Every time you go to the supermarket you come away with your purchases packed in

 Every time you go to the supermarket you comeaway with your purchases packed in plastic bags. But wouldn’t it be kinder tothe environment if you asked for paper bags instead?

   The answer is not as easy as it mightseem. Environmentalists say there are drawbacks to using both plastic bags andpaper bags.

   80 percent of groceries in the US arepacked in plastic bags and the numbers are becoming huge. Consumers use between500 billion and 1 trillion plastic bags per year worldwide.

   Some experts believe that all these bagsharm the environment. Plastic takes hundreds of years to break down and, as itdoes so, poisonous materials are released into the water and soil.

   Further damage is caused if plastic bagsenter the sea. For example, endangered sea turtles cannot tell the bags fromjellyfish, their main source of food, and often choke on them.

   However, this kind of bag does have itsadvantages.

   Paper bags use more energy and createmore waste than plastic bags. Plastic bags require 40 percent less energy toproduce and cause 70 percent less air pollution. They also release as much as94 percent less waste into the water than paper ones do.

   But paper bags do break down more quicklythan plastic bags. They don’t endanger wildlife, either.

   So what should we do? One possiblesolution would be to use biodegradable plastic bags. “Biodegradable” means thatthe bags break down naturally just like a piece of banana peel when it is leftoutside.

   But until biodegradable technologyimproves, it might be easier to pack things you buy in reusable cloth bags.

1.Compared to paper bags, plastic bags ______.

A. produce 6 percent more waste

B. can be made biodegradable more easily

C. can be used as a source of food

D. save 40 percent of the energy

2.By saying “The answer is not as easy as it mightseem,” (in paragraph 2) the writer means _____.

A. biodegradable plastic bags can compete with paper

B. paper bags seem to be kind to environment

C. it’s difficult to say whether plastic or paper bagsare better for the environment

3.What does the author suggest people use at the presenttime?

A. Paper bags         B. Plastic bags

C. Biodegradable plastic bags.   D. Clothbags.

试题答案

【答案】

1.D

2.C

3.D

【解析】

试题