The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina is a wake-up call. It is a call for every American to pay attention to the destruction we risk by allowing human-induced(导致的) climate change to continue. It is impossible to prove that Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming, or even that human activities made the storm more severe. However, a paper published in the scholarly journal Nature reports that the force of dangerous hurricanes has increased by 50% during the last 50 years. It also reports that a global warming-induced rise in temperature near the ocean’s surface has probably contributed to this increase in dangerous storms, and thus to property(财产) damage and human death.

On August 30, the Los Angeles Times summed up(总结) the view of many scientists who agree that if the frequency of hurricanes does not decrease in the next few years, then we will be fairly certain that humans, and not natural storm cycle, are at the root of the problem. I believe there is at least a chance that by reducing U.S. reliance on fossil fuels for energy, we can prevent future tragedies like Hurricane Katrina. Let the change begin now.

There are many ways to reduce the volume of greenhouse gas emissions. My family drives the most fuel-efficient car we can afford, but I prefer to take public transportation whenever possible. My family buys locally grown food instead of produce that was transported thousands of miles on fuel-burning vehicles. We also replaced our incandescent light bulbs（白炽灯泡）with more energy-efficient compact fluorescents（荧光灯）. This might sound like a trivial move, but the Union of Concerned Scientists reports that if every household in the United States replaced one incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent, it would have the same effect on U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions as removing 7.5 million cars from the roads. Now think if every household replaced not just one but all of their incandescent bulbs!

The United States, with just five percent of the world’s population, is responsible for close to one quarter of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, yet our country is doing far less than most European nations to fight global warming. We don’t have to sacrifice our lifestyles; Europeans enjoy the same standards of living as Americans. So what are we waiting for? It is time to act.

1. Which of the following is a fact?

A．Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming.

B．Human activities made the storm more severe.

C．The force of dangerous hurricanes has increased by 50 percent during the last 50 years.

D．A global rise in temperature near the ocean’s surface accounts for more dangerous storms.

2.From Paragraph 2 we can infer that many scientists agree ________.

A．it might be human activities that lead to global warming.

B．natural storm cycles have caused global warming.

C．hurricanes are likely to come more frequently.

D．burning fossil fuels for energy is a better alternative.

3. If every household in the U.S. replaced all their incandescent bulbs, ________.

A．it would have the same effect as removing 7.5 million cars from the roads.

B．it would save 7.5 million tons of carbon-dioxide from going into the air.

C．this would reduce the total output of CO?emissions in huge amounts.

D．cars will be much more environmentally friendly.

4. According to the writer,_______in reducing the volume of greenhouse gas emissions.

A．Europe does a better job.

B．Europe should follow the example of America.

C．he, as an European, wants to see more efforts made by Americans.

D．Europeans should shoulder a greater responsibility.

 

The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina is a wake-up call. It is a call for every American to pay attention to the destruction we risk by allowing human-induced(导致的) climate change to continue. It is impossible to prove that Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming, or even that human activities made the storm more severe. However, a paper published in the scholarly journal Nature reports that the force of dangerous hurricanes has increased by 50% during the last 50 years. It also reports that a global warming-induced rise in temperature near the ocean’s surface has probably contributed to this increase in dangerous storms, and thus to property(财产) damage and human death.
On August 30, the Los Angeles Times summed up(总结) the view of many scientists who agree that if the frequency of hurricanes does not decrease in the next few years, then we will be fairly certain that humans, and not natural storm cycle, are at the root of the problem. I believe there is at least a chance that by reducing U.S. reliance on fossil fuels for energy, we can prevent future tragedies like Hurricane Katrina. Let the change begin now.
There are many ways to reduce the volume of greenhouse gas emissions. My family drives the most fuel-efficient car we can afford, but I prefer to take public transportation whenever possible. My family buys locally grown food instead of produce that was transported thousands of miles on fuel-burning vehicles. We also replaced our incandescent light bulbs（白炽灯泡）with more energy-efficient compact fluorescents（荧光灯）. This might sound like a trivial move, but the Union of Concerned Scientists reports that if every household in the United States replaced one incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent, it would have the same effect on U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions as removing 7.5 million cars from the roads. Now think if every household replaced not just one but all of their incandescent bulbs!
The United States, with just five percent of the world’s population, is responsible for close to one quarter of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, yet our country is doing far less than most European nations to fight global warming. We don’t have to sacrifice our lifestyles; Europeans enjoy the same standards of living as Americans. So what are we waiting for? It is time to act.
【小题1】 Which of the following is a fact?

A．Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming.

B．Human activities made the storm more severe.

C．The force of dangerous hurricanes has increased by 50 percent during the last 50 years.

D．A global rise in temperature near the ocean’s surface accounts for more dangerous storms.

【小题2】From Paragraph 2 we can infer that many scientists agree ________.

A．it might be human activities that lead to global warming.

B．natural storm cycles have caused global warming.

C．hurricanes are likely to come more frequently.

D．burning fossil fuels for energy is a better alternative.

【小题3】 If every household in the U.S. replaced all their incandescent bulbs, ________.

A．it would have the same effect as removing 7.5 million cars from the roads.

B．it would save 7.5 million tons of carbon-dioxide from going into the air.

C．this would reduce the total output of CO?emissions in huge amounts.

D．cars will be much more environmentally friendly.

【小题4】 According to the writer,_______in reducing the volume of greenhouse gas emissions.

A．Europe does a better job.

B．Europe should follow the example of America.

C．he, as an European, wants to see more efforts made by Americans.

D．Europeans should shoulder a greater responsibility.

The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina is a wake-up call. It is a call for every American to pay attention to the destruction we risk by allowing human-induced（导致的） climate change to continue. It is impossible to prove that Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming, or even that human activities made the storm more severe. However, a paper published in the scholarly journal Nature reports that the force of dangerous hurricanes has increased by 50% during the last 50 years. It also reports that a global warming-induced rise in temperature near the ocean’s surface has probably contributed to this increase in dangerous storms, and thus to property（财产） damage and human death.

On August 30, the Los Angeles Times summed up（总结） the view of many scientists who agree that if the frequency of hurricanes does not decrease in the next few years, then we will be fairly certain that humans, and not natural storm cycle, are at the root of the problem. I believe there is at least a chance that by reducing U.S. reliance on fossil fuels for energy, we can prevent future tragedies like Hurricane Katrina. Let the change begin now.

There are many ways to reduce the volume of greenhouse gas emissions. My family drives the most fuel-efficient car we can afford, but I prefer to take public transportation whenever possible. My family buys locally grown food instead of produce that was transported thousands of miles on fuel-burning vehicles. We also replaced our incandescent light bulbs（白炽灯泡）with more energy-efficient compact fluorescents（荧光灯）. This might sound like a trivial move, but the Union of Concerned Scientists reports that if every household in the United States replaced one incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent, it would have the same effect on U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions as removing 7.5 million cars from the roads. Now think if every household replaced not just one but all of their incandescent bulbs!

The United States, with just five percent of the world’s population, is responsible for close to one quarter of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, yet our country is doing far less than most European nations to fight global warming. We don’t have to sacrifice our lifestyles; Europeans enjoy the same standards of living as Americans. So what are we waiting for? It is time to act.

1．Which of the following is a fact?

A．Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming.

B．Human activities made the storm more severe.

C．The force of dangerous hurricanes has increased by 50 percent during the last 50 years.

D．A global rise in temperature near the ocean’s surface accounts for more dangerous storms.

2．From Paragraph 2 we can infer that many scientists agree ________.

A．it might be human activities that lead to global warming.

B．natural storm cycles have caused global warming.

C．hurricanes are likely to come more frequently.

D．burning fossil fuels for energy is a better alternative.

3．If every household in the U.S. replaced all their incandescent bulbs, ________.

A．it would have the same effect as removing 7.5 million cars from the roads.

B．it would save 7.5 million tons of carbon-dioxide from going into the air.

C．this would reduce the total output of CO₂emissions in huge amounts.

D．cars will be much more environmentally friendly.

4．According to the writer, _______in reducing the volume of greenhouse gas emissions.

A．Europe does a better job.

B．Europe should follow the example of America.

C．he, as an European, wants to see more efforts made by Americans.

D．Europeans should shoulder a greater responsibility.

The U.S.Department of Labor statistics （统计）show that there is an oversupply of college trained workers and that this oversupply is increasing. Already there have been more than enough teachers, engineers, physicists, aerospace experts, and other specialists. Yet colleges and graduate schools continue every year to turn out highly trained people to compete for jobs that aren’t there. The result is that graduates cannot enter the professions for which they were trained and must take temporary jobs which do not require a college degree.

On the other hand, there is a great need for skilled workers of all sorts: carpenters, electricians, mechanics, plumbers, TV repairmen.

These people have more work than they can deal with, and their annual incomes are often higher than those of college graduates. The old gap that white-collar workers make a better living than blue collar workers no longer holds true. The law of supply and demand now favors the skilled workmen.

The reason for this situation is the traditional myth that college degree is a passport to a prosperous future. A large part of American society matches success in life equally with a college degree. Parents begin indoctrinating （灌输）their children with this myth before they are out of grade school. High school teachers play their part by acting as if high school education were a preparation for college rather than for life. Under this pressure the kids fall in line. Whether they want to go to college or not doesn’t matter. Everybody should go to college, so of course they must go. And every year college enrollments （入学）go up and up, and more and more graduates are overeducated for the kinds of jobs available to them …

One result of this emphasis on a college education is that many people go to college who do not belong there. Of the sixty percent of high school graduates who enter college, half of them do not graduate with their class. Many of them drop out within the first year. Some struggle on for two or three years and then give up.

1．It’s implied but not stated in the passage that __________.

     A．many other countries are facing the same problem

  B．white-collar workers in the US used to make more money than blue-collar workers

  C．fewer students will prefer to go to college in the future

  D．the law of supply and demand has a strong effect on American higher education

2．Which of the following is NOT a reason why college enrollments go up every year?

     A．Many people believe that the only way to success is a college education.

     B．Many parents want their children to go to college.

     C．High school teachers urge their students to go to college.

     D．Every young man and woman wants to go to college.

3．By saying that “many people go to college who do not belong there,” the author means that __.

     A．many people who are not fit for college education go to college

     B．many people who do not have enough money go to college

     C．many people who go to college drop out within the first year

     D．many people who go to college have their hopes destroyed

4．We can infer from the passage that the author believes that ________.

     A．every young man and woman should go to college

     B．college education is a bad thing

     C．people with a college education should receive higher pay

     D．fewer people should go to college while more should be trained for skilled jobs