Question

【題目】 Businesses are witnessing a difficult time, which has in turn produced influence on consumers, desire to go green. However, shoppers are still laying stress on environmental concerns.

Two thirds of customers say that environmental considerations inform their purchases to the same degree as they did a year ago, while more than a quarter say that they are now even better aware of the environmental effect on what they buy.

This may help to influence how shops store goods on their shelves. And the companies should still make efforts to become more environmentally friendly. Two out of three people think it is important to buy from environmentally responsible companies, with about one in seven saying that they had even decided to take their custom elsewhere if they felt a company’s environmental reputation was not good enough.

Harry Morrison, chief executive (主管) of the Carbon Trust, sympathizes: “I understand this situation where survival is very important now. But from environmental considerations, the clock is ticking — we don’t have much time. In addition, cutting carbon has an immediate effect as costs drop and a medium-term benefit for the brand.”

Larger companies have an extra motivation to look at reducing their carbon footprint, as new rules next year will require businesses to buy carbon allowances to make up for their emissions (排放). Those that have taken early action will have a head start. More than two thirds of consumers are not clear about which companies are environmentally responsible. This suggests that firms that are able to relay clearly their message to the public will be in a pole position to attract shoppers.

The Carbon Trust believes that it can help by informing customers about the good work companies are doing. “When companies are granted (授予) the standard, they can use a logo (標(biāo)識) in all their marketing which makes it clear that they are working towards cutting emissions,” Mr. Morrison said.

【1】What’s the main idea of the passage?

A.Businesses are finding ways to send their message to the shoppers.

B.Companies will soon get information about cutting carbon emissions.

C.Firms are making efforts to encourage customers to keep goods at home.

D.Firms are urged to cut carbon emissions by shoppers, environmental awareness.

【2】The underlined word “inform” in Paragraph 2 probably means “ ”.

A.affectB.change

C.disturbD.reject

【3】According to Harry Morrison, businesses .

A.will benefit from cutting carbon emissions

B.should buy carbon allowances for shoppers

C.are required to make up for their carbon emissions

D.have encouraged shoppers to take their custom elsewhere

【4】We can learn from the passage that businesses will .

A.have a strong desire to reduce costs

B.use the same logo in their marketing

C.gain advantages by taking early action

D.attract more shoppers by storing goods

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】A

【3】A

【4】C

【解析】

本文是一篇說明文。文章主要介紹了由于消費者環(huán)保意識的增強(qiáng)，各公司不得不下大力氣減少碳的排放量。

【1】主旨大意題。通讀全文及第一段Businesses are witnessing a difficult time, which has in turn produced influence on consumers, desire to go green.(企業(yè)正經(jīng)歷一個艱難的時期，這反過來又對消費者產(chǎn)生了影響，促使他們渴望環(huán)保)和第二段中的Two out of three people think it is important to buy from environmentally responsible companies, with about one in seven saying that they had even decided to take their custom elsewhere if they felt a company’s environmental reputation was not good enough.(三分之二的人認(rèn)為從對環(huán)境負(fù)責(zé)的公司購買產(chǎn)品很重要，約七分之一的人表示，如果他們覺得某家公司的環(huán)境聲譽不夠好，他們甚至決定到其他地方去購買)可知，文章主要介紹了消費者和環(huán)保意識正敦促企業(yè)減少碳排放。故選D。

【2】詞義猜測題。根據(jù)該詞所在句后面的內(nèi)容while more than a quarter say that they are now even better aware of the environmental effect on what they buy.(而超過四分之一的人表示，他們現(xiàn)在甚至更加清楚環(huán)境對他們所購買產(chǎn)品的影響)可知，Two thirds of customers say that environmental considerations inform their purchases to the same degree as they did a year ago意為“三分之二的消費者表示，環(huán)境因素對他們購物的影響與一年前相同”。由此可知，劃線詞與選項中的effect意思相同。故選A。

【3】推理判斷題。根據(jù)第四段Harry Morrison所說的一番話，特別是最后一句In addition, cutting carbon has an immediate effect as costs drop and a medium-term benefit for the brand.(此外，隨著成本下降，降低碳排放會產(chǎn)生立竿見影的效果，對品牌來說也是中期效益)可推斷，企業(yè)將從減少碳排放中獲益。故選A

【4】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第五段第二句Those that have taken early action will have a head start.(那些及早采取行動的企業(yè)將占得先機(jī))可知，那些通過早期行動的企業(yè)將獲得優(yōu)勢。故選C。