Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.
Global warming may or may not be the great environmental crisis of the 21st century, but—regardless of whether it is or isn’t - we won’t do much about it. We will argue over it and may even, as a nation, make some fairly solemn-sounding commitments to avoid it. But the more dramatic and meaningful these commitments seem, the less likely they are to be observed.
Al Gore calls global warming an “inconvenient truth,” as if merely recognizing it could put us on a path to a solution. But the real truth is that we don’t know enough to relieve global warming, and—without major technological breakthroughs—we can’t do much about it.
From 2003 to 2050, the world’s population is projected to grow from 6.4 billion to 9.1 billion, a 42% increase. If energy use per person and technology remain the same, total energy use and greenhouse gas emissions (mainly, CO2) will be 42% higher in 2050. But that’s too low, because societies that grow richer use more energy. We need economic growth unless we condemn the world’s poor to their present poverty and freeze everyone else’s living standards. With modest growth, energy use and greenhouse emissions more than double by 2050.
No government will adopt rigid restrictions on economic growth and personal freedom (limits on electricity usage, driving and travel) that might cut back global warming. Still, politicians want to show they’re “doing something.” Consider the Kyoto Protocol (京都议定书). It allowed countries that joined to punish those that didn’t. But it hasn’t reduced CO2 emissions (up about 25% since 1990), and many signatories (签字国) didn’t adopt tough enough policies to hit their 2008-2012 targets.
The practical conclusion is that if global warming is a potential disaster, the only solution is new technology. Only an aggressive research and development program might find ways of breaking our dependence on fossil fuels or dealing with it.
The trouble with the global warming debate is that it has become a moral problem when it’s really an engineering one. The inconvenient truth is that if we don’t solve the engineering problem, we’re helpless.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
57. What is said about global warming in the first paragraph?
A) It may not prove an environmental crisis at all.
B) It is an issue requiring worldwide commitments.
C) Serious steps have been taken to avoid or stop it.
D) Very little will be done to bring it under control.
58. According to the author’s understanding, what is A1 Gore’s view on global warming?
A) It is a reality both people and politicians are unaware of.
B) It is a phenomenon that causes us many inconveniences.
C) It is a problem that can be solved once it is recognized.
D) It is an area we actually have little knowledge about.
59. Greenhouse emissions will more than double by 2050 because of ________.
A) economic growth
B) wasteful use of energy
C) the widening gap between the rich and poor
D) the rapid advances of science and technology
60. The author believes that, since the signing of the Kyoto Protocol, ________.
A) politicians have started to do something to better the situation
B) few nations have adopted real tough measures to limit energy use
C) reductions in energy consumption have greatly cut back global warming
D) international cooperation has contributed to solving environmental problems
61. What is the message the author intends to convey?
A) Global warming is more of a moral issue than a practical one.
B) The ultimate solution to global warming lies in new technology.
C) The debate over global warming will lead to technological breakthroughs.
D) People have to give up certain material comforts to stop global warming.
这是一篇讲述全球变暖问题的材料。关于全球变暖在当前如何解决，作者指出了两点，一是它已经演变成了道德问题，二是只能通过技术突破来解决。
第一段开头作者抛出了自己的独特观点：we won’t do much about it。而后作了一定的解释，认为人们会讨论全球变暖问题(We will argue over it)，甚而做出解决问题的姿态，但这类姿态却不会诉诸于行动(the less likely they are to be observed)。
下一段引用了美国前副总统戈尔的观点：inconvenient truth，意思是承认了问题就能解决问题。作者并不同意戈尔的观点，并指出单单承认问题是不够，解决问题的方法是重大技术突破(major technological breakthroughs)。
第三段的内容比较长，作者列举了详细数据论证在未来的50年时间内温室气体排放量的增长幅度。作者的目的在于突出问题的严重性，以便和下一段中政府不愿削减能耗的论述形成对比，彰显出政府为了各自的利益而置环境问题而不顾。这就是在作者看来的道德问题。
既然各国政府不愿进行能耗削减，那么解决问题的办法只有一个：新技术突破。倒数第二段具体论述了新技术突破作为全球变暖问题出路的观点(the only solution is new technology)。
最后一段从另一个方面论述了新技术突破作为问题解决办法的必要性，也就是在道德层面(政府不作为)无法解决问题的情况，必须从工程(engineering，实际指的是技术革新)的角度去实现突破，否则就是彻底的helpless了。
