Ask someone what they have done to help the environment recently and they will almost certainly
mention recycling. Recycling in the home is very important of course. However, being forced to recycle
often means we already have more material than we need. We are dealing with the results ofthat_
overconsumptionin the greenest way possible, but it would be far better if we did not need to bring so
much material home in the first place.
The total amount of packaging increased by 12% between 1999 and 2005. It now makes up a third
of a typical household's waste in the UK. In many supermarkets nowadays food items are packaged
twice with plastic and cardboard.
Too much packaging is doing serious damage to the environment. The UK, for example, is running
out of it for carrying this unnecessary waste. If such packaging is burnt, it gives off greenhouse gases
which go on to cause the greenhouse effect. Recycling helps, but the process itself uses energy. The
solution is not to produce such items in the first place. Food waste is a serious problem, too. Too many
supermarkets encourage customers to buy more than they need. However, a few of them are coming
round to the idea that this cannot continue, encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags, for
example.
But this is not just about supermarkets. It is about all of us. We have learned to associate packaging
with quality. We have learned to think that something unpackaged is of poor quality. This is especially
true of food. But it also applies to a wide range of consumer products, which often have far more
packaging than necessary.
There are signs of hope. As more of us recycle, we are beginning to realise just how much
unnecessary material we are collecting. We need to face the wastefulness of our consumer culture, but
we have a mountain to climb.
1. What does the underlined phrase "that overconsumption" refer to?
A. Using too much packaging.
B. Recycling too many wastes.
C. Making more products than necessary.
D. Having more material than is needed.
2. The author uses figures in Paragraph 2 to show________.
A. the tendency of cutting household waste
B. the increase of packaging recycling
C. the rapid growth of supermarkets
D. the fact of packaging overuse
3. According to the text, recycling________.
A. helps control the greenhouse effect
B. means burning packaging for energy
C. is the solution to gas shortage
D. leads to a waste of land
4. What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?
A. Unpackaged products are of bad quality.
B. Supermarkets care more about packaging.
C. It is improper to judge quality by packaging.
D. Other products are better packaged than food.
5. What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A. Fighting wastefulness is difficult.
B. Needless material is mostly recycled.
C. People like collecting recyclable wastes.
D. The author is proud of their consumer culture.

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