2010年中国人民大学考博英语真题3

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Passage Two

“ Two hundred eight million, two hundred nine million, two hundred ten million...” That is the sound of solid waste hitting the bottom of garbage cans all over United States in 1996. Solid wastes are materials that are discarded or thrown away after use by consumers and businesses. This does not include fluid materials. During that year, Americans threw away 210 million tons ( about 43 pounds/20 kilograms per person daily) of garbage. We throw away 12. 4 million tons of glass and about 80 million tons of paper products. America also throws away large amounts (in tons) of food scraps, yard wastes, plastics, sludge from sewage treatment plants, and other materials. That is almost a mountain of garbage.

Even though we make an effort to recycle and compost our solid waste, the amount of waste keeps increasing each year. Our biggest problem is where to put the solid waste and how to keep it from polluting our environment. If solid waste is disposed of incorrectly, it can contaminate our surface and underground water supplies. Currently, our municipal waste or waste collected by our cities and towns, goes to landfills. Today, about 85% of our garbage goes to landfills or garbage dumps. This waste must be treated to keep rats, flies and other animals from building their home in the landfills. The treat also prevents the growth of bacteria and other organism that carry diseases. So, how do we handle this

mountain of garbage? Scientists have come up with different methods for handling our waste problem.

One type of waste disposal called sanitary landfill was first used in Fresno California, in 1937. In sanitary landfill, the solid waste is spread in thin layers that compacted and covered with a layer of earth. This is a more expensive method, but it takes away the hazards that are caused by landfills. It also allowed the land to be used for building or recreation. The negative of the landfills is that it’s tough to find open land and this process is very expensive. The land also needs its water sources protected so that the water will not pollute the water supply. Landfill (water dumps) and sanitary landfills rely on the natural biodegradability of the solid wastes. Solid wastes are biodegradable if they can decay or break down through the action of living organisms and return to the earth. However certain materials take longer to decay than others, and some materials do not decay or decompose at all. Scientists need to find other methods of waste disposal. Incineration and recycling are methods that are currently in use today.

26. This passage is about disposal problem of solid waste .

A. by consumers B. in California

C. by municipal government D. in America

27. From the article we can infer that .

A. treatment of the solid is a hard nut to crack

B. solution for proper disposal will be found soon

C. California set a good example in solid waste in 1930s

D. the government remains confident about the solid waste

28. According to the article, about is dumped to landfills.

A. 12. 4 million tons of garbage B. 80 million tons of garbage

C. 85% of the garbage D. 92. 4 tons of garbage

29. The word “recycle”( Line 1, Paragraph 2) means .

A. to send something far away B. to throw something away to the right place

C. to convert waste into reusable material D. to turn into fertilizers

30. According to the article, which one of the following is NOT true?

A. Solid waste does not include fluid materials.

B. Sanitary landfill is a type of waste disposal method once used in California.

C. Burning is not a method that is used today.

D. Composting is still one of the ways to handle the mountain of garbage.

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