The environmentalists who are against the fast expansion of tourism may think __________.

A．government authority exercised a review function

B．decisions were made without regard to the effect the facility would have on the environment

C．sites selected by utilities were often opposed by environmentalist groups

D．sites selected by utilities were often supported by environmentalist groups

A．To complete the government's energy plans within two decades.

B．To discuss the plans with the Opposition.

C．To talk with anti -nuclear and environmentalist groups.

D．To build more nuclear power stations.

It can be inferred from the passage that the author is most probably ______ .

A．an American congressman

B．a British politician

C．an American journalist

D．a British environmentalist

What is the best title of the passage？

A．Big corporations: pioneer of environmentalism

B．Consumer demand and development of green tag

C．Green tag and its extra cost.

D．Transformation from car devotee to environmentalist

What does the expression "neutralized flights" (para. 5) mean in the passage？

A．You compensate for emission of your flight by joining environmental activities.

B．You replace long-haul air travel by sea or by train to reduce carbon emission.

C．You travel less by air so as to cut carbon emission.

D．You neutralize your flight carbon by being an environmentalist and by taking as few business and leisure flights as possible.

n of three more nuclear power stations. These will form. a vital part of the government's energy plans for the next two decades and are needed to satisfy the country's growing demands for electricity. The plans were strongly criticised by opposition MP's as well as anti-nuclear and environmentalist groups.

W: They must be absolutely mad, more nuclear power stations!

M: OK. Jane. But we've got to get the energy from somewhere, haven't we？ We can't just go on using oil and coal.

W: Look. The main point is they're just net safe. They're a real menace, everyone of these things is an accident waiting to happen. Look at Chernobyl, for goodness' sake!

M: Yes, OK, I agree there's a risk. Of course there is. But it's minimal. With modern technology, nuclear reactors are much safer:

W: Much safer! You must be joking. No. Look at all that radioactive waste they're dumping into the sea and underground. Nobody re ally knows what'll happen long-terms.

M: That is a problem. Sure. But it's also true that nuclear energy is cheap and can produce electricity very quickly. Lots of countries have no alternatives. They don't have any oil, coal or anything. What are they supposed to do？

W: Oh, come on! There're lots of possibilities. Well, quite a few. We just haven't really looked at them seriously enough. There's solar energy, and wind power and, what's called wave power. We've still got a lot of coal.

W: Alright. But they'll all take time and money to develop. We need energy now and nuclear power is the best alternative.

M: Oh, I don't believe this. I reckon it's just crazy.

(20)

A．The Defence Minister.

B．The Energy Minister.

C．The Prime Minister.

D．The Science Minister.

Cousteau Remembered

Jacques-Ives Coustean died in Paris on 26 June, 1997 at the age of 87. His influence is great. Scientists respected his creative engineering; engineers praised his science. Coustean, who claimed to be neither scientist nor engineer, contributed significantly to both disciplines — and to many more.

Throughout his adventure-filled life, Coustean challenged definitions. Yes, he was a captain in the French Navy, and early on, a filmmaker and natural storyteller. Later, he became a famous ocean explorer, designer of underwater equipment, expedition leader, author, speaker, businessman, environmentalist, teacher and leader of an influential organization (the Cousteau Society).

All who care about the sea — and even those who don't think much about the ocean one way or another — owe Coustean a tremendous debt. The knowledge gained as a consequence of his direct contributions, and the strong others, have transformed the way the world thinks about the sea. His stories, of encounters with sharks and other fish inspired many to go see themselves. Coustean pioneered ventures in underwater living in the 1960's: sub-sea labs where scientists submerged for days or weeks — the underwater labs similar to skylab or the space station. His films and television programmes won two Academy Rewards, three Emnies, and the hearts and minds of viewers worldwide for decades.

Showered with honours, Cousteau remarked recently that he thought his most important accomplishment was to make people aware of— and care about — the ocean. Thanks to him, we grew concerned about our growing population and the consequences of over fishing and ocean pollution that threaten the health of the sea, and we were inspired to do something to improve the way things are done.

We shared the sad feeling with Cousteau when Simone, his wife and partner for many years, died and when his son Phillippe was killed in a plane crash. We shared his joy when Jean Michael, his eldest son, became an explorer and a spokesman for the sea in his own right. We were happy for Coustean when he began a new family with his second wife, Fracine. And now that his voice of the ocean is silenced, we feel very sad.

According to the passage, Coustean's influence is great because he ______.

A．was both a scientist and an engineer

B．invented skylab

C．made contributions to science and engineering

D．was a captain in the French Navy

Can Business Be Cool？

Why a growing number of firms are taking global warming seriously.

Companies supporting environment protection

Rupert Murdoch is no green activist. But in Pebble Beach later this summer, the annual gathering of executives of Mr Murdoch's News Corporation--which last year led to a dramatic shift in the media conglomerate's attitude to the Internet--will be addressed by several leading environmentalists, including a vice-president turned climate-change movie star. Last month BSkyB, a British satellitetelevision company chaired by Mr. Murdoch and run by his son, James, declared itself "carbon-neutral", having taken various steps to cut or offset its discharges of carbon into the atmosphere.

The army of corporate greens is growing fast. Late last year HSBC became the first big bank to announce that it was carbon-neutral, joining other financial institutions, including Swiss Re, a reinsurer, and Goldman Sachs, an investment bank, in waging war on climate-warming gases (of which carbon dioxide is the main culprit). Last year General Electric (GE), an industrial powerhouse, launched its "Ecomagination" strategy, aiming to cut its output of greenhouse gases and to invest heavily in clean (i.e., carbon-free) technologies. In October Wal-Mart announced a series of environmental schemes, including doubling the fuel-efficiency of its fleet of vehicles within a decade. Tesco and Sainsbury, two Of Britain's biggest retailers, are competing fiercely to be the greenest. And on June 7th some leading British bosses lobbied Tony Blair for a more ambitious policy on climate change, even if that involves harsher regulation.

The other side

The greening of business is by no means universal, however. Money from Exxon Mobil, Ford and General Motors helped pay for television advertisements aired recently in America by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, with the daft slogan "Carbon dioxide: they call it pollution; we call it life". Besides, environmentalist critics say, some firms are engaged in superficial "greenwash to boost the image of essentially climate-hurting businesses. Take BP, the most prominent corporate advocate of action on climate change, with its "Beyond Petroleum" ad campaign, high-profile investments in green energy, and even a "carbon calculator" on its websites helps consumers measure their personal "carbon footprint", or overall emissions of carbon. Yet, critics complain, BP's recent record profits are largely thanks to sales of huge amounts of carbon-packed oil and gas.

On the other hand, some free-market thinkers see the support of firms for regulation of carbon as the latest attempt at "regulatory capture", by those who stand to profit from new rules. Max Schulz of the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, notes darkly that "Enron was into pushing the idea of climate change, because it was good for its business".

Others argue that climate change has no more place in corporate boardrooms than do discussions of other partisan political issues, such as Darfur or gay marriage. That criticism, at least, is surely wrong. Most of the corporate converts say they are acting not out of some vague sense of social responsibility, or even personal angst, but because climate change creates real business risks and opportunities—from regulatory compliance to insuring clients on flood plains. And although these concerns vary hugely from one company to the next, few firms can be sure of remaining unaffected.

The climate of opinion

The most obvious risk is of rising energy costs. Indeed, the recent high price of oil and natural gas, allied to fears over the security of energy supplies from the Middle East and Russia—neither of which have anything to de with climate change—may be the main reason why many firms have recently become interested in alternative energy sources. But at the same tim

A．Y

B．N

C．NG