1 . With the average American going through more than 700 pounds of paper per year, many firms are looking for ways to discourage their employees from over-using the office printer.
Toshiba America Business Solutions has come up with an alternative idea. It has introduced the e-STUDI04508LP, a printer that gives users the option to print with erasable toner (墨粉) — allowing a single piece of paper to be reused several times.
To reuse a piece of paper, the printer basically uses the same process as a normal printer, but in reverse (反过来), said Bill Melo, chief marketing executive for Toshiba America Business Solutions. Paper printed with the erasable toner is fed back into the printer, superheated, and the toner gets removed and put in a discard tank.
There are a couple of catches. All of the printouts using the erasable toner have to be in blue ink, which is the only color in which erasable toner is now available. And the company said that people may want to stop reusing the printouts after five times through the eraser because small traces of erased text will build up over time.
The $15,420 printer is aimed at offices and schools, where there are often large numbers of printouts that outlive their usefulness quickly. With the erasable toner, it' s possible to load any short-lived handouts back onto the printer to be erased and then reused.
Still, convincing customers to commit to erasable toner isn't always easy. Melo said not all its customers were happy about only having the erasable option.
The model, Melo said, should better serve the needs of those who want to be environmentally conscious but also may need something more permanent on occasion.
1. What' s special about Toshiba' s printer?| A．It' s low-priced. | B．It' s fashionable. |
| C．It' s lightweight. | D．It' s eco-friendly. |
| A．A discard tank. | B．Light colored ink. |
| C．Special writing paper. | D．A high enough temperature. |
| A．Theories. | B．Differences. |
| C．Problems. | D．Characteristics. |
| A．They asked for more patterns. |
| B．Some expressed dissatisfaction. |
| C．They considered it hard to operate. |
| D．Some worried about its recycling. |
