Asksomeonewhattheyhavedonetohelptheenvironmentrecentlyandtheywillalmostcertainlymentionrecycling.Recyclinginthehomeisveryimportantofcourse.However,beingforcedtorecycleoftenmeanswealreadyhavemorematerialthanweneed.Wearedealingwiththeresultsofthatover-consumptioninthegreenestwaypossible,butitwouldbefarbetterifwedidnotneedtobringsomuchmaterialhomeinthefirstplace.

Thetotalamountofpackagingincreasedby12%between1999and2005.Itnowmakesupathirdofatypicalhousehold’swasteintheUK.Inmanysupermarketsnowadaysfooditemsarepackagedtwicewithplasticandcardboard.

Toomuchpackagingisdoingseriousdamagetotheenvironment.TheUK,forexample,isrunningoutofitforcarryingthisunnecessarywaste.Ifsuchpackagingisburnt,itgivesoffgreenhousegaseswhichgoontocausethegreenhouseeffect.Recyclinghelps,buttheprocessitselfusesenergy.Thesolutionisnottoproducesuchitemsinthefirstplace.Foodwasteisaseriousproblem,too.Toomanysupermarketsencouragecustomerstobuymorethantheyneed.However,afewofthemarecomingroundtotheideathatthiscannotcontinue,encouragingcustomerstoreusetheirplasticbags,forexample.

Butthisisnotjustaboutsupermarkets.Itisaboutallofus.Wehavelearnedtoassociatepackagingwithquality.Wehavelearnedtothinkthatsomethingunpackagedisofpoorquality.Thisisespeciallytrueoffood.Butisalsoappliestoawiderangeofconsumerproducts,whichoftenhavefarmorepackagingthannecessary.

Therearesignsofhope.Asmoreofusrecycle,wearebeginningtorealisejusthowmuchunnecessarymaterialarecollecting.Weneedtofacethewastefulnessofourconsumerculture,butwehaveamountaintoclimb.

1.Whatdoestheunderlinedphrase“over-consumption”referto?

A.Usingtoomuchpackaging.

B.Recyclingtoomanywastes.

C.Makingmoreproductsthannecessary.

D.Havingmorematerialthanisneeded.

2.TheauthorusesfiguresinParagraph2toshow_______.

A.thetendencyofcuttinghouseholdwaste

B.theincreaseofpackagingrecycling

C.therapidgrowthofsupermarkets

D.thefactofpackagingoveruse

3.Accordingtothetext,recycling______.

A.helpscontrolt