In today’s throwaway society，dealing with the city’s growing mountain of waste is an increasing challenge for the city council (市议会)．
Recently，Edinburgh is faced with the problem of disposing of (处理) about 250,000 million tons of waste a year.Despite different ways to dispose of much of it in a green manner—largely through encouraging recycling—its aging facilities such as the Powderhall landfill do not have the ability to deal with it.
The European Union (EU) has issued a new policy，regulating how such mountains of waste are to be disposed of.The five councils (Edinburgh，East Lothian，West Lothian，Midlothian and Borders) face fines around ￡18 million a year from 2013 if they don’t increase recycling levels and rely less on landfill.With this in mind，the councils got together with the idea of building a large incinerator plant (垃圾焚烧厂) to burn half of the waste produced in their districts.But this plan fell apart after the change of target levels by a new UK government waste policy which required that no more than 25% of the city’s waste should be disposed of in this way by 2025.
After the plan was abandoned，a private pany which already transported millions of tons of the city’s waste by train to a landfill site near Dunbar，offered an
alternative solution when it suggested opening a huge waste site near Portobello.
Since Powderhall is supposed to close in 2015，it seemed necessary for the members of the Edinburgh Council to accept the suggestion.But soon they turned it down—after 700 local objections reached them—because it would have meant hundreds of lorries a day making loud noise through heavily populated areas.
That still leaves the council with a problem.By 2013，only 50% of 1995 levels of waste will be allowed to be sent to landfill.Even if recycling targets are met，there will still be a large amount of rubbish to be burnt up.Due to this，Edinburgh and Midlothian councils have now decided to work together to build an incinerator plant as time to find a solution is fast running out.(2011·湖北，C)
【小题1】The main way of handling waste in a green manner in Edinburgh is .A．recyclingB．restoringC．buryingD．burning【小题2】The five councils worked out a plan to build an incinerator plant to .A．reduce the cost of burying wasteB．meet the EU requirementsC．speed up waste recyclingD．replace landfill sites【小题3】The city council of Edinburgh rejected the suggestion to open a huge landfill site near Portobello because .A．it came from a private panyB．the council was not interested in itC．it was not supported by EUD．the local people were against it【小题4】What is the final decision of Edinburgh and Midlothian councils?A．To open a new landfill nearby.B．To close the Powderhall landfill in 2015.C．To set up a plant for burning waste.D．To persuade people to reduce their waste.A
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(答案→)A
解析：
【小题1】 A
解析 细节理解题。由第二段中的“...in a green manner—largely through encouraging recycling...”可知正确答案。
【小题2】 B
解析 细节理解题。由文章第三段中提到的“With this in mind，the councils...in their districts.”可知this指代的就是前两句话所提的内容。
【小题3】 D
解析 细节理解题。由倒数第二段最后一句中的“...700 local objections reached them...”可知。
【小题4】 C
解析 细节理解题。由文章最后一段最后一句话可知正确答案。