热门城市环境的雅思口语练习

 

Plastic Pollution 

 

USHA JESUDASAN 

 

Walk down any city street or village road, turn any corner, find a spot atthe beach or in a park and you will find mounds and mounds of dirty plasticbags, food wrappings, plastic cups, bottles and cartons lie piled high, orblocking drainage systems and sewers. The road outside our house is litteredwith flimsy multi-coloured plastic bags. The wind blows these bags into the opengutter. The bags collect and block the gutter which then spills on to the road.Mosquitoes thrive in the stagnant water. Pigs and rats wallow in the slime,carrying disease. The place stinks and the air is polluted. The garbage menrefuse to clean the gutters... they are only paid to clear the litter off thestreets! So the clutter and slime increases every week. 

 

Who is responsible for all this litter and mess and the pollutedatmosphere? We are of course! Every one of us. Although each one of uscontributes to the problem, none of us is willing to be part of the solution toit. So the Tamil Nadu Government is keen on taking a drastic step to curb theuse of plastics and make the roads clean and environmentally safe. Thegovernment's desire to introduce a bill that would ban plastic bags and otherplastic items is a desperate attempt to control the huge environmental andhealth hazards that face us today. 

 

Despite my desire to see a clean environment and have a clean road I wonderwhat will we do without all the plastic things in our lives? The many uses ofdisposable plastic that we use everyday comes to mind, gloves, pens, cups,bottles, cans - can we really do without these? 

 

Do we see the proposed ban as a necessary measure? Or will it be foughtagainst with passion by the plastic industry? Each year, as industry producesmore and more non-essential products individually and excessively packaged inplastic, we throw away more and more trash. Plastic razors can only be used afew times before disposal, then more must be bought, making the plastic andrazor industries rich and happy. Pens used to be filled with ink, today we usethem, throw them away and go out and buy another one. The pen industries make alot of money too. Many household appliances are designed to become obsoletewithin a short duration and that guarantees that you'll just have to buy newones next year. 

 

To a large extent, our garbage problem is a result of a corporate businessethic that puts profits before people and the environment. Industry pushes theadvantages of "disposability'' to the public because it suits them and it payswell. The profit from disposability goes into the pockets of only a few but thehazards of disposability are faced by many more. 

 

The proposed ban makes me realise that each one of us should develop asense of responsibility not just towards the litter on our roads but alsotowards the things we buy and use and throw away.