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     Dirty Britain Before the grass has thickened on the roadside and leaves have started growing on the trees is

a perfect time to look around and see just how dirty Britain has become. The sidewalks are stained with

chewing gum that has been spat out and the gutters (排水沟) are full of thrown away fast food cartons. Years

ago I remember traveling abroad and being saddened by the plastic bags, waste bottles 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 bushes for years; a semi-permanent reminder of what

a dirty 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 was against that, 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 action, both individual and collective, before

it is too late. The alternative is to continue going downhill until we have a country that looks like a vast rubbish

tip (废物场 ). 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 dirt, they

behave dirtily. Now, much of Britain looks pretty dirty. What will it look like in five years?

1. The writer says that it is a good time to see Britain before the trees have leaves because_______.

A. Britain looks perfect.

B. you can see Britain at its dirtiest.

C. you can see how dirty Britain is now.

D. the grass has thickened on the roadside.

2. According to the writer, the major problem is that __________.

A. rubbish can not be cleared up

B. rubbish lasts longer than it used to

C. our society is increasingly mobile

D. people in Britain are dirty

3. What can be learned about Michael Meacher?

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

B. He failed in his attempt to introduce a tax on plastic bags.

C. His attempt to follow the Irish example with a tax on plastic bags was welcomed.

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

4. What does the writer state in the last paragraph?

A. It's too late for people to take immediate action.

B. There is more than one solution to the problem.

C. Britain will become an extremely dirty country in five years.

D. People tend to behave according to what they see around them