Polyester is now being used for bottles. ICI, the chemicals and plastics company believes that it is now beginning to break the grip of glass on the bottle business and thus take advantage of this huge market.
    All the plastics manufacturers have been experiencing hard times as their traditional products have been doing badly world-wide for the last few years. Between 1982 and 1984 the Plastics Division of ICI had lost a hundred and twenty million dollars, and they felt that the most hopeful new market was in packaging, bottles and cans.
    Since 1982 it has opened three new factories producing ‘Melinar', the raw material from which high quality polyester bottles are made.
    The polyester bottle was born in the 1970s, when soft drinks companies like Coca Cola started selling their drinks in giant two-litre containers. Because of the build-up of the pressure of gas in these large containers, glass was unsuitable. Nor was PVC, the plastic which had been used for bottles since the 1960s, suitable for drinks with gas in them. A new plastic had to be made.
    Glass is still cheaper for the smaller bottles, and will continue to be so unless oil and plastic become much cheaper, but plastic does well for the larger sizes.
    Polyester bottles are virtually unbreakable. The manufacturers claim they are also lighter, less noisy when being handled, and can be re-used. Shopkeepers and other business people are unlikely to object to a change from glass to polyester, since these bottles mean few breakages, which are costly and time-consuming. The public, though, have been more difficult to persuade. ICI's commercial department is developing different bottles with interesting shapes, to try and make them visually more attractive to the public.
    The next step could be to develop a plastic which could replace tins for food. The problem here is the high temperatures necessary for cooking the food in the container.
单选题     In the 1980's the plastics manufacturers came to realize that they ______.
 
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】 细节题。根据题干中出现的80年代，可以定位到文章第二段。由第二段最后一句“they felt that the most hopeful new market was in packaging, bottles and cans”可知，塑料厂商意识到他们要开发包装材料、瓶子和罐子产品。因此A选项为正确答案，B、C、D选项中的信息在文中都没有体现。
单选题     The reason why ICI's Plastic Division is interested in polyester bottles is that ______.
 
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】 细节题。答题信息在第二段第一句“as their traditional products have been doing badly world-wide for the last few years”，这里提到他们的传统产品过去几年在全世界范围内销量都很不好，所以D项是正确答案。
单选题     We may infer that the public ______.
 
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】 推理题。答题信息在文章倒数第二段倒数第二句话“The public, though, have been more difficult to persuade”，这里提到要说服公众接受把玻璃换成聚酯产品有些困难，可见D选项“公众更喜欢传统的玻璃瓶”符合题意。
单选题     Manufacturers believe that polyester bottles are ______.
 
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】 细节题。由倒数第二段前两句话可知，生产商认为聚酯产品“unbreakable”、“lighter”、“less noisy when being handled, and can be re-used”，因此A、B、C选项中的内容都有体现，所以正确答案应该为D选项。
单选题     It is implied but not directly stated that ICI, the chemicals and plastics company ______.
 
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】 推理题。题干中问到文中没有直接说明但是暗含的内容，因而首先可以排除B项,因为文中有直接说明。C选项和D选项不符合题意，因为ICI塑料生产商没有满足于现状，正在努力开发新产品，因而只有A项为正确答案。