Name Summarizing Skills: Identifying Key Points DIRECTIONS: Read the passage. Then answer the questions. In 2015, humans used about 300 million metric tons of plastic, or 88 pounds per person per year. Modern plastic products are derived from Coal, oil, or natural gas. Prior to 1907, we used naturally derived polymers like animal horn and rubber. Because of how they are manufactured, modern polymers cannot be recycled. Neither do they biodegrade. This means that they can sit in a landfill or litter the landscape, unchanged, for thousands of years. Theoretically, the plastic used to make straw, polypropylene, is recyclable, but people rarely recycle straws—they simply throw them in the trash. Because they are small and lightweight, discarded straws also. have a habit of drifting out to sea, where they eventually join the 79-thousand-ton island of trash floating in the Pacific Ocean. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, as it has become known, is twice the size of Texas, and is composed almost entirely of plastic, including straws, containers, bottles, lids, bottle caps, packaging straps, ropes, and fishing nets. it would seem that straws alone are hardly the lynchpin in solving the plastic solution problem, and yet itis straws that have recently been banned in some states. The anti-straw movement gained traction after a 2015 video of a turtle with a straw stuck up his nose went viral. Although the straw was removed, the turtle became a symbol for what plastic is doing to the planet. Some people believe that banning straws is a. good place to start, with the idea that we have to start somewhere in solving the plastic problem. Others believe that the ban on plastic straws will barely make a dent in the problem, The real solution, it would seem lies in learning to live with a lot less plastic in our lives, which means taking on the monumental job of changing human habitual behavior. 1. Which of the following is the main idea of the passage? A, Plastic straws do more damage to the environment than any other form of plastic. 8. The biggest victims of plastic trash are the sea turtles. C. Modem plastic, which cannot be recycled and does not biodegrade, is damaging the environment. D. Banning plastic straws will not help the problems caused by discarded plastic. 2. Which of the following would best be LEFT OUT of a summary of the passage? A. In 2015, humans used about 300 million metric tons of plastic. 8. Modern polymers cannot be recycled. Neither do they biodegrade. C.a 2015 video of a turtle with a straw stuck up his nose went viral. D. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of Texas. ©Qwww.easyteacherworksheets.com