2001年广东专插本英语考试.docVIP

2001年广东省普通高等学校本科插班生考试 英 语 试 题 Part I. Reading Comprehension(40%) Passage One Did you know that the empty plastic soft drink bottles you throw away every day can be turned into carpet or automobile parts ? That used glass bottles and aluminum cans can be turned into new ones? And that yesterday’s newspaper can be turned into tomorrow’s ? It all happens because of recycling .This simple waste we throw away is a “natural resource” that , with recycling, can be used to produce a variety of mew products. Unfortunately, America recycles only 10% of its rubbish ,burns 10% and deposits (存放)80% in waste disposal grounds. As a result , it has to cope with a serious solid waste problem. Every year, Americans throw away about 160 million tons of rubbish. Of that total, plastics make up less than 8% , paper about 36% , and glass and metal about 20% , all by weight . Plastics are naturally lighter, but still, when pressed together, account for only about 20% by volume(体积). As a result, in the past 10 years the United States’ waste disposal grounds have decreased from about 18, 500 to 6,000. In five years 2,000 more will close. In the process of finding solutions, some people have proposed to stop using plastics. Unfortunately, stopping using plastics would do much harm and no good. We would lose all of the safety, health and convenience features of plastics. Besides, packaging（包装) would still be needed. A1987 study shows what would happen if plastics were not used---the energy needed to produce other packaging, its cost, and the volume of waste collected would all rise greatly. Some Americans believe part of the answer to America’s waste problem lies in recycling everything from glass to metals to paper to plastic. Today, recycling is on the rise. There are now more than 1,000 waste recycling programs in the U. S. Many are beginning to recycle plastics. Right now, almost 200 companies are recycling millions of used plastic containers into toys, traffic signs, wast