单选题 Rubbish dumps throughout the industrial world are nearly full, heralding a crisis for city authorities as they look at alternative ways of dealing with the global garbage crisis.
That problem is peculiar to fast-moving, wealthy societies, which increasingly demand more packaged goods. In New York State alone, residents have doubled their demand for packaged goods in the past thirty years. And the situation is not expected to ease, not least because of social trends. As more women transfer their production and management skills to commercial enterprises, demand for convenience products in the home continues to grow, says a report published by the Washington-based World watch Institute.
The only solution for a nation which now spends more on wrapping food than it pays farmers to produce it, is recycling on a grand scale for commercial as well as conservation reasons.
The Institute wants multi-layered dustbins to be distributed to households, and people to be obliged to separate their waste into four categories: organic, glass and metals; paper; plastics and miscellaneous. It also believes it can only be a matter of time before such bins have to be made compulsory.
Cynthia Pollock, the author of the report, entitled "Mining Urban Wastes: The Potential for Recycling", points out that "consumers and policy makers are just beginning to realize that there is not real 'away' for throwaway".
Pollock believes that recycling is the only alternative. "Although household wastes are usually thrown out with little regard for their remaining value, a list of the world's discards would reveal a wealth of materials." And it is not just food; "Simply recovering the print run of the Sunday edition of the New York Times would leave 75,000 trees standing and reduce the energy used per ton of paper by up to three-quarters."
单选题 The main reason for the garbage crisis is ______.
  • A. the doubling of demand for goods
  • B. the growing number of city residents
  • C. the fact that goods move fast in industrial world
  • D. the greatly increased use of packaged goods
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】从第二段第一句“That problem is…which increasingly demand more packaged goods”,可知引发垃圾危机的主要原因是包装商品(packaged goods)数量在最近三十年的快速增长,故选D项。
单选题 The only solution to the rubbish problem is ______.
  • A. paying the farmers more to produce food
  • B. large-scale recovering of packaging materials
  • C. developing new ways of wrapping goods
  • D. taking account of commercial and conservation issues
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】细节题。从文中第三段“The only solution…is recycling on a grand scale”,故只有B项符合题意。
单选题 The reason why the World watch Institute wants multi-layered dustbins to be made compulsory is ______.
  • A. to make people keep organic and inorganic waste separate
  • B. that they can be distributed to households
  • C. to facilitate the recycling of rubbish
  • D. that time may be saved in collecting rubbish
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】从文中第四、五段“Cynthia Pollock…points out that…for throwaway.”即强制使用多层垃圾箱对垃圾进行分类,是给垃圾再循环提供便利条件。因此,C项符合题意。
单选题 Which of the following statements Cynthia Pollock probably will agree with?
  • A. It is wrong to throw thing away.
  • B. We should put things away carefully rather than throw them away.
  • C. Waste that is thrown away has not really been disposed of.
  • D. Household wastes have little remaining value.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】推理题。从文中第六段第二句可以找到Cynthia Pollock的观点:a list of the world's discards would reveal a wealth of materials,换言之,他认为倾倒的废物中还有许多价值未被充分利用(not really been disposed of),故C项符合题意。
单选题 Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
  • A. A lot of trees are cut down for the print run of The New York Times
  • B. The public is now well aware of the rubbish crisis.
  • C. The industrial society now spends more on wrapping food than it pays farmers to produce it.
  • D. The distribution of multi-layered dustbins has yet to be made compulsory
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】文章第五段Cynthia Pollock指出“consumers and policy makers are just beginning to realize that…”,可见公众危机意识刚刚形成,而非well aware of the rubbish crisis。其他各项都可在文中找到对应的语句。