Jose councilwoman and a San Francisco supervisor said they would propose local initiatives aimed at controlling electronic waste if the California law-making body fails to act on two bills stalled in the Assembly~ They are among a growing number of California cities and counties that have expressed the same intention.
Environmentalists and local governments are increasingly concerned about the toxic hazard posed by old electronic devices and the cost of safely recycling those products. An estimated 6 million televisions and computers are stocked in California homes, and an additional 6,000 to 7,000 computers become outdated every day. The machines contain high levels of lead and other hazardous substances, and are already banned from California landfills ( 垃圾填埋场 ).
Legislation by Senator Byron Sher would require consumers to pay a recycling fee of up to $30 on every new machine containing a cathode ( 阴极 ) ray tube. Used in almost all video monitors and televisions, those devices contain four to eight pounds of lead each. The fees would go toward setting up recycling programs, providing grants to non-profit agencies that reuse the tubes and rewarding manufacturers that encourage recycling.
A separate bill by Los Angeles-area Senator Gloria Romero would require high-tech manufacturers to develop programs to recycle so-called e-waste.
If passed, the measures would put California at the forefront of national efforts to manage the refuse of the electronic age.
But high-tech groups, including the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group and the American Electronics Association, oppose the measures, arguing that fees of up to $30 will drive consumers to online, out-of-state retailers.
"What really needs to occur is consumer education. Most consumers are unaware they’re not supposed to throw computers in the trash," said Roxanne Gould, vice president of government relations for the electronics association.
Computer recycling should be a local effort and part of residential waste collection programs, she added.
Recycling electronic waste is a dangerous and specialized matter, and environmentalists maintain the state must support recycling efforts and ensure that the job isn’t contracted to unscrupulous ( 毫无顾忌的 ) junk dealers who send the toxic parts overseas.
"The graveyard of the high-tech revolution is ending up in rural China," said Ted Smith, director of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. His group is pushing for an amendment to Sher’s bill that would prevent the export of e-waste.
26. What step were Bay Area officials going to take regarding e-waste disposal.’?
A) Exert pressure on manufacturers of electronic devices.
B) Lay down relevant local regulations themselves.
C) Lobby the lawmakers of the California Assembly.
D) Rally support to pass the stalled bills.
27. The two bills stalled in the California Assembly both concern ________.
A) regulations on dumping hazardous substances into landfills
B) the sale of used electronic devices to foreign countries
C) the funding of local initiatives to reuse electronic trash
D) the reprocessing of the huge amounts of electronic waste in the state
28. Consumers are not supposed to throw used computers in the trash because __.
A) they contain large amounts of harmful substances
B) this is banned by the California government
C) some parts may be recycled for use elsewhere
D) unscrupulous dealers will retrieve them for profit
29. High-tech groups believe that if an extra $30 is charged on every TV or computer purchased in California, consumers will _______.
A) abandon online shopping
B) buy them from other states
C) strongly protest against such a charge
D) hesitate to upgrade their computers
30. We learn from the passage that much of California’s electronic waste has been _
A) collected by non-profit agencies
B) dumped into local landfills
C) exported to foreign countries
D) recycled by computer manufacturers
Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.
Throughout the nation’s more than 15,000 school districts, widely differing approaches to teaching science and math have emerged. Though there can be strength in diversity, a new international analysis suggests that this variability has instead contributed to lackluster (平淡的) achievement scores by U.S. children relative to their peers in other developed countries.
Indeed, concludes William H. Schmidt of Michigan State University, who led the new analysis, "no single intellectually coherent vision dominates U.S. educational practice in math or science.’’ The reason, he said, "is because the system is deeply and fundamentally flawed."
The new analysis, released this week by the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Va., is based on data collected from about 50 nations as part of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study.
Not only do approaches to teaching science and math vary among individual U.S. communities, the report finds, but there appears to be little strategic focus within a school district’s curricula, its textbooks, or its teachers’ activities. This contrasts sharply with the coordinated national programs of most other countries.
On average, U.S. students study more topics within science and math than their international counterparts do. This creates an educational environment that "is a mile wide and an inch deep," Schmidt notes.
For
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