参考答案

正确答案：

Sample 1

It Is Not Effective to Charge for Plastic Bags

One day when waiting for your groceries to be packed into free plastic bags,you may be surprised if the cashier at the check-out tells you the bags areextra, and you’d better believe it. Today, the pollution resulting from plasticbags has become a big threat to urban environment. Though daily use of free bagsin supermarkets is tremendous in number, I don’t think consumers’ paying forplastic bags can take effect in controlling pollution.

To begin with, it is unfair that only consumers should shoulder theresponsibility of environmental pollution caused by supermarket plastic bags,providing free plastic shopping bags to customers is a marketing strategyadopted by supermarkets. Although supermarkets have to pay for the plastic bags,customers bring them far greater economic rewards in comparison to this minimalcost. From this point of view, it is the supermarkets that have gained thehidden profits through free plastic bags while consumers only get shoppingconveniences they should have had.

In addition, it is over-optimistic and a bit simple-minded to contend thatcharging for plastic shopping bags can help ease pollution problem. My ownobservation tells me that in most supermarkets plastic bags are offered bysalespeople according to customers’ actual needs. Since the need for shoppingbags does exist, charging for those bags is not so effective and it isimpossible to resolve the current waste and pollution problems thoroughly. Afterall, with the improvement in people’s living standards, it is unrealistic toexpect people to bring their own shopping baskets to the supermarket. Moreover,many people usually go to the supermarket after work for convenience, how callthey take what they need home without using the plastic shopping bags? Pollutionis attributed to various causes and abolition of shopping bags merely addressesthe very tip of the iceberg.

In short, it is not a wise policy to charge shopping bags just on the groundthat it is likely to become a pollutant. Joint efforts should be made to dealwith the pollution by various means, which include promoting the application ofdegradable plastic bags, seeking environmentally friendly substitutes, andstrengthening supermarkets’ management over free plastic bags.

Sample 2

An Environment-friendly Move

It is reported in the newspaper that from the beginning of 2004, the popularsupermarket practice of giving shoppers free plastic shopping bags will come toan end in Shanghai and all bags will be charged. According to an official fromEnvironmental Protection Bureau, the move is aimed to reduce environmentalpollution caused by randomly discarded plastic bags. I believe it is aneffective measure to deal with the solid waste.

The use of paid plastic shopping bags will help to enhance people’s awarenessof environmental protection because at the moment these bags fail to be properlydealt with in an environment-friendly way. Today, the pollution resulting fromplastic bags has become a big threat to urban environment. The daily use of freebags in supermarkets is tremendous in number. According to a recent report,Century mart and Hualian, the two major supermarkets in Shanghai, consume 720,000 and 300, 000 such bags respectively every single day. Most of them arereused as containers for household waste, yet many are disposed of in athoughtless manner. In order to alleviate pollution risks in this regard, somepeople suggest using degradable plastic bags instead of ordinary ones. Butstrictly speaking, China’s current degradable technology is far fromsatisfactory. Charged bags cannot solve the problem once and for all, but it mayhelp change consumers’ mentality over bags vs. pollution.

From the economic perspective, this suggested solution has its own scientificbasis. People’s consumption habits of using plastic bags should takeresponsibility for environmental pollution to some extent. Consumers probablywill feel inconvenient at first, but the change will allow them to contemplateover how to make use of plastic shopping bags more rationally. I am sure theywill gradually get used to it. Given China’s current production level, it isunrealistic to totally stop the manufacturing of plastic bags or to utilizepaper bags instead. Hence, in order to minimize the possible pollution, chargedplastic bags are the only choice for the time being because something isdefinitely better than nothing.

As we know, the white pollution resulting from the over-use of plastic bagshas become increasingly severe, forcing people to take some measures right away.By charging the plastic bags, more attention will be called to environmentalprotection. And with the money accumulated, a fund can be established for thispurpose.