Question

Humankind has tried to improve its standard of living since the very beginning of civili­zation. Back then, as well as today, providing food and security was the basic task for a per­son. However, nowadays the range of required goods has expanded significantly. People feel the need for not only some primary things, such as a piece of bread and a roof over their heads, but also for various facilities and luxuries. Providing humanity with these things is connected to the use of natural resources, which requires energy. In turn, the common sources of energy we use today cause pollution, so economic growth is almost unavoidably as­sociated with environmental damage.

Economic growth is the increase in numbers of goods and services produced over time by an economy, and it is calculated in terms of real Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Before growth is calculated, inflation (通货膨胀)is adjusted in order to take into account its mis­leading effect on the price of goods and services. Economic growth can also be explained as the increase in expected output, which results from an increase in actual output, or total de­mand.

There are certain aspects of economic growth which affect the environment. The first of these is the fact that in order to produce more goods and products, at a faster rate, the con­struction of large industrial plants is required. These plants produce a lot of waste, leading to the pollution of water and the atmosphere, which may cause negative long term health effects to nearby populations of animals, or people. They also lead to global warming.

Industrial manufacturing leads to the constantly increasing energy consumption. The traditional energy sources, which are commonly used nowadays, are considered to be the greatest polluters to the environment. There also exist so-called eco-friendly sources of energy. They are sometimes preferred but replacing the traditional sources with them also requires time, during which people have to make some sacrifices to support these undertak­ings.

In order to produce economically practical energy, a sometimes significant transforma­tion of the natural site is often inevitable. This is expensive and, has harmful effects on the environment. Application of wind energy would block airflows’ natural speed which is the reason for their decrease in strength, after crossing the windmill. Consequently, the pres­sure balance that is brought about by this current will be affected, and it is important to re­member that the environment and weather conditions are directly affected by atmospheric pressure.

For these reasons, bringing about economic growth without any resulting environmental damage, whatsoever, is impossible.

1.What does the passage mainly talk about?

A． Pollution caused by plant construction.

B． Effects of windmills on the environment.

C． Economic growth and human civilization.

D． Economic growth and environmental damage.

2.What does the underlined word “They” in the third paragraph refer to?

A．Goods and products                     B．The industrial plants

C． Water and atmosphere                  D．Negative health effects

3.According to the passage, the author holds the opinion that ______.

A． economic growth should be calculated in terms of GDP

B． use of natural resources causes no damage to the environment

C． industrial manufacturing may cause damage to the environment

D． a windmill is a perfect way to produce economically practical energy

4.Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.D

2.B

3.C

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：本文讲述的是经济发展和环境破坏之间的关系。

1.D 主旨大意题。根据文章主题段第一段最后一句In turn, the common sources of energy we use today cause pollution, so economic growth is almost unavoidably as­sociated with environmental damage.可知本文讲述的是经济发展和环境破坏之间的关系。故D正确。

2.B 推理题。根据第三段最后4行These plants produce a lot of waste, leading to the pollution of water and the atmosphere, which may cause negative long term health effects to nearby populations of animals, or people. They also lead to global warming.

可知they就是指前句的The industrial plants，故B正确。

3.C 推理题。根据文章第三段可知作者认为经济的发展尤其是制造业的工厂一定会带来环境的破坏和污染，故C正确。

4.B 篇章结构题。文章第一段是总，接下来2段是分论点，4,5，6段是对第3段的解释。故B正确。

考点：考查经济环境类短文阅读

点评：本文讲述的是经济发展和环境破坏之间的关系。要求考生读懂文章中的每个句子的意思还要推理它们之间的关系，结合自己的生活常识和经验，再通过逻辑推理和判断，理解文章的言外之意，从而揭示文章的深层涵义。任何一篇文章都有其特定的写作目的，读者应当知道如何去做或按照某种方式传递思考问题。推理判断题的答案不可能在文章中直接找到，因此推理时我们务必要忠于原文，在文章中寻找并确定可推论的依据，即：已知部分－推论的前提，从中推测出未知部分－推理的结论，切忌妄加评论，把自己的观点当成作者的观点。