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  3. Global warming may or may not be the great environmental crisis of the 21st century, but — regardless of whether it is or isn’t

Global warming may or may not be the great environmental crisis of the 21st century, but — regardless of whether it is or isn’t

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问题     Global warming may or may not be the great environmental crisis of the 21st century, but — regardless of whether it is or isn’t — we won’t do much about it. We will argue over it and may even, as a nation, make some fairly solemn-sounding commitments to avoid it. But the more dramatic and meaningful these commitments seem, the less likely they are to be observed.
    Al Gore calls global warming an "inconvenient truth," as if merely recognizing it could put us on a path to a solution. But the real truth is that we don’t know enough to relieve global warming, and — without major technological breakthroughs — we can’t do much about it.
    From 2003 to 2050, the world’s population is projected to grow from 6.4 billion to 9. 1 billion, a 42% increase. If energy use per person and technology remain the same, total energy use and greenhouse gas emissions(mainly, CO2) will be 42% higher in 2050. But that’s too low, because societies that grow richer use more energy. We need economic growth unless we condemn the world’s poor to their present poverty and freeze everyone else’s living standards. With modest growth, energy use and greenhouse emissions more than double by 2050.
    No government will adopt rigid restrictions on economic growth and personal freedom (limits on electricity usage, driving and travel) that might cut back global warming. Still, politicians want to show they’re "doing something." Consider the Kyoto Protoco(京都协定书). It allowed countries that joined to punish those that didn’t. But it hasn’t reduced CO2 emissions (up about 25% since 1990) , and many signatories(签字国) didn’t adopt tough enough policies to hit their 2008—2012 targets.
    The practical conclusion is that if global warming is a potential disaster, the only solution is new technology. Only an aggressive research and development program might find ways of breaking our dependence on fossil fuels or dealing with it.
    The trouble with the global warming debate is that it has become a moral problem when it’s really an engineering one. The inconvenient truth is that if we don’t solve the engineering problem, we’re helpless.
What is the message the author intends to convey?
选项 A、Global warming is more of a moral issue than a practical one.
B、The ultimate solution to global warming lies in new technology.
C、The debate over global warming will lead to technological breakthroughs.
D、People have to give up certain material comforts to stop global warming.
答案B
解析 主旨题。作者第一段提出问题：面对全球变暖，我们将无能为力。第二段中作者谈到认识到这一问题并不代表找到解决方案，然后提出论点：and—without major technological breakthroughs—we can’t do much about it．(没有重大的技术突破，我们仍将无能为力)。第三段讲到全球变暖的原因：人口增长和经济发展，并预测未来发展趋势。第四段说明政府行为收效甚微。第五段和第六段重申论点：the only solution is new technology(解决问题的唯一办法就是新技术)。B项是对全文的高度概括，与作者论点相同，故为正确答案。
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