Text 4. Recycling

There are several basic ways to get rid of trash. It can be dumped, burned or recycled (reused in a different form). Today as in the past most countries dump or burn most of their trash. But people’s attitudes about trash began to change after World War II. Reconstruction and increase in population meant accumulation of more garbage. As time went on, people became aware that landfills (смптезвалища) and incinerators (смптеспалювальна шч) posed health hazards. By the 1970s, local governments faced a big problem. They had more garbage, fewer places to put it, and tougher laws telling them how to get rid of it. All of those things made garbage disposal more expensive and encouraged recycling. But that is not the only reason why recycling is so popular. It also makes good business sense: (1) It cuts down on the use of valuable new raw materials; (2) It saves energy; (3) It creates less pollution. To use valuable resources just once and then try to dispose of them doesn’t make sense from an efficiency point of view or a pollution point of view.

Even so, recycling has its problems. They result from the fact that recycled trash is a product. Like all products, it is governed by the law of supply and demand. Take paper, for instance. By recycling paper, the amount of trash is significantly cut down. In the mid-1980s, many cities and communities recognized that fact and began massive paper-collection efforts. But they ^rose a problem. No one wanted to buy all that paper. Reprocessing factories could not handle all the paper that people were collecting. The result: a glut (перенасичення) in the market for recycled paper. So, many paper companies were reluctant to invest millions in building new paper-recycling plants. They wanted to make sure that someone would buy the paper once they recycled it.

The prospect for paper recycling now looks good. But some other popular materials - such as plastics - have their problems too. Different types of plastics cannot be mixed together. Soda bottles, for example, have a different chemical composition from milk jugs. It means that plastics must be sorted by recycling companies at great cost.

Businesses are finding clever ways to handle hard-to-recycle products. But some recycling problems may never be solved. Recycling produces less pollution than using new raw materials, but recycling does cause pollution too. That is why experts say that recycling will never be a cure-all for getting rid of garbage.

The best way to cut down on garbage is for people to use less. Then there is less to throw away. Another simple thing for people to do is to buy recycled products. This creates a demand for recycled goods that businesses will answer. It is also important to find creative ways to recycle. Rubber and plastic are difficult to recycle because of their chemical properties. But even here, creative recyclers are making progress: discarded plastic is used to make aeroplane seats, furniture, sweaters and other clothing. Old rubber tires are often used on playgrounds and for reinforcement of road pavement. Rubber is also recycled into products such as soles of running shoes. And the number of recycled products is growing all the time.

(Adapted from The Junior Scholastic)

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Unit 6

Text 5. AT WAR WITH THE INFO-TERRORISTS

Over the past 30 years, the US has witnessed and contributed greatly to a technology revolution. As a result, the US public (government, business, military) and private (citizens) sectors have become increasingly dependent on the uninterrupted and trusted flow of digital information. Day-to-day operations of banking, energy distribution, air traffic control, emergency medical services, transportation, and many other industries all depend on reliable telecommunications and increasingly complex network of computers, databases, and computer-driven control systems. The Internet has created a global information network that provides opportunities for digital commerce. The connectivity creates a world of commerce without borders. At the same time, this connectivity and dependency make separate sectors vulnerable to information warfare attacks. These attacks, in whatever form, could not only disrupt our daily lives, but also seriously jeopardize our national security. The private sector is being “hit” every day by hackers who spread computer viruses, send abusive messages or even threats to other computer users. People are aware of incidents where computers were used to divert funds by false bank wires, and credit card fraud. These incidents appear to be isolated and the goal limited to theft, that is high-technology bank robbery. However, the number and size of these intrusions may grow to threaten our economic well-being. Besides, hackers and terrorists organizations might use information warfare techniques as part of coordinated attack designed to seriously disrupt infrastructures such as electric power distribution, air-traffic control, or financial sectors, international commerce, and deployed military forces in time of peace or war. Anybody can acquire the hardware and software to attack information-based infrastructures. The methods used could range from such traditional terrorist methods as a vehicle-delivered bomb to electronic attack. The latter methods could rely on paid hackers. The ability to launch an attack is likely to be within the capabilities of a number of terrorist groups, which use the Internet and other modern means for their own communication.

(Adaptedfrom The Guardian)