Limiting the Use of Disposable Plastic Bags

　　In the past, a great many people used to use disposable plastic bags for shopping and other purposes. However, the excessive use of disposable plastic bags has led to great damages both to environment and to people's health.

　　On the one hand, it takes about 200 years for a buried plastic bag to decompose and be absorbed by the soil. On the other hand, the use of disposable plastic bags will indirectly do harm to people's health, which is less known to the public. Sometimes people buy hot food packed into disposable plastic bags to save the time and labor in washing their dining utensils. Yet they are not informed of the chemicals in the bags will release in high temperature. Therefore, they are eating the poisonous stuff while enjoying the tasty food.

　　It's enlightening and significant that our government has banned the free provision of disposable plastic bags in supermarkets. Trial practice has shown considerable reduction in the consumption of bags. In a word, fewer plastic bags will bring us the sustainable development of our earth. (177 words)

　　In your country, is there more need for land to be left in its natural condition or is there more need for land to be developed for housing and industry?

　　With a population accounting nearly for one quarter of the world population, my country, China, has been suffering from serious loss of arable land, which now hardly accounts for 7% of overall arable land of the world. Yet some people simply did not realize that land loss is so crucial that we one day might incapable of averting that catastrophe if we now close our eyes to it.

　　Industrial development without careful consideration regarding land preservation has caused problems more serious than people can ever imagine. Take the great Sanxia dam for example, which will be put into operation next year. While the country benefits from gargantuan potential of electricity generation, we have to face up to various environmental conservation issues concerning geological and ecological environment along both river sides and whole upper reaches. The professional designers of the great dam now have to work out a practical way to prevent and remedy pollution effectively, which has already been the focus of world attention.

　　After the entrance of the WTO, industry development is more and more important for our country, yet we should be careful about the pollution which is inevitably caused by industry. Recent surveys have shown that refuse treatment engineering is not well financed in China, while attentions are drawn to those much more obvious achievements. Industrial pollution accidents occur far more frequently in our still developing country than in other more advanced countries. Urban population also produce astoundingly large amount of pollution. Today the alleged white pollution is creeping all over the country – people throw plastic bags, films everywhere, never feeling anything wrong.

　　We no doubt need land either for natural condition or for industry, and it seems we need more if posssible. Nevertheless, we live in a world where everything has its cost, and some day in the future, I believe, we will inescapably pay for what we have ignored.