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 inevitably(必然地) associated with environmental damage.

Economic growth is the increase in numbers of goods and services produced over time by an economy, and it's 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（必然的，不可避免的）. 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

1.D

2.B

3.C

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：人类一直致力于提高生活质量，食物和安全感是一个人最基本的需要。但是现在，食物的种类已经有了显著的增多。人们需要消耗自然资源来制造生活必需品，反过来，消耗自然资源会造成环境污染。因此，经济增长不可避免地会造成环境的破坏。

1.so economic growth is almost inevitably(必然地) associated with environmental damage”和最后一段“For these reasons, bringing about economic growth without any resulting environmental damage, whatsoever, is impossible.”可知，文章主要讲的是经济增长与环境破坏之间的关系，故选D。

2.These plants produce a lot of waste, leading to the pollution of water and the atmosphere, ... They also lead to global warming.”可知，工厂产生许多废物，污染水源和大气的同时，它们也加剧了全球变暖，说明they指代的是plants，故选B。

3.Industrial manufacturing leads to the constantly increasing energy consumption....are considered to be the greatest polluters...replacing the traditional sources with them also requires time, during which people have to make some sacrifices to support these undertakings”可知，制造业带来了源源不断的能源消耗，而这些能源正是造成污染的“罪魁祸首”，然而，要替代传统能源还需要时间，在此期间，为了经济的发展，人们不得不牺牲环境。由此可见，制造业会对环境造成破坏，故选C。

4.so economic growth is almost inevitably(必然地) associated with environmental damage”可知，第一段是总写；根据第二段“Economic growth is the increase in numbers of goods and services produced over time by an economy”和第三段“There are certain aspects of economic growth which affect the environment.”可知，第二段和第三段是两个分论点；第四段的“Industrial manufacturing”与第三段的“industrial plants”相关，且根据第五段“This is expensive and, has harmful effects on the environment”可知，本段讲的是厂址的迁移，与第四段是并列关系，都是第三段的次要点，故选B。

考点：环保类短文阅读