Question

What is the single most effective way to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions? Go vegetarian (素食)？ Replant the Amazon? Cycle to work? None of the above. The answer is: make air-conditioners better. On one calculation， replacing refrigerants (制冷剂) damaging the atmosphere would reduce total greenhouse gases equaling 90bn tonnes of CO₂ by 2050. Making the units more energy-efficient could double that. By contrast, if half the world’s population gave up meat, it would save 66bn tonnes. Replanting two-thirds of tropical forests would save 61 bn tonnes. A one-third increase in global bicycle journeys, just 2.3bn tonnes.

Air-conditioning is one of the world's great overlooked industries. Automobiles and air-conditioners were invented at roughly the same time, and both have had a huge impact on where people live and Work. Unlike cars, though， air-conditioners have drawn little criticism for their social impact, emissions or energy efficiency. Most hot countries do not have rules to govern their energy use. There is not even a common English word for “coolth” (the opposite of warmth).

Yet air-conditioning has done more than most things to benefit humankind. Lee Kuan Yew, the first prime minister of Singapore, called it “perhaps one of the signal inventions of history”. It has transformed productivity in the tropics(热带地区)and helped turn southern China into the workshop of the World. In Europe, its spread has pushed down heat-related deaths to 10% since 2003, Men 70,000 people than usual, most of them elderly, died in a heatwave. For children, air-conditioned classrooms are associated with better grades at school.

Environmentalists who call air-conditioning“a luxury we cannot afford” have half a point, however. In the next ten years, as many air-conditioners will be installed(安装)around the world as were put in between 1902(invention time)and 2005.Unless energy can be produced without carbon emissions, these extra machines will warm the world. At the moment, therefore, air-conditioners create a vicious cycle. The more the Earth warms, the more people need them. But the more there are, the warmer the world will be.

Cutting the impact of cooling requires three things. First, air-conditioners must become much more efficient. The most energy-efficient models on the market today consume only about one-third as much electricity as average ones, Minimum energy-performance standards need to be raised raised, orintroduced in countries that lack them altogether, to push the average unit's performance closer to the standard of the best.

Next, manufacturers should stop using damaging refrigerants. One type called hydrofluoro-carbons, is over 1,000 times worse than carbon dioxide when it comes to trapping heat in the atmosphere. An international agreement to knock out these pollutants will come into force in 2019.

Last, more could. be done to design offices, malls and even cities so they do not need as many air-conditioners in the first place. More buildings should be built with overhanging roofs orbalconies for shade, or with natural ventilation (自然通风).Simply painting roofs white can help keep temperatures down. Providing indoor air-conditioned comfort need not come at the expense of an overheating world.

1.What’s the most effective way to reduce carbon gases?

A. Planting more trees.    B. Leading green lifestyles.

C. Improving cooling systems.    D. Buying new air-conditioners.

2.What can we learn from Paragraphs 2 and 3?

A. Air-conditioning enables factories to produce more in hot areas.

B. The heat-related deaths have dropped by 10% since 2003 in Europe.

C. There are many factories producing air-conditioners in southern China.

D. Air-conditioners have received little criticism for they have no negative impact.

3.Why do environmentalists call air-conditioning “a luxury we cannot afford” in Paragraph 4?

A. Because the price of air-conditioning is too high.

B. Because you can’t afford the time for installation.

C. Because the cost of energy consumption is too high.

D. Because the earth will suffer from its carbon emissions.

4.Which of the following measures can reduce the impact of cooling?

a.design natural cooling buildings

b.raise standards for energy-performance

c.make laws for international cooperation

d.stop applying harmful refrigerants to production

A. abc    B. abd    C. acd    D. bed

Answer

1. C

2. A

3. D

4. B

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。主要分析了一种可以减少温室气体排放最有效方法就是改善空调的冷却系统。文章先分析了空调带给人们的好处和方便，其次也说明了空调中的制冷剂是温室效应的主要影响因素。并提出了三点能够减少“冷却影响”的方式。

1.细节理解题。第一段第一句“What is the single most effective way to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions? ”以及后文中”The answer is: make air-conditioners better. ”答案是使空调机更好，即改善空调的冷却系统。故选C。

2.推理判断题。根据第二段第一句“Air-conditioning is one of the world's great overlooked industries.”与第三段第二句“It has transformed productivity in the tropics(热带地区)and helped turn southern China into the workshop of the World.”可知空调使在炎热地区的工厂能够生产更多的产品。故选A。

3.细节理解题。由第四段第三句“Unless energy can be produced without carbon emissions, these extra machines will warm the world.”可知除非能在不排放碳的情况下生产能源，否则这些额外的机器将使世界变暖。故环保人士称空调是“我们买不起的奢侈品”是因为地球将承受它的碳排放。故选D。

4.细节理解题。倒数第三段倒数第一句“Minimum energy-performance standards need to be raised raised可知需要提高最低能源性能标准；倒数第二段第一句“manufacturers should stop using damaging refrigerants.”可知应该停止使用有害的制冷剂；最后一段第二句“More buildings should be built with overhanging roofs orbalconies for shade, or with natural ventilation (自然通风).”可知要建造更多可以自然冷却的建筑。综上故选B。