When he was nine years old, American boy Milo Cress had a question: How many plastic straws (吸管) do Americans use every day?
He quickly learned there wasn’t a simple answer. The boy tried to find it out himself. Through lots of research, Cress found that Americans use about 500 million straws every day. In hope of reducing plastic waste, he founded the “Be Straw Free” project in 2011.
Cress started the project in his hometown—Burlington, Vermont. He asked a local restaurant to stop offering straws with every drink order. It was a simple change. However, it would save money. And by doing that, the restaurant would cut down on its straw use by 50%.
For the years that followed, Cress tried to spread his project across the United States. More and more restaurants agreed to join. They stop providing the customer with a straw unless he or she asks for one. In April 2018, Seattle became the first American city to completely stop using plastic straws.
Plastic pollution has been a very serious problem today. According to scientists, more than eight million tons of plastic end up in the ocean each year. Plastic straws are especially terrible. They make it easy for people to get used to single-use plastics.
After his project became well-known, Cress took his findings on the road. He has spoken to tens of thousands of students around the world. He wants to encourage more people to say no to plastic straws.
“Paying attention to straws is one simple step we all could take,” Cress says. “And it makes me feel that I, as a kid, could make a difference, too.”
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31. Cress started the “Be Straw Free” project in order to ________.
A.help the restaurant save money | B.encourage people to reduce plastic waste |
C.become a famous person in Burlington | D.do a lot of research about plastic straws |
32. What did Cress ask a restaurant in his hometown to do?
A.To replace its plastic straws with paper ones. |
B.To stop its customers from using straws. |
C.To stop offering straws with every drink order. |
D.To count the number of used straws every day. |
33. Which city is the first American city to completely stop using plastic straws?
A.Los Angeles. | B.New York. | C.Burlington. | D.Seattle. |
34. Plastic straws are especially terrible because __________.
A.they are the biggest source of plastic waste |
B.scientists pay little attention to their influence |
C.they help people get used to using single-use plastics |
D.most people don’t realise their influence on the environment |
35. What’s the purpose of this passage?
A.To encourage people to protect the environment. | B.To tell people the story of Cress. |
C.To show how to use plastic straws. | D.To describe the harm of using plastic straws. |