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The Intense Rate of Change in The World - Questions

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400 views5 pages

The Intense Rate of Change in The World - Questions

Uploaded by

Thùy Linh Vũ Nguyễn
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You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14 – 27 which are based on Reading

Passage 2.

The intense rate of change in the


world
A. The intense rate of change in
the world gives rise to numerous
new products – many of them
electronic. What is brand new and
state-of-the-art one month is
quickly relegated to old model’
status the next. Within the world
of computing, this frenetic pace of
change has led to millions of out-
dated, worthless products.
Keystone, an American-based
research company reported. In 2005, one computer became obsolete for every new one
introduced in die market. By the year 2010, experts estimate that in the USA there will be
over 500 million obsolete computers. Most of these computers will be destined for landfills,
incinerators or hazardous waste exports.’ Old, outdated keyboards, monitors and hard drives
all combine to produce what is now widely known as ‘e-waste’ and the way to appropriately
dispose of them is proving to be a challenge.

B. Most computers are a complicated assembly of hundreds of different materials, many of


which are highly toxic. Most computer users are unaware that these toxic metals, acids,
plastics and other substances have been shown to be the cause of various blood diseases and
cancers. Amongst workers involved in the recycling of computer products, there has been a
proliferation of blood diseases. Printed circuit boards for example, contain heavy metals such
as antimony, silver, chromium, zinc, lead, tin and copper. Environmentalist Kieran Shaw
estimates there is hardly any other product for which the sum of the environmental impacts
of raw material, extraction, industrial refining and production, use and disposal is so
extensive as for printed circuit boards.

C. Workers involved in the disposal of computers via incineration are themselves being
exposed to significantly high levels of toxicity. Copper, for example, is a catalyst in the
release of harmful chemicals when exposed to the high tempera lures of incineration. In US
and Canadian environments, incineration is one of the greatest sources of heavy metal
contamination of the atmosphere. Unfortunately, another form of incineration, smelting, can
present dangers similar to incineration. Concerns have been expressed that the
Noranda .Smelter in Quebec, Canada is producing atmospheric pollutants from the residual
presence of plastics in the e-scrap.
D. In an effort to explore other alternatives, landfills have been tried, Studies have Shown
however, that even the best landfills are not completely safe. In feet the shortcomings of
dealing with waste via modern landfills are well documented. The main ‘offender’ in the
area of metal leaching is mercury. In varying degrees, mercury escapes or leaches from
certain electronic devices such as circuit breakers, condensers and computer circuit boards
into the soil. According to Phil Stevenson, managing director of CleanCo a recycling plant in
the UK, ‘Everyone knows that landfills leak – it has become common knowledge. Even the
best, state-of-the-art landfills are not completely tight throughout their lifetimes, to one
degree or another, a certain amount of chemical and metal leaching occurs. The situation is
far worse for older or less stringent dump sites. If uncontrolled fires are allowed to burn
through these landfill areas, other toxic chemicals such as lead and cadmium are released.

E. An overwhelming majority of the world’s hazardous e-waste is generated by the


industrialised market economies. Because labour costs are cheap and government regulations
in some countries are decidedly lax, the exporting of e-waste has been practiced as another
method to deal with its disposal. In the USA for example, Datatek, a research company,
estimated that it was 12 times cheaper to ship old computer monitors to China than it was to
recycle them. Data on the prevalence of this activity is scarce due to past bad publicity and
dealers of e-scrap not bothering to determine the final destination of the products they sell. In
1989 the world community established the Basel Convention on the Transboundary
Movement of Hazardous Waste for final Disposal to stop the industrialised nations of the
OECD from dumping their waste on and in less-developed countries.

F. Europe has taken the lead on e-waste management by requiring governments to


implement laws controlling the production and disposal of electrical products. The European
Union (EL) lias drafted legislation on Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (the
WE EE Directive) based on a concept known as Extended Producer Responsibility (EFR).
Essentially, EFR places the responsibility’ of the production and disposal squarely on the
shoulders of the producers of electronic products, it requires that producers consider
carefully the environmental impact of the products they bring to the marketplace. The aim of
EPR is to encourage producers of electrical equipment to prevent pollution and reduce
resource and energy use at each stage of the product file cycle. The lead in Europe has been
necessary’ because WERE is about three times higher than the growth of any other
municipal waste streams.

G. WEE legislation will phase-out the use of toxic substances such as mercury, cadmium and
lead in electronic and electrical goods by the year 2008. It will require producers of electrical
equipment to be responsible financially for the collection, recycling and disposal of their
products. It has stipulated that products containing any lead, mercury, cadmium and other
toxic substances must not be incinerated. It encourages producers to integrate an increasing
quantity of recycled material in any new products they produce. In fact, between 70% and
90% by weight of all collected equipment must be recycled or re-used. These directives will
go a long way toward improving the e-waste problem in Europe and other governments of
the world should look seriously at implementation of some or all of the legislation.

S E C T I O N 2: Q U E S T I O N S 1 4 - 2 7
Questions 14-20
Reading Passage 2 has 7 paragraphs, A-G.

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

Write the correct number, i-xi, in boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

i Exporting e-waste

ii The hazards of burning computer junk

iii Blame developed countries for e-waste

iv Landfills are not satisfactory

v Producer’s legal responsibility

vi The dangers of computer circuit boards

vii Electronic changes bring waste

viii European e-waste laws

ix The dangerous substances found in computers

x Landfills and mercury leaching

xi New products must contain recycled products

vii
14   Paragraph A
ix
15   Paragraph B
ii
16   Paragraph C
iv
17   Paragraph D
i
18   Paragraph E
v
19   Paragraph F
viii
20   Paragraph G
Questions 21-24
Look at the following list of statements (Questions 21-24) and the list of companies below.

Match each statement with the correct company.

Write the correct letter A-D in boxes 21-24 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

List of companies

A Noranda Smelter

B Datatek

C Keystone

D CleanCo

D
21   waste sites without strict dumping rules leads to big problems
B
22   e-waste should be re-located to other countries
C
23   most old computers will be buried or burned
D
24   it is impossible to contain metal waste in soil
Questions 25-27
Choose THREE letters, A-G,

Write the correct letters in boxes 25-27 on your answer sheet.

According to the information in the text, which THREE of the following pollution laws
have been proposed in Europe?
 A  Manufacturers will have to pay for disposal of their products.
 B  Manufacturers must dispose of the electronic goods they produce.
 C  Products made in Europe must be completely recyclable.
 D  Consumers are responsible for the disposal of the products they purchase.
 E  Disposal of products containing mercury should be incinerated.
 F  Other governments around the world will implement the EU laws.
 G  A large percentage of old products must be included in new products.

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