Listening Assignment
National Public Radio Morning Edition: Computer Recycling
March 11, 2002
 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1139682

Listen to this NPR broadcast, then answer the following questions.
Some of the vocabulary is given to help you understand the content.

Vocabulary:
Environmental Protection Agency
to estimate
tons
computer equipment
to wind up
landfill
across the country
to ship
overseas
to melt down
to salvage
with little consideration for
consequences
John McChesney
obsolete
monitors
toxic
pounds
lead
to shield
radiation
mercury
cadmium
cases
to be burned
Hewlett-Packard (HP)
to see a problem coming
to offer
recycling
over the Web
Renee St. Denis
to fill out a form
essentials
credit card information
to pick up
to vary
charges
IBM (International Business Machines)
Dell, Gateway
incentives
to turn in
environmentalists
to argue
Ted Smith
head of
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
to take responsibility for
incorporate
life cycle treatment
product price
into the system
at the end
approach
product stewardship
to be in place
the point they're trying to make
to rely on
consumer
to do the right thing
to charge s.o. up front
necessary
create
incentive
skeptics
doubt
to face
ever thinner profit margins
upfront fee
to be forced into it
new laws
front-end cost
redeemable
tires
batteries
to be a big part of the solution
around
public education
to go a long way
in that regard
to cover (said of a law)
Dan Bayot (?)
microcomputers		 New Jersey
Guess what!
to go forward
legacy equipment
to be out there
Where do they turn?
electronics
corporate system
scrupulous
middlemen
Redemtech
Ohio-based
to handle big accounts
Wells Fargo Bank
Bob Houten
component metals
to strip down
pound
profit
scale = a large scale
efficient
public relations
budget
to take the low road
to export
waste
to generate
e-waste
illegal
to be classified as
hazardous waste
to be party to
international treaty
to govern
states
municipalities
federal government
California, Massachusetts,
   Minnesota
to deal with


Listening comprehension questions:

1. What two things may happen to a lot of old computers?
2. How many computers are expected to become obsolete by 2004?
3. Why are PC monitors especially dangerous?
4. What has HP done to address this problem?
5. How does HP provide this service?
6. What does this service cost, and how are you expected to pay?
7. What is "product stewardship"?
8. What is a weakness of this system?
9. How might consumers be motivated to recycle their computers?
10. Does Ted Smith think most consumers want to help recycle PCs? What problem do they face?
11. Even if a program is effective, what does it not solve?
12. What might a less scrupulous PC recycling company do?
13. What is the problem with this less scrupulous solution?
14. What is the problem with the "more scrupulous" solution?
15. About what percent of the US e-waste ends up being exported to other countries?
16. Why is exporting PCs for recycling not illegal?
17. What safe solution would you propose to solve the problem of discarded PCs in Taiwan?


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