The Truth about the Environment练习刘自知

请选择请选择请填写请填写 四级 六级试题编号YUEXIE 托福提交日期2012年07月20日 雅思Y 级级 别别 GRE GMAT 01 Y N NG 02 选择题 03 分类题 04 句子插入 作者 题目 来源 The Truth about the Environment 05 配对题 06 图表题 篇 幅 1003 words 题题 型型 07 简答题 选选 材材 题材 关键 词 自然环境 global warming greenhouse gases El Nino carbon dioxide emissions environmental groups The Truth about the Environment 1 For many environmentalists the world seems to be getting worse They have developed a hit list of our main fears That natural resources are running out that the population is ever growing leaving less and less to eat that species are becoming extinct in vast numbers and that the planet s air and water are becoming ever more polluted 2 But a quick look at the facts shows a different picture First energy and other natural resources have become more abundant not less so since the book The Limits to Growth was published in 1972 by a group of scientists Second more food is now produced per head of the world s population than at any time in history Fewer people are starving Third although species are indeed becoming extinct only about 0 7 of them are expected to disappear in the next 50 years not 25 50 as has so often been predicted And finally most forms of environmental pollution either appear to have been exaggerated or are transient associated with the early phases of industrialization and therefore best cured not by restricting economic growth but by accelerating it One form of pollution the release of greenhouse gases that causes global warming does appear to be a phenomenon that is going to extend well into our future but its total impact is unlikely to pose a devastating problem A bigger problem may well turn out to be an inappropriate response to it 3 Yet opinion polls suggest that many people nurture the belief that environmental standards are declining and four factors seems to cause this disjunction between perception and reality 4 One is lopsidedness built into scientific research Scientific funding goes mainly to areas with many problems That may be wise policy but it will also create an impression that many more potential problems exist than is the case 5 Secondly environmental groups need to be noticed by the mass media They also need to keep the money rolling in Understandably perhaps they sometimes overstate their arguments In 1997 for example the World Wide Fund for Nature issued a press release entitled Two thirds of the world s forests lost forever The truth turns out to be nearer 20 6 Though these groups are run overwhelmingly by selfless folk they nevertheless share many of the characteristics of other lobby groups That would matter less if people applied the same degree of skepticism to environmental lobbying as they do to lobby groups in other fields A trade organization arguing for I Surveying the Text 1 Look at the title and quickly go over the beginning three paragraphs and decide what the topic issue of this passage is Topic Issue the reality truth about the environment Are the environmental standards declining 2 Read the first sentence of each paragraph What is the author s general point Is this general point explicitly stated thesis statement or implied The author believes that many people have misconceptions about the reality of the environment This main argument is revealed in paragraph 3 3 The author s purpose is a To inform the readers of the deterioration of the environment b To urge the readers to take actions against the falling environmental standards c To compare and contrast the perception and the reality of the environment d To offer his opinion by discussing the causes of the misconception that the environment is getting worse e To propose solutions to the environmental problems 4 How many causes of the distortion of perception about the environment are discussed 4 5 What particular environmental issue has been raised and discussed at length The author concedes that global warming might be an indication of declining environment standards Para 2 but he questions the severity of the problem and challenges the responses to this problem Para 9 11 say weaker pollution controls is instantly seen as self interested Yet a green organization opposing such a weakening is seen as altruistic even if an impartial view of the controls in question might suggest they are doing more harm than good 7 A third source of confusion is the attitude of the media People are clearly more curious about bad news than good Newspapers and broadcasters are there to provide what the public wants That however can lead to significant distortions of perception An example was America s encounter with El Nino in 1997 and 1998 This climatic phenomenon was accused of wrecking tourism causing allergies melting the ski slopes and causing 22 deaths However according to an article in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society the damage it did was estimated at US 4 billion but the benefits amounted to some US 19billion These came from higher winter temperatures which saved an estimated 850 lives reduced heating costs and diminished spring floods caused by meltwaters 8 The fourth factor is poor individual perception People worry that the endless rise in the amount of stuff everyone throws away will cause the world to run out of places to dispose of waste Yet even if America s trash output continues to rise as it has done in the past and even if the American population doubles by 2100 all the rubbish America produces through the entire 21st century will still take up only one 12 000th of the area of the entire Untied States 9 So what of global warming As we know carbon dioxide emissions are causing the planet to warm The best estimates are that the temperatures will rise by 2 3 in this century causing considerable problems at a total cost of US 5 000 billion 10 Despite the intuition that something drastic needs to be done about such a costly problem economic analyses clearly show it will be far more expensive to cut carbon dioxide emissions radically than to pay the costs of adaptation to the increased temperatures A model by one of the main authors of the United Nations Climate Change Panel shows how an expected temperature increase of 2 1 degrees in 2100 would only be diminished to an increase of 1 9 degrees Or to put it another way the temperature increase that the planet would have experienced in 2094 would be postponed to 2100 11 So this does not prevent global warming but merely buys the world six years Yet the cost of reducing carbon dioxide emissions for the United States alone will be higher II Text Structure Analysis 1 What is the function of Para 1 Possible Answer Introduction of they say The first paragraph summarizes the environmentalists view of a deteriorating environment 2 What is the function of Para 2 Possible Answer To generate I say from what they say The author argues against the environmentalists claim basically by using facts and figures countering each and every sub claims of the environmentalists in the first paragraph A typical disagree but explain why framework 3 What is the function of the first sentence in Para 3 Possible Answer Revealing the thesis the unifying idea of the entire passage The author formally sets up his claims Misconception is prevalent and there are four reasons to account for that 6 What is the function of Para 9 11 Possible Answer Entertaining counterclaims for objectivity in overall argument Global warming is a major point of contention in the general discussion of environment reality as revealed in Para 2 The author s rebuttal to this counterclaim is not substantiated by evidence in Para 2 so in these three paragraphs he refuted the conception of global warming and the common responses towards it with detailed reasoning and statistics arguing mainly from the economic perspective 7 What is the function of the last paragraph Possible answer Rather than summarizing his points the author brings the readers to a complex understanding of the issue This is a climax of the text than the cost of solving the world s single most pressing health problem providing universal access to clean drinking water and sanitation Such measures would avoid 2 million deaths every year and prevent half a billion people from becoming seriously ill 12 It is crucial that we look at the facts if we want to make the best possible decisions for the future It may be costly to be overly optimistic but more costly still to be too pessimistic III Evaluating the effectiveness of argument e g 5 Secondly environmental groups need to be noticed by the mass media They also need to keep the money rolling in Understandably perhaps they sometimes overstate their arguments In 1997 for example the World Wide Fund for Nature issued a press release entitled Two thirds of the world s forests lost forever The truth turns out to be nearer 20 6 Though these groups are run overwhelmingly by selfless folk they nevertheless share many of the characteristics of other lobby groups That would matter less if people applied the same degree of skepticism to environmental lobbying as they do to lobby groups in other fields A trade organization arguing for say weaker pollution controls is instantly seen as self interested Yet a green organization opposing such a weakening is seen as altruistic even if an impartial view of the controls in question might suggest they are doing more harm than good Supporting Claims Reasons to back up the thesis statement Evidence Support Example Minor supporting details Opinion environmental groups are like lobby groups but they are less likely to be picked at I Text structure and text summary This is an argumentative essay that questions the general misconception of a deteriorating environment and analyzes the factors contributing to the disjunction between the perception and reality The passage begins with a target that is to be disapproved in the following paragraph The major part of the passage deals with the reasons for the distorted perception of the environmental reality A counterargument is raised and refuted near the end of passage to reinforce the strength of argument II Words and phrases The language is formal and academic III Cultural Items Technological terms global warming greenhouse gases El Nino carbon dioxide emissions lobbying group IV Overall difficulty level in terms of vocabulary sentence length article length topic familiarity V Reading Skills to be addressed 1Reading for specific information What where who when why how 2Reading for main ideas inferring linking ideas and ellipsis cohesion reference 3 Evaluating the text purpose text organization 4 Figurative languages 5 Humor through exaggeration through irony Questions 27 32 Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in the passage Yes No Not Given 27 Environmentalists take a pessimistic view of the world for a number of reasons Y 28 Data on the Earth s natural resources has only been collected since 1972 NG 29 The number of starving people in the world has increased in recent years N 30 Extinct species are being replaced by new species NG 31 Some pollution problems have been correctly linked to industrialization Y 32 It would be best to attempt to slow down economic growth N Question 33 What aspect of scientific research does the writer express concern about in paragraph 4 A the need to produce results B the lack of financial support C the selection of areas to research D the desire to solve every research problem Question 34 The writer quotes from the Worldwide Fund for Nature to illustrate how A influential the mass media can be B effective environmental groups can be C the mass media can help groups raise funds D environmental groups can exaggerate their claims Question 35 What is the writer s main point about lobby groups in paragraph 6 A Some are more active than others B Some are better organized than others C some receive more criticism than others D Some support more important issues than others Question 36 The writer suggests that newspapers print items that are intended to A educate readers B meet their readers expectations C encourage feedback from readers D mislead readers Question 37 What does the writer say about America s waste problem A It will increase in line with population growth B It is not as important as we have been led to believe C It has been reduced through public awareness of the issues D It is only significant in certain areas of the country Question 38 40 The writer admits that global warming is a 38 challenge but says that it will not have a catastrophic impact on our future if we deal with it in the 39 way If we try to reduce the levels of greenhouse gases he believes that it would only have a minimal impact on rising temperatures He feels it would be better to spend money on the more 40 health problem of providing the world s population with clean drinking water A unrealistic B agreedC expensiveD right E long term F usual G surprisingH personal I urgent Vocabulary and Sentence Exercises Exercise 1 Directions The word underlined in each of the following sentences might have a meaning you don t know Try to use context hints or clues in order to make up a definition Write your own definition in the blank space given below the sentence 1 Third although species are indeed becoming extinct only about 0 7 of them are expected to disappear in the next 50 years not 25 50 as has so often been predicted Para 2 extinct 2 that the population is ever growing leaving less and less to eat Fewer people are starving Para 2 starve 3 And finally most forms of environmental pollution either appear to have been exaggerated or are transient associated with the early phases of industrialization and therefore best cured not by restricting economic growth but by accelerating it Para 2 transient 4 Yet opinion polls suggest that many people nurture the belief that environmental standards are declining and four factors seems to cause this disjunction between perception and reality Para 3 disjunction perception 5 One is lopsidedness built into scientific research Scientific funding goes mainly to areas with many problems Para 4 lopsidedness 6 Understandably perhaps they sometimes overstate their arguments In 1997 for example the World Wide Fund for Nature issued a press release entitled Two thirds of the world s forests lost forever The truth turns out to be nearer 20 Para 5 overstate 7 That would matter less if people applied the same degree of skepticism to environmental lobbying as they do to lobby groups in other fields A trade organization arguing for say weaker pollution controls is instantly seen as self interested Yet a green organization opposing such a wakening is seen as altruistic even if an impartial view of the controls in question might suggest they are doing more harm than good Para 6 skepticism altruistic 8 That however can lead to significant distortions of perception An example was America s encounter with El Nino in 1997 and 1998 Para 7 distortion 9 A model by one of the main authors of the United Nations Climate Change Panel shows how an expected temperature increase of 2 1 degrees in 2100 would only be diminished to an increase of 1 9 degrees Para 10 diminish 10 It may be costly to be overly optimistic but more costly still to be too pessimistic Para 12 overly Exercise 2 Directions Read the following sentences First decide what each underlined part refers to then use your own words to paraphrase the sentences 1 That may be wise policy but it will also create an impression that many more potential problems exist than is the case Para 4 that it Paraphrasing 2 That would matter less if people applied the same degree of skepticism to environmental lobbying as they do to lobby groups in other fields Para 6 that Paraphrasing 3 Yet a green organization opposing such a weakening is seen as altruistic even if an impartial view of the controls in question might suggest they are doing more harm than good Para 6 such a weakening they Paraphrasing 4 Newspapers and broadcasters are there to provide what the public wants That however can lead to significant distortions of perception Para 7 what the public wants that Paraphrasing 5 Despite the intuition that something drastic needs to be done about such a costly problem economic analyses clearly show it will be far more expensive to cut carbon dioxide emissions radically than to pay the costs of adaptation to the increased temperatures Para 10 such a costly problem Paraphrasing 6 So this does not prevent global warming but merely buys the world six years Para 11 this Paraphrasing 7 Such measures would avoid 2 million deaths every year and prevent half a billion people from becoming seriously ill Para 11 such measures Paraphrasing Exercise 3 Directions Fill in each of the blanks in the following sentences with a word or phrase chosen from the list given below Change the form where necessary develop resourceextinct response perception potential predict diminish impact nurtureconsiderablesource despite abundantintuitionexaggerate starvepressingallergyoverwhelm postponeimpartial accessdevastate estimate ataccuse of dispose of adapt to be expected to amount tobuild inlead to take upapply toroll inbe seen as prevent from 1 The most frequent to the first question were descriptions which are self evident from the term rainforest 2 The history of human civilisation is entwined with the history of the ways we have learned to manipulate water 3 And yet most of us have had the experience of having to adjust to sleeping in the mountains or the countryside because it was initially too quiet an experience that suggests that humans are capable of to a wide range of noise levels 4 While the Inuit may not actually starve if hunting and trapping are curtailed by climate change there has certainly been a n on people s health 5 As towns gradually expanded water was brought from increasingly remote leading to sophisticated engineering efforts such as dams and aqueducts 6 According to Manto