Study Buddy (Challenger): Greenpeace calls for reusable cup system at Kai Tak Sports Park
This page is for students who want to take their reading comprehension to the next level with difficult vocabulary and questions to test their inference skills.
People were forced to leave their water bottles in a self-service storage area outside Kai Tak Stadium in Kai Tak Sports Park during a rugby sevens tournament final match. Photo: Sam TsangContent provided by British Council
Read the following text, and answer questions 1-9 below:
[1] Greenpeace is urging the Hong Kong government to introduce a reusable cup system at the new Kai Tak Sports Park after finding the main stadium alone could generate up to 1.2 million disposable items in its first year of operations. The green group said early this month that the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department should also strengthen its waste reduction guidelines for event organisers to help decrease the amount of single-use cups and containers used during mega-events.
[2] “The government should be the one to set a good example,” Greenpeace campaigner Leanne Tam Wing-lam said, suggesting Kai Tak Sports Park be the first to establish a “well-designed borrow-and-return cup system”. Hong Kong should be a mega-events hub, not a city that generates waste for landfills, she said.
[3] The HK$30 billion (US$3.84 billion) Kai Tak Sports Park – a 50,000-seat main stadium and two smaller facilities – is a centrepiece of the government’s efforts to become a mega-events hub. Greenpeace raised concerns earlier when it learned spectators had been barred from bringing their own water bottles to a rugby match at the site, one of several trial events ahead of its official opening on March 1.
[4] To estimate the amount of waste the new sports park’s main stadium would generate, a Greenpeace team and volunteers attended the Chinese New Year Cup at Hong Kong Stadium on February 1. Future editions of the cup will be held at Kai Tak Sports Park from next year.
[5] Five of the 16 on-site food stalls were selected at random, and the team counted the number of disposable cups, containers and utensils distributed in the 45 minutes before kick-off and the 30-minute halftime break. The team found more than 12,000 single-use items were distributed to spectators during the 75-minute period. Cups and lids accounted for 72 per cent of the total.
[6] Using the data they collected in a match attended by 20,000 spectators, the team estimated the main stadium could generate more than 1.2 million disposable items during its first year in operation, assuming it holds 40 sporting events at 100 per cent capacity. That number would be reduced to 912,367 if the events were held at 75 per cent capacity and 608,245 at 50 per cent, Greenpeace said.
[7] Pointing to findings that cups accounted for most of the waste, Tam said the government should set aside HK$10 million to implement a long-term reusable cup system at the new sports complex. She noted the site was an enclosed area with its own centralised waste management and recycling facilities and featured several public water fountains.
[8] Tam said that Environmental Protection Department-issued waste guidelines for large-scale events could also be strengthened. The guidelines currently consist of suggestions on how event organisers can reduce waste but lack clear reduction targets or any reward and punishment mechanisms, Tam said. “We think it should not be limited to guidelines. There should be some restrictions for mega-events,” she said.
Source: South China Morning Post, February 3
Questions
1. What potential waste issue did Greenpeace identify in paragraph 1?
2. In paragraph 2, what does the phrase “set a good example” suggest?
3. Find a word in paragraph 3 that refers to “the most important feature”.
4. Based on your understanding of paragraph 3, why was Greenpeace concerned about the Kai Tak rugby match’s water bottle policy?
5. In paragraph 5, what accounted for most of the single-use items?
6. Based on your understanding of paragraph 5, the team counted the number of items distributed in the 45 minutes before kick-off and the 30-minute halftime break because …
A. they were the only times spectators were allowed to consume food and beverages in the stadium.
B. these are the periods when most food and beverage sales are likely to occur at such events.
C. these two time frames are the best choices for avoiding bias in the data collection.
D. none of the above
7. According to paragraph 6, there is a … relationship between the number of spectators and the amount of disposable items used.
A. inverse
B. complex
C. direct
D. non-existent
8. What is the main weakness Tam identified in the current waste guidelines according to paragraph 8?
9. In which magazine section would you most likely see this article?
A. sustainable initiatives
B. ecology and ecosystems
C. innovative green technology
D. environmental health
Answers
1. Kai Tak Sports Park’s main stadium alone could generate up to 1.2 million disposable items in its first year of operations.
2. The government should take the lead and demonstrate effective waste reduction practices by establishing a borrow-and-return cup system. (accept all similar answers)
3. centrepiece
4. Banning spectators from bringing their own water bottles to the event would force them to buy drinks or bottles inside, which were only sold in single-use plastic containers, increasing waste and damaging the environment.
5. cups and lids
6. B
7. C
8. The current guidelines lack clear reduction targets and reward and punishment mechanisms.
9. A