A 23-year-old British woman has invented a product she hopes will one day replace single-use plastic.
   The new product is made by combining fishing waste and algae (水藻).It could be used to replace plastic bags or containers that people use once and throw away. Lucy Hughes created the material, called MarinaTex, for her final year project at the University.
   MarinaTex is edible, to put it in another way, it can be tasted without danger. Hughes says it is also strong and stable. But unlike plastic, MarinaTex biodegrades (生物降解)in four to six weeks under normal conditions and does not pollute the soil. The inventor said she is concerned about the growing amounts of plastics in ocean waters. She noted one report that there would be more plastic than fish in the world's oceans by the year 2050. The United Nations estimates that 100 million tons of plastic waste has already been left in the oceans. Hughes also was investigating ways to reduce the amount of waste from the fishing industry. The industry produces an estimated 50 million tons of waste worldwide each year, UN officials say.
Examining fish parts left over from processing helped to give her the idea for a material that was useful and did no harm to the environment. “Why do we need to have hundreds of man-made polymers (聚合体)when nature has so many already available?" she asked. After months of testing, Hughes produced a strong, flexible sheet that forms at temperatures below 100 degrees Celsius. Inventor James Dyson said that MarinaTex is “stronger, safer and much more sustainable (可持续的)”than plastic. It is also easier to break down. Hughes will receive about $ 41,000 prize money as the first place winner of the James Dyson Award. She plans to use the money to further develop the product and ways to mass produce it. "Further research and development will ensure that MarinaTex evolves further, and becomes part of a global answer to the abundance of single use plastic waste," Dyson said.
72. What do we know about MarinaTex?
A. It is a safe seafood.
B. It is a kind of waste.
C. It is a new kind of plastic.
D. It is a safe material that can replace plastic.
73. What does the underlined word “edible" in paragraph 2 mean?
A. Useful. B. Eatable.
C. Replaceable. D. Delicious.
74. What gets Hughes to creat MarinaTex?
A. Her concern about the growing amount of plastic in ocean.
B. Her occupational habit of trying out new things.
C. Her hope to help develop the fishing industry.
D. Her desire to win the prize money.
75. What can we infer from the last paragrach?
A. We need to have hundreds of MarinaTex available.
B. Hughes produced MarinaTex without much effort.
C. MarinaTex will be a good solution to plastic waste.
D. Hughes is the first winner of the James Dyson Award.
【答案】72. D    73. B    74. A    75. C
【解析】