Part V Cloze

The Truth About Plastic

By BRYAN WALSH Thursday, July 10, 2008 (Time magazine)

If you know where to find a good plastic-free shampoo, can you tell Jeanne Haegele? Last September, the 28-year-old Chicago resident （62. resolved） to cut plastics out of her life. The marketing coordinator was concerned about （63. what）the chemicals coming out of some common types of plastic might be doing to her body. She was also worried about the damage all the plastic （64. rubbish） was doing to the environment. So she（ 65. hopped） on her bike and rode to the nearest grocery store to see what she could find that didn't （66. include） plastic. "I went in and（67. barely） bought anything," Haegele says. She did （68. purchase） some canned food and a carton (纸盒) of milk---（69. only） to discover later that both containers were （70. lined） with plastic resin(树脂). "Plastic," she says, "just seemed like it was in everything."

She's right. Back in the 1960s, plastic was well （71. on） its way to becoming a staple of American life. The U.S. produced 28 million tons of plastic waste in 2005--27 million tons of which （72. ended） up in landfills. Our food and water come （73. wrapped） in plastic. It's used in our phones and our computers, the cars we drive and the planes we ride in. But the （74. infinitely） adaptable substance has its dark side. Environmentalists fret about the petroleum needed to make it. Parents worry about the possibility of （75.toxic） chemicals making their way from （76. household） plastic into children's bloodstreams. Which means Haegele isn't the only person trying to cut plastic out of her life--she isn't （77. even） the only one blogging about this kind of （78. endeavor）. But those who've tried know it's （79. far）from easy to go plastic-free. "These things seem to be so common （80. that） it is practically impossible to avoid coming into （81. contact）with them," says Frederick vom Saal, a biologist at the University of Missouri.