WORKING TOWARDS WASTE REDUCTION

A. When we break down environmental pollution through waste disposal to the individual, we
realise that each person contributes their quota to the problem. In 2018 alone, on average, each
person generated 4.9 pounds of municipal solid waste per day. As part of the many potentially
deadly problems facing the planet, waste disposal, and experts believe that in our quest for
technological advancement, we are putting the environment in peril. Fortunately for us, much of
the waste we produce is recyclable, but not so fast. Why generate the waste to start with?

B. There is only so much we can recycle and recycling doesn’t solve the problem entirely. Its
efficiency as a long term strategy breaks down if more and more waste continues to be pumped
into the environment, and thus, there is the need to reduce the waste produced. Waste
reduction refers to a set of processes which ensure that the amount of waste produced is
reduced the barest minimum. Landfill sites are gradually running out and soon, we would be
unable to bury recyclable waste. Now more than ever, waste reduction is vital if the world’s
population is not going to be swallowed by a pool of waste its own people created.

C. Although the environmental benefits for reducing waste is talked about the most, it also has a
positive effect on the country and by extension the entire world as a whole. Millions of dollars
spent on waste disposal and management would be channeled towards equally important
projects. Disease outbreak as are result of improper waste disposal is avoided and thus, lightens
the burden on federal healthcare budget. Products would be cheaper to buy in general as
money would not be spent on unneeded packaging which does nothing but add to the waste
management problem. Finally, reduction of inorganic waste directs attention to organic
materials for manufacturing which ensure judicious use of natural resources.

D. Waste reduction conserves a lot of land space and lessons our need for landfill sites. In order to
keep up with increasing production of waste, humans have dug, countless landfill sites to house
the waste. These sites have taken up valuable space that could have accommodated schools,
hospitals as well as recreational centres. What is more, landfill sites tend to contribute chiefly to
outbreak of diseases through water and air pollution. They are the ideal breeding place for
mosquitoes and other harmful insects and ultimately, less landfills would mean better quality air
to breathe.

E. Much attention and mental resources have been devoted to solving the Earth’s energy needs in
recent years, however, the pernicious effect that recycling waste has on our already limited
energy resources. When the energy used to recycle materials is channeled to some to satisfy
some other need, our energy resources would be more efficiently dissipated. The manufacturing
 of consumer goods is a process that consumes a lot of energy, so by limiting the amount of new
resources required, a large amount of energy can be saved as well.
F. By reducing our waste, we are ensuring that our natural resources are conserved. Resources like
petroleum, aluminium as well as tree plants are used to make materials such as cans for hard
and soft drinks, plastic and paper bags for packaging products such as fast food. This goes
without mentioning the effect it has on the environment. The climate is changing, and planting
more trees sounds like a plan. However, reducing the number of trees we cut would be a good
place to start. If we can always keep the ratio of trees planted to trees felled higher than 1, we
could significantly tip the war on climate change to our favour.

G. When we consider how much of the environmental problems we are responsible for, it could
serve as a potent motivation factor to fix them with tiny but effective habits such as limiting our
reliance on disposable containers for fast food, choosing to eat at the restaurant in lieu of a take
out.

H. Waste reduction is a stepping stone to solving most of the world’s problems including climate
change, pollution as well as water and airborne diseases. When no more waste is created to add
to the already existing pile, the burden would be lessened of committees set up to come up with
waste management measures. It is the first of the three word remedy to waste disposal-reduce,
reuse, recycle- for a reason.

Question 1-8

Reading Passage 1 has eight paragraphs A-H, Which paragraphs contains the following
information?

A. Importance of tree plantation for improving the severe effect of climate change.
B. solving the Earth’s energy needs
C. Less landfills can ensure the better quality air to breathe.
D. Proper waste disposal system can improve the environment pollution significantly.
E. Waste reduction is vital along with recycling.
F. Waste disposal, one of the crucial problem facing the planet.
G. The environmental benefits for reducing waste.
H. Our good and responsible habits can play a vital role to improve the environment problem.
Question 9-13

Complete the notes below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each
answer.

Waste management

Proper management of waste is important for building (9)_________ and liveable cities, but it
remains a challenge for many developing countries and cities. A report found that effective
(10)_________ is relatively expensive, usually comprising 20%–50% of municipal (11)_________.
Operating this essential municipal service requires (12)___________ that are efficient,
sustainable, and (13)___________.
US ECONOMY POST WORLD WAR II

On the back of the great depression, unemployment in the United States was a little shy of 25%.
However, events during and after World War II were bound to change that and kick-start a journey of
economic growth and development in the country. As resources were pooled to boost America's
chances in the war, factories were retooled to produce goods and services to support warfare efforts.
More men (most of whom were unemployed at the time) were enlisted into the army, and women were
hired to take over their positions on assembly lines. Just like that, unemployment rate plummeted to as
low as 10%.

A period which come to be known as “postwar prosperity” began and lasted between 1946 and 1973.
After World War II, Americans went on a buying spree with money saved up during the war. Since
factories turned to warfare production, people were unable to purchase products such as refrigerators,
automobiles and various electronic gadgets. The spree caused inflation since the demand for such goods
was so high that it superseded the supply. In this period, the rate of inflation increased at a higher rate
that wage increase. Thus, workers went on strikes until they were finally appeased with raised wages.
However, inflation continued to increase from year to year.

The government at the time tried many strategies to try to prevent the impending economic doom. One
of which was the “Fair Deal”, proposed in the early 1950’s. It had become highly necessary as a result of
the “Baby Boom” of the 1950s. There was a widespread feeling of optimism with regard to America’s
economy and thus, people birthed more children causing a rise in population. The fair deal most notably
included farm supports and other government measures aimed at strengthening growth in Social
Security, public housing, national medical insurance and aid to education. Farming became more
mechanized and scientific than ever and output increased at a faster rate. Overproduction became a
problem, therefore consumers could not keep up with the supply. As prices levelled off and costs
increased, the number of large commercial farms increased since they were the only farms that could
prove profitable.

In the mid-50's, a thirteen-year interstate highway program was introduced to enable the States build
highways according to a national plan. The entire project cost $26 billion and caused various sectors to
flourish. The construction industry boomed, and gas stations and motels benefited as well. However the
railroad industry dwindled since Americans had become so reliant on automobiles. The economy began
to grow, but slowly. Meanwhile such growth birthed a host of social problems. Population was
increasing rapidly. As more people from the suburbs (mainly black and unemployed) flocked to the cities
in search of greener pastures were greeted with, discrimination, overcrowding and far from infrequent
cases of violence.

During the sixties, the US government began the “Great Society” and then the “War on Poverty” plans to
address the social and economic problems at the time. The idea of “Great Society” was to "fix" all of
society's problems by means of federal legislation. The Economic Opportunity Act marked the beginning
of "war on poverty" and was passed shortly after the Civil Rights Act and the Tax Act. It consisted of a
series of programs designed to provide education, training, housing, and jobs for the less fortunate. The
War on Poverty legislation also included the Job Corps to train young people who lacked marketable
skills; Work–Study, to supplement the income of college students; Head Start, to help pre–school
children from "disadvantaged" families; Volunteers in Service to Americans (VISTA), to send volunteers
into impoverished areas; government funded public work projects among others. Meanwhile, Medicare
and Medicaid legislations were passed to provide medical care for the elderly and impoverished.

These policies produced major financial difficulties in the country. Thus more drastic measures had to be
taken. In 1971, the United States was taken of the gold standard which devalued the dollar a d made US
goods cheaper on the international market. A 10% surtax was also placed on imports and soon,
production increased. So did average income and employment rate. These were great times for
Americans, although it was short-lived.

In October, 1973, war broke out between Israel and her Arab enemies. The United States, in lieu of
steering clear of the conflict, supported and aided Israel. In retaliation, the Arab states, led by Saudi
Arabia, placed an embargo on oil shipments. At that time, imports from the Middle East accounted for
about 11 percent of America's total consumption. This caused prices to shoot up because of the
shortage couple with a high demand. The embargo ended in March 1974 and supplies returned to
normal, but prices remained high. The American people now found themselves in an "energy crisis."
Americans now found themselves paying more—a lot more—to drive their cars, heat their homes, and
buy the goods produced by farms and industries that were driven by high–priced oil. The nation had
entered a new era of economic growth.

Question 14-21

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3 ? In boxes 14-21
on your answer sheet write

TRUE If the statement agrees with the information

FALSE If the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN If there is no information on this.

14. The Arab states placed an embargo an oil shipments as a consequence of war with Israel.
15. To make US goods cheaper on the international market, US took a drastic measure to devalue the
dollar rate.
16. “Fair Deal”, has been proposed as a result of the “Baby Boom” aimed at strengthening growth in
Social Security, public housing, national medical insurance and aid to education.
17. The War on Poverty legislation did not included any measures to train young people in USA.
18. “Postwar” prosperity has been lasted till 1980 in the US economy.
19. The entire project cost of a thirteen-year interstate highway program was $200 billion.
20. Unemployment, which had reached 25 percent during the Great Depression and hovered at 14.6
percent in 1939.
21. In 1965, the nation’s automobile industry reached its peak, producing 11.1 million new cars, trucks
and buses.
Question 22-28

Choose five letters A-L

Which five of the following claims about US ECONOMY POST WORLD WAR II are made by the writer?

A. A 10% surtax has imposed to stimulate the domestic production.

B. National infrastructure budget has been increased three fold in 1933
C. The oil price remained high despite of the embargo on oil shipments ended in 1974.
D. The total job cut increased by 60% of the consequence of the war with Arab estates in 1933.
E. The Civil Rights Act played an important role to provide education, training, housing, and jobs
for the less fortunate.
F. The construction industry boomed due to implementation of a thirteen-year interstate highway
program.
G. The wages increased significantly therefore the inflation was very alarming between 1946 and
1973.
H. Slow but steady economic growth of US also created a lot of social problems.
I. Because of using modern tools and scientific approach the output of Farming increased.
J. The senate bill was passed in 1970.
K. Export has increased significantly in the year 1935.
L. Automobile industry boomed as a consequence of increasing income.
EVOLUTION OF TRADE

Thousands of years ago, humans lived in what is known as the gift economy which is fundamentally a
mode of exchange where commodities are not sold to, but rather given without an explicit agreement
for immediate or future rewards. When an individual gives another a gift, there was an innate sense of
obligation on the part of the recipient to repay at the end of the day, one way or the other. In a nutshell,
people were not told that they had to recompense, they just knew they had to and they did.

During that period, the economy was ran by social relationships, thus, the number of relationships you
had would define how well-heeled you were. It could be tough to see how this possibly worked as there
was definitely the inequality factor- when a gift given did not match up a gift previously received. It
worked fairly well in small population communities where it was easy to stand out, but the same could
not be said for large communities. We still dwell in gift economies today, although not in the sense that
it is the main medium of exchange. For instance, when you are invited to a social gathering, you feel
obliged to do same for the person who invited you.

The barter economy is also one of the earliest cashless economic systems to have existed, and like the
gift economy, was based on reciprocity, albeit not in the same sense. It required a mutual coincidence of
wants between traders, which was at times difficult to find. When an individual wanted something, they
had to have something that someone else sought, which made it complicated. In the 15th century, the
Europeans transacted commodities such as mirrors, guns and gun powder for gold and bauxite with the
gold coast. That was one gaping flaw in the barter system, no consideration whatsoever for value of
commodities.

Barter based economies still exist today as people continue to trade goods for services. For instance,
some people trade research for content creation. A new system had to be put in place of the barter
system mainly because trading was difficult but also partly because, we needed a consistent system of
trading which satisfied everyone.

Coins were invented, which served as a medium of exchange. This was the birth of the currency. Each
coin had a specific value and one had to produce a certain number of coins in order to match the value
of a commodity they wanted to buy or a service the wanted acquire. In other parts of the world, things
like cowry shells were in lieu of coins, like in the ancient Gold Coast, present day Ghana.

Paper money made its first appearance in the economic sphere in 11th century China, although it was
used in conjunction with coins as a medium of exchange. By the latter stages of the 12th century, paper
money had spread to other parts of the world and it helped a great deal because of the bulk nature of
coins. Meanwhile, civilizations elsewhere were making use of trade bills, which were basically the
historical equivalents of modern-day IOUs. Goods were supplied to a buyer against a bill of exchange,
which served as the buyer's promise to make payment at some specified future date. Traveling with
 money at that time was particularly dangerous. A deposit could be made with a banker in one town,
when a bill of exchange was handed out, it could be redeemed in another town, thus, trade bills were a
safer option. Countries all over the world had begun trading in their respective currencies.

Then came the gold standard. The Gold Standard was a system under which countries fixed the value of
their currencies in terms of a specified amount of gold, or linked their currency to that of a country
which did former. Currencies could easily be converted into gold at the fixed price and there was no
restriction on the import or export of gold. Since each currency was fixed in terms of gold, the exchange
rates between participating currencies were also fixed. The result was the currencies that were used at
the time had a stable value as it was backed by the value of gold. Some other countries were on the
silver standard, which had a similar approach, only it was silver and not gold.

Within the 20th century, deteriorating conditions forced all the countries to get off the precious metals
standards, and has continued to this day. Current currencies around world like the U.S dollar are flat
currencies, which is not backed by a commodity with intrinsic value. In a nutshell, it has value because
we think it has value, which makes it particularly volatile.

The diagram below summarizes some of the main points on EVOLUTION OF TRADE provided in the
passage 3. Complete the diagram with information from the passage. You may use NO MORE THAN
THREE WORDS to fill each blank space. Write your answers in Boxes 29-36 on your answer sheet.

A gift economy is a mode of

Barter is based on reciprocity, it (34)______ is a written order
exchange where valuables are
requires a (30)__________of binding one party to pay a
not sold, but rather given
wants between traders fixed sum of money to
without an (29)_________for
another party on demand or
immediate or future rewards.
at a predetermined date

In the ancient Gold Coast, The currencies had a stable

(31)______ was served as a EVOLUTION OF TRADE value as it was backed by the
medium of exchange. _(35)__________

Paper currency that is _(33)_________was a system

circulated for the transactions
involved in acquiring
(32)_________
There was no restriction on
under which nearly all
the (36)_____________of
countries fixed the value of
gold.
their currencies in terms of a
specified amount of gold,
Questions 37 -40

Choose the appropriate letter (A-D) and write in the Box 37-40 on your answer sheet.

37. When the Paper money made its first appearance in the economic sphere?

A) 11th century

B) 12th Century

C) 13th Century

D) 14th Century.

38. Why the barter system still exist today?

A) Easy

B) Flexible

C) Consistent

D) Fast

39. Where the gift economy operated well. ?

A) In Europe

B) In USA

C) In a larger community.

D) In a smaller community

40. The gift economy also worked as

A)barter economy.

B)currency

C) Gold standard

D)Silver standard.