Question

If the environmental movement has a high holiday, Earth Day is it. The annual effort to raise public awareness about the environment and inspire actions to clean it up marks its 41^st anniversary on Friday, coinciding with the Christian Good Friday and Judaism’s celebration of Passover.

In an effort dubbed “A Billion Acts of Green, ” organizers are encouraging people to observe Earth Day 2011 by promising online at http://act.earthday.org/ to do something small but sustainable in their own lives to improve the planet’s health—from switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs to reducing the use of pesticides and other toxic chemicals.

“Millions of people doing small, individual acts can add up to real change,” said Chad Chitwood, a spokesman for the umbrella group coordinating efforts. There will be hundreds of gatherings, workshops and other events around the United States, where Earth Day was born, and hundreds more overseas, where it is now celebrated in 192 countries.

In the US, the activities range from the premiere of the new film from the director of Who Killed the Electric Car? (it’s called a Revenge of the Electric Car) at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York to a discussion about creating a green economy in 12 cities along the Gulf Coast, where this time last year residents were reeling from the efforts of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

In the years since the first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970 the environmentalist movement made great strides with passage of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act and other groundbreaking laws. But the bipartisanship (两党合作) that marked the birth of Earth Day – it was sponsored in Congress by a Wisconsin Democrat named Gaylord Nelson and a California Republican named Pete McCloskey—is often missing in discussions about environmental policy today.

Efforts to fight climate change by regulating greenhouse gases, for instance, face fierce resistance from many Republicans and members of the business community, who dispute the science supporting global warming and warn new rules to regulate emissions will kill jobs and raise energy costs.

67. What could be the possible meaning of the underlined word “high” in the first paragraph?

A. yearly.　　　　　　　 B. exclusive.

C. important.　　　　　　 D. wonderful.

68. This year, the following three out of four holidays fall on the same day EXCEPT ___.

A. Earth Day. B. Easter.

C. Good Friday.　　　　　　 D. Passover.

69. What effort is NOT mentioned to protect the environment?

A. Small things to improve the planet’s health.

B. Rallies, workshops and other events around the US.

C. A discussion about creating a green economy in 12 cities.

D. New rules to raise energy cost and job opportunities.

70. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. We can make Mother Earth a better place for us to live.

B. To pass laws to protect the earth is the only way out.

C. The public’s awareness can be raised to make a cleaner earth.

D. Many republicans and businessmen doubt the science supporting global warming.

Answer 1

CBDC