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 an examination topic, most students would tear it apart
"The world’s environment is surprisingly healthy. Discuss." If that were an examination topic, most students would tear it apart
admin
2019-06-23
91
问题
"The world’s environment is surprisingly healthy. Discuss." If that were an 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. 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 long-term 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 fostering it: fish is the best example of this.
One of the reasons why the long-term 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
根据文章第4段第4、5句“每次当一种资源似乎就要匮乏时,价格就会上升,相应地,人们会寻找新的资源,想方设法找到节省资源的方法或者寻找新的替代品。正因为如此,本世纪能源和矿产品的价格实质上已经下降了”,故应选D。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/QJX7777K
0
大学英语六级
相关试题推荐
科举制度(theimperialexamination)是中国帝制时期(imperialChina)选拔官员的制度,具有1300多年的历史。它将阅读、考试和选拔政府官员三者紧密结合起来,是一种公平和公开的人才选举方法,是中国选举史上的一大突破。它为中
A、Theyrefertotransgenicorganisms.B、Theyareharmfultotheenvironment.C、Theyaregrowningreenandcleanways.D、Theyar
PresidentBarackObama’spicktoheadtheEnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA),LisaJackson,hasspent20yearsasanenvironm
A、Finishatextbookassignment.B、Reviewforthefinalexamination.C、Chooseproperresearchtopics.D、Prepareanoutlinefora
A、SleepinginanopenenvironmentB、Usingfuelinsteadofelectricity.C、Usingsmallandmovablegasgenerators.D、Short-termco
随机试题
在国民经济中起主导作用的是
女性,30岁,婚后2年未孕,月经量多,经期延长半年,月经周期正常,无痛经。妇检:子宫如孕2月大,前壁明显突出,质中偏硬,无压痛,活动较好,附件(-),该病人治疗选择
除去鞣质可采用的方法有
水泥土搅拌桩复合地基的主控项目和一般项目应分别抽查100%和20%。()
规则是由概念组成的,它反映了概念之间的关系;规则学习以掌握相应的概念为基础,其实质是学生能在体现规则变化的情境中适当应用规则。这种规则就是加涅学习结果分类中的()。
肖某因为运输毒品被判处有期徒刑10年,刑满释放后,在朋友陈某的软磨硬泡下,又帮助陈某贩卖了30克毒品。此案中肖某()。
()对于名垂千古相当于廉洁奉公对于()
下列关于标识符的说法中错误的是
positiondefineforgetfulfancykeybalanceimportanceunhealthylacksubjectope
Inthepastfewyears,hundredsofmagazinesandnewspaperstorieshavebeenwrittenaboutBillGatesandhiscompany,thereas
最新回复
(
0
)