Questions 1-5 Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR NUMBERS from the passage for each answer. Enter the answers in the blanks for questions 1-5. 1 Mr. Richards has been working as a public servant in waste management for .......... 2 Waste generation in Australia has increased by .......... between 2003 and 2007. 3 ............ are now a significant portion of the content dumped into landfills. 4 Waste managements are not effective without ............. 5 ........... focuses on reclaiming materials that were previously thought waste or unusable. |
Questions 6-10 Look at the following list of characteristics (Questions 6-10) of waste management methods. Match each characteristic with the correct waste management method A-C. Enter the correct letters A-C in the blanks for questions 6-10.
Waste Management Methods A Basic recycling B Specialized Recycling C Composting |
6 Can be used to generate electricity and heat
7 Deals with common materials such as paper and cardboard
8 Designed for materials that can be toxic to the environment 9 Produces methane as a byproduct 10 Raises some concerns about sanitation
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Thank you for inviting me here today to talk at
your community center. My name is Dale Richards, and I’ve been a public servant
in the waste management sector for over 25 years.
During my career, I’ve seen great strides in
the technologies and systems used to reduce waste. But despite those efforts,
waste continues to grow. Waste generation in Australia has increased by 31
percent between 2003 and 2007. Even worse, hazardous waste generation has
doubled. This is in part due to changes in the nature of waste in modern times.
Complex goods, many of which contain hazardous materials, are now a significant
portion of the content dumped into landfills.
We’ve worked hard to develop methods to tackle
this reality, but I don’t think we’ve been approaching it in the right way.
What I’ve noticed is that no matter how magnificent your waste management
systems, they are not effective without public participation. And how do we
engage the public in our efforts? Through public education. And that’s why I’m
dedicating a lot of my time to doing talks like this.
So, let’s talk about the programs and services
available to your community that empower you to create a greener future. First
of all, to understand contemporary waste management, you have to understand the
concept of what’s called “resource recovery.” Resource recovery focuses on
reclaiming materials that were previously thought waste or unusable. Recycling
and composting are the most recognizable examples of this.
I think at this point we are familiar with recycling.
Every developed country has some kind of public recycling program for common
materials such as paper and cardboard, aluminum, glass, and plastics. And
without doubt, the normalization of recycling has yielded positive results.
But waste management extends beyond basic
recycling. For example, there is specialized recycling for more complex goods.
Batteries, electronics, and light bulbs fit into this category. Because they
contain toxic materials that may be harmful to the environment if not disposed
of properly, recycling them requires specialized methods. If you call our waste
management centre, we will tell you where and how to
appropriately discard of these items.
However, what I’m most excited to tell you
about is our composting program. We now have government-sponsored composting
that successfully recovers food and garden waste. Of
course, composting is nothing new. People, especially farmers, have been using
compost to create rich soil since the beginnings of agriculture. However, the
use of composting in today’s urban environments is relatively new. Individual
households may be able to do their own composting, but what about large
residential complexes? And restaurants? That’s why we created a citywide
curbside pick-up program for personal and commercial food and garden waste. The
waste is taken to a composting plant, where it is processed into compost that
is used to enrich soil.
During the composting process, waste gas such
as methane is produced as a by-product, and can be captured and used to
generate electricity and heat. Improvements in composting technologies have
allowed us to monopolize on this energy source.
However, I should address a major concern with
public composting: sanitation. There are disagreements over how sanitary it is
to collect bins of compost that can sit for anywhere between two and five days
before being collected. The concern is valid, but I really feel that potential
downfalls can be avoided through proper storage and regular pick-up.
In any case, these are just some examples of
services and programs that you, as community members, can take advantage of. If
you’d like to know more, I’ll be here for another twenty minutes or so to field
questions.
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Answer Key:
1. over 25 years
2. 31 percent
3. complex goods
4. public participation
5. resource recovery
6. C
7. A
8. B
9. C
10. C
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