Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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62.
63. Subject II (50 points)
64. Read the text below and then write an essay in which you suggest solutions to the problems
illustrated in the article. (160-180 words)
65.
66. The consumption habits of modern consumer lifestyles are causing a huge worldwide waste
problem. Having overfilled local landfill capacities, many first world nations are now exporting their refuse to
third world countries. This is having a devastating impact on ecosystems and cultures throughout the world. Along
with being a major source of methane emissions, landfills produce "leachate," a toxic fluid composed of pollutants
like benzene, pesticides, heavy metals, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and more, which come from the
compressed trash. Although landfills are technically supposed to keep garbage dry and are lined to prevent
leachate from contaminating nearby soil and groundwater, the landfill liners are virtually guaranteed to degrade,
tear, or crack eventually, allowing the toxins to escape directly into the environment.
67. Most communities spend more to deal with trash than they spend for schoolbooks, fire protection,
libraries, and parks.
68. Along with plastic bags, bottles, paper and other materials, even durable items like electronics,
toys, and clothes are often regarded as "throwaway" products that we use for a short period and quickly replace.
Despite the fact that only 4 percent of the world's children live in the US, Americans buy (and throw away) 40
percent of the world's toys.
69. Of course, you are living in a society that makes you feel behind if you do not buy the latest model
of this or that, or update your wardrobe with the latest fashions. We're also increasingly living on the go, where
food in throwaway packages is by far the rule rather than the exception.
70. Contrast that to a couple of generations ago when frugality and resourcefulness were highly valued,
and food came fresh from the farm, butcher shop, or baker, and you begin to see where the real problems with
excess waste are springing from. The sheer amount of waste that is generated needlessly on any given day is quite
mind- boggling.
71. It's a problem of convenience choosing a plastic disposable water bottle instead of using a
reusable glass container, for instance as well as one of overconsumption.
72. (Sources:http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/technology/garbage-energy/,
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/05/16/10-shocking-facts-about-garbage.aspx )
73.
74. Subject III (25 points)
75.
76. Write an article on the topic of the role of press for a general interest magazine, starting from the
views presented in the text below. (120-160 words)
77.
78. (...)Thank you, Hollywood foreign press. You and all of us in this room, really, belong to the most
vilified segments in American society right now. Think about it. Hollywood, foreigners, and the press. But who are
we? And, you know, what is Hollywood anyway? It's just a bunch of people from other places. Hollywood is
crawling with outsiders and foreigners.
79. (...) An actor's only job is to enter the lives of people who are different from us and let you feel
what that feels like. And there were many powerful performances this year that did exactly that, breathtaking,
passionate work.
80. There was one performance this year that stunned me. It sank its hooks in my heart. Not because it
was good. There was nothing good about it. But it was effective and it did its job. It made its intended audience
laugh and show their teeth. It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our
country imitated a disabled reporter, someone he outranked in privilege, power, and the capacity to fight back. It
kind of broke my heart when I saw it. I still can't get it out of my head because it wasn't in a movie. It was real life.
And this instinct to humiliate, when it's modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, filters
down into everybody's life, because it gives permission for other people to do the same thing. Disrespect invites
disrespect. Violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose.
81. This brings me to the press. We need the principled press to hold power to account, to call them on
the carpet for every outrage. That's why our founders enshrined the press and its freedoms in our constitution. So I
only ask the famously well-heeled Hollywood Foreign Press and all of us in our community to join me in
supporting the committee to protect journalists. Because we're going to need them going forward. And they'll need
us to safeguard the truth.() (Sources: http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/news /a19828/ meryl-streep-golden-globes-speech-
transcript/)
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85.