Speed Reading — Single-use Plastics - Level 6 — 500 wpm 

Now do this put-the-text-back-together activity.

This is the text (if you need help).

China has unveiled ambitious plans to drastically reduce single-use plastics by 2025. China's National Development and Reform Commission is fast-tracking a number of measures designed to slash the production and use of plastics over the next five years. It announced that by the end of 2020, non-biodegradable plastic bags will be banned in supermarkets and shopping malls in major cities. The ban will also apply to food delivery services, which use vast amounts of the plastics. Single-use plastic straws and cutlery used by food takeaway services will be banned nationwide by the end of this year. China will encourage the use of alternative materials such as non-plastic products and biodegradable shopping bags.

Single-use plastics are one of the world's biggest sources of plastic pollution. They have become a ubiquitous part of daily life and a part of our throwaway culture. The Chinese authorities set a goal of reducing the "intensity of consumption" in order to reverse our reliance on single-use plastics. Previous regulations to curb plastic use, in 2008, led to an estimated cut in plastic bag production of 67 billion bags. The United Nations said it is urgent that all countries adopt policies similar to those China is introducing. It said: "We are already unable to cope with the amount of plastic waste we generate, unless we rethink the way we manufacture, use and manage plastics."

Comprehension questions
  1. What has China done to ambitious plans to reduce single-use plastics?
  2. What is China doing to measures to slash the production of plastic bags?
  3. By when will non-biodegradable plastic bags be banned in supermarkets?
  4. What will takeaways not be able to use besides plastic straws and bags?
  5. What is China encouraging the use of besides non-plastic products?
  6. What adjective described how much plastics are part of our life?
  7. What kind of culture did the article say single-use plastics were part of?
  8. What did China say we needed to reverse?
  9. What did the UN say it was urgent for other countries to adopt?
  10. What did the UN say we were unable to cope with?

Back to the single-use plastics lesson.

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