Beforethegrasshasthickenedontheroadsideverges(边缘)andlea...

问题详情：

Before the grass has thickened on the roadside verges(边缘) and leaves have started growing on the trees is a perfect time to look around and see just how dirty Britain has become. The pavements are stained（污染） with chewing gum that has been spat out and the gutters（排水沟） are full of discarded fast food cartons（纸板箱）. Years ago I remember travelling abroad and being saddened by the plastic bags, discarded bottles and soiled nappies at the edge of every road. Nowadays, Britain seems to look at least as bad. What has gone wrong?

The problem is that the rubbish created by our increasingly mobile lives lasts a lot longer than before. If it is not cleared up and properly thrown away, it stays in the undergrowth for years; a semi-permanent（半永久*的）reminder of what a tatty（不整洁的） little country we have now.

Firstly, it is estimated that 10 billion plastic bags have been given to shoppers. These will take anything from 100 to 1,000 years to rot. However, it is not as if there is no solution to this. A few years ago, the Irish government introduced a tax on non-recyclable carrier bags and in three months reduced their use by 90%. When he was a minister, Michael Meacher attempted to introduce a similar arrangement in Britain. The plastics industry protested, of course. However, they need not have bothered; the idea was killed before it could draw breath, leaving supermarkets free to give away plastic bags.

What is clearly necessary right now is some sort of combined initiative（首创精神）, both individual and collective(集体), before it is too late. The alternative is to continue sliding downhill until we have a country that looks like a vast municipal rubbish tip. We may well be at the tipping point. Yet we know that people respond to their environment. If things around them are clean and tidy, people behave cleanly and tidily. If they are surrounded by squalor（肮脏的）, they behave squalidly. Now, much of Britain looks pretty squalid（卑劣的）. What will it look like in five years?

12. According to the writer, things used to be         .

A. bad abroad.

B. good abroad.

C. better abroad.

D. worse, but now things are better abroad.

13. When Michael Meacher was a minister, he         .

A. followed the Irish example with a tax on plastic bags.

B. tried to follow the Irish example with a tax on plastic bags.

C. made no attempt to follow the Irish example with a tax on plastic bags.

D. had problems with the plastics industry who weren't bothered about the tax.

14. The writer thinks         .

A. it is too late to do anything to solve the problem.

B. we are at the tipping point to solve the problem.

C. there is no alternative to solve the problem.

D. we need to work together to solve the problem.

15. What can be inferred from the writer’s opinion?

A. people are squalid and they behave squalidly.

B. people behave according to what they see around them.

C. people are clean and tidy and behave cleanly and tidily.

D. people are like a vast municipal rubbish tip.

【回答】

ABDB

知识点：科普环保类阅读

题型：阅读理解