Shrinking landfill space, and rising costs for burying and burning rubbish are forcing local governments to look more closely at recycling. In many areas, the East Coast especially, recycling is already the least expensive waste-management option. For every ton of waste recycled, a city avoids paying for its disposal, which, in parts of New York, amounts to saving of more than $100 per ton. Recycling also stimulates the local economy by creating jobs and trims the pollution control and energy costs of industries that make recycled products by giving them a more refined raw material.

　　配套練習(xí)：

　　1. What regulation was issued by New York State concerning beverage containers?

　　A) Beverage companies should be responsible for collecting and reusing discarded plastic soda bottles.

　　B) Throwaways should be collected by the state for recycling.

　　C) A fee should be charged on used containers for recycling.

　　D) Consumers had to pay for beverage containers and could get their money back on returning them.

　　2. The returned plastic bottles in New York used to ________.

　　A) end up somewhere underground

　　B) be turned into raw materials

　　C) have a second-life value

　　D) be separated from other rubbish

　　3. The key problem in dealing with returned plastic beverage containers is ________.

　　A) to sell them at a profitable price

　　B) how to turn them into useful things

　　C) how to reduce their recycling costs

　　D) to lower the prices for used materials

　　4. Recycling ahs become the first choice for the disposal of rubbish because ________.

　　A) local governments find it easy to manage

　　B) recycling ahs great appeal for the jobless

　　C) recycling causes little pollution

　　D) other methods are more expensive

　　5. It can be concluded from the passage that ________.

　　A) rubbish is a potential remedy for the shortage of raw materials

　　B) local governments in the U.S. can expect big profits from recycling

　　C) recycling is to be recommended both economically and environmentally

　　D) landfills will still be widely used for waste disposal

　　Priscilla Ouchida’s “energy-efficient” house turned out to be a horrible dream. When she and her engineer husband married a few years ago, they built a $100,000, three-bedroom home in California. Tightly sealed to prevent air leaks, the house was equipped with small double-paned (雙層玻璃的) windows and several other energy-saving features. Problems began as soon as the couple moved in, however. Priscilla’s eyes burned. Her throat was constantly dry. She suffered from headaches and could hardly sleep. It was as though she had suddenly developed a strange illness.

　　Experts finally traced the cause of her illness. The level of formaldehyde (甲醛) gas in her kitchen was twice the maximum allowed by federal standards for chemical workers. The source of the gas? Her new kitchen cabinets and wall-to-wall carpeting.

　　The Ouchidas are victims of indoor air pollution, which is not given sufficient attention partly because of the nation’s drive to save energy. The problem itself isn’t new. “The indoor environment was dirty long before energy conservation came along,” says Moschandreas, a pollution scientist at Geomet Technologies in Maryland. “Energy conservation has tended to accentuate the situation in some cases.”

　　The problem appears to be more troublesome in newly constructed homes rather than old ones. Back in the days when energy was cheap, home builders didn’t worry much about unsealed cracks. Because of such leaks, the air in an average home was replaced by fresh outdoor air about once an hour. As a result, the pollutants generated in most households seldom build up to dangerous levels.

　　配套練習(xí)：

　　1. It can be learned from the passage that the Ouchidas’ house ________.

　　A) is well worth the money spent on its construction

　　B) is almost faultless from the point of energy conservation

　　C) failed to meet energy conservation standards

　　D) was designed and constructed in a scientific way

　　2. What made the Ouchidas’ new house a horrible dream?

　　A) Lack of fresh air.

　　B) Poor quality of building materials.

　　C) Gas leakage in the kitchen.

　　D) The newly painted walls.

　　3. The word “accentuate” (Line 4, Para. 3) most probably means “________”.

　　A) relieve

　　B) accelerate

　　C) worsen

　　D) improve

　　4. Why were cracks in old houses not a big concern?

　　A) Because indoor cleanliness was not emphasized.

　　B) Because energy used to be inexpensive.

　　C) Because environmental protection was given top priority.

　　D) Because they were technically unavoidable.

　　5. This passage is most probably taken from an article entitled “________”.

　　A) Energy Conservation

　　B) Houses Building Crisis

　　C) Air Pollution Indoors

　　D) Traps in Building Construction