In 1993, New York State ordered stores to charge money on beverage (饮料) containers. Within a year, consumers had returned millions of aluminum cans and glass and plastic bottles. Plenty of companies were eager to accept the aluminum and glass as raw material for new products, but because few could figure out what to do with the plastic, much of it wound end up buried in landfills (垃圾填埋场). The problem was not limited to New York. Unfortunately, there were too few uses for second-hand plastic.

Today, one out of five plastic soda bottles is recycled in the United States. The reason for the change is that now there are dozens of companies across the country buying discarded (被丢弃的) plastic soda bottles and turning them into fence post, paint brushes, etc.

As the New York experience shows, recycling involves more than simply separating valuable materials from the rest of the rubbish. A discard remains a discard until somebody figures out how to give it a second life — and until economic arrangements exist to give that second life value. Without enough markets to take in materials collected for recycling, throwaways actually reduce prices for used materials.

Fewer 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 choice. For every ton of waste recycled, a city avoids paying for its disposal (清除,处理), which, in parts of New York, amounts to savings of more than $100 per ton. Recycling also stimulates the local economy by creating jobs and reduces the pollution control and energy costs of industries that make recycled products by giving them a better raw material.

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

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

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

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

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

The returned plastic bottles in New York used to         .

A.    be turned into raw materials

B.    be separated from other rubbish

C.    have a second-life value

D.    end up somewhere underground

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

A.    how to reduce their recycling costs

B.    to sell them at a profitable price

C.    how to turn them into useful things

D.    to lower the prices for used materials

Recycling has become the first choice for the disposal of rubbish because         .

A.    recycling causes little pollution

B.    other methods are more expensive

C.    recycling has great appeal for the jobless

D.    local governments find it easy to manage

It can be concluded from the passage that         .

A.    recycling is to be suggested both economically and environmentally

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

C.    rubbish is a potential remedy for the shortage of raw materials

D.    landfills will still be widely used for waste disposal


第二节完型填空(共20小题;每小题1分,满分20分)
阅读下面短文,掌握其大意,然后从36—55各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上涂黑。
A successful business man was growing old and wanted to choose a successor to take over the business. He called all the young executives together and said, "I have to __36__ and choose the next CEO from you."
They were __37__, but the boss continued. "I am going to give you a very __38__ seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back one year from today with __39__ you have grown from the seed. I will then __40__ the plants, and choose the next CEO."
Jim went home __41__. Everyday, he would water the seed and see __42__ it had grown. Although he kept __43__ his seed, nothing ever grew. Many weeks went __44__, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a __45__.
A year later, they brought their plants to the CEO for __46__. When Jim arrived, he was __47__ at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful.
The CEO greeted them. "What great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will be__48__ the next CEO!"
All of a sudden, the CEO __49__ Jim at the back with his empty pot. The CEO asked him what had happened - Jim told him the story. He looked at Jim, and then __50__, "The next CEO is Jim!"
Jim couldn't believe __51__. Jim couldn't even grow his seed. "How could he be the new CEO?" the others said.
Then the CEO said, "The seeds I gave you were boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not __52__ for them to grow. Jim was the only one with the courage and __53__ to bring me a pot with my seed in it. __54__, he is the one who will be the new CEO!"
If you plant honesty, you will reap __55__. So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later. 
36. A. step down           B. sit down            C. settle down        D. hand down
37. A. exhausted           B. shocked             C. annoyed            D. embarrassed
38. A. special                B. valuable            C. common            D. expensive
39. A. how                   B. which               C. where               D. what
40. A. compare             B. observe             C. judge                D. examine
41. A. heatedly             B. excitedly           C. desperately        D. disappointingly
42. A. if                       B. unless               C. until                 D. though
43. A. checking             B. planting            C. appreciating       D. counting
44. A. down                 B. away                 C. by                    D. back
45. A. fool                   B. failure               C. successor           D. onlooker
46. A. direction             B. application        C. instruction         D. inspection 
47. A. amazed               B. discouraged              C. amused             D. puzzled
48. A. performed          B. voted               C. considered         D. appointed
49. A. spotted               B. glanced             C. stared                D. noticed
50. A. announced          B. stated                C. confirmed         D. whispered
51. A. it                       B. those                 C. themselves         D. him
52. A. likely                 B. sure                  C. necessary           D. possible
53. A. confidence          B. honesty             C. optimism           D. diligence
54. A. Moreover           B. However           C. Therefore          D. Besides
55. A. trust                   B. success              C. power               D. reputation 

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