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Task 1
One of the problems damaging our planet is the number of things we throw away. Rubbish of all kinds is piling up in landfill and polluting our rivers and oceans. A more recent addition to the list of things we chuck away is e-waste—electronic items that are broken and not recycled. Now solutions are being found to give this stuff a new life.
Many millions of tonnes of televisions， phones， and other electronic equipment are discarded each year， partly because it’s cheaper to replace them than fix them， but also because we lack the skills to repair them. A UN report claims the 50 million tonnes of e-waste generated every year will more than double to 110 million tonnes by 2050， making it the fastest growing waste stream in the world.
However， there’s a growing trend for repair events and clubs which could be part of a solution to the growing amount of electrical and electronic junk. The BBC visited a Restart Project in London， which is one of many found around the world. One of its volunteers， Francesco Calo， said， “This project allows you to reduce waste and extend the life of objects， and it helps people who cannot afford to get rid of items that have developed a fault.”
As many electrical items contain valuable metals， another idea is e-waste mining. An experiment at the University of New South Wales involves extracting these materials from electronic gadgets. It’s thought that doing this could be more profitable than traditional mining. With phones typically containing as many as 60 elements， this could be part of the solution to our appetite for new technology.
These projects make total sense—collections of e-waste for recycling are “stagnating or even decreasing” according to Ruediger Kuehr， of the United Nations University. And in countries where there is no legislation， much of it just gets dumped. However， the European Union， for example， is trying to tackle the problem by insisting manufacturers have to make appliances longer-lasting and will have to supply spare parts for machines for up to 10 years.
1. What does the underlined word “discarded” in Para. 2 most probably mean？
A. Exchanged. B. Deserted.
C. Repaired. D. Replaced.
2. What is the purpose of the Restart Project？
A. To prolong the life of electronic equipment.
B. To better control e-waste.
C. To help people deal with e-waste.
D. To encourage people to use electronic equipment. 3. Which part of the electronic equipment can be “mined” and used again？
A. Old parts. B. Used batteries.
C. Precious metals. D. Useful cameras.
4. What can be the best title for the text？
A. Our demand for new technology
B. Solving the problem of e-waste
C. The seriousness of e-waste pollution
D. The popularity of electronic equipment
Task 2
As doctors performed surgery on Dagmar Turner’s brain， the sound of a violin filled the operating room. The music came from the patient on the operating table. In a video from the surgery， the violinist was moving her bow （琴弓） up and down as surgeons worked to remove her brain tumor （腫瘤）. The King’s College Hospital surgeons woke her up in the middle of the operation in order to ensure they did not damage parts of the brain necessary for playing the violin and keep her hand’s functions intact.
Turner， 53， learned that she had a slow-growing tumor. Later doctors found that it had become more aggressive and the violinist decided to have surgery to remove it. “We knew how important the violin is to Turner， so it was vital that we preserved function in the delicate areas of her brain that allowed her to play，” Keyoumars Ashkan， a doctor at King’s College Hospital， said in a press release.
Before Turner’s operation， Ashkan and his colleagues spent two hours carefully mapping her brain to identify areas that were active when she played the violin and those controlling language and movement. Waking her up during surgery then allowed doctors to monitor whether those parts were suffering damage.
Brad Mahon， expert at Carnegie Mellon University， said the basic features of an “awake craniotomy”—the type of brain surgery where patients are awake in order to avoid damage to critical brain areas—have remained largely unchanged for decades. But he said that doctors are now able to map the patient’s brain activity in great detail before the surgery， using an imaging technique called functional MRI. That means surgeons are coming into the operating room with far more informationabout a specific patient’s brain. That kind of information helps doctors tailor tests to a patient’s particular needs.
1. What does the underlined word “intact” mean in the first paragraph？
A. Strong.
One of the problems damaging our planet is the number of things we throw away. Rubbish of all kinds is piling up in landfill and polluting our rivers and oceans. A more recent addition to the list of things we chuck away is e-waste—electronic items that are broken and not recycled. Now solutions are being found to give this stuff a new life.
Many millions of tonnes of televisions， phones， and other electronic equipment are discarded each year， partly because it’s cheaper to replace them than fix them， but also because we lack the skills to repair them. A UN report claims the 50 million tonnes of e-waste generated every year will more than double to 110 million tonnes by 2050， making it the fastest growing waste stream in the world.
However， there’s a growing trend for repair events and clubs which could be part of a solution to the growing amount of electrical and electronic junk. The BBC visited a Restart Project in London， which is one of many found around the world. One of its volunteers， Francesco Calo， said， “This project allows you to reduce waste and extend the life of objects， and it helps people who cannot afford to get rid of items that have developed a fault.”
As many electrical items contain valuable metals， another idea is e-waste mining. An experiment at the University of New South Wales involves extracting these materials from electronic gadgets. It’s thought that doing this could be more profitable than traditional mining. With phones typically containing as many as 60 elements， this could be part of the solution to our appetite for new technology.
These projects make total sense—collections of e-waste for recycling are “stagnating or even decreasing” according to Ruediger Kuehr， of the United Nations University. And in countries where there is no legislation， much of it just gets dumped. However， the European Union， for example， is trying to tackle the problem by insisting manufacturers have to make appliances longer-lasting and will have to supply spare parts for machines for up to 10 years.
1. What does the underlined word “discarded” in Para. 2 most probably mean？
A. Exchanged. B. Deserted.
C. Repaired. D. Replaced.
2. What is the purpose of the Restart Project？
A. To prolong the life of electronic equipment.
B. To better control e-waste.
C. To help people deal with e-waste.
D. To encourage people to use electronic equipment. 3. Which part of the electronic equipment can be “mined” and used again？
A. Old parts. B. Used batteries.
C. Precious metals. D. Useful cameras.
4. What can be the best title for the text？
A. Our demand for new technology
B. Solving the problem of e-waste
C. The seriousness of e-waste pollution
D. The popularity of electronic equipment
Task 2
As doctors performed surgery on Dagmar Turner’s brain， the sound of a violin filled the operating room. The music came from the patient on the operating table. In a video from the surgery， the violinist was moving her bow （琴弓） up and down as surgeons worked to remove her brain tumor （腫瘤）. The King’s College Hospital surgeons woke her up in the middle of the operation in order to ensure they did not damage parts of the brain necessary for playing the violin and keep her hand’s functions intact.
Turner， 53， learned that she had a slow-growing tumor. Later doctors found that it had become more aggressive and the violinist decided to have surgery to remove it. “We knew how important the violin is to Turner， so it was vital that we preserved function in the delicate areas of her brain that allowed her to play，” Keyoumars Ashkan， a doctor at King’s College Hospital， said in a press release.
Before Turner’s operation， Ashkan and his colleagues spent two hours carefully mapping her brain to identify areas that were active when she played the violin and those controlling language and movement. Waking her up during surgery then allowed doctors to monitor whether those parts were suffering damage.
Brad Mahon， expert at Carnegie Mellon University， said the basic features of an “awake craniotomy”—the type of brain surgery where patients are awake in order to avoid damage to critical brain areas—have remained largely unchanged for decades. But he said that doctors are now able to map the patient’s brain activity in great detail before the surgery， using an imaging technique called functional MRI. That means surgeons are coming into the operating room with far more informationabout a specific patient’s brain. That kind of information helps doctors tailor tests to a patient’s particular needs.
1. What does the underlined word “intact” mean in the first paragraph？
A. Strong.