SECTION
3 (Questions 27-40)
Read
the passage below and answer the questions from 27-40.
Questions 27
From
the list below choose the most suitable title for the whole of the Reading
Passage.
Write
the appropriate letter A-D in box 27 on your answer sheet.
A
|
Pollution
control in coal mining
The
greenhouse effect
The
coal industry and the environment
Sustainable
population growth
|
B
|
C
|
D
|
Questions 28-31
The
Reading Passage has four sections A-D.
Choose
the most suitable heading for each section from the list of headings below.
Write
the appropriate numbers i-viii in boxes 28-31 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
|
i
|
Global
warming
The
dangers of the coal industry
Superclean
coal
Environment
protection measures
Coal
as an energy source
Coal
and the enhanced greenhouse effect
Research
and development
Mining
site drainage
|
ii
|
iii
|
iv
|
v
|
vi
|
vii
|
viii
|
28
|
Section
A
|
29
|
Section
B
|
30
|
Section
C
|
31
|
Section
D
|
A
|
Coal is expected to continue
to account for almost 27 per cent of the world’s energy needs. However,
with growing international awareness of pressures on the environment and
the need to achieve sustainable development of energy resources, the way in
which the resource is extracted, transported and used is critical.
A wide range of pollution control
devices and practices is in place at most modern mines and significant
resources are spent on rehabilitating mined land. In addition, major
research and development programmes are being devoted to lifting
efficiencies and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases during coal
consumption. Such measures are helping coal to maintain its status as a
major supplier of the world’s energy needs.
|
B
|
The coal industry has been
targeted by its critics as a significant contributor to the greenhouse effect.
However, the greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon involving the
increase in global surface temperature due to the presence of greenhouse
gases - water vapour, carbon dioxide, tropospheric ozone, methane and
nitrous oxide - in the atmosphere. Without the greenhouse effect, the
earth’s average surface temperature would be 33-35 degrees C lower, or -15
degrees C. Life on earth, as we know it today, would not be possible.
There is concern that this
natural phenomenon is being altered by a greater build-up of gases from
human activity, perhaps giving rise to additional warming and changes in
the earth’s climate. This additional build-up and its forecast outcome has
been called the enhanced greenhouse effect. Considerable uncertainty
exists, however, about the enhanced greenhouse effect, particularly in
relation to the extent and timing of any future increases in global
temperature.
Greenhouse gases arise from a
wide range of sources and their increasing concentration is largely related
to the compound effects of increased population, improved living standards
and changes in lifestyle. From a current base of 5 billion, the United Nations
predicts that the global population may stabilise in the twenty-first
century between 8 and 14 billion, with more than 90 per cent of the
projected increase taking place in the world’s developing nations. The
associated activities to support that growth, particularly to produce the
required energy and food, will cause further increases in greenhouse gas
emissions. The challenge, therefore, is to attain a sustainable balance
between population, economic growth and the environment.
The major greenhouse gas
emissions from human activities are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and
nitrous oxide. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are the only major contributor to
the greenhouse effect that does not occur naturally, coming from such
sources as refrigeration, plastics and manufacture. Coal’s total
contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is thought to be about 18 per
cent, with about half of this coming from electricity generation.
|
C
|
The world-wide coal industry
allocates extensive resources to researching and developing new
technologies and ways of capturing greenhouse gases. Efficiencies are
likely to be improved dramatically, and hence CO2 emissions reduced,
through combustion and gasification techniques which are now at pilot and
demonstration stages.
Clean coal is another avenue
for improving fuel conversion efficiency. Investigations are under way into
super clean coal (3-5 per cent ash) and ultraclean coal (less than 1 per
cent ash). Superclean coal has the potential to enhance the combustion
efficiency of conventional pulverised fuel power plants. Ultraclean coal
will enable coal to be used in advanced power systems such as coal-fired
gas turbines which, when operated in combined cycle, have the potential to
achieve much greater efficiencies.
D Defendants of mining point out that,
environmentally, coal mining has two important factors in its favour. It
makes only temporary use of the land and produces no toxic chemical wastes.
By carefully pre-planning projects, implementing pollution control
measures, monitoring the effects of mining and rehabilitating mined areas,
the coal industry minimises the impact on the neighbouring community, the
immediate environment and long-term land capability.
|
D
|
Dust levels are controlled by
spraying roads and stockpiles, and water pollution is controlled by
carefully separating clean water runoff from runoff which contains
sediments or salt from mine workings. The latter is treated and re-used for
dust suppression. Noise is controlled by modifying equipment and by using
insulation and sound enclosures around machinery.
Since mining activities
represent only a temporary use of the land, extensive rehabilitation
measures are adopted to ensure that land capability after mining meets
agreed and appropriate standards which, in some cases, are superior to the
land’s pre-mining condition. Where the mining is underground, the surface
area can be simultaneously used for forests, cattle grazing and crop
raising, or even reservoirs and urban development, with little or no
disruption to the existing land use. In all cases, mining is subject to
stringent controls and approvals processes.
In open-cut operations,
however, the land is used exclusively for mining but land rehabilitation
measures generally progress with the mine’s development. As core samples
are extracted to assess the quality and quantity of coal at a site, they
are also analysed to assess the ability of the soil or subsoil material to
support vegetation. Topsoils are stripped and stockpiled prior to mining
for subsequent dispersal over rehabilitated areas. As mining ceases in one
section of the open-cut, the disturbed area is reshaped. Drainage within
and off the site is carefully designed to make the new land surface as
stable as the local environment allows: often dams are built to protect the
area from soil erosion and to serve as permanent sources of water. Based on
the soil requirements, the land is suitably fertilised and revegetated.
|
Questions 32-36
Choose
the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 32-36 on your answer
sheet.
32
|
The
global increase in greenhouse gases has been attributed to
|
A
|
industrial
pollution in developing countries.
coal
mining and electricity generation.
reduced
rainfall in many parts of the world.
trends
in population and lifestyle.
|
B
|
C
|
D
|
33
|
The
proportion of all greenhouse gases created by coal is approximately
|
A
|
14
per cent.
18
per cent.
27
per cent.
90
per cent.
|
B
|
C
|
D
|
34
|
Current
research aims to increase the energy-producing efficiency of coal by
|
A
|
burning
it at a lower temperature.
developing
new gasification techniques.
extracting
CO2 from it.
recycling
greenhouse gases.
|
B
|
C
|
D
|
35
|
Compared
with ordinary coal, new, ‘clean’ coals may generate power
|
A
|
more
cleanly and more efficiently.
more
cleanly but less efficiently.
more
cleanly but at higher cost.
more
cleanly but much more slowly.
|
B
|
C
|
D
|
36
|
To
control dust at mine sites, mining companies often use
|
A
|
chemicals
which may be toxic.
topsoil
taken from the site before mining.
fresh
water from nearby dams.
runoff
water containing sediments.
|
B
|
C
|
D
|
Questions 37-
40
Do
the following statements reflect the opinions of the writer in the Reading
Passage?
In
boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet write:
YES
|
if
the statement reflects the opinion of the writer
|
NO
|
if
the statement contradicts the writer
|
NOT
GIVEN
|
if
it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
|
37
|
The coal industry should be
abandoned in favour of alternative energy sources because of the environmental
damage it causes.
|
38
|
The greatest threats to the
environment are the gases produced by industries which support the high
standard of living of a growing world population.
|
39
|
World population in the
twenty-first century will probably exceed 8 billion.
|
40
|
CFC emissions have been
substantially reduced in recent years.
|
|
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