Question

Smog in Europe and North America could be more than 25 times more deadly than the average air pollution found in Chinese cities, a new study suggests. In the largest ever study of its kind in the developing world, researchers tested the effects of air pollution on the health of people in 272 cities in China.

They found average annual exposure to fine particles, known as PM2.5, in those cities was more than five times higher than the level recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), according to a paper in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

However they also discovered that it was much less likely to increase the death rate than PM2.5 in Europe and North America.

The researchers, led by Dr Maigeng Zhou, of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, suggested this was because China is affected by large amounts of natural dust blown by the wind from arid areas, while most pollution in the West comes from industry.

They found that for every increase of 10 micrograms of air pollution in a cubic meter of air, the mortality rate increased by 0.22 percent, discounting deaths from accidents.

Professor Frank Kelly, an expert in environmental health at King’s College London, who was not involved in the study but has studied air pollution in China, told The Independent: “Those relative risks are considerably less than those seen in Europe and the US. For mortality(死亡率) in Europe we are working on a six percent increase per 10 micrograms.” That suggests air pollution in Europe is about 27 times more toxic than average air pollution in China.

However, Professor Kelly said cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong were likely to suffer from Western-style air pollution. "The natural dust component there is not of the magnitude that it would dwarf the coal, biomass and fossil fuel signals,” he said, “That may be true in certain cities whose pollution is not dominated by local power generation or major traffic congestion.”

Natural dust particles can cause physical damage to the lungs and trigger an asthma attack. Particles of carbon produced when fossil fuels are burned can lead to similar problems but they are also coated with toxic heavy metals, chemicals and volatile organic compounds. These are able to pass from the lungs into the blood stream where it is thought they cause further damage to the body.

Areeba Hamid, an air pollution campaigner with environmental group Greenpeace, said: “Poisonous air causes damage to people’s health wherever in the world they live. We now know fumes from diesel(柴油机) vehicles are a lot more poisonous than car companies claimed and this is a big cause of air pollution in Europe and North America. These companies have a lot to answer for, but so far they’ve managed to avoid any real accountability.”

The study of cities in China found the average annual expose to PM2.5 was 56 micrograms per cubic meter, compared to the WHO guideline limit for safe air quality of 10 micrograms.

People who were older than 75, had less education or who lived in hotter places were more likely to die. It is thought people in warmer cities were more likely to spend time outside or leave their windows open, thereby breathing more polluted air, the researchers said. They also speculated that less well educated people might have poorer access to health care or experience poorer environmental health conditions.

1.Why PM2.5 in China is less deadly than that in Europe and North America?

A. China is free from any pollution about PM2.5.

B. Pollutants affecting China mainly come from arid areas.

C. Fewer people died from PM 2.5 in China than those in Europe and North America.

D. Europe and North America are polluted by natural dust.

2.What does the underlined part in Para 7 refer to?

A. The average mortality rate.    B. The higher mortality rate.

C. The lower mortality rate.    D. The normal mortality rate.

3.What’s the real cause of air pollution in Europe and North America according to Areeba Hamid?

A. Fumes from diesel vehicles are much more poisonous.

B. The environmental agencies can’t take on responsibilities.

C. The technology doesn’t meet the standards.

D. Car companies can’t evaluate the results.

4.The author’s purpose of writing the passage is to ________.

A. appeal to people to lay an emphasis on environmental protection

B. illustrate smog in Europe and North America is quite serious

C. demonstrate China is safest place in the world to live in

D. provide some good ways to address the smog

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.A

4.A

【解析】本文主要讲述了欧洲和北美的烟雾可能比中国城市平均空气污染程度高出25倍以上，空气污染主要来自于工业，毒性很大，致人死亡率高。所以文章呼吁人们要重视环境的保护。

1.B推理判断题。在第三段“it was much less likely to increase the death rate than PM2.5 in Europe and North America.”讲述中国这种PM2.5并不如欧洲和北美的PM2.5的致死率高。第四段接着指出“because China is affected by large amounts of natural dust blown by the wind from arid areas, while most pollution in the West comes from industry.” 因为中国污染是受从干旱地区吹来的大量天然吹尘影响，而大多数西方国家的污染来自工业，故中国的污染没有西方那么致命。由此可判断B是正确的。

2.C推理判断题。在第六段中讲述欧洲的空气污染比中国严重的多，所以中国因污染而致死率大大低于欧洲和美国，而欧洲的空气污染的毒性要比中国高27倍。接着在第七段继续说然而像北京，上海和香港这样的城市也有可能遭受西方式的空气污染（即工业污染）。那里因天然灰尘所造成的污染远远比不上因煤和天然燃料所造成的污染大。而在某些城市，受地方发电或交通等造成的工业污染不大的城市来说，（因为自然灰尘而致死的死亡率非常低）也许是真的。也就是说中国因灰尘污染致死的人少是真的。即The lower mortality rate，故选C。本题也可用排除法，A. The average mortality rate.（平均死亡率），平均死亡率是综合所有的死亡，而这一段是比较灰尘污染和工业污染；B. The higher mortality rate.（高的死亡率），根据常识可知，工业污染较少，死亡率不太可能高；D. The normal mortality rate.（正常死亡率）本段是对比中国的工业污染和灰尘污染的城市的死亡率，故D错。

3.A细节理解题。根据第九段“We now know fumes from diesel(柴油机) vehicles are a lot more poisonous than car companies claimed and this is a big cause of air pollution in Europe and North America. These companies have a lot to answer for it”（来自柴油机汽车的油烟比汽车公司声称更有毒的很多，这是在欧洲和北美国的空气污染的一大原因。）可知，来自柴油车辆的烟雾是欧洲和北美洲的空气污染的一个主要原因。故A是正确的。

4.A主旨大意题。本文主要讲述了欧洲和北美的烟雾可能比中国城市平均空气污染程度高出25倍以上，空气污染主要来自于工业，毒性很大，致死率高。由此来呼吁人们要重视环境的保护。故选A。