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 questions in this group are based on the content of a passage. After reading the passage, choose the best answer to each que
The questions in this group are based on the content of a passage. After reading the passage, choose the best answer to each que
admin
2011-01-20
33
问题
The questions in this group are based on the content of a passage. After reading the passage, choose the best answer to each question. Answer all questions following the passage on the basis of what is
stated
or
implied
in the passage.
Pretty much everybody agrees that clean air is a good thing, right? Evidently not so. Since the 1960s, when people started talking about clean air in the first place, the American energy industry, which includes coal companies, oil companies, and utility companies, has dragged its heels on every initiative to improve the quality of the air we breathe. Even after the Clean Air Act of 1970 and its amendments in 1977 and 1990 made it clear that controlling air pollution is a national priority, these companies have found tricks and loopholes to avoid compliance.
Perhaps the most egregious loophole is the one that allows older power plants to disregard limits on sulfux dioxide emissions until they undergo a major renovation, at which point they have to comply. Sulfur dioxide from coal-burning power plants is the primary cause of acid rain in North America. The Clean Air Act states that when coal-burning power plants upgrade their equipment, they must then comply with sulfur dioxide limitations by either installing scrubbing equipment that cleans the emissions or using fuel with lower sulfur content. The law tied the timing of compliance to major renovations in order to give power plants a grace period in which to comply. Many power plants, however, have exploited a loophole in this law by instituting a series of "minor" renovations that, in effect, upgrade their equipment without requiring them to comply with the Clean Air Act. Some plants have cheated the system by undergoing "minor" renovations for decades.
The power companies claim that they have to resort to these underhanded measures because the cost of compliance with the Clean Air Act is too high. And if everyone else is cheating the system, why should they have to install costly sulfur dioxide scrubbers?
This cost argument falls apart upon scrutiny. Since 1977, more than 400 power plants across the country have managed to comply with the restrictions and are still making money. The sulfur dioxide scrubbing equipment has turned out to be far less expensive than the power industry naysayers claimed it would be. Many power plants have even complied with the emissions limits and reduced their operating costs by switching from high-sulfur Appalachian coal to the low-sulfur coal produced in western states such as Wyoming and Idaho. Western coal is not only cleaner than eastern coal, but also, because it is generally closer to the surface, as much as 30 percent less expensive to extract.
Clearly, the costs of compliance with the Clean Air Act can be justified, but if these companies were honest, such justifications would not have to be made. If they were honest, they would acknowledge the costs of not complying: the health costs of increased rates of asthma and lung cancer in high-emissions areas; the environmental costs of acid-scarred forests and lakes; the aesthetic costs of a haze of sulfur dioxide cutting visibility across the eastern United States to only half of what it was in pre-industrial times. When you look at the true costs you have to ask, is any cost too high for clean air?
The author most likely begins and concludes the passage with questions for what reason?
选项
A、To suggest possible areas for current and future research
B、To pose a question that is answered in the body of the passage, and then to formulate a question that arises naturally out of the discussion
C、To gain the readers’ attention and encourage their agreement with the arguments in the passage
D、To suggest through rhetorical questions that the problems described in the passage do not actually have answers
E、To test the readers’ knowledge of the material discussed in the passage
答案
C
解析
The goals described in C---gaining the readers’ attention and securing their agreement--are two of the roles that questions can serve in expository writing. In this passage, the first question aims to draw the reader in by posing a question to which most readers will respond "yes," and the final question asks the reader to agree with the key argument of the passage, i.e., that power companies should not exploit these loopholes in the Clean Air Act.
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/dftO777K
本试题收录于:
GMAT VERBAL题库GMAT分类
0
GMAT VERBAL
GMAT
相关试题推荐
LincolnthoughtitwaswrongtokeepNegroes______slaves.
"Equalpayforequalwork"isaphraseusedbytheAmericanwomenwhofeelthattheyareunfairlytreatedbysociety.Theysayi
A:Firstly,allowmetointroducemyself.MynameisJohnBrown,managerofthecompany.B:______.
Greg:Hi,Karen.IhaveticketstoaconcertatCarnegieHall.Itstartsat8:00.Karen:Hmmm...______
Tomakeupanobjectivetest,theteacherwritesaseriesofquestions,______hasonlyonecorrectanswer.
______nobodywasveryenthusiasticaboutit,theydecidedtocancelthetrip.
Thegovernmenthaslostagreatdealof______becauseofthelargeincreaseinfoodprices.
Thepurposeofthistestistomeasurestudents’________tolearninsteadoftheirpresentachievements.
SpeakerA:I’dliketobookaticketfornextMondaymorningtoNewYork.SpeakerB:
Mancannotgoonincreasinghisnumberatthepresentrate.Inthenext30yearsmanwillfaceaperiodofcrisis.Someexperts
随机试题
A.增强润肺止咳作用B.增强补脾益气作用C.缓和药性D.长于益气补中E.滋阴降火蜜炙枇杷叶
一个测验能测到预先想测的知识和能力的程度,指的是
能使乳头凹陷的疾病包括
海洋油气矿产资源勘探开发作业中,()不得直接或者经稀释排放人海,应当经处理符合国家有关排放标准后再排放。
企业确定合同完工进度可选用的方法有()。
阅读《赤壁赋》的教学实录(节选),按要求答题。(画线语句的序号与选项的序号是对应的)师:[A]文章是怎样传达作者的思想的呢?生:通过苏子与客人的对话来传达的。师:[B]那么这个客人是谁呢?生:[C]这……文章里没有说,也许是他的朋友、兄弟、亲人。
1+7x/60
如果删除一个非零无符号二进制偶整数后的两个0,则此数的值为原数()。
PresidentBushhasproposedaddingoptionalpersonalaccountsasoneofthecentralelementsofamajorSocialSecurityreformp
Thereisvirtuallynolimittohowonecanservecommunityinterests,fromspendingafewhoursaweekwithsomecharitableorga
最新回复
(
0
)