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TOEFL-GMAT READING PASSAGE -6

Read the following paragraph carefully, take your time, then answer the comprehension questions below.

Reading Comprehension Paragraph

The world's nuclear plants have accumulated vast stocks of highly radioactive waste. Worldwide, high-level waste is currently stored above ground, and no government has a clear policy on its eventual disposal. While most experts believe that burying the waste is the safest bet in the long term, the problem is finding sites that everyone can agree are geologically stable. Decaying radioactive isotopes release heat. As a result, high-level waste must be constantly cooled; otherwise, it becomes dangerously hot. This is why many experts want to store waste above ground until it has decayed and is cool enough to be stored safely in sealed repositories several hundreds of metres below ground. According to one recent theory, however, waste should be lowered down boreholes drilled to 4 kilometres. The trick is to exploit heat generated by the waste to fuse the surrounding rock and contain any leaking radioactivity.

Reading Comprehension Questions

1. It is clear from the passage that the safe disposal of radioactive waste ------------ .

A. has been satisfactorily dealt with by scientists in conjunction with governments
B. is a problem that each government must decide on for its own country
C. remains a global problem of great magnitude
D. is a problem that has not attracted enough attention
E. will in all likelihood soon be resolved, and a clear policy agreed on by concened governments

2. As it is pointed out in the passage, many exports are of the opinion that radioactive waste --------.

A. should never be stored underground as it can not then be monitored
B. should not be stored underground while the radioactive isotopes continue to let off substantial amounts of heat
C. does not require to be cooled when stored above ground
D. cannot be safely disposed of anywhere and the problem of what to do with it intensifies as the amount increases
E. can be safely left to cool down underground in sealed repositories

3. The passage describes a new method, still only a theoretical one, for the disposal of radioactive waste, ---------------- .

A. which uses bore holes so that all sites are suitable
B. at a depth considerably less than that normally recommended but the chosen site must meet certain geological requirements
C. which, unfortunately, increases the time needed for cooling the waste before final disposal
D. in which the radioactive isotopes are prevented from releasing heat
E. whereby the heat produced by that waste will serve to seal it safety into the rock under which it has been buried

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