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
It Ain’t Easy Being Green Green stories of hotels A)Over the summer, I stayed at four hotels in the United States. They were al
It Ain’t Easy Being Green Green stories of hotels A)Over the summer, I stayed at four hotels in the United States. They were al
admin
2013-10-30
28
问题
It Ain’t Easy Being Green
Green stories of hotels
A)Over the summer, I stayed at four hotels in the United States. They were all owned by different companies, but they had one thing in common: A little card on the bathroom counter telling me that the establishment was very concerned about the environment, and appealing to me to do my part to help them save the earth by hanging up my wet towels and using them again the next day. Two of the hotels also placed a card next to the bed informing me that housekeeping would not change the sheets unless I left the card on the pillow.
B)It is true that keeping all those towels clean requires an enormous amount of electricity and water and soap, and that cutting down on the number of loads of laundry would be more eco-friendly than my insisting on a new towel each day. But am I a heartless cynic for doubting that a collective environmental anxiety has seized the hotel industry?
C)Here is an alternative explanation: All that water, soap, and electricity costs a lot of money and eats into the hotel’s profits. A little card on the counter telling customers that they won’t get new towels because the hotel doesn’t want to pay for laundry wouldn’t go over very well. But by couching it as a green campaign, the hotels actually get credit for providing less service to their customers, while pocketing the difference.
D)Industry groups that advise hotels on becoming more environmentally friendly tend to stress the money they’ll save just as much as the benefits to the planet. "Why should hotels be green?" asks the Green Hotels Association’s Web site. "Haven’t you heard? Being green goes directly to your bottom line." The site explains that by getting guests to recycle towels and sheets, hotels can save 5 percent on utility bills. "Some days, housekeeping workers, who usually clean 15 rooms a day, don’t change a single bed," said one satisfied hotel owner, who estimates that "70 percent of people staying more than one night participate in the program." Another member reports that far fewer guests ask for new towels.
E)So let’s review: We give up a nice luxury to save the hotel money; the hotel congratulates itself on being green for peer pressuring us into giving up the luxury under the excuse of environmental consciousness; the hotel keeps the money. Nice work. After all, even if profit is the motive, the net result is a reduction in the hotel’s "carbon footprint". But here’s what gets me: the hotels I stayed in this summer didn’t seem all that interested in being green when it came to other things. The lobby of the big resort was air conditioned to meat locker temperatures. All day long, that frosty air rushed out the vast double doors, which were left open in the July heat. The resort also had a fleet of big, gas guzzling(耗油)vans idling at the curb to transport guests around the grounds.
Green stories of companies
F)Hotels are not the only offenders in this kind of green fakery. Some companies have embraced conservation for real. They build headquarters with solar panels and rainwater collection systems; they think of the environmental impact of every aspect of their businesses and actually change the way they do things to reduce waste. But this is labor intensive, often expensive, and takes commitment. Faced with that, many corporations take a different approach: They don’t do much of anything to change the way they do business, but make a big show of their contribution to Mother Earth.
G)It’s usually easy to spot these companies: They make their customers do the work, and then take the credit. In the name of saving the planet, my cable TV operator keeps asking for permission to stop sending paper statements in the mail each month. Instead, I’m supposed to check my statement online. The real reason, of course, is that doing so would save them paper, printing and postage. This is a perfectly reasonable reason for them to want me to switch. But when they pretend that it’s all about the environment, it just makes me hate my cable company even more than I already do.
Green stories of ad campaigns
H)Sometimes a good ad campaign does a better job of enhancing a company’s green reputation than going through the expense and difficulty of adopting actual environmentally sound practices. Billboards in Washington appeal to me to join the cause. "I will unplug stuff more," reads one. Another says, "I will at least consider buying a hybrid(合成物)." These ads are the work of Chevron, the giant oil company, whose "Will You Join Us?" ads try to convince people that saving the planet is at the top of their list. You might think that if Chevron was really worried about problems like global warming, they would spend some of those dollars lobbying Congress to adopt stricter gas mileage(英里数)requirements for automobiles. They do not do this. Instead, I’m apparently supposed to praise them as environmental heroes because they tell me to unplug my toaster and think about getting a Toyota Prius.
I)Yet ad campaigns like these work. Chevron lands at No. 371 out of 500 companies on Newsweek’s green rankings. But it claims the No. 62 spot when it comes to green reputation thanks in part to those pretty, polished ads. Green marketing has also helped Wal-Mart appear kinder and gentler in recent years. To be fair, the retailing giant has done more than redesign its logo. The company, which ranks 59th on Newsweek’s list, has embraced a series of in-house green initiatives and is demanding its suppliers do the same. The result: Wal-Mart scores first place in our reputation survey.
J)Given the power of positive marketing, it’s easy to see why those little towel cards are so popular— enough so that there are now a lot of companies that market them to hotels, along with all manner of products intended to make customers feel good about themselves while helping the hotels feel good about their bank balances. I suppose it is time that I step up and do my part. On behalf of the planet I will dutifully sleep on day-old sheets. But please, for the love of all that is good and right, keep the towels coming.
The hotels’ purpose of not changing the towel is to get credit for providing less service to their customers.
选项
答案
C
解析
本题与酒店有关,定位锁定在Green stories of hotels标题下的A至E段,其中B、C段分别作出了两种解释:可以减少水电从而达到环保的目的(B段);以环保的名义,实际上是从减少对顾客的服务中获益(C段最后一句),后者与本题对应,故选C。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/FhS7777K
0
大学英语四级
相关试题推荐
WhowontheWorldCup1994footballgame?WhathappenedattheUnitedNations?Howdidthecritics【C1】______thenewplay?Just
WhowontheWorldCup1994footballgame?WhathappenedattheUnitedNations?Howdidthecritics【C1】______thenewplay?Just
Inadditiontotheirmilitaryrole,thefortsofthenineteenthcenturyprovidednumerousotherbenefitsfortheAmericanWest.
Specialistscallthefeelingswhichpeopleexperiencewhentheycometoanewenvironmentcultureshock.Wherearethreestages
Althoughthefalsebanknotesfooledmanypeople,theydidnot______tocloseexamination.
Nowadays,itwasfashionabletospeakofagenerationgap,a【S1】______betweenyoungpeopleandtheirelders.Parentscomplained
Nowadays,itwasfashionabletospeakofagenerationgap,a【S1】______betweenyoungpeopleandtheirelders.Parentscomplained
Thestoryofthe【S1】______Titaniccontinuesto【S2】______peopletodaypartlybecauseofthe1998Hollywoodmovies,Titanic.Peopl
A、Lookingforatimetable.B、Buyingsomefurniture.C、Reservingatable.D、Windowshopping.C此对话中我们听到了和餐馆相关的内容:Haveyouatable
A、Asystemwhichtrainsdoctors.B、Agroupofexpertswhocanprovideprofessionaladvice.C、Acomputerprogramwhichcanprovid
随机试题
某孕妇,停经40天,下腹部阵发性腹痛及阴道流血1天,量多且伴有血块。妇科检查:子宫稍大,宫口有胚胎组织堵塞。最有效的紧急止血措施是
下列关于混凝土裂缝处理的说法正确的是()。
人民法院就数个证据对同一事实证明力的认定原则,错误的有()。
目前,B股交易实行T+3回转交易。()
以下税种中,同时涉及国税和地税征收管理的有( )。
剔除价格变动的影响,比较确切地反映对外贸易规模的是()。[南京理工大学2011国际商务硕士]
人们普遍认为适量的体育运动能够有效降低中风的发生率,但科学家还注意到有些化学物质也有降低中风风险的效用。番茄红素是一种让番茄、辣椒、西瓜和番木瓜等果蔬呈现红色的化学物质。研究人员选取一千余名年龄在46至55岁之间的人,进行了长达12年的跟踪调查,发现其中番
下面属于黑盒测试方法的是
A、 B、 C、 BHalfadozenanswershowmany.Choice(A)answershowmanyorderedwine.Choice(C)confusesthesimila
GLLOBALWARMING-THEBEGINNINGOFTHEENDIncreasedsocialdebateregardingcomplexissuessuchasthegreenhouseeffectand
最新回复
(
0
)