Sujet Anglais LV1 — Terminale — Pondichéry — Bac 2016

Document 1 Alex Lin, Teenage Activist He’s Alex Lin and he’s just 16 years old. ―I don’t see anything uncommon in it,‖ says Lin, a high school senior from Westerly, Rhode Island. ―My friends and I have been doing this since fifth grade(1). It’s become part 5 of our lifestyle.‖ Lin’s catalytic moment came in 2004 when he chanced upon a Wall Street Journal article. ―It first alerted me to the e-waste problem, and warned of an e-waste tsunami to come.‖ E-waste, or electronics garbage, is the fastest growing section of the U.S. trash stream. In 2007, Americans discarded more than 112,000 computers daily, according to the 10 Environmental Protection Agency. Even worse, just 18 percent of discarded televisions and computer products were collected for recycling. Almost all electronic devices contain varying amounts of hazardous chemicals and heavy metals-lead, mercury, and cadmium being among the most deadly to the human body. ―When improperly disposed of—i.e. dumping, burning, etc.—these chemicals can seep 15 into the surrounding environment, harming humans, crops, and ecosystems," says Lin. "With the advent of the computer in the 1970s, electronics use has increased exponentially, bringing with it ever-increasing amounts of waste. In the majority of the world, this waste is improperly disposed of, resulting in untold damage to the environment.‖ 20 Reduce, reuse, and recycle. These are the so-called 3Rs of eco-friendly behavior. To start, Lin and his student-led community service team, Westerly Innovations Network (WIN), concentrated their efforts on recycling. ―We worked with Metech International to hold an e-waste recycling drive that collected over 21,000 pounds of electronics,‖ says Lin. With assistance from a private recycling 25 company and the municipal government, they established a permanent receptacle that collects up to 5,000 pounds of e-waste per month, and more than 300,000 pounds to date. However, once Lin and his team discovered that reusing computers was much more efficient than recycling, they decided to create a computer-refurbishing program. 30 More than 300 refurbished computers were donated to low-income students without home computer access. ―It was an eye-opening experience,‖ says Jeff Brodie, 16, of the moment when he, Lin, and other WIN teammates walked into one Westerly residence to set up a computer. ―The kids were running around very excited.‖ Lin and his WIN Team sent out thousands of fliers, made radio announcements, wrote 35 articles for local newspapers, and made presentations in front of both student and