Eat up or you will be fined

Eat up or you will be fined

Hong Kong restaurants have come up with a novel way to cut down on waste from food leftovers, threatening to fine diners who don't eat up.
A number of restaurants in the Chinese city alert customers that they will charge them between HK$5 and HK$20 if they leave any food on their plates, the South China Morning Post reported.
It said a handful of restaurants serving do-it-yourself hotpots, sushi and buffets had set up the system.
However, a restaurant industry group said the move was merely put in place to warn customers and that few eateries, if any, had actually fined anyone.
"The penalties listed on the menus are just for warning," Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades spokesperson Simon Wong was quoted as saying. "Who can afford to lose customers?"
Hong Kong is facing a landfill crisis as space runs out for dumping the increasing amount of rubbish produced by the city's seven million people.
The government is reportedly looking into a scheme that will reprocess into compost some of the 700 tons of food thrown out each day by the city's huge hospitality industry.

Question 1 Indicate whether these sentences are true or false. Justify your answers with evidence from the text:
a) All restaurants in Hong Kong have adopted the measure.
b) A new industry group said that almost any restaurant has asked to pay the penalty.
c) The new law is compulsory for all restaurants in Hong Kong.
d) The government processes about 700 tons of food thrown every day.
Question 2 Answer these questions in your own words:
a) What would the consequences of the implement of the new law be?
b) What reasons do they give for adopting this new measure?
Question 3 Find a word or phrase in the text that means the same as:
a) Uneaten food. par. 1
b) The amount you can hold in your hand. par. 3
c) Hole where rubbish is disposed of. par. 6
Question 4 Rewrite the following sentences without changing the meaning
a) It said a handful of restaurants serving do-it-yourself hotpots, sushi and buffets had set up the system.
A handful of restaurants serving do-it-yourself hotpots, sushi and buffets are said ……. ………………………………………………………………………..
b) Hong Kong is facing a landfill crisis.
A landfill crisis ……………………………………………………..
c) Although they have set up the system, very few customers have actually been fined.
Despite……………………………………………………………………

Question 5 Write a short essay (120-150 words) on the following topic:
Do people follow the rules for recycling rubbish?

Self-Access Group. CEP Santander 2009-2010