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A simple piece of rope hangs between some environmentally friendly Americans and their neighbors. On one side stand those who have begun to see clothes dryers as wasteful consumers of energy (up to 6% of total electricity) and powerful emitters of carbon dioxide (up to a ton of CO2 per household every year). As an alternative, they are turning to clotheslines as part of what Alexander Lee, an environmentalist, calls "what-I-can- do environmentalism."
But on the other side are people who oppose air-drying laundry outside on aesthetic grounds. Increasingly, they have persuaded community and homeowners associations(HOAs) across the U.S. to ban outdoor clotheslines, which they say not only look unsightly but also lower surrounding property values. Those actions, in turn, have sparked a right-to-dry movement that is pressing for legislation to protect the choice to use clotheslines. Only three states--Florida, Hawaii and Utah--have laws written broadly enough to protect clotheslines. Right-to-dry advocates argue that there should be more.
Matt Reck is the kind of eco-conscious guy who feeds his trees with bathwater and recycles condensation drops from his air conditioners to water plants. His family also uses a clothesline. But Otto Hagen, president of Reck's HOA in Wake Forest, N.C., notified him that a neighbor h, ad complained about his line. The Recks ignored the warning and still dry their clothes on a rope in the yard. "Many people claim to be environmentally friendly but don't take matters into their own hands," says Reck. HOAs Hagen has decided to hold off taking action. "I'm not going to go crazy," he says. "But if Matt keeps his line and more neighbors complain, I'll have to address it again."
North Carolina lawmakers tried and failed earlier this year to insert language into an energy bill that would expressly prevent HOAs from regulating clotheslines. But the issue remains a touchy one with HOAs and real estate agents. "Most aesthetic restrictions are rooted, to a degree, in the belief that homogenous (統一協調的 ) exteriors are supportive of property value," says Sara Stubbins, executive director of the Community Association Institute's North Carolina chapter. In other words, associations worry that housing prices will fall if prospective buyers think their would-be neighbors are too poor to afford dryers.
Alexander Lee dismisses the notion that clotheslines devalue property assets, advocating that the idea "needs to change in light of global warming." "We all have to do at least something to decrease our carbon footprint," Alexander Lee says.
1. What is NOT mentioned as a disadvantage of using clothes dryers?
A. Electricity consumption.
B. Air pollution.
C. Waste of energy.
D. Ugly looking.
2. Which of the following is INCORRECT?
A. Opposers think air-drying laundry would devalue surrounding assets.
B. Opposers consider the outdoor clothesline as an eyesore to the scenery.
C. Right-to-dry movements led to the pass of written laws to protect clotheslines.
D. Most of states in the US have no written laws to protect clotheslines.
3. What is the HOAs' attitude towards the regulation of outdoor clotheslines?
A. Concerned.
B. Impartial.
C. Supportive.
D. Unclear.
4. In the last paragraph Alexander Lee recommends that
A. clotheslines should be banned in the community.
B. clotheslines wouldn't lessen the property values.
C. the globe would become warmer and warmer.
D. we should protect the environment in the community.
5. An appropriate title for the passage might be
A. Opinions on Environmental Protection.
B. Opinions on Air-drying Laundry.
C. What-I-Can-Do Environmentalism.
D. Restrictions on Clotheslines.
