pantech
I. Reading Comprehension (50 points)
A. Multiple Choice (24 points)
Plea read the passages and choo A, B, C or D to best complete the statements about them.
Hot under the Collar
One of the Labour Party's many transformations during Tony Blair' s leadership was its conversion to environmentalism. A party with its roots in dirty, heavy industry such as coal-mines and blast-furnaces prented itlf as an eco-friendly guardian of the planet' s future. The most visible form of this was a commitment, in Labour's 1997 manifesto, to cut 20% off British greenhou-gas emissions by 2010 compared with their 1990 levels. That went above and beyond the 12.5% required by the Kyoto treaty.
This pledge has been repeated as recently as the last election, but the promis have not stood
pin是什么意思
up to reality. Since 1999, British greenhou-gas emissions have been broadly unchanged. Disillusionment among environmentalists has gradually given way to an anger which found an attention-grabbing means of expression this week, when Greenpeace dumped a lorry-load of coal outside Downing Street. Stephen Tindale, its boss and a former government advir, accud Mr. Blair of empty rhetoric. The WWF went further, claiming that Mr. Blair' s policies sounded identical to tho of George Bush---the eco-worrier's nastiest insult.英式教育
So far, Britain has had an easy ride cutting emissions. The rhythm of technological change and relatively painless policy choices have helped put the country on cour to meet its Kyoto obligations. In an attempt to rescue the 20% target, ministers have ordered a policy review, which the Guardian obtained this week. The review, to be formally published next year, acknowledged that cutting emissions further will be hard.
horigen
Power generation is a good example of why. The government'’s "flagship policy" on climate change has been to offer subsidies to renewable energy. But much of the cut in e容光焕发>westin>英语六级分数分布情况
missions predates the handouts and owed more to economy than ecology. Newly liberalized electricity firms replaced old, dirty coal-fired power plants with new, clean gas-fired ones in the"dash for gas" in the 1990s becau they were cheaper, not becau they were cleaner-----that was just a happy coincidence. Indeed, part of the reason for modest emissions ris in the past two years is that high gas prices have prompted some companies to switch back to coal.日语签名
More gas power plants ( and possibly nuclear one., too) will eventnnlly bebuilt, but not fast enough to rescue the governmentfrom its difficulties.Renewables will help, too, but wind farms are often unpopular with local residents, and withthe public financeslookingsickly, call for an extravagant subsidy (recastto reach 1billion--$ 1.72 billionayearby 2010).
Industry already bears the bruntof Britain's climate commitments through the Climate Change Levy, a taxon energy u, and the European Emissions Trading Scheme( KTS) , which allocates tradable emissions limitsfor firms. Introducing new restrictionswillbe politi
cally difficult. Ministers tacitly acknowledged as much last year, when they bowed to industry pressure to ek a ri, in Britain’sEuropean emissions allowances.
So, too, in transport, where emissions have rin by 10% since 1990 and which now accountsfor a quarter of Britain’s greenhou-gas output. Most of the emissions come from roadtransport, but motorists face only weak incentives to buy carbon-friendly cars (the differencein road tax between the most and least efficient is only £115 ayear). Labour has been scaredof the road lobby ever since the fuel protests of 2000, which brought the country to a halt andended the policy of annual fuel-tax ris.the one measure that might curb emissions.Ministers says they want to bring airlines into the ETS, but that would require Europe-wide cooperation.
Many greens pin their hopes on energy efficiency. Many people have already installedinsulation and double-glazing, but more is to be done. Higher efficiency standards for newbuildings will help, but will take many decades to affect the overall efficiency of Britain’sdwellings and workplaces. Other savings from conrvation tend to c
上海市政府副秘书长all for new habits, whichWilliam Blyth, an environmental analyst at Chatham Hou, reckons will make them difficult toreali. .People dislike the idea of changing their behaviour for an abstract idea,. he says.They like having the problem taken out of their hands.. Others worry about the reboundeffectthat, while conrvation saves money, the gains are spent on such polluting activitiesas, say, holidaying abroad, which offt much of the environmental benefit. Mr Blair’sdomestic reputation is not the only thing at stake. He has been using Britain’s presidency ofthe G8 rich nations’ club to harangue other global leaders on the need for a successor treatyto Kyoto. Preliminary discussions are due to begin later this month at a summit in Montreal. IfMr Blair cannot prent a plausible plan to meet his domestic goals, he will be robbed ofinternational credibility.
thomadisonThat would be a blow for the prime minister, who is keen to play a part in the delicatenegotiations for a new treaty. Besides, a lack of progress in the talks (which could outlast MrBlair’s premiership) would make it harder for him to impo the policies he needs to defendhis domestic targets. Business will object to strict regulations without the prospect of theirinternational competitors in America, China and India knuckling under.
And while the public claims to be worried about climate change, its concern runs only so deep. A recent poll from the Stockholm Network, a group of European think-tanks, found that while 94% of Britons thought climate change was important, 62% put economic growthbefore carbon reduction. In other words, a unilateral carbon-reduction policy isunworkable.
A draft document is not the same thing as government policy, but the signs are notencouraging. The review has 58 parate recommendations, making it em more a t ofquick fixes than a coherent policy. The range from the nsible, but difficult (tightening ETSallocations) to gimmicks (stricter enforcement of speed limits on motorways). The draft admitsthat, even if all of them are adopted, Britain may still miss its target. Mr Blair has been anevangelist on climate change. Now comes the big test of his resolve.
