In 1996,John Tierney suggested in The New York Times article that“recycling is garbage”.He wrote,“The money spent on recycling programs should have been spent on real social and environmental problems.Recycling programs not only increase energy use and pollution,but also cost more money than the disposal(处理) of plain old garbage.Recycling may be the most wasteful activity in modern America.”
Environmental groups were quick to express their disagreement.They wrote reports on how recycling programs in cities can reduce pollution and cost less than regular garbage pickup and disposal.Michael Shapiro,an official of the US Environmental Protection Agency(EPA),said that “recycling can be good value for money,although there’s still room for improvements”.
But in 2002,New York City,a pioneer of recycling,found that its recycling program was losing money,so it stopped glass and plastic recycling.Other major cities watched closely to see how New York was dealing with its remaining program(the city never stopped paper recycling).But then it closed its last landfill(垃圾填埋地),and private companies out of New York raised prices due to the increased workload of carrying away and disposing New York’s garbage.As a result,glass and plastic recycling became profitable for the city again,and New York brought the program back.According to Cecil Adams of The Chicago Reader,the lessons learned by New York are relevant everywhere.He believes that,if managed correctly,recycling programs should cost cities less than garbage disposal.
Even though the benefits of recycling over disposal are many,keep in mind that it better serves the environment to “reduce and reuse” before recycling is even considered as a choice.
【语篇导读】有人发文认为回收再利用垃圾是一种非常浪费的行为,而有人却提出了不同的观点。
1.Why did John Tierney think “recycling is garbage”?
A.Because he didn’t like the environmental groups.
B.Because he didn’t think recycling was a new idea.
C.Because he found few people would like to recycle.
D.Because he considered recycling a wasteful activity.
答案:D
解析:细节理解题。根据第一段的“Recycling programs not only increase energy use and pollution,but also cost more money...be the most wasteful activity”可知,John Tierney认为回收再利用垃圾比直接处理垃圾更浪费。
2.Which argument was put forward by the environmental groups?
A.Recycling programs save money.
B.Recycling technologies are mature.
C.Recycling programs cause pollution.
D.Recycling technologies are valueless.
答案:A
解析:细节理解题。根据第二段的第二句“They wrote reports on how recycling programs in cities can reduce pollution and cost less than regular garbage pickup and disposal”可知,环保组织认为回收再利用垃圾的成本更低。
3.Why did other cities watch closely to see how New York was doing?
A.Because New York was doing extremely well.
B.Because they felt worried about the waste of money.
C.Because they didn’t want to have a recycling program.
D.Because New York was running a new recycling program.
答案:B
解析:推理判断题。根据第三段的“But in 2002,New York City,a pioneer of recycling,found that its recycling program was losing money,so it stopped glass and plastic recycling.Other major cities watched closely to see how New York was dealing with its remaining program”可推知,因为纽约2002年在垃圾回收再利用上有亏损,所以其他城市也担心会出现同样的情况,所以就密切关注纽约的动态。
4.Which of the following would the author most probably recommend?
A.Always bring your own shopping bag when you go shopping.
B.Always put your shopping bag into the dustbin after use.
C.Never go shopping where shopping bags are offered for free.
D.Never use a shopping bag which is not recycled.
答案:A
解析:推理判断题。根据最后一段中的“keep in mind that it better serves the environment to ‘reduce and reuse’ before recycling is even considered as a choice”可知,作者所推荐的就是“减少使用和重复使用”,因此选A项。
