BBC 6 minutes-Day 9-Throw-away culture

Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

1. Catherine mentioned that her mobile phone had been with her for about _________ years.

2. Catherine thinks that the reason why people prefer to buy new ones is that those gadgets are getting more ______.

3. Neil added another reason, saying that technology has become______, even to a stage where fixing gadgets is more _______ than replacing them.

4. According to Tim Cooper, the reason why screens are glued rather than screwed into the product is that the companies want the phone users to ______ mobile phones every year or two. 

5. _______is no longer our concern when buying products, says Tim, because we've become accustomed to the cheap ones. 

6. Cooper estimates that more than ______ pounds of electrical products are discarded on an annual basis.

7.At the end of the show, Catherine encouraged Neil to recycle his out-dated computer ______ when he gets a new one.

相关词伙

harm the planet 破坏地球/环境

from time to time 偶尔

electronic waste 电子垃圾

electrical goods, electrical products 电器

environmental damage 环境破坏

lowered their expectations 降低期望

raise expectations 提高期望值

manage your expectations 改变/控制期望值

higher quality products 高质量产品

live in a throwaway culture 一次性文化/丢弃文化

sustainable energy 可持续能源

sustainable economic development 可持续经济发展

答案和出处：

1. 2.5

Catherine, tell me - how old is your TV?

Catherine

My TV has just had its fifth birthday.

Neil

And your mobile phone?

Catherine

It's about two and a half.

2. advanced

Catherine

And of course I'm not alone in buying gadgets from time to time. They actually keep on getting more advanced – so people keep buying new ones.

3. cheaper, expensive

Neil

Technology also gets cheaper and cheaper. In fact, many gadgets are more expensive to fix than replace.

4. replace

Tim Cooper, Professor of Sustainable Consumption and Production at Nottingham Trent University

The classic example of this is the mobile phone, where, for example, screens are glued into the product. Now they know that if there was a screw there, the consumer could easily, when that screen cracks, which is obviously a very common problem with mobile phones, unscrew it and put a new screen on. They don't. They know perfectly well that that would be a way in which mobile phones would last longer. They don't want that, they want you to replace your mobile phone every year or two.

5. quality

Neil

Obsolete – no longer valid or useful. And also – he says we've become so used to cheap products that we don't want to spend more on good quality.

6. 2 million

An interesting idea. Cooper says that over 2m pounds worth of electrical goods are thrown away each year in the UK. He calls it a "throwaway culture".

7 responsibly

Neil

Yes – another one looking ahead into the future – I'm pretty sure my computer will be obsolete in ten years. It will no longer be used – it will be out of date.

Catherine

I just urge you, Neil, when you do get a new one – please recycle this one responsibly. We already live in a throwaway culture.

链接：

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english/ep-170622