最近，在我们扔掉的物品清单上又增加了一项，那就是电子垃圾，也就是那些坏了不能回收的电子产品，现在，人们正在寻找让这些东西重获新生的解决办法）可知，短文的最佳标题为“解决电子垃圾问题。”故A项正确。