Once the environmental impact study is complete, the permits are granted and the funds have been raised, then construction begins. First, access roads to the landfill site must be built if they do not already exist. There roads will be used by construction equipment, sanitation (环卫) services and the general public. After roads have been built, digging can begin. In the North Wake Country Landfill, the landfill began 10 feet below the road surface.
What Happens to Trash in a Landfill?
Trash put in a landfill will stay there for a very long time. Inside a landfill, there is little oxygen and little moisture. Under these conditions, trash does not break down very rapidly. In fact, when old landfills have been dug up or sampled, 40yearold newspapers have been found with easily readable print. Landfills are not designed to break down trash, merely to bury it. When a landfill closes, the site, especially the groundwater, must be monitored and maintained for up to 30 years! How Is a Landfill Operated?
A landfill, such as the North Wake County Landfill, must be open and available every day. Customers are typically municipalities and construction companies, although residents may also use the landfill.
Near the entrance of the landfill is a recycling center where residents can drop off recyclable materials (aluminum cans, glass bottles, newspapers and paper products). This helps to reduce the amount of material in the landfill. Some of these materials are banned from landfills by law because they can be recycled.
As customers enter the site, their trucks are weighed at the scale house. Customers are charged tipping fees for using the site. The tipping fees vary from $10 to $40 per ton. These fees are used to pay for operation costs. The North Wake County Landfill has an operating budget of approximately $4.5 million, and part of that comes from tipping fees.
Along the site, there are dropoff stations for materials that are not wanted or legally banned by the landfill. A multi-material dropoff station is used for tires, motor oil, and leadacid batteries. Some of these materials can be recycled.
In addition, there is a household hazardous waste dropoff station for chemicals (paints, pesticides, other chemicals) that are banned from the landfill. These chemicals are disposed of by private companies. Some paints can be recycled and some organic chemicals can be burned in furnaces or power plants.
Other structures alongside the landfill are the borrowed area that supplies the soil for the landfill, the runoff collection pond and methane (甲烷) station.
Landfills are complicated structures that, when properly designed and managed, serve an important purpose. In the future, new technologies called bioreactors will be used to speed the breakdown of trash in landfills and produce more methane.
1.The passage gives a general description of the structure and use of a landfill.
2.Most of the trash that Americans generate ends up in landfills.
3.Compared with other major industrialized countries, America buries a much higher percentage of its solid waste in landfills.
4.Landfills are like compost piles in that they speed up decomposition of the buried trash.
5.In most countries the selection of a landfill site is governed by rules and regulations.
6.In the United States the building of landfills is the job of both federal and local governments.
7.Hazardous wastes have to be treated before being dumped into landfills.
1.［Y］［N］［NG］2.［Y］［N］［NG］3.［Y］［N］［NG］4.［Y］［N］［NG］
5.［Y］［N］［NG］ 6.［Y］［N］［NG］7.［Y］［N］［NG］
8.Customers are typically , although residents may also use the landfill.
9.The tipping fees vary from per ton. These fees are used to pay for operation costs.
10.Along the site, there are for materials that are not wanted or legally banned by the landfill.
Part IIIListening Comprehension(35 minutes)
SectionA
Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked ［A］, ［B］, ［C］ and ［D］, and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
11.［A］In an office.
［B］On a farm.
［C］In a clinic.
