考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇【社會文化類】

考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇unit24
Unit 24
At the close of the Kyoto Global-Warming Treaty discussions held in Bonn last week, exhausted negotiators from nearly every country on earth had reason to be proud. They had done what no one expected--they reached a breakthrough agreement to limit greenhouse gases. During the concluding remarks, as each speaker praised the next, only the chief U.S. official on the scene drew an undiplomatic response. When Paula Dobriansky told the gathering that the Bush Administration "will not abdicate our responsibility" to address global warming, the hall filled with boos. That's because the U.S., the world's largest producer of greenhouse gases, sat on the sidelines in Bonn.

George W. Bush has yet to decide what, if anything, he will do to combat global warming. But he believes the Kyoto treaty is fatally flawed because it doesn't require developing countries to limit their fossil-fuel use immediately, as it does industrialized countries. So he kept the U.S. out of the discussions. In doing so, the Administration may have lost its last opportunity to help shape the international response to the problem. And Bush may be in danger of losing control over climate action domestically. After months of internal debate, the Administration is still "consulting" on the issue.

That noise you hear is Congress rushing to fill the leadership vacuum. At least six climate plans have been proposed so far. The first is sponsored by former Republican, now Independent Senator Jim Jeffords, chairman of the Senate Environment Committee, who proposes to cut greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants. Congressional action this week will center on reducing emissions by raising vehicle fuel-efficiency standards, including those for SUVs. If SUVs had to meet the same standards as cars--something Massachusetts Representative Ed Markey will propose this week--they could save consumers an estimated $7 billion at the pump this year and cut gasoline demand by tens of billions of gallons over 10 years.

The "drill Detroit, not the Arctic" campaign will find some support this week when the National Academy of Sciences releases a long-awaited study. The report, toned down after the auto industry protested that raising fuel-efficiency standards, by making cars lighter, makes vehicles less safe, is still likely to conclude that fuel efficiency can be increased at least 25% with existing technology.

If a fuel-efficiency bill reaches his desk, Bush could be in a bind--caught between auto lobbyists (his chief of staff used to be one) and his concern for energy security. With new technology putting impressive fuel efficiency within reach, it will be hard for him to oppose measures that could reduce the national appetite for foreign oil by millions of barrels a year.

注（1）：本文選自Time; 8/6/2001, p24；
注（2）：本文習(xí)題模仿對象2005年真題Text 1；

1.       In the opening paragraph, the author introduces his topic by

[A] making a comparison.
[B]justifying as an assumption.
[C]posing a contrast.
[D]explaining a phenomenon.

2.       The statement “sat on the sidelines” (Line 7, Paragraph 1) means

[A]not sitting together with the representatives from other countries.
[B]not taking part in the activity even though they should do.
[C]not getting involved in the discussion.
[D]not paying attention to the international affair.

3.       Bush kept U.S. out of the discussions because he believes

[A]the industrialized countries should not shoulder the responsibility alone.
[B]developing countries fail to meet the same requirement.
[C]the industrialized countries seem to share more in tacking this issue.
[D]the developing countries should not be included.

4.       The National Academy of Sciences found in the study that

[A]the auto industry should not raise the fuel efficiency standards.
[B]the lighter car is not safe enough.
[C]the existing technology can increase the fuel efficiency.
[D]the lighter the car is, the less safety it will be.

5.       What can we learn from the last paragraph?

[A]New technology can help Bush out of trouble.
[B]Bush intends to stir the national appetite for foreign oil.
[C]Auto lobbyists have different ideas from Bush.
[D]Bush fails to deal with the subtle situation.

答案：CBACB

篇章剖析
本文采用提出問題——分析問題的模式。文章從布什政府對《京都議定書》的反應(yīng)入手，分析了布什這么做的原因以及在國內(nèi)產(chǎn)生的影響和后果。第一段指出布什政府在波恩會議上的局外人的態(tài)度；第二段指出其原因以及造成的后果；第三段和第四段指出在美國國內(nèi)提出的有關(guān)限制溫室氣體排放的建議；第五段指出布什所處的進(jìn)退兩難的境地。

詞匯注釋
Dubya《美國未來詞典》最鮮明的特色就是拿布什“開涮”，該詞典將“喬治•Ｗ•布什”名字中的“Ｗ”挑出來，以其諧意稱總統(tǒng)為“達(dá)不溜”（ｄｕｂｙａ）。
SUVs（sport utility vehicles）越野車，運動休閑車
at the close of  n.在...結(jié)束時,在...末
the Kyoto Global-Warming Treaty為了人類免受氣候變暖的威脅，１９９７年１２月，在日本京都召開的《聯(lián)合國氣候變化框架公約》締約方第三次會議通過了旨在限制發(fā)達(dá)國家溫室氣體排放量以抑制全球變暖的《京都議定書》。
Bonn[]n.波恩(原西德首都,位于萊茵河畔)
on the scene出現(xiàn)；登場
undiplomatic[]adj無外交策略的
abdicate[]v.退位, 放棄(職位,權(quán)力等)
address[]vt.從事, 忙于
boo[]v.作噓聲int.噓!
sideline[]n.副業(yè), 邊界線, 兼職, 附帶銷售的貨物, 局外人的觀點
tone down  v.降低, 柔和, 緩和
in a bind  adv.處于困境
lobbyist[]n.活動議案通過者, 說客
chief of staff  n.(陸海空軍的)參謀長,<美>(陸空軍)司令

難句突破
1．The report, toned down after the auto industry protested that raising fuel-efficiency standards, by making cars lighter, makes vehicles less safe, is still likely to conclude that fuel efficiency can be increased at least 25% with existing technology.
主體句式：The report … is still likely to conclude that …
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：這句話的主語是report，后面跟的過去分詞toned down做伴隨狀語來修飾the report; toned down后面又跟了after引導(dǎo)的時間狀語從句，從句中又有一個that引導(dǎo)的賓語從句，賓語從句中raising fuel-efficiency standards是主語，by making cars lighter來修飾之；這句話的謂語是is still likely…;謂語后又跟了一個that引導(dǎo)的賓語從句。
句子譯文：由于汽車生產(chǎn)企業(yè)的抗議——通過減輕車身的重量來提高燃油效率的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)這種做法會使汽車的安全性降低，這項報導(dǎo)處以低調(diào)，但仍可能得出這樣的結(jié)論：現(xiàn)在的科技水平能使燃料效率至少提高25%。

題目分析
1．  答案為C,屬事實細(xì)節(jié)題。作者以布什政府和與會代表就《京都議定書》的不同反應(yīng)為切
入點，意在指出美國政府的局外人態(tài)度。
2．答案為B，屬推理判斷題。從第一段“the hall filled with boos”我們知道全場對美國代表的發(fā)言發(fā)出唏噓聲，其中不乏不滿、意外、責(zé)備等情感因素。后作者又做出解釋：“That's because the U.S., the world's largest producer of greenhouse gases, sat on the sidelines in Bonn.”這是因為美國作為全球溫室氣體排放量最大的國家，本應(yīng)該帶頭為解決這一問題去做出一些嘗試，但恰恰相反，美國代表的發(fā)言完全是局外人、與己不相干的態(tài)度。從而可猜出詞義。
3． 答案為A，屬事實細(xì)節(jié)題。原文對應(yīng)信息是“But he believes the Kyoto treaty is fatally
flawed because it doesn't require developing countries to limit their fossil-fuel use immediately, as it does industrialized countries. So he kept the U.S. out of the discussions.”美國之所以沒有參與討論，是因為布什認(rèn)定京都協(xié)定有致命的缺陷，其缺陷在于它沒有要求發(fā)展中國家同其它工業(yè)國一樣，立即限制礦物燃料的使用。
4．答案為C，屬事實細(xì)節(jié)題。原文對應(yīng)信息是“The report, toned down after the auto industry protested that raising fuel-efficiency standards, by making cars lighter, makes vehicles less safe, is still likely to conclude that fuel efficiency can be increased at least 25% with existing technology.”對應(yīng)信息不難找到，難點在于對句子結(jié)構(gòu)的把握上。參照“難句突破”部分的解釋。
5．答案為B，屬推理判斷題。原文對應(yīng)信息是“it will be hard for him to oppose measures that could reduce the national appetite for foreign oil by millions of barrels a year.”

參考譯文
上周在波恩舉行的商討《京都議定書》會議結(jié)束的時候，來自世界各國的筋疲力盡的談判者完全有理由感到自豪。他們?nèi)〉玫某晒�是任何人都沒有預(yù)料到的——就限制溫室氣體排放問題達(dá)成了一項突破性協(xié)議。在致閉幕詞的時候，與會的每一位發(fā)言人都對此表示稱贊，惟獨美國官方代表作出了毫無外交策略的回應(yīng)。當(dāng)保拉•多布里揚斯基向大會宣布布什政府“不會放棄自己的責(zé)任”去處理全球變暖這一問題時，全場報以唏噓聲。這是因為美國作為全球溫室氣體排放量最大的國家在波恩會議上完全是一種局外人的態(tài)度。

如果真有什么可做的話，喬治•沃特•布什必須決定應(yīng)該為遏制全球氣候變暖做些什么。但是他認(rèn)定京都協(xié)定有致命的缺陷，因為它沒有要求發(fā)展中國家同其它工業(yè)國那樣，立即限制礦物燃料的使用，因此美國沒有參與討論。這樣做的結(jié)果是，布什政府可能失去了最后的機會去影響國際社會對此問題做出的反應(yīng)。在國內(nèi)，布什可能會有對氣候問題處于失控狀態(tài)的危險。經(jīng)過幾個月的內(nèi)部討論之后，布什政府對這一問題仍然處于“磋商”階段。

你所聽到的都是些國會成員爭先搶后去填補領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層空缺的議論。至今已提出了至少六種有關(guān)氣候治理計劃。第一種計劃是由吉姆•杰福茲提出的。吉姆•杰福茲是前共和黨派，現(xiàn)在的無黨派參議員，并任參議院環(huán)境工程委員會主席。他提議減少電廠的溫室氣體排放量。本周國會議題是圍繞通過提高機動車燃料效率標(biāo)準(zhǔn)來減少氣體排放量這一論點展開的，其中也包括提高越野車的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。如果越野車要達(dá)到的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)和小汽車一樣的話——這是本周來自麻薩諸塞州的代表愛德•馬奇提出來的——那么消費者今年估計僅氣泵一項就能節(jié)省70億美元，十年中汽油需求量能減少好幾百億加侖。

本周國家科學(xué)研究院公布了一項令人期待已久的研究，這項研究將會使“在底特律而不要在北極進(jìn)行石油勘探”這一運動從中獲得一些支持。由于汽車生產(chǎn)企業(yè)的抗議——通過減輕車身的重量來提高燃油效率的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)這種做法會使汽車的安全性降低，這項報導(dǎo)處以低調(diào)，但仍可能得出這樣的結(jié)論：現(xiàn)在的科技水平能使燃料效率至少提高25%。

如果一份有關(guān)燃料效率的議案送到布什的案頭，他會進(jìn)退兩難——夾在汽車企業(yè)的說客（他的參謀長就是其中一個）和自己對能源安全問題的擔(dān)憂中間。應(yīng)用新科技能達(dá)到令人滿意的燃油效率，那么也就使他很難反對能減少國人每年對外國石油幾百萬桶的需求量的方案。

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