Do you know about bioplastic (生物塑料)? It is a kind of plastic. But it is different. Normal plastic is made from chemical materials and takes a very long time to degrade (降解). But bioplastic is good for the environment. It is made by using bacteria (细菌) to process natural sources like vegetable oils, corn or sugar. It can degrade more easily.

But there is a problem with bioplastic. The “food” that bacteria eat is also what we eat. This means that bacteria are competing against humans for the same resources.

Now scientists have found a new way to make bioplastic using two kinds of bacteria and sunlight, according to Newsweek.

One of the bacteria is called synthetic cyanobacteria (合成蓝藻), which can use sunlight to produce sugar. The other kind is Halomonas boliviensis (玻利维亚盐单胞菌), which lives in the salty waters of Bolivia. It eats the sugar that the first bacteria produce and then it can produce polymers (聚合物). Polymers are used to create bioplastics. The way the bacteria store polymers is similar to how humans store fats.

Producing bioplastic with these two bacteria has many advantages. It is 20 times faster than the normal way we produce bioplastic. Also, using these two bacteria saves resources.

First, producing large amounts of bioplastic requires corn and sugar, which are used to feed normal bacteria. And growing corn and sugar needs farmland. But these two special bacteria can just use sunlight. The land that is saved can be used to grow food for humans.

Besides, this process doesn’t need rich land or clean water at all, scientists said to Newsweek.

The next challenge scientists face is that they want to put their lab research into real-world practice. By doing this, bioplastic made with these two bacteria can be widely produced in the future.

【小题1】What’s special about the bioplastic compared to normal plastic?

A．It is easier to transport.	B．It is easier to degrade.
C．It produces no waste.	D．It uses more materials.

【小题2】What problem can bioplastic cause?

A．Humans might have less food to eat.

B．It helps spread harmful bacteria.

C．People are afraid to use bioplastic.

D．It leads to the overuse of chemical materials.

【小题3】What advantages can the new way of making bioplastic have?

A．It only requires farmland.	B．It saves time and resources.
C．It helps kill harmful bacteria.	D．Its process produces lots of fats.

【小题4】What is the main idea of the text?

A．Bacteria can be environmentally friendly.

B．Bacteria are competing with humans for resources.

C．Scientists introduced a new way to fight bacteria.

D．Scientists invented a better way of producing bioplastic.