Everytimeyougotothesupermarketyoucomeawaywithyourpurchasespackedinplasticbags.Butwouldn’titbekindertotheenvironmentifyouaskedforpaperbagsinstead?

Theanswerisnotaseasyasitmightseem.Environmentalistssaytherearedrawbackstousingbothplasticbagsandpaperbags.

80percentofgroceriesintheUSarepackedinplasticbagsandthenumbersarebecominghuge.Consumersusebetween500billionand1trillionplasticbagsperyearworldwide.

Someexpertsbelievethatallthesebagsharmtheenvironment.Plastictakeshundredsofyearstobreakdownandasitdoessopoisonousmaterialsarereleasedintothewaterandsoil.

Furtherdamageiscausedifplasticbagsenterthesea.Forexampleendangeredseaturtlescannottellthebagsfromjellyfishtheirmainsourceoffoodandoftenchokeonthem.

Howeverthiskindofbagdoeshaveitsadvantages.

Paperbagsusemoreenergyandcreatemorewastethanplasticbags.Plasticbagsrequire40percentlessenergytoproduceandcause70percentlessairpollution.Theyalsoreleaseasmuchas94percentlesswasteintothewaterthanpaperonesdo.

Butpaperbagsdobreakdownmorequicklythanplasticbags.Theydon’tendangerwildlifeeither.

Sowhatshouldwedo?Onepossiblesolutionwouldbetousebiodegradableplasticbags.“Biodegradable”meansthatthebagsbreakdownnaturallyjustlikeapieceofbananapeelwhenitisleftoutside.

Butuntilbiodegradabletechnologyimprovesitmightbeeasiertopackthingsyoubuyinreusableclothbags.

【小题1】Comparedtopaperbagsplasticbags______.

A．produce6percentmorewasteB．canbemadebiodegradablemoreeasilyC．canbeusedasasourceoffoodD．save40percentoftheenergy【小题2】Bysaying“Theanswerisnotaseasyasitmightseem”(inparagraph2)thewritermeans_____.

A.biodegradableplasticbagscancompetewithpaper

B.paperbagsseemtobekindtoenvironment

C.it’sdifficulttosaywhetherplasticorpaperbagsarebetterfortheenvironment

【小题3】Whatdoestheauthorsuggestpeopleuseatthepresenttime?A．Pap