2011年秋季MBA跟我學專欄—英語（第二周）

Passage 1

Lead depoits,which accumulated in soil and snow during the 1960’s and 70’s, were primarily the result of leaded gasoline emissions originating in the United States. In the twenty years that the Clean Air Act has mandated significantly unleaded gas use in the United States,the lead accumulation worldwide has decreased significantly.

A study published recently in the journal Nature shows that air-borne leaded gas emissions from the United States were the leading contributor to the high concentration of lead in the snow in Greenland. The new study is a result of the continued research led by Dr. Charles Boutron,an expert on the impact of heavy metals on the environment at the National Center for Scientific Research in France.A study by Dr. Boutron published in 1992 showed that lead levels in arctic(北極的)snow were declining.

In his new study, Dr. Boutron found the ratios of the different forms of lead in the leaded gasolinge used in the United States were different from the ratios of European, Asian and Canadian gasolines and thus enabled scientists to differentiate the lead sources. The dominant lead ratio found in Greenland snow matched that found in gasoline from the United States.

In a study published in the journal Ambio, scientists found that levels in soil in the Northeastern United States had decreased markedly since the introduction of unleaded gasoline.

Many scientists had believed that the lead would stay in soil and snow for a longer period.

The authors of the Ambio study examined samples of the upper layers of soil taken from the same sites of 30 forest floors in New England, New York and Pennsylvania in 1980 and 1990. The forest environment processed and reistributed the lead faster than the scientists had expected.

Scientists say both studies demonstrate that certain parts of the ecosystem respond rapidly to license to pollute.

1.  The study published in the journal Nature indicates that______

A. the Clean Air Act has not produced the desired results.

B. lead deposits in arctic snow on the increase.

C. lead will stay in soil and snow longer than expected.

D. the U.S. is the major source of lead pollution in arctic snow.

2.  Lead accumulation worldwide decreased significantly after the use of unleaded gas in the U.S.______.

A. was discouraged.          B. was enforced by law.

C. was prohibited by law.      D. was introduced.

3.  How did scientists discover the source of lead pollution in Greenland?

A. By analyzing the data published in journals like Nature and Ambio.

B. By observing the lead accumulations in different parts of the arctic area.

C. By studying the chemical elements soil and snow in Northeastern America.

D. By comparing the chemical compositions of leaded gasoline used in various countries.

4.  The authors of the Ambio study have found that______.

A. forests get rid of lead pollution faster than expected.

B. lead accumulations in forests are easily polluted by lead emissions.

C. lead deposits are widely distributed in the forests of the U.S.

D. the upper layers of soil in forests are easily polluted by lead emissions.

5.  It can be inferred from the last paragraph in that scientists______.

A. are puzzled by the mystery of forest pollution.

B. feel relieved by the use of unleaded gasoline.

C. still consider lead pollution a problem.

D. lack sufficient means to combat lead pollution.

Passage 2

It came as something of a surprise when Diana,Princess of Wales, made a trip to Angola in 1997,to support the Red Cross’s campaign for a total ban on all anti-personnel landmines.Within hours of arriving in Angola television screens around the world were filled with images of her comporting victims injured in explosions caused by landmines. “I knew the statistics,”she said, “But putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me; like when I met Sandra,a 13-year-old girl who had lost her leg,and people like her.”

The Princess concluded with a simple message: “We must stop landmines”. And she used every opportunity during her visit to repeat this message.

But, back in London, her views were not shared by some members of the British government,which refused to support a ban on these weapons.Angry politicians launched an attack on the Princess in the press.They described her as “very ill-informed” and a “loose cannon(亂放炮的人)。”

The Princess responded by brushing aside the criticisms: “This is a distraction we do not need. All I’m trying to do is help.”

Opposition parties ,the media and the public immediately voiced their support for the Princess.To make matters worse for the government ,it soon emerged that the Princess’s trip had been approved by the Foreign Office,and that she was in fact very well-informed about both the situation in Angola and the British government’s policy regarding landmines. The result was a severe embarrassment for the government .

To try and limit the damage ,the Foreign Secretary, Malcolm Rifkind , claimed that the Princess’s views on landmines were not very different from government policy, and that it was “working towards”a worldwide ban. The Defence Secretary, Michael Portillo,claimed the matter was “a misinterpretation or misunderstanding”.

For the Princess ,the trip to this war-torn country was an cxcellent opportunity to use her popularity to show the world how much destruction and suffering landmines can cause .She said that the experience had also given her the chance to get closer to people and their problems.

6.  Princess Diana paid a visit to Angola in 1997______.

A. to voice her support for a total ban of landmines.

B. to clarify the British government’s stand on landmines.

C. to investigate the sufferings of landmine victims.

D. to establish her image as a friend of landmine victims.

7.  What did Diana mean when she said“…putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me”(Para.1)?

A. She just couldn’t bear to meet the landmine victims face to face.

B. The actual situation in Agola made her feel like going back home.

C. Meeting the landmine victims in person made her believe the statistics.

D. Seeing the pain of the victims made her realize the seriousness of the situation.

8.  Some members of the British government criticized Diana because______.

A. she was ill-informed of the government’s policy.

B. they were actually opposed to banning landmines.

C. she had not consulted the government before the visit.

D. they believed that she had misinterpreted the situation in Angola.

9.  How did Diana respond to the criticisms?

A. She paid no attention to them.

B. She made more appearances on TV.

C. She met the 13-year-old girl as planned.

D. She rose to argue with her opponents.

10.  What did Princess Diana think of her visit to Angola?

A. It had caused embarrassment to the British government.

B. It had brought her closer to the ordinary people.

C. It had greatly promoted her popularity.

D. It had affected her relations with the British government.

Passage1

1.答案為D。細節題。根據原文第二段第一句：最近，科學期刊《自然》雜志上發表的一篇研究文章指出，空氣中的含鉛廢棄的排放是創造格林蘭島的雪中含鉛量高的主要原因，這些廢氣都來自美國。“leadingcontributor”所指的就是來自美國的廢氣，因此美國便是格林蘭島污染的“罪魁禍首”，可以得出D項答案。從后文可知，潔凈條例對抑制、降低鉛污染起到了至關重要的作用，所以A違背原意；CharlesBoutron博士1991年發布的一項研究顯示，北極雪中的鉛含量正在逐年減少，所以B違背原意；從文中第五段可知，科學家們曾經以為，鉛會在soil和snow中長時間滯留，文中還指出，關于鉛在土壤中滯留的研究是發表在期刊Ambio上的，所以C違背原意。

2.答案為B。細節題。根據第一段末句：自從美國實行空氣潔凈條例后，20年間，全世界的沉積都大大降低。理解mandate的意思，強制執行，同義轉述，實行空氣潔凈條例便是立法通過，所以B正確。無鉛汽油的使用是被提倡的，所以A違背原意；無鉛汽油的使用是被立法通過，而不是禁止使用，所以C違背原意，D不夠具體明確，應該是通過立法的途徑，而不是簡單的引入。

3.答案為D。細節題。根據原文第三段第一句“…theratiosofthedifferentformsofleadintheleadedgasolines…”可知，不同國家和地區的汽油中含鉛量不同；根據“thusenabledscientiststodifferentiatetheleadsources.”可知，專家可以通過汽油中的鉛含量來判斷此種鉛來自于何地。顯然，就是利用判斷汽油中鉛含量的方法得出格林蘭島的鉛污染主要來自美國的結論。所以D正確。原文中沒有提到要分析Nature和Ambio報告給出的數據，所以A不對；原文沒有提及觀察北極不同區域鉛的積累情況，所以B不對；對東北美土質進行監測的目的是測量土壤中鉛的含量，見第四段“…thatleadlevelsinsoil…decreasedmarkedlysince…”,說明C也不對。

4.答案為A。細節題根據原文倒數第二段“Theforestenvironmentprocessedandredistributedtheleadfasterthanthescientistshadexpected.”森林處理和重新分配鉛污染的能力超出科學的預料，同義轉述是森林去除、凈化鉛污染的能力比科學家預計的要強，可知A正確。森林中的鉛積累好處理，說明B與文中所述相反。原文沒有提及鉛沉積在美國的森林中廣泛分布，所以不對；文中沒有提到哪層土容易被污染，所以D也不對。

5.答案為C。推論題。根據最后一段：盡管生態系統的某些環節對空氣污染的改善反應迅速(respondrapidlytoreductionsinatmospherticpollution,…)但這些研究成果不應該被當作對環境污染的許可。這說明。鉛污染仍然應被重視，所以C正確。文中沒有提到科學家們被森林污染所困擾，所以A不對；文中雖然舉出了使用無鉛汽油后鉛污染減少，但并沒有說鉛污染已經解決，而且，“thesefindingsshouldnotbeusedasalicensetopollute”,即暗指鉛污染仍然應被重視，科學家們還能“feelrelieved”,所以B不對；文中沒有提到和污染斗爭的方法手段問題，所以也不對。

Passage2

6.答案為A。細節題。文章第一段提到，戴安娜王妃訪問安哥拉，“tosupporttheRedCross’scampaignforatotalbanonallanti-personnellandmines.”表明王妃的態度和目的是要聲明，她對全面禁止使用地雷的支持。這說明A正確。王妃并不是要闡明英國政府在地雷方面的立場，相反她受到了政府成員的攻擊，所以B不對；王妃慰問了那些在地雷爆炸中受傷的人員，但其訪問的目的也不是去樹立親近地雷受害者的形象，所以D也不對。

7.答案為D。詞義題。根據第一段最后一句話：王妃只有真正看到那些受害者所經受的痛苦，才能體會到現實是非常嚴重的。這說明D正確。王妃慰問了那些受害者，而不是無法容忍面對與受害者的接觸，說明A顛倒了王妃并的態度；在安哥拉的境遇根本不可能讓王妃感覺像是回到了家，所以B不對；王妃并非不相信統計數據，而是親自看到現實的時候有更真實的體會，說明C也不對。

8.答案為B。細節題。文章第三段第一句話指出：那些不同意王妃觀點的人拒絕支持對這些武器的禁用。這也正是他們批評王妃的原因，所以B正確。A是批評王妃的內容，并不是批評的原因，更何況他們的指責并非事實；文中并沒有提到他們是因為王妃訪問前未與政府協商而指責她的，事實后來也證明王妃得到了外交部批準，所以C不對。文中提到的“misinterpretation”的概念是說政府與王妃之間的一些誤解，而不是說王妃歪曲了安哥拉的境況，這也不是他們指責的緣由，所以D也不對。

9.答案為A。細節題。文章第四段：“ThePrincessrespondedbybrushingasidethecriticisms:‘Thisisadistractionwedonotneed.AllI’mtryingtodoishelp.’”說明王妃對那些批評置若罔聞，所以A正確。文中沒有提及她通過多上電視來回應那些批評，所以B不對；她會見那個13歲的女孩是在訪問過程中的行為，并不是她訪問回來后針對批評而回應的辦法，所以C不對；文中明確說她不予理睬，根本沒有與反對者爭論，所以D也不對。

10.答案為B。細節題。文章最后一段最后一句話指出：她說，這次訪問使她有機會親近人民。這說明B正確。雖然確實使政府陷入了尷尬，但這不是王妃對這次訪問的看法，所以A不對；王妃是利用她已有的知名度進行訪問，以聲明對禁用地雷的支持，而不是借訪問提升知名度，這并不是她對這次訪問的態度，所以C不對；訪問確實影響了她與政府的關系，但是文中沒有表明這是王妃對這次訪問的看法，所以D不對。