Repair or replace? This is a difficult choice for people when appliances (家用电器) that they own, like TVs and refrigerators, break down. Too often, the only option, or at least the cheaper one, is to replace an appliance rather than get it repaired.
But now in the UK, people don’t have to do this. Manufacturers (制造商) are now legally required to make spare parts that people can buy to repair their products.
The right to repair rules are designed to deal with “built-in obsolescence” where manufacturers build appliances to break down after a certain period on purpose to encourage people to buy new ones.
These new rules should bring an end to the frustration (沮丧) of having to throw away a product because a small part is no longer working and no longer supplied. Rather than having to buy a whole new product, replacement parts must now be sold directly by the manufacturer for 10 years, whether or not they are still selling the complete product.
Some companies said the rules could make appliances more expensive. John Elliott, chairman of Ebac, said, “The rules will influence companies who have been in a race to the bottom on prices for many white goods, but it will not make much difference to my business. We don’t look to make the cheapest washing machine. We look for one that’s going to do the job and last a long time.”
The company has been manufacturing washing machines for about fifty years. “Our focus is always on quality — not just a low price,” Mr Elliott said. “The secret of a product that’s easy to repair and long-lasting is the design.”
Rob Johnson, operations director at repair business Pacifica, said that his company was now hoping to enlarge its team of engineers because of new rules. The company already has 400 skilful engineers going into homes to fix about 6,000 appliances per week.
He said the rules “give customers real choice” about whether to repair or replace their product.
1. What does the underlined word “this” in paragraph 2 refer to?| A．Fixing broken appliances. | B．Buying cheaper appliances. |
| C．Replacing broken appliances. | D．Finding spare parts of appliances. |
| A．Sell certain products for at least ten years. |
| B．Make sure their products last for ten years. |
| C．Sell spare parts of their products for ten years. |
| D．Have their products serviced for over ten years. |
| A．It will stick with its original focus. | B．It will lose business to its competitors. |
| C．It will sell its products at higher prices. | D．It will make its products easier to repair. |
| A．Take on more engineers. | B．Start a new repair business. |
| C．Give customers lessons on repairing. | D．Train its engineers to be more skilful. |
相似题推荐
Housed in a modern facility , the displays reflect Australian childhood experience over time including play , child rearing , orphanage childhood , and home , school , and war time experience .
There are many hands –on exhibits and education sessions including the famous ‘lesson’ in the 1920s One Teacher Bush Classroom .
The Museum also hosts national touring exhibitions and conducts special activities on Sundays and school holidays（ring for details ）.
Open: Tuesday- Friday 10am – 4pm , Sunday 10am – 4:30 pm , or by arrangement .
Special activities on Sundays as advertise .
Closed: Public holidays ,16 December-18 January .
Location: Edith Cowan University campus , Bay Road , Claremont (take bus 208 and alight at the Bay Road and Princess Road intersection . The Museum is 15 minutes’ walk from Claremont train station )
Tel :(08) 9442 1373 ; Fax ; (08 ) 9442 1314
1. On you can stay at the Museum until half past four .
| A．Wednesday | B．Friday | C．Sunday | D．Monday |
| A．Monday | B．Tuesday | C．Saturday | D．Sunday |
| A．closed |
| B．holding special activities |
| C．not closed until 4:00 |
| D．not closed until 4:30 |
| A．display toys , dolls , infant and school material |
| B．reflect Australian childhood experience over time |
| C．host national touring exhibition |
| D．tell you the famous ‘lesson’ in the 1920s |
【推荐2】Do you ever wonder how the apple got from the tree to your hands? In most cases，apples travel a long way to get from where they were grown to the places where people buy them.
The warehouses sell the apples to stores all over the country.
When the trucks reach the stores，workers unload the orders.They count the boxes and check to make sure that the apples are in good condition.Finally，the workers place the apples on the store shelves.Customers choose the apples they want to buy.
| A．The pink Gala apples go in another. |
| B．Sometimes the apples go to nearby stores. |
| C．The journey of an apple begins on the farm. |
| D．The trucks are cold inside，just like a refrigerator. |
| E．Maybe you think about how healthy an apple is to eat. |
| F．Buyers from the stores place an order with the warehouse. |
| G．The apple you eat may be from a warehouse thousands of miles away. |
Department stores offer good quality and high fashion
Macy’s department stores offer a wide selection of merchandise(商品), including fashion clothing, luggage and jewelry. They normally offer good quality merchandise, well known brands and the latest fashions, but not low quality products at bargain prices. They frequently have seasonal sales with attractive discounts. At such times, you can get high quality or fashion merchandise at bargain prices.
General merchandise stores offer affordable quality
Sears and JCPenny are two large national chains with stores across the US. They are similar to department stores but they do not offer high fashion merchandise or luxury(奢侈的) brands. Instead, they feature good quality merchandise at affordable prices. They are particularly known for their selection of children's clothing and domestic goods. Sears is famous for its selection of tools and garden products.[]
Discount stores sell at low prices
Discount stores sell some good quality merchandise at affordable prices and some lower quality merchandise at very low prices. If you are not looking for the latest fashions, famous brands, or the best quality, you can find some very inexpensive merchandise at a discount store. Some national discount chains with stores across the US are K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Target and Caldor.
Outlet stores are a bargain hunter's wonderland
Outlet stores or factory outlets sell high quality merchandise and well-known brands at discounted prices. They usually offer merchandise with slight flaws(瑕疵) and remainders from the last season or the previous year. They do not have end-of-season sales like the department stores, as their merchandise is always discounted 20% to 40% below department store prices.
1. If you want to buy a new dress that is fashionable, you should go to _______.
| A．Sears | B．Wal-Mart |
| C．JCPenny | D．Macy’s |
| A．They normally offer the best quality merchandise. |
| B．They offer well-known brands and the latest fashions. |
| C．They offer goods at acceptable prices. |
| D．They can offer a special discount. |
| A．You can purchase goods with excellent quality and reasonable prices. |
| B．They can offer goods from last year. |
| C．You will get goods with serious quality problems. |
| D．Their merchandise is always discounted below department store prices. |
【推荐1】The city of Rome has passed a new law to prevent cruelty to animals. All goldfish bowls are no longer allowed and dog owners must walk their dogs.
This comes after a national law was passed to give prison sentences to people who desert cats or dogs.
“The civilization of a city can be measured by this,” said Monica Cirinna, the councilor (议员) behind the hew law.
“It's good to do whatever we can for our animals who in exchange for a little love fill our existence with their attention,” she told a Rome newspaper.
The newspaper reported that round bowls don't give enough oxygen for fish and may make then go blind.
“Rome has tried to protect fish more than anywhere else in the world, It stands out for recognizing that fish are interesting animals who deserve our respect and compassion every bit as much as dogs and cats and other animals,” said Karin Robertson, a director of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Last year a law was passed in Italy that gives people who desert pets big fines and prison sentences Since then local governments have added their own animal protection rules.
The northern city of Turin passed a law in April to give pet owners fines of up to $598 if they do not walk their dogs three times a day.
The new law in Rome also says that owners mustn't leave their dogs in hot cars or cut their dogs' tails to make them look lovelier. The law also gives legal recognition to the “cat ladies” who feed homeless cats The cats live all over the city from ancient ruins to modern office car parks.
1. The new law passed in Rome will ________.| A．help improve fishing environment | B．guarantee better conditions for goldfish |
| C．stop people from catching goldfish | D．discourage keeping goldfish at home |
| A．exchanges with other cities | B．protection for ancient ruins |
| C．awareness of animal protection | D．recognition of animal lovers |
| A．pity | B．praise |
| C．support | D．popularity |
| A．keep their dogs or cats in cars | B．feed homeless animals in car parks |
| C．raise their cats near ancient ruins | D．shut their dogs home all day long |
【推荐2】Lawmakers in Massachusetts have introduced a law that would ban children in the seventh grade or younger from playing tackle football (冲撞式橄榄球). The Act for No Organized Head Impacts to Schoolchildren, or the NO HITS Act, was introduced last month in an effort to protect children’s heads from blows (重击) while at a particularly fragile age.
The bill would cause fines of up to $ 2,000 for each time the law is broken. People who frequently break the law, or those whose actions cause physical harm, would face bigger fines.
“It’s all about kids’ health and we have a number of studies that say that repeated contacts to the head are very bad for you and the younger that starts, the worse it is,” said Paul, who introduced the bill with House Minority Leader Bradley Jones .
According to a 2017 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers examining 111 brains belonging to former NFL (National Football League) players found the brain disease Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, in 110 of them. The disease is associated with repeated head injuries, not just concussions (脑震荡), and is generally found in athletes, retired soldiers and others with a history of repetitive brain injuries, according to the Concussion Legacy Foundation, a non-profit organization that works to study, treat and prevent future cases of brain injuries among athletes and other at-risk groups.
Similar laws have been considered elsewhere in the country, including California and Illinois last year, though they didn’t secure enough votes to become law. Those against previously proposed (提议的) bans have argued that adequate progress has been achieved to make the sport safer and that the sport offers too many benefits for children to totally avoid it.
Several former NFL players, who have been directly or indirectly affected by CTE, have argued differently, however. “I made the mistake of starting tackle football at 9 years old. Now, CTE has taken my life away.Youth tackle football is all risk with no reward,” Nick Buoniconti, a former NFL player, told CNN last year.
1. Why was the law introduced by lawmakers in Massachusetts?| A．To ban children from doing sports too young. |
| B．To make tackle football safer for players. |
| C．To keep young children from suffering brain injuries. |
| D．To encourage the popularity of some safe sports. |
| A．The fines of playing tackle football incorrectly. |
| B．The causes of the new law in Massachusetts. |
| C．The consequences of breaking the new law. |
| D．The reason why the sport is forbidden. |
| A．Brain injuries can really be prevented with action. |
| B．Repeated head blows can result in brain diseases. |
| C．NFL players used to pay much attention to CTE. |
| D．Future cases of brain injuries can be reduced. |
【推荐3】Justice in society must include both a fair trial to the accused and the selection of an appropriate punishment for those proven guilty. Because justice is regarded as one form of equality, we find in its earlier expression the idea of a punishment equal to the crime. “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” is such an example. This conception of retributive justice (报应正义) is reflected in many parts of the legal codes and procedures of modern times, especially when the death penalty is demanded for a person who has committed murder. This philosophy of punishment was supported by the German idealist Hegel. He believed that the criminal had by his own actions denied (否定) his true self and it is necessary to do something that will counteract (抵制) the denial and restore the self that has been denied. To the murderer nothing less than giving up his own life will pay his debt.
Modern jurists (法学家) have tried to replace retributive justice with the idea of corrective justice. The aim of the latter is not to abandon the concept of equality but to find a more adequate way to express it. It tries to preserve the idea of equal opportunity for each person to realize the best that is in him. The criminal is regarded as being socially ill and in need of treatment that will enable him to become a normal member. Only those criminals who are incurable should be permanently separated from the rest of society. This does not mean that criminals will escape punishment. It means that the goal of justice is to cure the person, not simply to get even with him. If severe punishment is the only adequate means of accomplishing this, it should be administered. However, the person should be given every opportunity to assume a normal place in society. His crime must not deprive him of the opportunity to make his way in the society of which he is a part.
1. Why is “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” presented?| A．To give moral support to retributive justice. |
| B．To prove that equality demands just punishment. |
| C．To justify the need for punishment as a part of law. |
| D．To prove that man has long been interested in justice. |
| A．Uncertain. | B．Disapproving. | C．Supportive. | D．Cautious. |
| A．The type of crime that was proven. | B．The severity of the punishment. |
| C．The reason for the sentence. | D．The outcome of the trial. |
| A．Fitting the punishment to the crime | B．Approaches to just punishment |
| C．Attaining justice in the courts | D．Improvements in legal justice |
【推荐1】A new study out of Canada suggests teenagers should spend less time looking at screens and more time getting involved in activities. The findings published in the journal Preventive Medicine were based on a survey of 28,000 7th graders in British Columbia.
They answered questions about how much time they spent watching TV, streaming videos 9 playing video games and how much time they spent on after-school activities like sports and music programs. Then they ranked how good they felt about each day when they woke up. From their answers, researchers concluded that teens who spent more time on activities were mentally healthier and less anxious and depressed than those who spent more time on screens. And the study suggested that extra screen time was especially harmful to girls. For them, researchers say the negative effects were stronger.
So how much screen time is too much? The Canadian Pediatric Society says all teens should have less than two hours of screen time per day and that guideline was factored into the study. But it’s important to point out that the information about it was gathered between 2014 and 2018, years before the CO VID hit. And this year, with fewer opportunities to see friends and participate in after-school events, teenagers have shown higher levels of depression and anxiety according to other research.
The lead author of the Canadian study says even though it’s harder to do, it’s still important to find ways for teens to safely get involved with programs and hobbies away from screens.
1. How was the study organized?| A．By doing a survey. |
| B．By referring to other research. |
| C．By conducting medical examination. |
| D．By using the results of other studies. |
| A．Teens spending more time on activities are more anxious. |
| B．Teens spending less time on screens are mentally healthier. |
| C．Girls spending more time on screens are less anxious than boys. |
| D．Boys spending more time on activities are more anxious than girls. |
| A．Confessed. | B．Continued. | C．Confused. | D．Considered. |
| A．Sport. | B．Culture. | C．Health. | D．Music. |
【推荐2】In its early history, Chicago had floods frequently, especially in the spring, making the streets so muddy that people, horses, and carts got stuck. An old joke that was popular at the time went something like this: A man is stuck up to his waist in a muddy Chicago street. Asked if he needs help, he replies, “No, thanks. I’ve got a good horse under me.”
The city planner decided to build an underground drainage (排水) system, but there simply wasn’t enough difference between the height of the ground level and the water level. The only two options were to lower the Chicago River or raise the city. An engineer named Ellis Chesbrough convinced the city that it had no choice but to build the pipes above ground and then cover them with dirt. This raised the level of the city’s streets by as much as 12 feet.
This of course created a new problem: dirt practically buried the first floors of every building in Chicago. Building owners were faced with a choice: either change the first floors of their buildings into basements or lift the entire buildings to meet the new street level. Small wood-frame buildings could be lifted fairly easily. But what about large, heavy structures like the Tremont Hotel, which was a six-story brick building?
That’s where George Pullman came in. He had developed some house-moving skills successfully. To lift a big structure like the Tremont Hotel, Pullman would place thousands of jackscrews (千斤顶) beneath the building’s foundation and turn the jackscrews the same amount at the same time, thus raising the building slowly and evenly. Astonishingly, the Tremont Hotel stay open during the entire operation, and many of its guests didn’t even notice anything was happening.
Some people like to say that every problem has a solution. But in Chicago’s early history, every engineering solution seemed to create a new problem.
1. Why was the joke about Chicago mentioned in Paragraph 1?| A．To explain why horses were widely used. |
| B．To show the terrible road condition. |
| C．To prove Chicagoan were humorous. |
| D．To describe the lifestyle in the past. |
| A．Lower the Chicago River. |
| B．Build pipes above ground. |
| C．Fight against heavy floods. |
| D．Raise the level of streets. |
| A．It was hard to move its basement. |
| B．It was mainly made of wood. |
| C．It was too heavy to move easily. |
| D．There was no equipment to use. |
| A．Tremont Hotel was the biggest building in Chicago. |
| B．George became famous for moving Tremont Hotel. |
| C．It took great efforts to move Tremont Hotel. |
| D．Guests left Tremont Hotel before the move. |
【推荐3】Instead of logging extra hours at work in hopes of getting a raise, maybe you should hit the gym instead, as it could make you just as happy as that extra money. An interesting new study, published in the Lancet, found that people who are physically active have a greater sense of well-being than those who are inactive and that active individuals feel as good as inactive people who earn S25, 000 more per year.
Researchers from Oxford and Yale Universities used data gathered from more than 1. 2 million Americans. They were asked, “How many times have you felt mentally unwell in the past 30 days, for example, due to stress, depression, or emotional problems?” Participants were also asked about their exercise habits and were able to choose from 75 diverse physical activities, including doing housework and childcare, running, weightlifting, and cycling.
The researchers found that people who exercise regularly feel bad for an average of 35 days per year, whereas inactive people feel bad for an additional 18 days. All exercise types were related to a lower mental health burden. Social physical activities (ie. team sports) had an even more positive effect, although cycling ranked highly.
It is possible to get too much exercise. From Business Insider’s write up on the study, “The mental health of those participants who exercised for longer than three hours a day suffered more than that of those who weren’t particularly physically active. ”The ideal amount seems to be three to five training sessions per week, lasting 30 to 60 minutes each. But the takeaway should be that any amount helps, so don’t stress about hitting that perfect balance: “All exercise types were related to a lower mental health burden than not exercising. ”So just do it.
1. How did the researchers get the data from the people who participated in the study?| A．By comparing their experiences. |
| B．By recording their daily activities. |
| C．By asking questions on exercising. |
| D．By doing some related experiment. |
| A．17 days. | B．18 days | C．35 days | D．53 days. |
| A．To share some important data from a new research. |
| B．To recommend some proper methods of doing exercise. |
| C．To tell people doing exercise will make people more healthy. |
| D．To introduce some physical activities suitable for people to do. |
| A．A magazine. | B．A textbook. | C．A novel. | D．A diary. |
