News feed：Culprits in the plastic crisis

[2020.04.22] 發表

【明報專訊】ACCORDING TO a recent report released by Tearfund, an NGO, beverage giants Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé and Unilever are the main culprits whose products accounted for 500,000 tonnes of plastic waste in six developing countries, a size enough to cover 83 football fields every day! Of the four super polluters, Coca-Cola is the worst, whose emissions surpass those of the other three combined. The NGO said they have a moral responsibility to take action.

A curious crash

LATE last month a helicopter crashed at Tai Lam Country Park near Tsing Tam Village. It was from the Chinese People's Liberation Army Hong Kong garrison (解放軍駐港部隊). The crew members were doing training before the accident, the first ever since the city's return to China. The garrison said afterwards in a statement that no locals were injured and no dwellings were damaged. But it did not disclose the chopper's model and any PLA injuries. It was suspected that the crash had collapsed a transmission tower and damaged some cables.

Outrageous spray caused dismay

THIS is outrageous (難以接受的)! Some public hygiene officers in Bareilly, an Indian city, sprayed people without protective clothes with bleach. The latter were workers returning to their hometowns. The officers were criticised for neglecting workers' health, safety and dignity. The authorities said that the measure was taken to stem the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

■Gear up

According to the passages on this page, answer the following questions.

(1) Many locals were injured by the PLA chopper's crash. ( True / False )

(2) According to the report, Nestlé is the biggest polluter. ( True / False )

(3) Some people in India were sprayed with chemicals by some officials. ( True / False )

(Answers on next text)

■Glossary

beverage (n) 飲料

dwelling (n) 住所

spray (v) 噴

dignity (n) 尊嚴

[Smarties' Power English 第276期]