I once had a house guest from Cuba. During his visit, I happened to throw an old broken blender(攪拌機(jī)) in the trash. The next day it was sitting on my counter—in working order. In his world, people simply cannot afford to replace an item which doesn't work properly. They take the time and figure out how to fix it. In Cuba, they are still driving cars from the 1960s, mainly because they do not have a choice.

In contrast, the US is a “throwaway” society. Statistics show that each American produces six pounds of trash per day. I believe a combination of factors has contributed to this phenomenon.

Planned obsolescence(廢棄) is not a secret. It is a manufacturing(制造業(yè)) philosophy developed in the 1920s and 1930s, when mass production became popular. The goal is to make a product or part that will fail, or become less desirable over time or after a certain amount of use. This pressures consumers to buy again.

Planned obsolescence does keep costs down. Instead of making an expensive product that will last a long time, businesses produce more affordable, disposable(一次性的) items. Some electronic items have become so inexpensive that it is cheaper to replace them than to repair them.

Busy people often value their time and convenience more than money. If a car starts to have mechanical problems, replacing it with a newer, more reliable model may be more appealing than tolerating it being in the garage for a week.

In addition, advertising trains consumers to want what is new and improved. It convinces them that the more they have, the happier they will be.

Unlike people in many developing countries, we live in a world of abundance. A study by Dr Timothy Jones of the University of Arizona also found that in the US, 40～50 per cent of all food ready for harvest is wasted. Abundance and waste soon became closely associated in the American way of life.

1.In Cuba, people usually fix a broken item instead of buying a new one because ________.

A.wasting is prohibited there

B.they are poor

C.they are interested in fixing things

D.they live a low-carbon life

2.According to the article, planned obsolescence ________.

A.began before mass production became popular

B. is intended to encourage consumers to buy more things

C. results in higher prices of items

D. requires factories to produce high-quality products

3.Which of the following is NOT true about the “throwaway” society in the US?

A.People prefer to buy a new blender rather than repair the broken one.

B.A large quantity of food has been wasted.

C.People believe that the more they have, the happier they will be.

D.People all hold the belief that money comes first.

4.What may be the writer's attitude towards a throw-away society?

A.Supportive. B.Critical.

C.Tolerant. D.Optimistic.

【文章大意】 有一次，作者在扔掉用壞的攪拌機(jī)時(shí)，碰巧家里有一位來(lái)自古巴的房客，房客第二天把作者扔掉的攪拌機(jī)拿了回來(lái)并修理好。由此作者比較了古巴和美國(guó)兩個(gè)國(guó)家人的社會(huì)生活的差異，認(rèn)識(shí)到了在古巴這樣貧窮的國(guó)家，人們過(guò)得非常節(jié)儉，而在美國(guó)這樣物質(zhì)極大充足的國(guó)家，浪費(fèi)現(xiàn)象非常嚴(yán)重。

1.B　細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章首段中的“In his world, people simply cannot afford to replace an item which doesn't work properly.”可知，在古巴人們買(mǎi)不起東西才會(huì)對(duì)用壞的東西進(jìn)行修理，故B項(xiàng)正確。

2.B　推理判斷題。根據(jù)文章第三段中的“The goal is to make a product or part that will fail, or become less desirable over time or after a certain amount of use. This pressures consumers to buy again.”可以判斷B項(xiàng)正確。

3.D　推理判斷題。根據(jù)文章第五段中的“Busy people often value their time and convenience more than money.”可知，忙碌的人們把時(shí)間和便捷看得比

金錢(qián)更重要，所以D項(xiàng)內(nèi)容錯(cuò)誤。

4.B　推理判斷題。據(jù)文章末段中的“…40～50 per cent of all food ready for harvest is wasted. Abundance and waste soon became closely associated in the American way of life.”可知，作者認(rèn)為物質(zhì)的充足造成了浪費(fèi)現(xiàn)象，所以作者對(duì)一次性物品充斥的社會(huì)是持批判態(tài)度的，故B項(xiàng)正確。