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  3. It’s long been known, but little discussed in polite high-tech circles, that information-age technology is not the clean industr

It’s long been known, but little discussed in polite high-tech circles, that information-age technology is not the clean industr

admin2019-06-26  118
问题    It’s long been known, but little discussed in polite high-tech circles, that information-age technology is not the clean industry it claims to be. Manufacturing a single PC can generate 139 pounds of waste and involves a host of chemicals linked to high rates of cancer and birth defects among workers and communities.
   1. Disposal crisis of e-waste
   Electronic waste(e-waste)—such as obsolete and discarded computers, monitors, printers, cell phones, and televisions—is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the developed world, thanks to the industry’s philosophy of "design for immediate obsolescence" and a weak electronics-recycling infrastructure.
   2. Public health problems
   If the full force of the high-tech revolution hits the landfill, its health risks will leave no community untouched.
   3. The european solution
   The European Union is way ahead of the U.S. in recognizing the hazards and moving towards a solution.
   4. How will the U.S. proceed?
   Because the U.S. high-tech industry and its friends in Washington represent the biggest obstacles to the globalization of take-back laws, a broad coalition of environmental, health, labor, and recycling groups and local governments has formed the Computer Take Back Campaign to support EU-style legislation in the U.S.
   5. Going global
   The European approach is more than a minor "software patch" on a fundamentally flawed program. By establishing corporate responsibility for products at the end of their lives, this strategy could have wide-ranging effects on the information technology industry. The EU approach spreads environmental benefits globally rather than shifting pollution to developing nations.
   [A]If we can adopt the EU’s code in the U.S., we can do a bit of reverse engineering on globalization. By downloading Europe’ s program to the U.S., we can finally begin to clean up the "clean industry" around the globe.
   [B]An estimated 300 to 500 million computers will descend on landfills by 2007 in the U.S. alone. Three-quarters of all computers ever sold in this country await disposal in garages and storage facilities because their owners don’t know what to do with them.
   [C]The first European Union directive on e-waste, adopted last year, requires producers to take responsibility for the entire life cycle of their products. By 2005, companies will either have to take back products directly from consumers or fund independent collectors to do so. Waste that was generated prior to the enactment date will be the responsibility of all existing companies, in proportion to their market share. Future waste is to be the individual responsibility of each company, thereby creating an incentive to redesign products for easier and safer recycling and disposal. No e-waste will be allowed in municipal waste streams.
   [D]E-waste accounts for 5 percent of all solid waste in America but approximately 40 percent of the lead, 70 percent of the heavy metals, and a significant portion of the organic chemical pollutants in America ’ s dumps. This e-waste can leach into the ground, as it did in the Silicon Valley. It was the widespread contamination of the valley’s aquifers in the early 1980s that initially punctured the high-tech industry’s clean image. Currently:there are more EPA superfund clean up sites in this valley than anywhere else in the U.S. The threat to soil, drinking water and public health will grow as e-waste surges into the waste stream worldwide.
   [E]Hundreds of organizations and local governments in the U.S. have already endorsed the campaign’s platform. The campaign advocates that the U.S. adopt standards for electronics manufacturers at least as stringent as those adopted by the EU: hazardous materials would be phased out, and all electronics would be designed for reuse and recycling. The campaign has sparked a legislative grounds well. In the past year alone , 20 states have introduced legislation to address e-waste.
   [F]Local governments and taxpayers now pick up the tab for the disposal of e-waste. The state of California, for example, faces an estimated $1 billion in e-waste disposal costs over the next few years.
选项
答案B
解析 第1题的小标题是“Disposal Crisis of E-waste(电子废物处理危机)”。下面的段首句谈到“由于电子行业奉行‘快速淘汰’的设计理念以及回收利用电子产品的基础设施脆弱难支，电子废物(称为e废物)如过时并被丢弃的计算机、监视器、打印机、手机、电视等——已成为发达国家中增长速度最快的废物种类之一”。选项B用具体数据说明了美国电子废物的严重状况及影响。
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