Picture a wasteland of computer monitors and TVs, stretching as far as the eye can see. Imagine towers of boxes, all of them filled with broken glass and old electronic devices. Technology graveyards like this can be found in communities across the country. Experts say that landfills and warehouses will overflow unless a plan for the disposal and reuse of electronics is put into place. "We can't put electronics and glass aside and tell ourselves we'll deal with them later," Lauren Roman, managing director of Transparent Planet said. Roman's group works to improve the disposal of electronic waste. She says about 660 million pounds of tech trash is produced each year in the US. What's behind the tech trash pile-up? About ten years ago, major advances were made in computer and television technology. Manufacturers began producing devices like flat-paneled LCDs and plasma screen monitors. These new products provide a clearer image and take up less space than older models. It goes without saying that consumers choose them rather than heavy, glass-based technologies. The new electronics are built with materials that are difficult to recycle. In addition, the new products have decreased the demand for recycled parts from the older monitors and screens. Older, heavier computer monitors and TVs used glass-based components called CRTs. CRTs have a high lead content and can be environmentally risky if not recycled properly. If crushed and put in landfills, the lead from CRTs could seep into groundwater and rivers, harming the water supply. For many years, plants and recycling programs safely processed CRTs. The recycled CRTs were reused in the construction of new monitors. Monitors being made today do not use glass tubes. "People are returning old-style TVs with CRTs, but no new ones are being made," said Linnel. This is creating an imbalance in the amount of glass being disposed of and recycled properly. Many recycling companies have shut down. Others no longer have the resources or space to process... What would the writer probably talk about next? A) Some other problems related to technologies. B) Some experts' opinions on the tech-trash problems. C) Some reasons why the tech-trash problem is hard to solve. D) Some practical ways to solve the tech-trash problem.
D
The NSA and GCHQ are tapping popular smart phone apps such as Angry Birds to gather the enormous amounts of very personal data those bits of software collect--including age, gender, marital status, income, education level and more, according to new reports from the New York Times and The Guardian. Citing secret documents provided by Edward Snowden, former NSA staff, the reports detail efforts to gain data collection from cell phone carriers and smart phones by tapping into "leaky" apps themselves. Both spy agencies showed a particular interest in Google Maps, which is accurate to within a few yards or better in some locations and would clearly pass along data about the area where phone owner is. "It effectively means that anyone using Google Maps on a smartphone is working in support of a GCHQ system," reads a secret 2008 report by the NSA's sister spy agency, according to the New York Times. More surprising is the wide range of apps that the agencies search for data, including innocent-seeming apps such as Angry Birds. One document in particular from GCHQ listed what information can be found from which apps, mentioning Android apps but suggesting the same data was available from the iPhone platform. Angry Birds maker Rovio Entertainment of Finland said it had no knowledge of any NSA or GCHQ programs for tapping into its users' data. "Rovio doesn't have any previous knowledge of this matter, and have not been aware of such activity in 3rd party advertising networks," said Saara Bergstrom. "Nor do we have any involvement with the organizations you mentioned." Mobile photos uploaded to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter appear to be a particularly rich source of information for the spy agencies as well. Metadata in the photos is briefly available. The NSA and GCHQ are able to tap into that metadata to collect a wealth of key data points about a person's life. "NSA does not profile everyday Americans as it carries out its foreign intelligence mission," the agency told the Times in response to... American and British spy agencies were both particularly interested in the information gathered from _ . A) Google Maps B) Twitter C) Angry Birds D) Facebook
A
Q: An American woman Anna Jarvis was the first person to decide the mothers should have a holiday in their honor each year. Miss Jarvis started her campaign in 1906 in her home city Philadelphia. She wrote thousands of letters to congressmen , city officials, teachers and newspaper publishers, proposing an official holiday for mothers. She traveled all over America, trying to get support for the idea. Her battle went on for years. In 1914, the Congress declared the second Sunday in May each year as Mother's Day. Anna Jarvis wanted Mother's Day to be a simple event. She thought children could honor their mothers by spending some time with them as an act of love and respect. However, the holiday turned out to be a major event for department stores, flower shops and greetingcard industry, which Miss Jarvis didn't like. Americans spend millions of dollars on gifts for their mothers on this day. Younger children often try to prepare and serve breakfast for their mothers. Fathers may offer to take care of children so that mothers can enjoy themselves. The holiday becomes an important time for family gathering. What can be inferred from the text is that _ . A) the Congress didn't accept Anna's suggestion until the whole country supported her B) the battle lasted 8 years C) Jarvis didn't enjoy the usual way Americans spend Mother's Day D) Mother's Day is an important day for Americans
A: A
Q: The kids in this village wear dirty, ragged clothes. They sleep beside cows and sheep in huts made of sticks and mud. They have no school. Yet they all can chant the English alphabet, and some can make words. The key to their success: 20 tablet computers dropped off in their Ethiopian village in February by a U.S. group called One Laptop Per Child. The goal is to find out whether kids using today's new technology can teach themselves to read in places where no schools or teachers exist. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers analyzing the project data say they're already amazed. "What I think has already happened is that the kids have already learned more than they would have in one year of kindergarten," said Matt Keller, who runs the Ethiopia program. The fastest learner--and the first to turn on one of the tablets--is 8-year-old Kelbesa Negusse. The device's camera was disabled to save memory, yet within weeks Kelbesa had figured out its workings and made the camera work. He called himself a lion, a marker of accomplishment in Ethiopia. With his tablet, Kelbasa rearranged the letters HSROE into one of the many English animal names he knows. Then he spelled words on his own. "Seven months ago he didn't know any English. That's unbelievable," said Keller. The project aims to get kids to a stage called "deep reading," where they can read to learn. It won't be in Amharic, Ethiopia's first language, but in English, which is widely seen as the ticket to higher paying jobs. It amazed Keller that with the tablet Kelbesa could _ . A) draw pictures of animals. B) learn English words quickly. C) write letters to researchers. D) make phone calls to his friends.
A: B