Directions: Read the following text and choose the most suitable heading from A-F for each paragraph. There is one extra heading which you do not need.

   Auctions are public sales of goods, conducted by an officially approved auctioneer. He asks the crowd assembled in the auction-room to make offers, or “bids” for the various items on sale. He encourages buyers to bid higher figures, and finally names the highest bidder as the buyer of the goods. This is called “knocking down” the goods., for the bidding ends when the auctioneer strikes a small hammer on a table at which he stands.

2.

   The ancient Roman probably invented sales by auction, and the English word comes from the Latin auctio, meaning “increase”. The Romans usually sold in this way the goods taken in war. In England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, goods were often sold “by the candle”, a short candle was lit by the auctioneer and bids could be made while it stayed alight.

3.

   Practically all goods whose qualities vary are sold by auction. Among these are coffee, skins, wool, tea, furs, silk and wines. Auction sales are also usual for land and property, furniture, pictures, rare boks, old china and similar works of art.

4.

   An auction is usually advertised beforehand with full particulars of the articles to be sold and where and when they can be viewed by potential buyers. If the advertisement cannot give full details. Catalogues are printed, and each group of goods to be sold together, called a “l(fā)ot”, is usually given a number. The auctioneer need not begin with Lot I and continue in the order of numbers: he may wait until he notices the fact that certain buyers are in the room and then produce the lots they are likely to be interested in.

5.

   The auctioneer’s services are paid for in the form of a percentage of the price the goods are sold for. The auctioneer therefore has a direct interest in pushing up the bidding as high as possible. He will not waste time by starting the bidding too low. He will also play on the opponents among his buyers and succeed in getting a high price by encouraging two business competitors to bid against each other.

Electronic waste, or e-waste, refers to electronic products that are no longer usable. This can include TVs, cell phones and computers and other office electronics, electronic toys and videos machines. Today, the average turnover（更換）rate for a computer in the United States is every two years, according to the environmental group, Greenpeace.

The group's Dai Yun says e-waste is a global problem. "The electronic industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. The high speed of growth in this industry means more and more electronic products are being wasted and thrown away. If no one decides to retrieve the old products and process them properly, the electronic waste will sweep over the earth like the huge wave behind me and pollute the Earth seriously."

Greenpeace works out that 20 to 50 million tons of e-waste are produced globally each year. The components（部件）in many electronic products contain harmful chemicals that pollute ground water and the environment.

At present , the U.S. has no federal law for the disposal (處理) of e-waste although a few states have e-waste recycling programs in place, but there is no law. The U.S. exports much of its e-waste to third world countries, such as India and China, where workers took apart computers for valuable parts, hoping to sell them for money. But harmful wastes expert, Dr. Bakul Rao, says that's a dangerous practice. "From now on, the recyclers are not very educated. All they know is they can retrieve copper or gold out of it. So, the easiest way to do that is leach (過濾) it out in an acid or burn it off to retrieve it. So, that's where they don't know how to deal with it, neither do they have any health systems in place. So, their exposure is more."

Which of the following is most likely not to be a form of e-waste?

 A. A mobile phone B. A radio  C. An e-bike        D. A table

What does the underlined word "retrieve" (paragraph 2) probably mean?

 A. look into   B. take apart   C. get back   D. throw away

What of the following statements is true according to the passage？

A. The U.S. has strict national laws for dealing with e-waste.

B. Third world countries import e-waste to get valuable parts, which is a safe and easy way to

make money.

C. The way uneducated workers deal with old computers does great harm to the environment as well as to their own health.

D. More and more electronic waste is being wasted and thrown away mainly because of

people's bad habits.

What is the purpose of writing the passage?

A. To attract more people's attention to e-waste.

B. To call on people not to throw away e-waste anywhere.

C. To tell people what e-waste is and how to deal with it well.

D. To warn people to break away from the electronic industry.

The next paragraph probably concerns_______.

A. how to deal with e-waste properly

B. how to protect ourselves from harm by e-waste

C. How to slow down the development in the electronic industry

D. how to make full use of e-waste

D

Electronic waste, or e-waste, refers to electronic products that are no longer usable. This can include TVs, cell phones and computers and other office electronics, electronic toys and videos machines. Today, the average turnover（更換）rate for a computer in the United States is every two years, according to the environmental group, Greenpeace.

The group's Dai Yun says e-waste is a global problem. "The electronic industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. The high speed of growth in this industry means more and more electronic products are being wasted and thrown away. If no one decides to retrieve the old products and process them properly, the electronic waste will sweep over the earth like the huge wave behind me and pollute the Earth seriously."

Greenpeace works out that 20 to 50 million tons of e-waste are produced globally each year. The components（部件）in many electronic products contain harmful chemicals that pollute ground water and the environment.

At present , the U.S. has no federal law for the disposal (處理) of e-waste although a few states have e-waste recycling programs in place, but there is no law. The U.S. exports much of its e-waste to third world countries, such as India and China, where workers took apart computers for valuable parts, hoping to sell them for money. But harmful wastes expert, Dr. Bakul Rao, says that's a dangerous practice. "From now on, the recyclers are not very educated. All they know is they can retrieve copper or gold out of it. So, the easiest way to do that is leach (過濾) it out in an acid or burn it off to retrieve it. So, that's where they don't know how to deal with it, neither do they have any health systems in place. So, their exposure is more."

1. Which of the following is most likely not to be a form of e-waste?

 A. A mobile phone B. A radio

C. An e-bike        D. A table

2. What does the underlined word "retrieve" (paragraph 2) probably mean?

 A. look into   B. take apart   C. get back   D. throw away

3. What of the following statements is true according to the passage？

A. The U.S. has strict national laws for dealing with e-waste.

B. Third world countries import e-waste to get valuable parts, which is a safe and easy way to

make money.

C. The way uneducated workers deal with old computers does great harm to the environment as well as to their own health.

D. More and more electronic waste is being wasted and thrown away mainly because of

people's bad habits.

4. What is the purpose of writing the passage?

A. To attract more people's attention to e-waste.

B. To call on people not to throw away e-waste anywhere.

C. To tell people what e-waste is and how to deal with it well.

D. To warn people to break away from the electronic industry.

5. The next paragraph probably concerns_______.

A. how to deal with e-waste properly

B. how to protect ourselves from harm by e-waste

C. How to slow down the development in the electronic industry

D. how to make full use of e-waste