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
"The world’s environment is surprisingly healthy. Discuss." If that were ail examination topic, most students would tear it apar
"The world’s environment is surprisingly healthy. Discuss." If that were ail examination topic, most students would tear it apar
admin
2010-02-20
39
问题
"The world’s environment is surprisingly healthy. Discuss." If that were ail examination topic, most students would tear it apart, offering a long list of complaints: from local smog (烟雾) to global climate change, from the felling (砍伐) of forests to the extinction of species. The list would largely be accurate, the concern legitimate. Yet the students who should be given the highest marks would actually be those who agreed with the statement. The surprise is how good things are, not how bad.
After all, the world’s population has more than tripled during this century, and world output has risen hugely, so you would expect the earth itself to have been affected. Indeed, if people lived, consumed and produced things in the same way as they did in 1900 (or 1950, or indeed 1980), the world by now would be a pretty disgusting place: smelly, dirty, toxic and dangerous.
But they don’t. The reasons why they don’t, and why the environment has not been ruined, have to do with prices, technological innovation, social change and government regulation in response to popular pressure. That is why today’s environmental problems in the poor countries ought, in principle, to be solvable.
Raw materials have not run out, and show no sign of doing so. Logically, one day they must: the planet is a finite place. Yet it is also very big, and man is very ingenious (有发明天才的). What has happened is that every time a material seems to be running short, the price has risen and, in response, people have looked for new sources of supply, tried to find ways to use less of the material, or looked for a new substitute. For this reason prices for energy and for minerals have fallen in real terms during the century. The same is true for food. Prices fluctuate, in response to harvests, natural disasters and political instability; and when they rise, it takes some time before new sources of supply become available. But they always do, assisted by new farming and crop technology. The longterm trend has been downwards.
It is where prices and markets do not operate properly that this benign (良性的) trend begins to stumble, and the genuine problems arise. Markets cannot always keep the environment healthy. If no one owns the resource concerned, no one has an interest in conserving it or festering it: fish is the best example of this.
One of the reasons why the longterm trend of prices has been downwards is that ______.
选项
A、technological innovation can promote social stability
B、political instability will cause consumption to drop
C、new farming and crop technology can lead to overproduction
D、new sources are always becoming available
答案
D
解析
细节判断题。文章倒数第二段“people have looked for new sources of supply, ... For this reason prices for energy and for minerals have fallen in real terms...”说明从长远来看,价格处于下降趋势的原因之一应该是总能找到新的能源,即选项D)。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/7ut7777K
0
大学英语四级
相关试题推荐
Wheredopesticides(杀虫剂)fitintothepictureofenvironmentaldisease?Wehaveseenthattheynowpollutesoil,water,andfood
A、Verywell.B、Justso-so.C、Excellently.D、Terribly.DHowdidMatthewbehaveatschool?
A、Findinghouses,trainingforjobs,medicaltreatment.B、Treatmentforthosewhousedrugsoralcohol,findingplacestolive,
Wecanmakeupourmindsaboutsomepeoplewithinonlysevensecondsofmeetingthem.Whenyouenteraroomfullofpeople,you
Wecanmakeupourmindsaboutsomepeoplewithinonlysevensecondsofmeetingthem.Publicspeakersoftenconfusetheiraudie
A、ToputthehomeworkonDon’sdesk.B、ToleavethemasterkeyforDon.C、TogiveDon’sstudentsthenextassignmeat.D、Tocall
A、Therearemorecandidatesthanbefore.B、Themodernindustryisdevelopingslowly.C、Thewrittenexaminationsaremucheasier
A、Manystudentspostponefindingjobstoworkforahigherdegree.B、Graduatestudentsusuallyspecializeinaparticularfield
Forthispart,youareallowedthirtyminutestowriteacompositiononthetopic:Collegestudentsrentinghousesoutsidethec
A、Therewerenomotoristscomingandgoing.B、Themotoristsdrovetooslowly.C、Sometwostudentsplayedatrick.D、Thepolicep
随机试题
酸温气香,温通筋脉的药物为
男,胎龄40周,经阴分娩,顺产,体重为3200g,体格检查无任何畸形和疾病。其1周内可以出现下列生理现象,但不包括
某企业向银行借贷一笔资金,按月计息,月利率为1.2%,则年名义利率和年实际利率分别为()。
政府建设行政主管部门在一次对管辖区域内的监理工程师大清查的活动中,发现了许多平时并未暴露出来的问题和违法违规行为,部分统计信息如下:(1)A监理公司的职员王某,未取得《监理工程师执业资格证书》、《监理工程师注册证书》和执业印章,为某工程中以监理工程
水泥混凝土路面在混凝土摊铺前应全面检查模板的间隔、润滑及()等项内容。
根据《中华人民共和国公司法》的规定,在法定账册以外勇立会计账册的,应责令改正,处以一定数额的罚款。该一定数额的罚款为()。
教学是教儿童,不是单纯教教材,要展开真正的学习,儿童必须参与教学过程。有意义的学习只有在教材同学生自身的目的发生关系,由学生去认知时,才能产生。持这一主张的是()
管理层次是指行政组织横向结构的等级层次。()
“俟新棉出,以钱贸于东之人,委积肆中,高下若霜雪。即有抱布者踵门,较其中幅,以时估之,棉与布交易而退”;“村民入市,买棉归诸妇,妇女日业于此,且篝灯相从夜作,亦一月得四十五日工。计日成匹,旋以易棉,蚩蚩续来不已”。这两段史料描述了()的经营状况。
Wewouldallappreciateahealthywork-lifebalance,buteventhoseofuswhotrytorelaxoutsidetheofficearefrustratedby
最新回复
(
0
)