Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.

Making the right choice

The decision as to which university to apply to is often taken on the basis of a university’s position on the world rankings table. Yet, (26) ______ considerations, such as whether the course is theoretical or offers hands-on experience and the amount of time that students will need to work independently should be taken into (27) ______. The fact is that some undergraduates (28) ______ express their dissatisfaction with their university experience base their complaints on poor organisation, the lack of support received and on having fewer contact hours than expected.
As higher education providers come under increasing pressure to meet (29) ______ targets and to maintain or improve their status, course guidelines should clarify what participants can expect from the course and what the course expects from them. This should ensure a reduction in student drop-out rates. Inevitably, (30) ______ much the content and structure is spelt out, some students will turn up with unreal expectations that can never be met.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.

Making the right choice

The decision as to which university to apply to is often taken on the basis of a university’s position on the world rankings table. Yet, (26) ______ considerations, such as whether the course is theoretical or offers hands-on experience and the amount of time that students will need to work independently should be taken into (27) ______. The fact is that some undergraduates (28) ______ express their dissatisfaction with their university experience base their complaints on poor organisation, the lack of support received and on having fewer contact hours than expected.
As higher education providers come under increasing pressure to meet (29) ______ targets and to maintain or improve their status, course guidelines should clarify what participants can expect from the course and what the course expects from them. This should ensure a reduction in student drop-out rates. Inevitably, (30) ______ much the content and structure is spelt out, some students will turn up with unreal expectations that can never be met.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.

Making the right choice

The decision as to which university to apply to is often taken on the basis of a university’s position on the world rankings table. Yet, (26) ______ considerations, such as whether the course is theoretical or offers hands-on experience and the amount of time that students will need to work independently should be taken into (27) ______. The fact is that some undergraduates (28) ______ express their dissatisfaction with their university experience base their complaints on poor organisation, the lack of support received and on having fewer contact hours than expected.
As higher education providers come under increasing pressure to meet (29) ______ targets and to maintain or improve their status, course guidelines should clarify what participants can expect from the course and what the course expects from them. This should ensure a reduction in student drop-out rates. Inevitably, (30) ______ much the content and structure is spelt out, some students will turn up with unreal expectations that can never be met.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.

Making the right choice

The decision as to which university to apply to is often taken on the basis of a university’s position on the world rankings table. Yet, (26) ______ considerations, such as whether the course is theoretical or offers hands-on experience and the amount of time that students will need to work independently should be taken into (27) ______. The fact is that some undergraduates (28) ______ express their dissatisfaction with their university experience base their complaints on poor organisation, the lack of support received and on having fewer contact hours than expected.
As higher education providers come under increasing pressure to meet (29) ______ targets and to maintain or improve their status, course guidelines should clarify what participants can expect from the course and what the course expects from them. This should ensure a reduction in student drop-out rates. Inevitably, (30) ______ much the content and structure is spelt out, some students will turn up with unreal expectations that can never be met.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.

Making the right choice

The decision as to which university to apply to is often taken on the basis of a university’s position on the world rankings table. Yet, (26) ______ considerations, such as whether the course is theoretical or offers hands-on experience and the amount of time that students will need to work independently should be taken into (27) ______. The fact is that some undergraduates (28) ______ express their dissatisfaction with their university experience base their complaints on poor organisation, the lack of support received and on having fewer contact hours than expected.
As higher education providers come under increasing pressure to meet (29) ______ targets and to maintain or improve their status, course guidelines should clarify what participants can expect from the course and what the course expects from them. This should ensure a reduction in student drop-out rates. Inevitably, (30) ______ much the content and structure is spelt out, some students will turn up with unreal expectations that can never be met.

The food we eat seems to have profound effects on our health. Although science has made enormous steps in making food more fit to eat, it has, at the same time, made many foods unfit to eat. Some research has shown that perhaps eighty percent of all human illnesses are related to diet and forty percent of cancer is related to the diet as well, especially cancer of the colon. People of different cultures are more prone to contract certain illnesses because of the characteristic foods they consume.
That food is related to illness is not a new discovery. In 1945, government researchers realized that nitrates and nitrites (commonly used to preserve color in meat) as well as other food additives caused cancer. Yet, these carcinogenic additives remain in our food, and it becomes more difficult all the time to know which ingredients on the packaging label of processed food are helpful or harmful.
The additives that we eat are not all so direct. Farmers often give penicillin to cattle and poultry, and because of this, penicillin has been found in the milk of treated cows.
Sometimes similar drugs are administered to animals not for medicinal purposes, but for financial reasons. The farmers are simply trying to fatten the animals in order to obtain a higher price on the market. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has tried repeatedly to control these procedures, the practices continue.
A healthy diet is directly related to good health. Often we are unaware of detrimental substances we ingest. Sometimes well-meaning farmers or others who do not realize the consequences add these substances to food without our knowledge.

The food we eat seems to have profound effects on our health. Although science has made enormous steps in making food more fit to eat, it has, at the same time, made many foods unfit to eat. Some research has shown that perhaps eighty percent of all human illnesses are related to diet and forty percent of cancer is related to the diet as well, especially cancer of the colon. People of different cultures are more prone to contract certain illnesses because of the characteristic foods they consume.
That food is related to illness is not a new discovery. In 1945, government researchers realized that nitrates and nitrites (commonly used to preserve color in meat) as well as other food additives caused cancer. Yet, these carcinogenic additives remain in our food, and it becomes more difficult all the time to know which ingredients on the packaging label of processed food are helpful or harmful.
The additives that we eat are not all so direct. Farmers often give penicillin to cattle and poultry, and because of this, penicillin has been found in the milk of treated cows.
Sometimes similar drugs are administered to animals not for medicinal purposes, but for financial reasons. The farmers are simply trying to fatten the animals in order to obtain a higher price on the market. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has tried repeatedly to control these procedures, the practices continue.
A healthy diet is directly related to good health. Often we are unaware of detrimental substances we ingest. Sometimes well-meaning farmers or others who do not realize the consequences add these substances to food without our knowledge.

The food we eat seems to have profound effects on our health. Although science has made enormous steps in making food more fit to eat, it has, at the same time, made many foods unfit to eat. Some research has shown that perhaps eighty percent of all human illnesses are related to diet and forty percent of cancer is related to the diet as well, especially cancer of the colon. People of different cultures are more prone to contract certain illnesses because of the characteristic foods they consume.
That food is related to illness is not a new discovery. In 1945, government researchers realized that nitrates and nitrites (commonly used to preserve color in meat) as well as other food additives caused cancer. Yet, these carcinogenic additives remain in our food, and it becomes more difficult all the time to know which ingredients on the packaging label of processed food are helpful or harmful.
The additives that we eat are not all so direct. Farmers often give penicillin to cattle and poultry, and because of this, penicillin has been found in the milk of treated cows.
Sometimes similar drugs are administered to animals not for medicinal purposes, but for financial reasons. The farmers are simply trying to fatten the animals in order to obtain a higher price on the market. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has tried repeatedly to control these procedures, the practices continue.
A healthy diet is directly related to good health. Often we are unaware of detrimental substances we ingest. Sometimes well-meaning farmers or others who do not realize the consequences add these substances to food without our knowledge.

The food we eat seems to have profound effects on our health. Although science has made enormous steps in making food more fit to eat, it has, at the same time, made many foods unfit to eat. Some research has shown that perhaps eighty percent of all human illnesses are related to diet and forty percent of cancer is related to the diet as well, especially cancer of the colon. People of different cultures are more prone to contract certain illnesses because of the characteristic foods they consume.
That food is related to illness is not a new discovery. In 1945, government researchers realized that nitrates and nitrites (commonly used to preserve color in meat) as well as other food additives caused cancer. Yet, these carcinogenic additives remain in our food, and it becomes more difficult all the time to know which ingredients on the packaging label of processed food are helpful or harmful.
The additives that we eat are not all so direct. Farmers often give penicillin to cattle and poultry, and because of this, penicillin has been found in the milk of treated cows.
Sometimes similar drugs are administered to animals not for medicinal purposes, but for financial reasons. The farmers are simply trying to fatten the animals in order to obtain a higher price on the market. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has tried repeatedly to control these procedures, the practices continue.
A healthy diet is directly related to good health. Often we are unaware of detrimental substances we ingest. Sometimes well-meaning farmers or others who do not realize the consequences add these substances to food without our knowledge.

The food we eat seems to have profound effects on our health. Although science has made enormous steps in making food more fit to eat, it has, at the same time, made many foods unfit to eat. Some research has shown that perhaps eighty percent of all human illnesses are related to diet and forty percent of cancer is related to the diet as well, especially cancer of the colon. People of different cultures are more prone to contract certain illnesses because of the characteristic foods they consume.
That food is related to illness is not a new discovery. In 1945, government researchers realized that nitrates and nitrites (commonly used to preserve color in meat) as well as other food additives caused cancer. Yet, these carcinogenic additives remain in our food, and it becomes more difficult all the time to know which ingredients on the packaging label of processed food are helpful or harmful.
The additives that we eat are not all so direct. Farmers often give penicillin to cattle and poultry, and because of this, penicillin has been found in the milk of treated cows.
Sometimes similar drugs are administered to animals not for medicinal purposes, but for financial reasons. The farmers are simply trying to fatten the animals in order to obtain a higher price on the market. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has tried repeatedly to control these procedures, the practices continue.
A healthy diet is directly related to good health. Often we are unaware of detrimental substances we ingest. Sometimes well-meaning farmers or others who do not realize the consequences add these substances to food without our knowledge.

Throwaway plastic has found its way into various aspects of our lives. As awareness of the detrimental impacts that plastic can have on the environment has exploded in recent years, environmentally friendly alternatives are becoming increasingly common.
Biodegradable plastics are one set of materials that are becoming a popular replacement as consumers demand green alternatives. Rather than remaining stable for hundreds of years, biodegradable plastics can be broken down by microbes in the air, chewed up and turned into biomass, water and carbon dioxide. A smaller group of them are compostable, which means that not only are they broken down by microbes, but they can also be turned into compost. Most biodegradable and compostable plastics are made from plants rather than fossil fuels and depending on the application you need them for, there are plenty to choose from.
The biggest potential area of impact for compostable plastics is in food service. From coffee cups to sandwich packaging to takeaway containers, putting food in compostable plastics means that the plastic and any food waste still stuck to it can be composted together. It’s a double win: reducing the amount of plastic being sent to landfill and at the same time making sure food waste is returned to the soil, not left to rot in landfill where it will release methane. By reducing the amount of traditional plastics that contaminate food waste, we can at least ensure that some of that wasted food is eventually used as compost, rather than ending up in landfill or incineration.
There are some other applications suited to biodegradables too. Traditionally, farmers in Europe have used sheets made from polyethylene mulch over crops to prevent weeds growing and to conserve water, with around half of this plastic ending up in landfill after it’s used. But since 2019, a new European biodegradability standard for these mulches means that farmers can buy plastic that they can plough back into the field safe in the knowledge that it will break down and not harm the soil. Industry, too, is beginning to use bio-lubricants used to keep machines running smoothly rather than fossil fuel -based ones. Progress made by countries like Italy - where single - use bags for produce and baked goods must be compostable, and can be recycled as part of widespread food waste collections - shows that solutions to some of our plastic problems are indeed possible.

Throwaway plastic has found its way into various aspects of our lives. As awareness of the detrimental impacts that plastic can have on the environment has exploded in recent years, environmentally friendly alternatives are becoming increasingly common.
Biodegradable plastics are one set of materials that are becoming a popular replacement as consumers demand green alternatives. Rather than remaining stable for hundreds of years, biodegradable plastics can be broken down by microbes in the air, chewed up and turned into biomass, water and carbon dioxide. A smaller group of them are compostable, which means that not only are they broken down by microbes, but they can also be turned into compost. Most biodegradable and compostable plastics are made from plants rather than fossil fuels and depending on the application you need them for, there are plenty to choose from.
The biggest potential area of impact for compostable plastics is in food service. From coffee cups to sandwich packaging to takeaway containers, putting food in compostable plastics means that the plastic and any food waste still stuck to it can be composted together. It’s a double win: reducing the amount of plastic being sent to landfill and at the same time making sure food waste is returned to the soil, not left to rot in landfill where it will release methane. By reducing the amount of traditional plastics that contaminate food waste, we can at least ensure that some of that wasted food is eventually used as compost, rather than ending up in landfill or incineration.
There are some other applications suited to biodegradables too. Traditionally, farmers in Europe have used sheets made from polyethylene mulch over crops to prevent weeds growing and to conserve water, with around half of this plastic ending up in landfill after it’s used. But since 2019, a new European biodegradability standard for these mulches means that farmers can buy plastic that they can plough back into the field safe in the knowledge that it will break down and not harm the soil. Industry, too, is beginning to use bio-lubricants used to keep machines running smoothly rather than fossil fuel -based ones. Progress made by countries like Italy - where single - use bags for produce and baked goods must be compostable, and can be recycled as part of widespread food waste collections - shows that solutions to some of our plastic problems are indeed possible.

Throwaway plastic has found its way into various aspects of our lives. As awareness of the detrimental impacts that plastic can have on the environment has exploded in recent years, environmentally friendly alternatives are becoming increasingly common.
Biodegradable plastics are one set of materials that are becoming a popular replacement as consumers demand green alternatives. Rather than remaining stable for hundreds of years, biodegradable plastics can be broken down by microbes in the air, chewed up and turned into biomass, water and carbon dioxide. A smaller group of them are compostable, which means that not only are they broken down by microbes, but they can also be turned into compost. Most biodegradable and compostable plastics are made from plants rather than fossil fuels and depending on the application you need them for, there are plenty to choose from.
The biggest potential area of impact for compostable plastics is in food service. From coffee cups to sandwich packaging to takeaway containers, putting food in compostable plastics means that the plastic and any food waste still stuck to it can be composted together. It’s a double win: reducing the amount of plastic being sent to landfill and at the same time making sure food waste is returned to the soil, not left to rot in landfill where it will release methane. By reducing the amount of traditional plastics that contaminate food waste, we can at least ensure that some of that wasted food is eventually used as compost, rather than ending up in landfill or incineration.
There are some other applications suited to biodegradables too. Traditionally, farmers in Europe have used sheets made from polyethylene mulch over crops to prevent weeds growing and to conserve water, with around half of this plastic ending up in landfill after it’s used. But since 2019, a new European biodegradability standard for these mulches means that farmers can buy plastic that they can plough back into the field safe in the knowledge that it will break down and not harm the soil. Industry, too, is beginning to use bio-lubricants used to keep machines running smoothly rather than fossil fuel -based ones. Progress made by countries like Italy - where single - use bags for produce and baked goods must be compostable, and can be recycled as part of widespread food waste collections - shows that solutions to some of our plastic problems are indeed possible.

Throwaway plastic has found its way into various aspects of our lives. As awareness of the detrimental impacts that plastic can have on the environment has exploded in recent years, environmentally friendly alternatives are becoming increasingly common.
Biodegradable plastics are one set of materials that are becoming a popular replacement as consumers demand green alternatives. Rather than remaining stable for hundreds of years, biodegradable plastics can be broken down by microbes in the air, chewed up and turned into biomass, water and carbon dioxide. A smaller group of them are compostable, which means that not only are they broken down by microbes, but they can also be turned into compost. Most biodegradable and compostable plastics are made from plants rather than fossil fuels and depending on the application you need them for, there are plenty to choose from.
The biggest potential area of impact for compostable plastics is in food service. From coffee cups to sandwich packaging to takeaway containers, putting food in compostable plastics means that the plastic and any food waste still stuck to it can be composted together. It’s a double win: reducing the amount of plastic being sent to landfill and at the same time making sure food waste is returned to the soil, not left to rot in landfill where it will release methane. By reducing the amount of traditional plastics that contaminate food waste, we can at least ensure that some of that wasted food is eventually used as compost, rather than ending up in landfill or incineration.
There are some other applications suited to biodegradables too. Traditionally, farmers in Europe have used sheets made from polyethylene mulch over crops to prevent weeds growing and to conserve water, with around half of this plastic ending up in landfill after it’s used. But since 2019, a new European biodegradability standard for these mulches means that farmers can buy plastic that they can plough back into the field safe in the knowledge that it will break down and not harm the soil. Industry, too, is beginning to use bio-lubricants used to keep machines running smoothly rather than fossil fuel -based ones. Progress made by countries like Italy - where single - use bags for produce and baked goods must be compostable, and can be recycled as part of widespread food waste collections - shows that solutions to some of our plastic problems are indeed possible.

Throwaway plastic has found its way into various aspects of our lives. As awareness of the detrimental impacts that plastic can have on the environment has exploded in recent years, environmentally friendly alternatives are becoming increasingly common.
Biodegradable plastics are one set of materials that are becoming a popular replacement as consumers demand green alternatives. Rather than remaining stable for hundreds of years, biodegradable plastics can be broken down by microbes in the air, chewed up and turned into biomass, water and carbon dioxide. A smaller group of them are compostable, which means that not only are they broken down by microbes, but they can also be turned into compost. Most biodegradable and compostable plastics are made from plants rather than fossil fuels and depending on the application you need them for, there are plenty to choose from.
The biggest potential area of impact for compostable plastics is in food service. From coffee cups to sandwich packaging to takeaway containers, putting food in compostable plastics means that the plastic and any food waste still stuck to it can be composted together. It’s a double win: reducing the amount of plastic being sent to landfill and at the same time making sure food waste is returned to the soil, not left to rot in landfill where it will release methane. By reducing the amount of traditional plastics that contaminate food waste, we can at least ensure that some of that wasted food is eventually used as compost, rather than ending up in landfill or incineration.
There are some other applications suited to biodegradables too. Traditionally, farmers in Europe have used sheets made from polyethylene mulch over crops to prevent weeds growing and to conserve water, with around half of this plastic ending up in landfill after it’s used. But since 2019, a new European biodegradability standard for these mulches means that farmers can buy plastic that they can plough back into the field safe in the knowledge that it will break down and not harm the soil. Industry, too, is beginning to use bio-lubricants used to keep machines running smoothly rather than fossil fuel -based ones. Progress made by countries like Italy - where single - use bags for produce and baked goods must be compostable, and can be recycled as part of widespread food waste collections - shows that solutions to some of our plastic problems are indeed possible.

Throwaway plastic has found its way into various aspects of our lives. As awareness of the detrimental impacts that plastic can have on the environment has exploded in recent years, environmentally friendly alternatives are becoming increasingly common.
Biodegradable plastics are one set of materials that are becoming a popular replacement as consumers demand green alternatives. Rather than remaining stable for hundreds of years, biodegradable plastics can be broken down by microbes in the air, chewed up and turned into biomass, water and carbon dioxide. A smaller group of them are compostable, which means that not only are they broken down by microbes, but they can also be turned into compost. Most biodegradable and compostable plastics are made from plants rather than fossil fuels and depending on the application you need them for, there are plenty to choose from.
The biggest potential area of impact for compostable plastics is in food service. From coffee cups to sandwich packaging to takeaway containers, putting food in compostable plastics means that the plastic and any food waste still stuck to it can be composted together. It’s a double win: reducing the amount of plastic being sent to landfill and at the same time making sure food waste is returned to the soil, not left to rot in landfill where it will release methane. By reducing the amount of traditional plastics that contaminate food waste, we can at least ensure that some of that wasted food is eventually used as compost, rather than ending up in landfill or incineration.
There are some other applications suited to biodegradables too. Traditionally, farmers in Europe have used sheets made from polyethylene mulch over crops to prevent weeds growing and to conserve water, with around half of this plastic ending up in landfill after it’s used. But since 2019, a new European biodegradability standard for these mulches means that farmers can buy plastic that they can plough back into the field safe in the knowledge that it will break down and not harm the soil. Industry, too, is beginning to use bio-lubricants used to keep machines running smoothly rather than fossil fuel -based ones. Progress made by countries like Italy - where single - use bags for produce and baked goods must be compostable, and can be recycled as part of widespread food waste collections - shows that solutions to some of our plastic problems are indeed possible.

Throwaway plastic has found its way into various aspects of our lives. As awareness of the detrimental impacts that plastic can have on the environment has exploded in recent years, environmentally friendly alternatives are becoming increasingly common.
Biodegradable plastics are one set of materials that are becoming a popular replacement as consumers demand green alternatives. Rather than remaining stable for hundreds of years, biodegradable plastics can be broken down by microbes in the air, chewed up and turned into biomass, water and carbon dioxide. A smaller group of them are compostable, which means that not only are they broken down by microbes, but they can also be turned into compost. Most biodegradable and compostable plastics are made from plants rather than fossil fuels and depending on the application you need them for, there are plenty to choose from.
The biggest potential area of impact for compostable plastics is in food service. From coffee cups to sandwich packaging to takeaway containers, putting food in compostable plastics means that the plastic and any food waste still stuck to it can be composted together. It’s a double win: reducing the amount of plastic being sent to landfill and at the same time making sure food waste is returned to the soil, not left to rot in landfill where it will release methane. By reducing the amount of traditional plastics that contaminate food waste, we can at least ensure that some of that wasted food is eventually used as compost, rather than ending up in landfill or incineration.
There are some other applications suited to biodegradables too. Traditionally, farmers in Europe have used sheets made from polyethylene mulch over crops to prevent weeds growing and to conserve water, with around half of this plastic ending up in landfill after it’s used. But since 2019, a new European biodegradability standard for these mulches means that farmers can buy plastic that they can plough back into the field safe in the knowledge that it will break down and not harm the soil. Industry, too, is beginning to use bio-lubricants used to keep machines running smoothly rather than fossil fuel -based ones. Progress made by countries like Italy - where single - use bags for produce and baked goods must be compostable, and can be recycled as part of widespread food waste collections - shows that solutions to some of our plastic problems are indeed possible.