대구외고 2학년 기말고사 대비(The Rush for White Gold-5)

[23~34] 다음 글을 읽고, 물음에 답하시오.

[M] What gold meant to earlier eras, and petroleum to the previous century, lithium may   (A)   in the coming years. Long used in medication to treat bipolar disorders—and in items as varied as ceramics and nuclear weapons—it has emerged as an essential component for the batteries in computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices.

[N] The global market’s annual consumption of lithium in 2017 was approximately 40,000 metric tons, (a) representing a roughly 10 percent increase year by year since 2015. Meanwhile, in the same period, lithium prices nearly tripled—a clear reflection of how fast demand has been rising.

[O] That will likely intensify as electric cars become more popular. One version of the Tesla Model S runs on a battery pack with about 65 kilograms of lithium compounds—the equivalent of what’s in 10,000 cell phones. The investment firm also projects that every time electric-vehicle sales replace a percentage of all vehicles sold, the demand for lithium increases by 70,000 metric tons a year. Given that France and the United Kingdom have already announced that they’ll ban the sale of cars running on gas or diesel by 2040, it would seem evident that a country abounding with lithium need never fear poverty.

[P] However, Bolivia first faces several hurdles, and the most daunting is a scientific one. Producing battery-grade lithium from brine involves (b) separating out sodium chloride, potassium chloride, and magnesium chloride. This last is particularly expensive to remove. Bolivia’s lithium deposits have a relatively high magnesium content. “While the ratio of magnesium in Chile is 5 to 1, in Uyuni it’s 21 to 1,” says Bolivian chemical engineer Miguel Parra, “four times the concentration. So it’s a much simpler operation for them. For us, separating magnesium from lithium is the biggest challenge.”

[Q] There are other issues, such as: What does Bolivia intend to do with the heaps of magnesium waste? The Bolivian government claims that it has a unique (c) processing method that will somehow reduce waste, but just how much is speculative. “The environmental impact in Chile and Argentina is low,” claims Bolivian geologist Juan Benavides, “but we’re not able to extrapolate, really, because the magnesium content in Bolivian lithium is very high. All we know is … that the lithium regulations and laws in Argentina and Chile are more stringent than in Bolivia.”

[R] Among the greatest concerns (d) are how much water will be required to extract the lithium. Two rivers flow into the salt flat. One is thin enough to be a creek; the other, shallow enough to wade across. Both are crucial to the local growers of quinoa, (e) of which Bolivia is the world’ second largest supplier, after Peru. Though the Bolivian government insists that 90 percent of the water it uses will come from salt water rather than underground, some experts are   (B)  . “Year after year, the water is going to be the major resource that is needed,” says Oscar Ballivián Chávez, a Bolivian geologist. “They’ll need vast quantities, more than any other mine in Bolivia.”

[S] And finally, there’s the unspoiled natural wonder of the Salar itself. Though revered by human visitors for its boundless austerity, it is also a breeding ground for several animal species such as the Chilean flamingo. “Our plant is located far away from these sanctuaries,” García Linera says, adding, “This demonstrates our commitment to the environment.”
[T] I thought about these unanswered questions as I headed once again through the colorless daydream of the Salar—an illusion of simplicity that apparently goes on forever, but in fact, cannot.