The garbage problem

Garbage is a big problem all over the world. People buy and use a lot of things nowadays.
After a while, they throw them away in the garbage bin. All the garbage is later thrown away
or dumped outside the city. These places are called landfill sites. In many cities, landfill
sites are now full.
About one-third of all the garbage is made of paper. Another third of the garbage is a mix
of glass, metal, plastic, and wood. The final third comes from food scraps. These are
remains of food that are not eating any more. Food scraps are not a big garbage problem
for the environment. Our natural world can get rid of food scraps. Insects and bacteria eat
the food scraps and make them go away.
But this does not happen with other materials. Plastic is very toxic to the environment. It
poisons the earth and the water. We use plastic for many things, such as combs or pens.
Also, when we buy something from the supermarket, we get a plastic bag. As soon as we
get home, we throw the bag away. Plastic is also used to make Styrofoam. All take-out
coffee cups and fast-food boxes are made of Styrofoam. When we buy coffee and drink it
on the street, we throw that cup away too.
Other garbage we throw away is metal. The cans for soft drinks or beer are made of
aluminum. Aluminum is toxic too. The paper and wood we throw away are not toxic. But
we have to cut down many trees every year to make paper and wood. Our environment
suffers when there are no forests around. The air is less fresh, and the earth dries up. With
no water in the earth, plants cannot grow.
Solutions to the garbage problem
We have to manage our waste and garbage better. If we throw away so many things, soon
we will have no place to dump them.
The best thing to do is to reduce the amount of garbage. If we use less, we throw away
less. For instance, we can buy food in big boxes and packages. Then we throw away only
one box i every month or so. Otherwise, we throw away many small boxes or cans every
day.
Similarly, we can reuse a lot of packaging. For example, we do not have to buy take-out
coffee in Styrofoam cups. We can bring our own cup from home and fill it with fresh coffee.
We also do not have to take the plastic bags from the supermarket. We can bring our own
cloth bag from home instead. When we pack lunch, it is better to use a lunch box than a
paper bag. Instead of paper plates, we can use real plates. We can clean up with a
dishtowel, not a paper towel. We can use a compost bin for food scraps. In this way, the
food gets back into the earth. It does not get mixed up with the regular garbage.
Finally, all paper, glass and metal we do use, we can recycle. In many countries, there are
now recycling programs. In Germany, for example, people separate all glass bottles by
color. Then they put the bottles into special bins that are on the street. The city collects the
glass, cleans it, and reuses it. As well, in most countries, people recycle newspapers and
cardboard. It is easy and efficient.

Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D

1. What is the topic word of the first passage?

A Throw away

B Garbage

C Plastic

D Environment
2. What is the main idea of the second passage?

A People must deal with garbage better.

B People should reuse things.

C People should recycle more.

D People should reduce their waste.

3. Why does the author say that garbage is a big problem?

A Because people buy too many things.

B Because people throw away everything they buy.

C Because not all cities have landfill sites.

D Because landfill sites get fewer and fewer.

4. What do people throw away?

A Paper and wood

B Plastic, glass and metal

C Food scraps

D All of the above

5. Why does the author mention Germany at the end of the reading passage?

A To suggest that recycling is the best solution to the garbage problem

B To offer additional advice about how to handle waste

C To criticize countries that do not have a recycling program

D To demonstrate that recycling works

6. Why should people not throw away Styrofoam cups?

A Because they are toxic to the environment.

B Because they can reuse them again at home.

C Because they can buy take-out coffee in them.

D Because they can fill them again with fresh coffee.

What advice does the author give about reusing waste?

Choose TWO letters, A-D.

A We should drink take-out coffee.

B We should use our own bags, cups and plates.

C We should throw away food in the compost bin.

D We should clean glasses ourselves and recycle them.

 The water crisis

Greater efficiency in water use is needed to meet the growing demands of a changing world
A
Per capita water usage has been on an upward trend for many years. As countries
industrialise and their citizens become more prosperous, their individual water usage
increases rapidly. Annual per capita water withdrawals in the USA, for example, are about
1,700 cubic metres, four times the level in China and fifty times the level in Ethiopia. In the
21st century, the world's limited supply of renewable fresh water is having to meet
demands of both larger total population and increased per capita consumption. The only
practicable ways to resolve this problem in the longer term are economic pricing in
conjunction with conservation measures.
B
Agriculture consumes about 70% of the world's fresh water, so improvements in irrigation
can make the greatest impact. At present, average efficiency in the use of irrigated water
in agriculture may be as low as 50%. Simple changes could improve the rate substantially,
though it is unrealistic to expect very high levels of water-use efficiency in many developing
countries, faced as they are with a chronic lack of capital and a largely untrained rural
workforce. After agriculture, industry is the second biggest user of water and, in terms of
value added per litre used, is sixty times more productive than agriculture. However, some
industrial processes use vast amounts of water. For example, production of 1 kg of
aluminium might require 1,500 litres of water. Paper production too is often very water-
intensive. Though new processes have greatly reduced consumption, there is still plenty
of room for big savings in industrial uses of water.
C
In rich countries, water consumption has gradually been slowed down by price increases
and the use of modern technology and recycling. In the USA, industrial production has
risen fourfold since 1950, while water consumption has fallen by more than a third. Japan
and Germany have similarly improved their use of water in manufacturing processes.
Japanese industry, for example, now recycles more than 75% of process water. However,
industrial water consumption is continuing to increase sharply in developing countries. With
domestic and agricultural demands also increasing, the capacity of water supply systems
is under growing strain.
D
Many experts believe that the best way to counter this trend is to impose water charges
based on the real cost of supplies. This would provide a powerful incentive for consumers
to introduce water-saving processes and recycling. Few governments charge realistic
prices for water, especially to farmers. Even in rich California, farmers get water for less
than a tenth of the cost of supply. In many developing countries there is virtually no charge
for irrigation water, while energy prices are heavily subsidised too (which means that
farmers can afford to run water pumps day and night). Water, which was once regarded as
a free gift from heaven, is becoming a commodity which must be bought and sold on the
open market just like oil. In the oil industry, the price increases which hit the market in the
1970s, coupled with concerns that supplies were running low, led to new energy
conservation measures all over the world. It was realised that investing in new sources
was a far more costly option than improving efficiency of use. A similar emphasis on
conservation will be the best and cheapest option for bridging the gap between water
supply and demand.
E
One way to cut back on water consumption is simply to prevent leaks. It is estimated that
in some of the biggest cities of the Third World, more than half of the water entering the
system is lost through leaks in pipes, dripping taps and broken installations. Even in the
UK, losses were estimated at 25% in the early 1990s because of the failure to maintain the
antiquated water supply infrastructure. In addition, huge quantities of water are consumed
because used water from sewage pipes, storm drains and factories is merely flushed away
and discharged into rivers or the sea. The modern approach, however, is to see used water
as a resource which can be put to good use - either in irrigation or, after careful treatment,
as recycled domestic water. Israel, for instance, has spent heavily on used water treatment.
Soon, treated, recycled water will account for most farm irrigation there. There are other
examples in cities such as St Petersburg, Florida, where all municipal water is recycled
back into domestic systems.
F
Another way of conserving water resources involves better management of the
environment generally. Interference with the ecosystem can have a severe effect on both
local rainfall patterns and water run-off. Forest clearings associated with India's Kabini dam
project reduced local rainfall by 25%, a phenomenon observed in various other parts of the
world where large-scale deforestation has taken place. Grass and other vegetation acts as
a sponge which absorbs rainfall both in the plants and in the ground. Removal of the
vegetation means that rainfall runs off the top of the land, accelerating erosion instead of
being gradually fed into the soil to renew ground water.
G
Global warming is bound to affect rainfall patterns, though there is considerable
disagreement about its precise effects. But it is likely that, as sea levels rise, countries in
low-lying coastal areas will be hit by seawater penetration of ground water. Other countries
will experience changes in rainfall which could have a major impact on agricultural yield -
either for better or for worse. In broad terms, it is thought that rainfall zones will shift
northwards, adding to the water deficit in Africa, the Middle East and the Mediterranean -
a grim prospect indeed.
The Reading Passage has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings.

List of Headings PARAGRPH

American water withdrawal
Economic pricing
What the future holds
Successful measures taken by some
The role of research
The thirsty sectors
Ways of reducing waste
Interdependence of natural resources
The demands of development
The consequences for agriculture

Complete the summary below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes on your answer sheet.

Individual water usage is rising dramatically as people living in industrialised countries become
increasingly . As well as increased consumption per capita, the growing demand
for fresh water is due to a bigger global than in the past. The only way to control
this increase in demand is to charge high prices for water while also promoting conservation
measures. Improvements in irrigation systems and industrial processes could dramatically
increase the efficiency of water use. There are examples of industries in some rich countries that
have reduced their consumption rates through price increases, the application
of 1 and recycling. But in agricultural and domestic sectors, the price of water is
still subsidised so it is not regarded as a commodity that people need to pay a realistic price for.

Other ways of protecting supplies are to reduce water loss resulting from in the
supply systems and to find ways of utilising used water.
Longer term measures, such as improved environmental would protect the
ecosystem and ensure the replenishment of ground water for future generations. Without such
measures, future supplies are uncertain, especially when global warming is expected to interfere
with rainfall patterns and to worsen the already suffered by many countries today.