Question

To pollute or not to pollute? That is the question. In order to survive, we all need to cause pollution. Factories that process the food we eat, clothes we wear, and cars we drive have to cause pollution. The environment has the ability to absorb our waste or the pollution, but its absorption ability has its limits. If the pollution level is higher than what the environment can cope with, then that's the time when pollution is bad.

If the pollution level becomes too high, human health can be affected badly. Then, the productivity level of the sick people is low and the economy suffers. The economy suffers not only because of the lost productivity of the people, but also because the government must pay for the damage the pollution has done to its people.

This is the reason why the government prefers taxation policy. Imposing（征收）a tax on firms that pollute the environment can be considered a good strategy, as long as the tax covers all the external costs or the cost of the damage the firm has created during production.

Taxation, if enforced（执行）really well, can make firms create a technology that may reduce pollution, if they find out that it will be cheaper than continuously paying the tax. The disadvantage of this policy, however, lies in the possibility that some big firms will find the tax cheap and then they will just produce more and pollute the environment more. If other small firms find the tax expensive, thus closing down, their production will be eaten up by those firms which can afford the tax.

Therefore, it is important that lawmakers in each country, when deciding to impose a tax on pollutant emissions, first review and analyze very carefully the real cost of the damage.

1. We can infer from the first paragraph that

A. for human beings pollution is unavoidable

B. it's not easy to figure out how bad pollution is

C. humans should reduce the use of everyday products

D. we can survive without causing pollution.

2.The underlined word "absorb" here refers to”____”．

A. reduce B. fit in

C. avoid D. deal with

3.What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A. The effects of pollution on human health.

B. The relationship between people and their government.

C. The effects of pollution on economic development.

D. The relationship between human health and economic development.

4.Which of the following can be the result of imposing a higher tax according to Paragraph 3 ？

A. Firms may reduce the prices of their products.

B. Firms may develop some environmental technology.

C.A big firm will be broken up into small firms.

D.A small firm will try to pass the tax on to consumers.

Answer 1