首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Up to 600 stations for monitoring air pollution across England could be shut down under new government plans to save money by cu
Up to 600 stations for monitoring air pollution across England could be shut down under new government plans to save money by cu
admin
2016-03-10
49
问题
Up to 600 stations for monitoring air pollution across England could be shut down under new government plans to save money by cutting regulations.
Ministers want to remove obligations on local authorities to assess air quality in their areas, resulting in less monitoring. But environmental campaigners are accusing them of trying to hide one of the country’s biggest public health problems.
Government advisers have estimated that one type of pollutant—miniscule(微小的)particles from diesel engines, fossil fuel power stations and other sources—is killing 29,000 people a year in the UK, and costing health services about £16 billion.
But European air pollution limits meant to protect health are being breached in urban areas across the country, with the highest levels in London. According to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs(Defra), the limits for the toxic exhaust gas, nitrogen dioxide, were exceeded in 40 of the UK’s 43 air quality zones in 2010.
But now Defra has launched a six-week consultation, due to close on 30 August, proposing a radical overhaul of the local air quality management regime that has been in place since 1997. The proposals are aimed at helping meet ministers’ "red tape challenge" to roll back legislation in order to help businesses(choice).
The favoured option is to drop existing requirements for councils to make detailed assessments of air pollution. Defra’s analysis shows that this could lead to the closure of 600 monitoring sites, all of which measure nitrogen dioxide and a quarter of which also test for pollution from tiny particles.
The closures could save councils nearly £50m over 10 years, Defra suggests. The proposals only apply to England, and have been rejected by the Scottish government on the grounds that they "would deliver no obvious benefit".
"The UK government wants to hide air pollution and cares nothing for public health," said Simon Birkett, director of the campaign group, Clean Air in London. He points out that the consultation is taking place in the summer holidays and describes the financial saving as illusory.
He added: "Worse, the changes would mean the loss of key protections in the planning system and the very monitors and expertise needed now to improve air quality."
Prof. Duncan Laxen, the managing director of Air Quality Consultants in Bristol, said that much of our understanding of air pollution has come from local authority monitoring: "It will be a retrograde step if the government’s preferred option is to lose this local knowledge. "
Defra insisted that the aim is to "reinvigorate and refocus" local air quality management. It said that the current regime was "diagnosis driven" and that "the level of local reporting can distract resources from air quality improvement".
It can be inferred that the closures have been refused by the Scottish government for the reason that______.
选项
A、little money could be saved for the government
B、they would gain no conspicuous benefits
C、they were rejected by the Scottish people
D、they would distract resources from air quality improvement
答案
B
解析
推断题。第七段第二句给出了具体的原因:The proposals…have been rejected by theScottish government on the grounds that they“would deliver no obvious benefit”.[B]是对该句的转述,故为答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/1hPK777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
Theseniorlibrarianatthecirculationdeskpromisedtogetthebookforme______sheshouldrememberwholastborrowedit.
Allofthetechnologicaladvancesthathaveincreasedthequalityofmusichavenotchangedthefundamentalimpactofrecordedm
Allofthetechnologicaladvancesthathaveincreasedthequalityofmusichavenotchangedthefundamentalimpactofrecordedm
Individualsportsarerunbyover370independentgovernmentbodieswhosefunctionsusuallyinclude______rules,holdingevents
Whichofthefollowingitalicizedpartsindicatesaresult?
WhichofthefollowingitalicizedpartsisNOTusedasanattribute?
Whichofthefollowingitalicizedpartsisapredicativeclause?
Decayingplantmaydoharmtoitsnearbycounterparts.Theunderlinedpartmeans______.
Demonstratorsinthesquareshouted"______withtherebels"repeatedly.
随机试题
治疗气滞血瘀型痛经的最佳方剂是:治疗肝肾虚损型痛经的最佳方剂是:
灌注无牙颌石膏模型时,厚度不应少于多少毫米()
下列各项,不属急性肾炎临床特征的是
在以下对乳剂的叙述中,不正确的是
根据《安全色》(GB2893—2001)规定,安全色是表达安全信息含义的颜色,安全色分为红、黄、蓝、绿四种颜色,其中蓝色表示( )。
对外加工业务必须由具有对外贸易经营权的企业对外签约并自行进行加工。()
甲公司2011年1月1日销售给乙公司一批商品,价税合计117000元,协议规定乙公司于2011年6月30日支付全部货款。2011年6月30日,由于乙公司经营困难,无法支付全部的货款,双方协商进行债务重组。下面情况不符合债务重组定义的是()。
若函数f(x)=√x+lnx,则函数在x=1处的斜率为()
公安机关办理刑事案件,()收集证据。
2017年6月,我国科学家利用“墨子号”量子科学实验卫星在国际上率先成功实现了千公里级的星地双向量子纠缠分发。“量子纠缠”就是两个(或多个)粒子共同组成的量子状态,无论粒子之间相隔多远,测量其中一个粒子必然会影响其他粒子。“量子纠缠”现象虽然未被完全认知,
最新回复
(
0
)