Question

China faces $176bn bill to clean up air pollution

Cleaning up China’s air pollution will cost 1.75 trillion yuan ($176b) between 2013 and 2017, a high-ranking environmental official has estimated. 

Wang Jinnan, deputy head of the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning, said that the investment ---- part of an anti-pollution "action plan" announced by China's cabinet in September ---- “would drive up GDP by nearly two trillion yuan ($202b) and create over two million jobs,” China’s official newswire Xinhua reported.

The total cost will be higher than the 2012 GDP of most countries, including Finland, Israel and Portugal.

“36.7 percent of the investment, or 640 billion yuan ($64.5b) should go on cleaning up industry, followed by 490 billion yuan (28.2 percent) on cleaner energy sources. Cleaning up motor vehicles will absorb 210 billion yuan,” Xinhua reported, citing (引用) Wang. 

In 2013, broad areas of China recorded their highest air pollution levels in 52 years, causing widespread anger over the massive environmental disaster shaped by decades of unchecked economic growth. 

While Beijing has long been known for its pea-soup air, a number of traditionally clearer cities, including Shanghai and Harbin, have registered pollution levels high enough for local authorities to ground flights, close schools and pull cars from the roads.

On Friday, Shanghai’s concentration of airborne PM 2.5 – particulate matter small enough to stay deep within the lungs – rose to 214 micrograms per cubic meter, three times China’s national limit. The official Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center warned children and the elderly to stay indoors. 

In its five-year action plan, China's State Council promised to reduce the level of airborne particulate matter by at least 10% in major cities by 2017.

Yet many smog-related government measures, such as controlling street-side barbecues, have drawn criticism for polishing over the problem. In October, one Beijing official blamed the smog on “the traditional way of cooking Chinese dishes.”

In response, many Chinese people have taken measures into their own hands. Face masks have become a fashion statement; air purifier sales have rapidly increased. An elementary school in north China’s Shijiazhuang, one of the country’s most polluted cities, has begun teaching its students a smog-defying aerobics (健美操) routine involving acupuncture points associated with respiratory（呼吸） health. Last week, a hospital in the southwestern Chinese city Chengdu opened a “smog clinic” to treat air pollution-related diseases such as coughs and asthma; it has been treating roughly a dozen patients a day. "We should not fear smog. It's preventable and curable," says a poster hung by its entrance. 

54. What is the major cause of the heavy smog in China according to the article?

A. The investment in an anti-pollution "action plan" is not enough.

B. The economic development has not been carefully checked in the past years.

C. Environmental Planning has not been carried out for decades of years.

D. The traditional way of cooking Chinese dishes has produced too much smoke.

55. To avoid the harm on their health, people suffering from the smog in China are doing the following EXCEPT _______.
  A. wearing face masks and use air purifiers

B. warning children and the elderly not to go outdoors

C. criticizing many smog-related government officials

D. opening “smog clinics” to treat air pollution-related diseases

56. After reading the article, most readers may feel ___________.

A. Angry but hopeless                B. Tired and indifferent (漠不关心)

C. Concerned but positive             D. Depressed and annoyed

                             

Answer 1

BCC