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  3. Mining operations by their very nature have major impacts, positive and negative, on the local area and on local communities. Th

Mining operations by their very nature have major impacts, positive and negative, on the local area and on local communities. Th

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问题     Mining operations by their very nature have major impacts, positive and negative, on the local area and on local communities. They are usually in remote places and the people affected are often isolated or neglected communities.

    It is inevitable that mining operations will disturb the environment in a fairly dramatic way. Forest cover may have to be cut down to clear the site of the mine or for access roads. Tunnels or open-cut pits are dug. Overburden is removed and dumped nearby, usually to erode slowly into nearby streams and rivers. Tailings from the ore processing plant have to be put somewhere—preferably into an on-site tailings dam, but more likely straight into a river or the sea.
    Mine tailings may contain some dangerous chemicals, but the major problem is usually the huge amounts of solid sediment that they put into the river system, and the effect this has on water quality and marine life. This can directly affect the livelihood of people living down-stream who depend on the river for fish, for drinking water for themselves and their animals, or for cooking or washing. Heavy sedimentation can slit up rivers, making transportation difficult and causing fields and forests by the river banks to flood. Other environmental effects can include air pollution from trucks tearing along dusty access roads, or more seriously, fumes from ore processing plants.
    Large amounts of cash will normally be injected into the local community in the form of royalties or compensation to landowners, wages to mine workers or payments to sub-contractors. While this can be very beneficial it can also lead to inequalities, disputes and problems. Those in the local community who acquire cash from wages or compensation and the power that goes with it are not necessarily those who by tradition hold power in that society. The very advent of the cash can have a disruptive effect on traditional social structures. Also in societies where resources including cash are owned communally and shared out according to traditional rules and precedents, the injection of very large amounts of money can strain the rules and tempt some to keep more than their entitlement, thus causing internal rifts, disputes and fighting. Disputes between landowners and mining companies over payments or compensation are also common, and can lead to violent reactions against landowners by the police or armed forces, or repression by the authorities.
    Mining also, of course, brings considerable benefits. Locally it provides jobs and incomes, and for those who use their income wisely, and escape from grinding poverty and a life of hardship and struggle. It also brings development and services such as roads, wharfs, airstrips, stores, health clinics and schools, to areas which are usually remote and often neglected by government. The advent of health care and educational facilities to remote areas that would otherwise not have them can be especially beneficial.
    Opinions about a mine will usually vary. Those most in favor tend to be those living near the mine and enjoying its facilities, who have been generously compensated for loss of land or damaged environment , or who are earning good money as mine workers or sub-contractors. Among those least in favor will be women living in or near the mining settlements who have to put up with alcoholism, domestic violence , sexual harassment or other social ills, and people living downstream, far enough away from the mine to be receiving little or no compensation but who nevertheless suffer its polluting effects.
    The environment is greatly influenced by mining operations, whose main problems are solid sediment and its effect on【R1】______. Environmental influences also include flooding, air pollution and fumes. Mining operations will definitely change the social life.【R2】______may get injured by the injection of a great deal of cash, which may result in【R3】______. On the other hand, mining also has positive effects. There may be an obvious increase in job opportunities and incomes. It stimulates the development and promotes services, especially【R4】______for local people. People’s【R5】______on mining depends on whether it does good or harm to them.
【R5】
选项
答案opinion
解析 (参看文章对后一段第一句Opinions about a mine will usually vary可知，人们对矿井的态度不一，主要还是取决于是否能够在其中受益。)
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本试题收录于： A类竞赛（研究生）题库大学生英语竞赛（NECCS）分类
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