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
2018-08-25
68
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/rBH7777K
0
大学英语六级
相关试题推荐
A、Itmakesusmorelonely.B、Itmakesusimpolite.C、Itplaysimportantrolesinourlives.D、Ithasbecomeadistraction.D讲座中提
A、Bossesinlargecompanies.B、Graduatesandjobhoppers.C、Juniorstudents.D、Expertsoncareerplanning.B主持人在介绍部分提到,Dr.Lane的书
A、Eatingmoresaltmeansmoreheartattacks.B、Lesssaltissureofreducingmanyheart-relateddiseases.C、Eatinglesssaltmay
A、Hedoesn’tlikeitshistoricalatmosphere.B、Hethinksthenightlifethereistoonoisy.C、Hedoesn’tknowmuchaboutit.D、He
A、Theymaynotshowthestudents’masteryofalltheknowledge.B、Theymaygiverisetounhealthycompetition.C、Theymaymakes
A、Subjective.B、Objective.C、Ambiguous.D、Changeable.B本题问的是Lehrer先生对于电子阅读器持什么样的观点。短文最后,Lehrer先生表示,电子阅读器彻底革新了我们的阅读习惯,它带来方便性的同时使我
EdgarPoe,anAmericanwriter,wasbornin1809.Hisparentswereactors.Edgarwasababywhenhisfatherleftthefamily.Hew
A、Becausehismotherwantedhimtobeachef.B、Becausehistwograndmothersloveddeliciousfood.C、Becausehewouldliketodo
WhyDepressionNeedsaNewDefinition[A]Manypsychiatristsbelievethatanewapproachtodiagnosingandtreatingdepression—li
Ratherthanusingcustommachinetoolstobuildearlymodelsofnewparts,Fordisnowusing3-Dprintingtechnologytodesigna
随机试题
关于肺内病灶钙化,叙述错误的是
A、燥热内结,营阴被灼,络脉瘀阻,蕴毒而成B、肾阴亏损,肝失濡养,肝肾精血不足,无以上承C、阴虚燥热,肺失滋润D、阴虚热炽,炼液成痰,痰阻经络,蒙蔽心窍E、阴损及阳,脾肾衰败消渴病并发白内障的机制是
男,2岁。发热伴咳嗽。诊断为链球菌肺炎,用抗生素治疗的疗程应持续至体温正常后
某病人肠梗阻手术后出现神智淡漠,肌肉软弱无力,腹胀,心律失常,心动过速,考虑发病主要原因是()。
若检测弯沉的平均值为35.2(0.01mm),标准偏差为9.7(0.01mm),已知保证率系数为1.645,t分布系数则弯沉代表值为()(0.01mm)。
某化妆品生产企业为增值税一般纳税人,2000年10月上旬从国外进口一批散装化妆品,支付给国外的货价120万元、相关税金10万元、卖方佣金2万元、运抵我国海关前的运杂费和保险费18万元;进口机器设备一套,支付给国外的货价35万元、运抵我国海关前的运杂费和保险
工业企业材料采购成本的组成有明确的规定。在税收检查时了解到某企业采购材料过程中发生了下列项目支出。在这些项目中,属于材料采购成本组成内容的是()。
关于变更管理工作程序,正确的步骤是(53)________。①变更实施监控与效果评估②发出变更通知并组织实施③提出与接受变更申请④对变更的初审和方案论证⑤CCB审查
有以下程序:#include<stdio.h>unsignedfun(unsignednum){unsignedk=1;do{k*=num%10;num/=10;}while(num);
BirdBrainsCrackingWalnutsThescene:atrafficlightcrossingonauniversitycampusinJapan.Carrioncrowsandhumansl
最新回复
(
0
)