Question

    What is the single most effective way to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions? Go vegetarian? Replant the Amazon? Cycle to work? None of the above. The answer is: make air-conditioners radically better. On one calculation, replacing refrigerants(制冷剂) that damage the atmosphere would reduce total greenhouse gases by the equivalent of 90bn tonnes of CO2 by 2050. Making the units more energy-efficient could double that.

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.

Yet air-conditioning has done quite a lot things to benefit humankind. It has transformed productivity in the tropics and helped turn southern China into the workshop of the world. In Europe, its spread has pushed down heat-related deaths ten times less than what it was in 2003, when 70,000 people, most of them elderly, died in a heatwave. For children, air-conditioned classrooms and dormitories 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 around the world as were put in between 1902 (when air-conditioning was invented) and 2005. Until 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 (beyond turning up the thermostat(温度调节器) to make rooms less Arctic). 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, or introduced 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 category of these, hydrofluorocarbons, is over 1,000 times worse than carbon dioxide when it comes to trapping heat in the atmosphere. An international deal to phase out these pollutants, called the Kigali amendment, will come into force in 2019. Foot-draggers should approve and implement it; America is one country that has not done so.

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 or balconies for shade, or with natural air-circulation. Simply painting roofs white can help keep temperatures down.

Better machines are necessary. But cooling as an overall system needs to be improved if air-conditioning is to fulfil its promise to make people healthier, wealthier and wiser, without too high an environmental cost. Providing indoor sanctuaries of air-conditioned comfort need not come at the expense of an overheating world.

1.Why does the author think air-conditioning is an overlooked industry？

A.Because many hot countries haven’t put the energy-controlling rules into force.

B.Because it has caused the same impact on people’s life and work as automobiles have.

C.Because it has brought great economic, physical, and educational benefits to humans.

D.Because it doesn’t get the due criticism for its environmental impact as automobiles do.

2.What can we learn from Paragraph 4?

A.The price of air-conditioning will go up due to the large demand for it.

B.A high environmental cost will come along with the air-conditioning service.

C.Environmentalists are expecting extra machines which can warm the world.

D.Governments partially agree that air-conditioning is a luxury we cannot afford.

3.With regard to the measures to cut the impact of cooling, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A.Manufacturers should only stop using hydrofluorocarbons.

B.People should avoid turning up the air-conditioners to have cool rooms on hot days.

C.People should adopt more environmentally-friendly materials when designing buildings.

D.Governments should give a green light to the agreement on eliminating the pollutants.

4.The author writes this passage to _______.

A.arouse people’s attention to the global warming.

B.appeal for the global joint efforts to combat global warming.

C.give credit to air-conditioning for its great contributions to humans

D.offer a new perspective on how to reduce greenhouse gasses emissions

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.C

4.D

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。作者写这篇文章对如何减少温室气体排放提供一个新的视角。

1.细节理解题。根据第二段中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.可知，作者认为空调是一个被忽视的行业是因为它不像汽车那样受到应有的环境影响的批评。故选D。

2.推理判断题。根据第四段中The more the earth warms, the more people need them. But the more there are, the warmer the world will be.可知，我们可以从第四段了解到空调服务将带来很高的环境成本。故选B。

3.推理判断题。根据第七段中More buildings should be built with overhanging roofs or balconies for shade, or with natural air-circulation. Simply painting roofs white can help keep temperatures down.可知，人们在设计建筑时应该采用更环保的材料。故选C。

4.主旨大意题。根据文章内容，尤其是第一段中The answer is: make air-conditioners radically better. On one calculation, replacing refrigerants(制冷剂) that damage the atmosphere would reduce total greenhouse gases by the equivalent of 90bn tonnes of CO2 by 2050. Making the units more energy-efficient could double that.可知，作者写这篇文章主要内容是对如何减少温室气体排放提供一个新的视角。故选D。