Electronic waste, or e-waste, refers to electronic products that are no longer usable. This can include TVs, cell phones and computers and other office electronics, electronic toys and videos machines. Today, the average turnover rate for a computer in the United States is every two years, according to the environmental group, Greenpeace. The group's Dai Yun says e-waste is a global problem. "The electronic industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. The high speed of growth in this industry means more and more electronic products are being wasted and thrown away. If no one decides to retrieve the old products and process them properly, the electronic waste will sweep over the earth like the huge wave behind me and pollute the Earth seriously." Greenpeace works out that 20 to 50 million tons of e-waste are produced globally each year. The components in many electronic products contain harmful chemicals that pollute ground water and the environment. At present , the U.S. has no federal law for the disposal   of e-waste although a few states have e-waste recycling programs in place, but there is no law. The U.S. exports much of its e-waste to third world countries, such as India and China, where workers took apart computers for valuable parts, hoping to sell them for money. But harmful wastes expert, Dr. Bakul Rao, says that's a dangerous practice. "From now on, the recyclers are not very educated. All they know is they can retrieve copper or gold out of it. So, the easiest way to do that is leach   it out in an acid or burn it off to retrieve it. So, that's where they don't know how to deal with it, neither do they have any health systems in place. So, their exposure is more." Which of the following is most likely not to be a form of e-waste? A) A mobile phone B) A radio C) An e-bike D) A table
D

Who would have thought that potato fries could unite an entire country? Well, that seems to be the case in Belgium where there is currently a movement to have Belgian potato fries officially recognized as cultural heritage. The fries are served in a paper cone  from a "fritkot", which is a shack or a food truck. Across Belgium, there are at least 5,000 fritkots which is 10 times more common than McDonald's restaurants in the United States. The movement for the fries to be declared official cultural heritage was started by UNAFRI, also known as the national association of fritkot owners. They claim that their establishments represent Belgium very well. "A cone of potato chips is Belgium in miniature . What's amazing is that this way of thinking is the same, in spite of differences among communities and regions," added spokesman Bernard Lefevre. Tourists can even be seen to line up with locals in Brussels to buy a cone of fries from wellknown fritkots such as Frit Flagey and Maison Antoine. "Before I came here, the only thing I knew about Belgium [Z-x-x-k.Com]was that they liked their fries," said Rachael Webb, a tourist from Ottowa, Canada. In order to be recognized by UNESCO, it has to be formally supported by the Belgian government of culture. As of right now, UNESCO has a list of 314 items of "cultural heritage" that they say is worthy enough to be preserved. Items on the list include Turkish coffee and the old native singing of the Central African Republic. Potatoes reached Belgium in the 16th century, but it wasn't until the 19th century that they were cut up into fries and sold as a meal. The movement to have potato fries declared cultural heritage was started by   _  . A) the Belgian government B) many Belgian communities C) a Belgian industry D) a Belgian cultural association
C

It would be very exciting to be a reporter on a newspaper. As soon as a reporter's boss gives him a story to write, the reporter is on the job. He keeps his mind on what he is going to do. He does not begin writing the story until he knows what he should find out. He must know why he should write the story. At times a reporter must search hard to find all of the facts he needs for a story. The facts may not be right under his nose. To find the facts, he has to recognize important details. While gathering information for a story, he asks himself questions:Should I use this information? Is this an important fact? A reporter writes the story as fast as he can, so it can go right away into the newspaper. The story also needs a headline, which tells very quickly what the news story is about and is printed bigger and blacker than the rest of the news story. Every big newspaper has many reporters,because many stories are needed in the newspaper. Would you like to be one? Which is the writer's opinion? A) A reporter's boss is usually very hard to his men. B) The job of a newspaper reporter is exciting but not easy. C) Everyone can write a good news story. D) No one likes to be a reporter.
B

A young man approached the foreman of a logging crew   and asked for a job. "That depends," replied the foreman. "Let's see you fell   this tree." The young man stepped forward and skillfully felled a great tree. Impressed, the foreman said, "You can start Monday." Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday went by -- and on Thursday afternoon the foreman approached the young man and said, "You can pick up your wages on the way out today." Shocked, the young man replied, "I thought you would pay me on Friday." "Normally we do," said the foreman. "But we're letting you go today because you've fallen behind. Our daily felling charts show that you've dropped from first place on Monday to the last place today." "But I'm quite hardworking," the young man disagreed. "I am the first to arrive and the last to leave and even have worked through my coffee breaks!" The foreman thought for a minute and then asked "Have you sharpened your axe?" The young man replied, "No, sir. I've been working too hard to take time for that!" Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don't take time to "sharpen" the axe. In today's world it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy than ever. Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay sharp? There's nothing wrong with hard work. But we shouldn't get so busy that we ignore the truly important things in life. We all need time to relax, to think, to learn and to grow. If we don't take time to sharpen the axe, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness. What can we learn about the young man? A) He is optimistic. B) He is a little dishonest. C) He is intelligent. D) He is hardworking.

D