【Asksomeonewhattheyhavedonetohelptheenvironmentrecentlyandtheywillalmostcertainlymentionrecycling.Recyclinginthehomeisveryimportantofcourse.Howeverbeingforcedtorecycleoftenmeanswealreadyhavemorematerialt】

　　Asksomeonewhattheyhavedonetohelptheenvironmentrecentlyandtheywillalmostcertainlymentionrecycling.Recyclinginthehomeisveryimportantofcourse.Howeverbeingforcedtorecycleoftenmeanswealreadyhavemorematerialthanweneed.Wearedealingwiththeresultsofthatover-consumptioninthegreenestwaypossiblebutitwouldbefarbetterifwedidnotneedtobringsomuchmaterialhomeinthefirstplace.

　　Thetotalamountofpackagingincreasedby12%between1999and2005.Itnowmakesupathirdofatypicalhousehold’swasteintheUK.Inmanysupermarketsnowadaysfooditemsarepackagedtwicewithplasticandcardboard.

　　Toomuchpackagingisdoingseriousdamagetotheenvironment.TheUKforexampleisrunningoutofitforcarryingthisunnecessarywaste.Ifsuchpackagingisburntitgivesoffgreenhousegaseswhichgoontocausethegreenhouseeffect.Recyclinghelpsbuttheprocessitselfusesenergy.Thesolutionisnottoproducesuchitemsinthefirstplace.Foodwasteisaseriousproblemtoo.Toomanysupermarketsencouragecustomerstobuymorethantheyneed.Howeverafewofthemarecomingroundtotheideathatthiscannotcontinueencouragingcustomerstoreusetheirplasticbagsforexample.

　　Butthisisnotjustaboutsupermarkets.Itisaboutallofus.Wehavelearnedtoassociatepackagingwithquality.Wehavelearnedtothinkthatsomethingunpackagedisofpoorquality.Thisisespeciallytrueoffood.Butisalsoappliestoawiderangeofconsumerproductswhichoftenhavefarmorepackagingthannecessary.

　　Therearesignsofhope.Asmoreofusrecyclewearebeginningtorealizejusthowmuchunnecessarymaterialsarecollecting.Weneedtofacethewastefulnessofourconsumerculturebutwehaveamountaintoclimb.

　　【小题1】Whatdoestheunderlinedphrase“over-consumption”referto?

　　A．Usingtoomuchpackaging.B．Recyclingtoomanywastes.C．Makingmoreproductsthannecessary.D．Havingmorematerialthanisneeded.【小题2】TheauthorusesfiguresinParagraph2toshow_______.A．thetendencyofcuttinghouseholdwasteB．theincreaseofpackagingrecyclingC．