The Bag Lady

环保袋小姐

（选自《英语世界》2012年第12期）

Watching news about the environment on TV can be depressing. Whether it's climate change or the disappearance of another animal species, it seems as if there's nothing we can do to change things. The problems seem so big that it's difficult to imagine how we as individuals can do anything about them. Rebecca Hosking however thought differently and her story can be an example to all of us.

[2] Rebecca is a wildlife camerawoman and she was filming a documentary for the BBC in the Pacific Ocean when she saw something that made her cry—hundreds of dead birds that had died because they had accidentally eaten some of the tonnes of plastic that is thrown into the sea each year. Beaches in Honolulu and other Pacific islands that should have been some of the most beautiful places in the world were covered with plastic toys, drinks bottles, keyboards, pens, cigarette lighters—every plastic thing you can think of. As well as seabirds other animals were suffering—whales, dolphins, seals, turtles—Rebecca saw the suffering that was being caused by thrown away plastic.

[3] At this point, most of us would have felt sad and helpless but Rebecca decided she had to do something. Back at home she thought about what she could do to help solve the problem of throwaway plastic. In her home town of Modbury in the south west of England she showed a film from the island to local shopkeepers and asked them if they could do one thing to help. She asked them to stop using plastic bags in their shops.

[4] Rebecca expected the shopkeepers to refuse. Plastic bags are used everywhere in Britain—every supermarket, every corner shop—and customers expect to be given something to carry their shopping in. The numbers are amazing. Britain uses nearly 17 billion plastic bags each year. That's 300 for every man, woman and child in the country. And the bags can take hundreds of years to break down because they are chemical rather than natural so each year the sea and the environment become more and more polluted.

[5] To Rebecca's surprise, the shopkeepers agreed and Modbury became the first plastic-bag free town in Britain. Shops offered reusable cotton bags or biodegradable bags. People in the town got used to taking a shopping bag with them to the supermarket—just like their grandparents had done before plastic bags were invented.

[6] In the months that followed, other towns in Britain followed Modbury's example. The small town of Hebden Bridge in northern England became the second plastic bag free town when four women there saw Rebecca's film and decided to act. Like Rebecca, they expected opposition from shopkeepers but found that they were pushing an open door. "It's a no-brainer," says one of the Hebden Bridge "bag ladies," "Plastic bags are not greatly loved. They're useful but we don't really need them and people are happy to help try to change things."

[7] More and more towns around Britain and around the world are becoming plastic bag free. It won't solve all of the world's environmental problems but it shows that people are becoming active and starting to think about how the little things in their daily lives can have a big effect in the world. It also shows us that when we watch the news and feel helpless there is something we can do and that one person can make a big change with a strong enough belief.

Activity 1

True or False

Are the sentences true (T) or false (F)

1. Rebecca Hosking is a TV presenter.  F

2. The birds had died because they had eaten plastic.  _

3. Rebecca made a film on the island.  _

4. The asked shopkeepers to use fewer plastic bags.  _

5. Rebecca was surprised by the shopkeepers' answer.  _

6. Other towns followed Modbury's example.  _

Activity 2

Who says it?

Who do you think might say each of these sentences?

Rebecca

A shopkeeper

The Hebden Bridge women

1. "I felt so awful when I was on that beach that I knew I had to do something."

2. "We were inspired by what she did and wanted to follow her example."

3. "It's good for business. Our customers like it that we care about the environment."

4. "I was very nervous about the reaction when I first showed them my film."

5. "One or two people complained but now people bring their own bags with them."

6. "We were the second town to go plastic bag free and we hope there'll be hundreds more."

Activity 3

Adverbs

Complete these sentences from the text.

1. Rebecca Hosking however thought ___.

2. The birds had died because they had ___ eaten some of the plastic.

3. "Plastic bags are not ___ loved," says one of the women.

The missing words are adverbs. They describe a verb. Complete these sentences with one of the adverbs in the box.

happily         slowly        well

4. She speaks English very ___.

5. The children played ___ in the sunshine.

6. He walked ___ across the room towards me.

Activity 4

Think about

What do people use to carry their shopping in your country? Do people use a lot of plastic bags.

Word of the week

A no-brainer is a decision that's very easy to make because the correct choice is so obvious.

Answers

Activity 1

1. F (she's a camerawoman); 2. T; 3. T; 4. F (she asked them to stop using plastic bags); 5. T; 6. T.

Activity 2

1. Rebecca; 2. The Hebden Bridge women; 3. A shopkeeper; 4. Rebecca; 5. A shopkeeper; 6. The Hebden Bridge women.

Activity 3

1. differently; 2. accidentally; 3. greatly; 4. well; 5. happily; 6. slowly.