高考◆英语◆湖北省題庫下載題庫

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Downing the last drop of an expensive famous brand H2O as well as remembering to throw the empty bottle in the recycling bin, makes you feel pretty good about yourself, right? It shouldn’t. Even when the bottles are recycled, there are all kinds of other consequences of swallowing bottled water, says Melissa Peffers, the air-quality program manager for Environmental Defense.

The containers are often filled in faraway lands, then shipped from abroad, and storedin refrigerators at your local store. Compare that with the influence on environment of turning on your tap, filling a glass, and drinking up!

Anyone who is choosing bottled water for health reasons is misguided, says Peffers, “Most bottled water is just tap water.” And what comes out of your tap is carefully monitored to follow the strict rules. Consider another fact that bottled water is surprisingly expensive, especially when compared with the alternative, which is almost free, and it is astonishing that America’s desire for bottled water seems impossible to satisfy, reaching nearly 30 billion bottles a year.

“My parents’ generation never had bottled water,” says Isabelle Silverman, an Environmental Defense legal adviser. She has made a commitment to going bottle free. “You don’t need to fetch it home from the store, and it’s cheaper,” she adds.

Bottled water’s role as a status symbol needs to change, Peffers points out. So when a waiter at an expensive restaurant offers  “And what’s your drink?” that’s no reason to forget your conviction（信念）. “Don’t be afraid to say, ‘I’ll have tap.’ Say it loud enough that the other tables nearby can hear you,” Peffers says. “And then spend that money on a dessert.”