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 （通貨膨脹） 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】

試題分析：人類一直致力于提高生活質量，食物和安全感是一個人最基本的需要。但是現在，食物的種類已經有了顯著的增多。人們需要消耗自然資源來制造生活必需品，反過來，消耗自然資源會造成環境污染。因此，經濟增長不可避免地會造成環境的破壞。

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，文章主要講的是經濟增長與環境破壞之間的關系，故選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，工廠產生許多廢物，污染水源和大氣的同時，它們也加劇了全球變暖，說明they指代的是plants，故選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，制造業帶來了源源不斷的能源消耗，而這些能源正是造成污染的“罪魁禍首”，然而，要替代傳統能源還需要時間，在此期間，為了經濟的發展，人們不得不犧牲環境。由此可見，制造業會對環境造成破壞，故選C。

4.so economic growth is almost inevitably(必然地) associated with environmental damage”可知，第一段是總寫；根據第二段“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，第二段和第三段是兩個分論點；第四段的“Industrial manufacturing”與第三段的“industrial plants”相關，且根據第五段“This is expensive and, has harmful effects on the environment”可知，本段講的是廠址的遷移，與第四段是并列關系，都是第三段的次要點，故選B。

考點：環保類短文閱讀