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  3. Electronic trash, known as e-waste, is piling up faster than ever in America

Electronic trash, known as e-waste, is piling up faster than ever in America

游客2024-03-06  48
问题     Electronic trash, known as e-waste, is piling up faster than ever in American homes and businesses. People do not know what to do with old televisions or computers, so they throw them in the trash.
    National Solid Wastes Management Association state programs director Chaz Miller says the large amount of electronic waste Americans generate is not unexpected. "We have so many electronic products that we use, " said Miller. "They are being far more widely distributed throughout the population of the country and they tend to have relatively short life spans. Cell phones that last two or three years, and computers that last maybe two or three years before they get replaced. "
    The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates more than 400 million consumer electronic items are dumped each year, and there is a push by more states to ban the waste from garbage dumps and create recycling programs.
    For example, as quickly as old electronics arrive at a recycling facility in Baltimore, they are torn apart and sorted for useable parts. Plant manager Mike Fannon says e-waste here is resold to other companies that further break down the components that are valuable. "There are a lot of valuable metals that can be recovered and reused as opposed to just putting them in the garbage dump, and in certain components there are some materials that should not really be dumped in the garbage dump, " Fannon explained. Nearly 20 percent of electronic waste is recycled nationwide. Going back 13 years, it was only about six percent. Recycling rates continue to rise as more communities have banned electronics from garbage dumps in an effort to keep e-waste toxins (毒素，毒质), like lead and mercury, out of garbage dumps. Many places have set up free drop-off sites where people can bring old items for recycling. Fannon says some items like old electronic circuit boards will get shipped to Canada, while other parts will be shipped to countries in Asia. "These will go off actually to a copper smelter where workers will recover copper within the circuit board as well as precious metals that are on the board, " added Fannon. "There is gold plating on a lot of the material. There is silver. So all those precious metals are recovered in addition to the copper. "
    This year several states like Vermont imposed a ban on electronic waste in garbage dumps. More can be done to boost electronic waste recycling.
    Waste management analysts say U. S. facilities can safely recycle items. Environmentalists maintain they can reduce the amount of electronic waste in garbage dumps now by raising consumer awareness about the best ways to recycle e-waste.  [br] What can we infer from the last paragraph?
选项 A、People should try to use as less electronic products as possible.
B、People can deal with the electronic waste in a safe way.
C、The government can do nearly nothing in front of the electronic waste.
D、People are helpless in front of electronic waste.
答案 B
解析 根据题干中的the last paragraph定位到原文最后一段。推理判断题。本题考查对文章最后一段的理解。从定位段可以推断出，随着技术的成熟以及人们环保意识的增强，人类有能力处理好电子垃圾问题。B“人们能够安全地处理电子垃圾”与原文的表述一致，故为答案。
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