For years, government campaigns and environmental activism have encouraged us to recycle. But while recycling may feel like the responsible thing to do, it’s not widespread across the world. And recycling has its own problems. When you look at what’s happened to all plastic made over time, the numbers aren’t encouraging: As of 2015, only 9% of all plastic ever made had been recycled, 12% was incinerated and 79% was in landfills or the environment, according to research from Geyer and others. In 2017, only about 8% of the plastic produced in the US was recycled. Global recycling averages are closer to 15% to 20% today, Geyer said, but it’s difficult to quantify how effective recycling programs actually are. While producing a plastic bottle from recycled materials uses less energy than making one from scratch, that bottle made from recycled plastic costs more and is usually of poorer quality.
“Nothing is designed for recycling — it’s all an afterthought,” he said. “We get a material that costs more to produce than it’s worth on the market. Virgin plastic is just dirt cheap to make.” Ultimately, the point of reusing and recycling plastic is to cut down on the production of new plastic. If you’re recycling your plastic water bottles and buying another case, you’re not actually helping solve the problem.
“Not every country has resources to create a sustainable recycling system,” said Tobias Haider, a research associate at PlastX, an organization based at the Institute for Social-Ecological Research in Frankfurt, Germany, that explores the role of plastics in our society and their impacts on the environment. “If you don’t have that, you also don’t have the resources to tackle the waste problem itself.”
Compounding the problem is where a country’s recycling goes. The United States sends much of its scrap plastic and cardboard overseas with China. But in 2018, China stopped taking in most American scrap materials, leaving some US cities to pay more for their recycling programs or end them altogether, and further increasing the burden on other Asian countries.
Even if you try to replace plastics with another material, like paper, there’s still an ecological impact: You’d just be throwing away a paper bag after a few hours, instead of a plastic one. “The sustainable answer would be to create a circular system which reuses the items as much as possible,” Haider said. “Plastic products would not be a problem if we reused them.” For example, you can reuse plastic grocery bags far more times than paper bags because they’re more durable.
Which of the following statements can be the conclusion of the article?

For years, government campaigns and environmental activism have encouraged us to recycle. But while recycling may feel like the responsible thing to do, it’s not widespread across the world. And recycling has its own problems. When you look at what’s happened to all plastic made over time, the numbers aren’t encouraging: As of 2015, only 9% of all plastic ever made had been recycled, 12% was incinerated and 79% was in landfills or the environment, according to research from Geyer and others. In 2017, only about 8% of the plastic produced in the US was recycled. Global recycling averages are closer to 15% to 20% today, Geyer said, but it’s difficult to quantify how effective recycling programs actually are. While producing a plastic bottle from recycled materials uses less energy than making one from scratch, that bottle made from recycled plastic costs more and is usually of poorer quality.
“Nothing is designed for recycling — it’s all an afterthought,” he said. “We get a material that costs more to produce than it’s worth on the market. Virgin plastic is just dirt cheap to make.” Ultimately, the point of reusing and recycling plastic is to cut down on the production of new plastic. If you’re recycling your plastic water bottles and buying another case, you’re not actually helping solve the problem.
“Not every country has resources to create a sustainable recycling system,” said Tobias Haider, a research associate at PlastX, an organization based at the Institute for Social-Ecological Research in Frankfurt, Germany, that explores the role of plastics in our society and their impacts on the environment. “If you don’t have that, you also don’t have the resources to tackle the waste problem itself.”
Compounding the problem is where a country’s recycling goes. The United States sends much of its scrap plastic and cardboard overseas with China. But in 2018, China stopped taking in most American scrap materials, leaving some US cities to pay more for their recycling programs or end them altogether, and further increasing the burden on other Asian countries.
Even if you try to replace plastics with another material, like paper, there’s still an ecological impact: You’d just be throwing away a paper bag after a few hours, instead of a plastic one. “The sustainable answer would be to create a circular system which reuses the items as much as possible,” Haider said. “Plastic products would not be a problem if we reused them.” For example, you can reuse plastic grocery bags far more times than paper bags because they’re more durable.
What role is played by the description of research from Geyer and others, in relation to the conclusion?

For years, government campaigns and environmental activism have encouraged us to recycle. But while recycling may feel like the responsible thing to do, it’s not widespread across the world. And recycling has its own problems. When you look at what’s happened to all plastic made over time, the numbers aren’t encouraging: As of 2015, only 9% of all plastic ever made had been recycled, 12% was incinerated and 79% was in landfills or the environment, according to research from Geyer and others. In 2017, only about 8% of the plastic produced in the US was recycled. Global recycling averages are closer to 15% to 20% today, Geyer said, but it’s difficult to quantify how effective recycling programs actually are. While producing a plastic bottle from recycled materials uses less energy than making one from scratch, that bottle made from recycled plastic costs more and is usually of poorer quality.
“Nothing is designed for recycling — it’s all an afterthought,” he said. “We get a material that costs more to produce than it’s worth on the market. Virgin plastic is just dirt cheap to make.” Ultimately, the point of reusing and recycling plastic is to cut down on the production of new plastic. If you’re recycling your plastic water bottles and buying another case, you’re not actually helping solve the problem.
“Not every country has resources to create a sustainable recycling system,” said Tobias Haider, a research associate at PlastX, an organization based at the Institute for Social-Ecological Research in Frankfurt, Germany, that explores the role of plastics in our society and their impacts on the environment. “If you don’t have that, you also don’t have the resources to tackle the waste problem itself.”
Compounding the problem is where a country’s recycling goes. The United States sends much of its scrap plastic and cardboard overseas with China. But in 2018, China stopped taking in most American scrap materials, leaving some US cities to pay more for their recycling programs or end them altogether, and further increasing the burden on other Asian countries.
Even if you try to replace plastics with another material, like paper, there’s still an ecological impact: You’d just be throwing away a paper bag after a few hours, instead of a plastic one. “The sustainable answer would be to create a circular system which reuses the items as much as possible,” Haider said. “Plastic products would not be a problem if we reused them.” For example, you can reuse plastic grocery bags far more times than paper bags because they’re more durable.
What is the role played by the statement ‘When you look at what’s happened to all plastic made over time, the numbers aren’t encouraging’ in the argument?

For years, government campaigns and environmental activism have encouraged us to recycle. But while recycling may feel like the responsible thing to do, it’s not widespread across the world. And recycling has its own problems. When you look at what’s happened to all plastic made over time, the numbers aren’t encouraging: As of 2015, only 9% of all plastic ever made had been recycled, 12% was incinerated and 79% was in landfills or the environment, according to research from Geyer and others. In 2017, only about 8% of the plastic produced in the US was recycled. Global recycling averages are closer to 15% to 20% today, Geyer said, but it’s difficult to quantify how effective recycling programs actually are. While producing a plastic bottle from recycled materials uses less energy than making one from scratch, that bottle made from recycled plastic costs more and is usually of poorer quality.
“Nothing is designed for recycling — it’s all an afterthought,” he said. “We get a material that costs more to produce than it’s worth on the market. Virgin plastic is just dirt cheap to make.” Ultimately, the point of reusing and recycling plastic is to cut down on the production of new plastic. If you’re recycling your plastic water bottles and buying another case, you’re not actually helping solve the problem.
“Not every country has resources to create a sustainable recycling system,” said Tobias Haider, a research associate at PlastX, an organization based at the Institute for Social-Ecological Research in Frankfurt, Germany, that explores the role of plastics in our society and their impacts on the environment. “If you don’t have that, you also don’t have the resources to tackle the waste problem itself.”
Compounding the problem is where a country’s recycling goes. The United States sends much of its scrap plastic and cardboard overseas with China. But in 2018, China stopped taking in most American scrap materials, leaving some US cities to pay more for their recycling programs or end them altogether, and further increasing the burden on other Asian countries.
Even if you try to replace plastics with another material, like paper, there’s still an ecological impact: You’d just be throwing away a paper bag after a few hours, instead of a plastic one. “The sustainable answer would be to create a circular system which reuses the items as much as possible,” Haider said. “Plastic products would not be a problem if we reused them.” For example, you can reuse plastic grocery bags far more times than paper bags because they’re more durable.
Which of the following statements, if true, would most weaken the argument presented in the last paragraph?

For years, government campaigns and environmental activism have encouraged us to recycle. But while recycling may feel like the responsible thing to do, it’s not widespread across the world. And recycling has its own problems. When you look at what’s happened to all plastic made over time, the numbers aren’t encouraging: As of 2015, only 9% of all plastic ever made had been recycled, 12% was incinerated and 79% was in landfills or the environment, according to research from Geyer and others. In 2017, only about 8% of the plastic produced in the US was recycled. Global recycling averages are closer to 15% to 20% today, Geyer said, but it’s difficult to quantify how effective recycling programs actually are. While producing a plastic bottle from recycled materials uses less energy than making one from scratch, that bottle made from recycled plastic costs more and is usually of poorer quality.
“Nothing is designed for recycling — it’s all an afterthought,” he said. “We get a material that costs more to produce than it’s worth on the market. Virgin plastic is just dirt cheap to make.” Ultimately, the point of reusing and recycling plastic is to cut down on the production of new plastic. If you’re recycling your plastic water bottles and buying another case, you’re not actually helping solve the problem.
“Not every country has resources to create a sustainable recycling system,” said Tobias Haider, a research associate at PlastX, an organization based at the Institute for Social-Ecological Research in Frankfurt, Germany, that explores the role of plastics in our society and their impacts on the environment. “If you don’t have that, you also don’t have the resources to tackle the waste problem itself.”
Compounding the problem is where a country’s recycling goes. The United States sends much of its scrap plastic and cardboard overseas with China. But in 2018, China stopped taking in most American scrap materials, leaving some US cities to pay more for their recycling programs or end them altogether, and further increasing the burden on other Asian countries.
Even if you try to replace plastics with another material, like paper, there’s still an ecological impact: You’d just be throwing away a paper bag after a few hours, instead of a plastic one. “The sustainable answer would be to create a circular system which reuses the items as much as possible,” Haider said. “Plastic products would not be a problem if we reused them.” For example, you can reuse plastic grocery bags far more times than paper bags because they’re more durable.
Which of the following statements, if true, would strengthen the case for recycling?

Forest fires or bushfires have been a part of “traditional” narratives in Australia, featuring prominently even in storytelling. However, the climate crisis has changed the traditional narrative of such “normality” in current eco-fiction, exacerbating such events as disastrous and beyond the limits of the resilience of ecosystems. Starting in August 2019, this time, bushfires erupted several months earlier than the typical “annual season” of wildfire, and with an alarming enormity spread, and severity even as the country suffered from its hottest and driest year so far. Before these ravaging fires, Australia’s average temperature rise has been estimated to be about 1.4° Celsius above pre-industrial levels, while the global average heating rate hovers at 1.1°C.
With Australia’s average summer temperatures increasing, there has been an increase in the frequency and intensity of heat waves and droughts. Vast parts of the country were reeling under a drought for three years with declining average rainfall levels. The problem was further compounded due to the “strongest ever on record” positive Indian Ocean Dipole event in 2019-meaning starker temperature difference on either side-with warmer sea surface temperatures towards Australia in the west leading to drought-like conditions, and cooler temperatures towards East Africa causing floods.
Which of the following best represents the main point of the given passage?

Forest fires or bushfires have been a part of “traditional” narratives in Australia, featuring prominently even in storytelling. However, the climate crisis has changed the traditional narrative of such “normality” in current eco-fiction, exacerbating such events as disastrous and beyond the limits of the resilience of ecosystems. Starting in August 2019, this time, bushfires erupted several months earlier than the typical “annual season” of wildfire, and with an alarming enormity spread, and severity even as the country suffered from its hottest and driest year so far. Before these ravaging fires, Australia’s average temperature rise has been estimated to be about 1.4° Celsius above pre-industrial levels, while the global average heating rate hovers at 1.1°C.
With Australia’s average summer temperatures increasing, there has been an increase in the frequency and intensity of heat waves and droughts. Vast parts of the country were reeling under a drought for three years with declining average rainfall levels. The problem was further compounded due to the “strongest ever on record” positive Indian Ocean Dipole event in 2019-meaning starker temperature difference on either side-with warmer sea surface temperatures towards Australia in the west leading to drought-like conditions, and cooler temperatures towards East Africa causing floods.
Which of the following can be inferred from the phrase ‘traditional narrative of such “normality” in current eco-fiction’ as mentioned in the passage?

Forest fires or bushfires have been a part of “traditional” narratives in Australia, featuring prominently even in storytelling. However, the climate crisis has changed the traditional narrative of such “normality” in current eco-fiction, exacerbating such events as disastrous and beyond the limits of the resilience of ecosystems. Starting in August 2019, this time, bushfires erupted several months earlier than the typical “annual season” of wildfire, and with an alarming enormity spread, and severity even as the country suffered from its hottest and driest year so far. Before these ravaging fires, Australia’s average temperature rise has been estimated to be about 1.4° Celsius above pre-industrial levels, while the global average heating rate hovers at 1.1°C.
With Australia’s average summer temperatures increasing, there has been an increase in the frequency and intensity of heat waves and droughts. Vast parts of the country were reeling under a drought for three years with declining average rainfall levels. The problem was further compounded due to the “strongest ever on record” positive Indian Ocean Dipole event in 2019-meaning starker temperature difference on either side-with warmer sea surface temperatures towards Australia in the west leading to drought-like conditions, and cooler temperatures towards East Africa causing floods.
Which of the following is a message that could be seen coming from the author?

Forest fires or bushfires have been a part of “traditional” narratives in Australia, featuring prominently even in storytelling. However, the climate crisis has changed the traditional narrative of such “normality” in current eco-fiction, exacerbating such events as disastrous and beyond the limits of the resilience of ecosystems. Starting in August 2019, this time, bushfires erupted several months earlier than the typical “annual season” of wildfire, and with an alarming enormity spread, and severity even as the country suffered from its hottest and driest year so far. Before these ravaging fires, Australia’s average temperature rise has been estimated to be about 1.4° Celsius above pre-industrial levels, while the global average heating rate hovers at 1.1°C.
With Australia’s average summer temperatures increasing, there has been an increase in the frequency and intensity of heat waves and droughts. Vast parts of the country were reeling under a drought for three years with declining average rainfall levels. The problem was further compounded due to the “strongest ever on record” positive Indian Ocean Dipole event in 2019-meaning starker temperature difference on either side-with warmer sea surface temperatures towards Australia in the west leading to drought-like conditions, and cooler temperatures towards East Africa causing floods.
Which of the following lines from the passage indicate the changes in the climate of Australia which have taken place over time?

Forest fires or bushfires have been a part of “traditional” narratives in Australia, featuring prominently even in storytelling. However, the climate crisis has changed the traditional narrative of such “normality” in current eco-fiction, exacerbating such events as disastrous and beyond the limits of the resilience of ecosystems. Starting in August 2019, this time, bushfires erupted several months earlier than the typical “annual season” of wildfire, and with an alarming enormity spread, and severity even as the country suffered from its hottest and driest year so far. Before these ravaging fires, Australia’s average temperature rise has been estimated to be about 1.4° Celsius above pre-industrial levels, while the global average heating rate hovers at 1.1°C.
With Australia’s average summer temperatures increasing, there has been an increase in the frequency and intensity of heat waves and droughts. Vast parts of the country were reeling under a drought for three years with declining average rainfall levels. The problem was further compounded due to the “strongest ever on record” positive Indian Ocean Dipole event in 2019-meaning starker temperature difference on either side-with warmer sea surface temperatures towards Australia in the west leading to drought-like conditions, and cooler temperatures towards East Africa causing floods.
Which of the following does the author include while explaining the phenomenon of “Indian Ocean Dipole”?