Question

Prince Charles yesterday promised to reduce the royal impact on the environment through sweeping changes to his personal lifestyle and official schedule. The prince will replace carbon-heavy private jets and helicopters with scheduled flights and train services.

The move came as Prince Charles urged business leaders to publish the environmental pact(条款、协议) of their activities.

He said, “Few accountants and business decision-makers ask, ‘How much of our critical natural resource is left? How many miles of polar ice cap has our business helped melt this year? By how many inches have we raised sea levels? How many species have we put at risk? How many homes will be flooded, how many people will die of thirst or starvation because of our activities? ’ These are not comfortable questions, but, by God, they need to be asked.”

He added, “At the moment these costs do not appear in anyone’s books… Yet they are real, they are incurred now and in a relatively short time, the damage being caused may be beyond remedy.” He said the world was “running up the biggest global credit card debt in history, but with little or no thought for how the bill will ever be paid”.

Flanked by the prime minister and business and community leaders at St James’ Palace, the prince said his new “accounting for sustainability” project would give consumers the power to choose products that caused less damage to the planet.

Duchy Originals, the prince’s food company, is taking steps to work out how much carbon dioxide and other green-house gas are emitted in growing, processing and distributing its products. The changes to the prince’s travel arrangements announced yesterday are part of a wider review of the carbon footprint associated with activities at all three of his residences. Clarence House in London, Highgrove and Birkhall on the Balmorals estate, as well as the activities of his 21 personal and 105 full-time staff. Measures include a review of electricity use, commuter and other staff travel and are intended to identify further reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. The review will report in June , when Clarence House will announce annual targets to reduce carbon emission.

1.How does Prince Charles feel about business leaders in terms of environmental protection?

A．Dissatisfied.	B．Disappointed.
C．Doubtful.	D．Impatient.

2.In response to Prince Charles’ calls, Duchy Originals will ______.

A．make as much green food as possible

B．cut down its cost

C．figure out its greenhouse gas emission

D．continue its greenhouse gas emission

3.The underlined phrase in paragraph 4 probably refers to ______.

A．the great amount of waste produced by industry

B．the high cost of industry in their producing process

C．the great amount of debts of the royal family

D．the great damage caused to the environment

4.What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Prince Charles promised Greener Royal Lifestyle

B．Better Late than Never

C．Prince Charles and His Concern for Environment

D．The Royal Family Has a Role to Play in Environment Protection

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.B

2.C

3.D

4.A

 【解析】

1.B推理判断题。结合文章第二段可知查尔斯王子对商界一连串的质问可知他的失望。

2.C细节理解题。结合文章第6段Duchy Originals, the prince’s food company, is taking steps to work out how much carbon dioxide and other green-house gas are emitted in growing, processing and distributing its products可知quantify是动词，意为“量化”，同C项中的figure out（计算出）意思接近，因此C项正确。

3.D词义猜测题。根据语境判断，此处短语指的是我们对环境的破坏，查尔斯王子形象地把它比喻成我们“对地球最大的欠账”。

4.A标题概括题。文章介绍英国的查尔斯王子准备为环保事业身体力行，改变自己的生活方式，减少了温室气体的排放，因此A项最能体现文章的中心。B项是“亡羊补牢，为时未晚”的意思，文中有一定的信息，但并不是全文的中心；C项仅仅体现出“关心”，而没有体现行动；D项指的是整个王室，而没有紧扣查尔斯王子的行为。