Consumers are being confused and misled by the hodge-podge (大雜燴) of environmental claims made by household products, according to a “green labeling” study published by Consumers International Friday.
Among the report’s more outrageous (令人無法容忍的) findings, a German fertilizer described itself as “earthworm friendly”, a brand of flour said it was “non-polluting” and a British toilet paper claimed to be “environmentally friendlier”.
The study was written and researched by Britain’s National Consumer Council (NCC) for lobby group Consumer International.It was funded by the German and Dutch governments and the European Commission.
“While many good and useful claims are being made, it is clear there is a long way to go in ensuring shoppers are adequately informed about the environmental impact of products they buy,” said Consumers International director Anna Fielder.
The 10-country study surveyed product packaging in Britain.Western Europe, Scandinavia and the United States.It found that products sold in Germany and the United Kingdom made the most environmental claims on average.
The report focused on claims made by specific products, such as detergent (洗滌劑), insect sprays and by some garden products.It did not test the claims, but compared them to labeling guidelines set by the International Standards Organization (ISO) in September, 1999.
Researchers documented claims of environmental friendliness made by about 2,000 products and found many too unclear or too misleading to meet ISO standards.
“Many products had specially-designed labels to make them seem environmentally friendly, but in fact many of these symbols mean nothing,”said report researcher Philip Page.
“Laundry detergents made the most number of claims with 158.Household cleaners were second with 145 separate claims, while paints were third on our list with 73.The high numbers show how confusing it must be for consumers to sort the true from the misleading.” he said.
The ISO labeling standards ban vague or misleading claims on product packaging, because terms such as “environmentally friendly” and “non-polluting” cannot be tested.“What we are now pushing for is to have multinational corporations meet the standards set by the ISO.” said Page.
1.According to the passage, the NCC found it outrageous that ____.
A.a(chǎn)ll the products surveyed claim to meet ISO standards
B.the claims made by products are often unclear or misleading
C.consumers would believe many of the manufactures’claim
D.few products actually prove to be environmentally friendly
2.A study was carried out by Britain’s NCC to ____.
A.find out how many claims made by products fail to meet environmental standards
B.inform the consumers of the environmental impact of the products they buy
C.examine claims made by products against ISO standards
D.test the guidelines set by the International Standards Organization
3.What is one of the consequences caused by the many claims of household products?
A.They are likely to lead to serious environmental problems
B.Consumers find it difficult to tell the true from the false
C.They could arouse widespread anger among consumer
D.Consumers will tend to buy products they don’t need
4.It can be inferred from the passage that the lobby group Consumer International wants to ____.
A.make product labeling satisfy ISO requirements
B.see all household products meet environmental standards
C.warn consumers of the danger of so-called green products
D.prove the efforts of non-polluting products


【小題1】B
【小題2】C
【小題3】B
【小題4】A

解析

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科目:高中英語 來源:2013-2014學(xué)年浙江省高三上學(xué)期期末考試英語試卷(解析版) 題型:閱讀理解

It was reported last week that developers could take photos from Apple mobile and Google Android devices without the phone owners knowing that the images were being taken. In Apple’s case, developers can also obtain the location information for each photo.

Senator(參議員) Charles Schumer said in a telephone interview that his office had spoken with officials at both Apple and Google on Monday.

“We asked them if they could find a way on their own to prevent Apple from having access to private information,” Mr. Schumer said. “They were friendly and open to the idea that this ought to be changed.”

On Sunday, Mr. Schumer said that he planned to send a letter to the Federal Trade Commission asking the agency to investigate Apple and Google after the privacy concerns came to light. Claudia Bourne Farrell, an F.T.C. spokeswoman, said the agency had received the letter but she could not comment further.

“It worries people to think that one’s personal photos, address book, and who knows what else can be obtained and even posted online without permission,” Mr. Schumer wrote in his letter to the F.T.C. “If the technology exists to open the door to this kind of privacy invasion, then surely technology exists to close it, and that’s exactly what must happen.”

Mr. Schumer said if Apple and Google could not come to an agreement to fix the problem, then he would be forced to take the issue further.

He said other companies had been willing to work with his office to fix issues. “I’m optimistic that we can get this changed without any regulation,” he said. “If it’s not changed, then we’ll turn to the F.T.C., and if that doesn’t work then we’ll consider legislative approach.”

The F.T.C. has warned companies to try to be more vigilant(警醒的) in their efforts to protect consumers when it comes to privacy.

1.The senators spoke with officials at both Apple and Google___________.

A. to urge them not to invade consumers’ privacy

B. to discuss whether it is illegal to have access to private information

C. to stop them from developing the technology of taking photos

D. to keep them from obtaining the location information for each photo

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A. Privacy invasion from Apple has existed for a long time.

B. Mr. Schumer takes the privacy concerns caused by Apple and Google seriously.

C. Privacy invasion from Google has existed for a long time.

D. Apple and Google have decided to make a change.

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A. causes privacy invasion to happen frequently????????

B. can be used if permitted

C. causes people to worry about the safety of their personal information

D. causes personal information to be posted online without permission

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A. The senators will force the companies not to invade privacy

B. The companies will be closed

C. The companies will be fined

D. The senators will turn to legislation

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A. In a newspaper.??????????????????? B. In a travel brochure.

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There is no doubt that Apple is well aware of the increased competition in the market and could be in a hurry to put another device out there, said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst at IDC Mobile Devices Technology and Trends. Given its history with product launches and business policy, though, Apple probably isn’t going to rush an iPhone release simply to put it on shelves, he said.

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“It typically takes a year or longer to create a state-of-the-art smartphone, so no one should be surprised Apple is in the testing stages with the next iPhone. And while it’s possible that Apple could launch the next iPhone this spring or summer, I’m not expecting to see it until a little later in the year,” he told Mac News World.

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A. Disapproving. B. Casual

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In November 2006, KFC and the State of Kentucky finally reached a settlement over the use of the trademarked word “Kentucky”, and the restaurant chain announced it would be reusing its former name of “Kentucky Fried Chicken”.

1.The public relations reason for Kentucky Fried Chicken’s updating its packaging and logo was that      .

A.it was losing money

B.most customers didn’t like the old logo

C.it wanted to get involved in other businesses

D.it decided to offer better foods to customers

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