Question

Feeling blue about the world? “Cheer up,” says science writer Matt Ridley. “The world has never been a better place to live in, and it will keep on getting better both for humans and for nature.”

Ridley calls himself a rational optimist—rational, because he’s carefully weighed the evidence; optimistic, because that evidence shows human progress to be both unavoidable and good. And this is what he’s set out to prove from a unique point of view in his most recent book, The Rational Optimist . He views mankind as grand enterprise that, on the whole, has done little but progress for 100,000 years. He backs his findings with hard facts gathered through years of research.

Here’s how he explains his views.

1）Shopping fuels invention

It is reported that there are more than ten billion different products for sale in London alone. Even allowing for the many people who still live in poverty, our own generation has access to more nutritious food, more convenient transport, bigger houses, better cars, and, of course, more pounds and dollars than any who lived before us. This will continue as long as we use these things to make other things. The more we specialize and exchange, the better off we’ll be.

2) Brilliant advances

One reason we are richer, healthier, taller, cleverer, longer-lived and freer than ever before is that the four most basic human needs—food, clothing, fuel and shelter—have grown a lot cheaper. Take one example. In 1800 a candle providing one hour’s light cost six hours’ work. In the 1880s the same light from an oil lamp took 15 minutes’ work to pay for. In 1950 it was eight seconds. Today it’s half second.

3) Let’s not kill ourselves for climate change

Mitigating(減輕) climate change could prove just as damaging to human welfare as climate change itself. A child that dies from indoor smoke in a village, where the use of fossil-fuel(化石燃料) electricity is forbidden by well- meaning members of green political movements trying to save the world, is just as great a tragedy as a child that dies in a flood caused by climate change. If climate change proves to be mild, but cutting carbon causes real pain, we may well find that we have stopped a nose-bleed by putting a tourniquet(止血帶) around our necks.

1.What is the theme of Ridley’s most recent book?

A. Weakness of human nature.

B. Concern about climate change.

C. Importance of practical thinking.

D. Optimism about human progress.

2. How does Ridley look at shopping?

A. It encourages the creation of things.

B. It results in shortage of goods.

C. It demands more fossil fuels.

D. It causes a poverty problem.

3.The candle and lamp example is used to show that__________.

A. oil lamps give off more light than candles

B. shortening working time brings about a happier life.

C. advanced technology helps to produce better candles.

D. increased production rate leads to lower cost of goods.

4. What does the last sentence of the passage imply?

A. Cutting carbon is necessary in spite of the huge cost.

B. Overreaction to climate change may be dangerous.

C. People’s health is closely related to climate change.

D. Careless medical treatment may cause great pain.

5. According to the passage, which of the following statements is True?

A. Matt Ridley doesn’t think the world is a good place to live in.

B. Climate change won’t cause a child’s death.

C. Matt Ridley based his unique point of view on his long-term research.

D. People will have more freedom for the development of the world.

 

Answer 1

1.D

2.A

3.D

4.B

5.C

【解析】

試題分析:當(dāng)你感到抑郁，心情不暢的時(shí)候，作家Matt Ridley鼓勵(lì)你要“Cheer up”。他認(rèn)為世界是一個(gè)前所未有的美好的居住地，而且它將更加適宜人類和生物的居住。在本文中他稱自己是積極的樂觀主義者，而且向讀者闡述了自己的幾種看法。

1.細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段第一句Ridley calls himself a rational optimist—rational, because he’s carefully weighed the evidence; optimistic, because that evidence shows human progress to be both unavoidable and good．And this is what he’s set out to prove from a unique point of view in his most recent book．可知Ridley自稱是一個(gè)理性的樂觀主義者，所謂理性是因?yàn)樗�仔�?xì)權(quán)衡證據(jù)；所謂樂觀是因?yàn)檫@些證據(jù)表明人類進(jìn)步是不可避免的，而且也是十分美好的，這就是他在近期的書中以全新的視角向人們證明的問題，故選D

2.推理判斷題。根據(jù)第一個(gè)小標(biāo)題題目“Shopping fuels invention”以及后面“This will continue as long as we use these things to make other things. The more we specialize and exchange, the better off we’ll be”說明他認(rèn)為購(gòu)物刺激發(fā)明創(chuàng)造，刺激消費(fèi)，促進(jìn)生產(chǎn)，說明他是鼓勵(lì)生產(chǎn)的。故A正確。

3.推理判斷題。前面提出作者的觀點(diǎn)One reason we are richer, healthier, taller, cleverer, longer-lived and freer than ever before is that the four most basic human needs -food, clothing, fuel and shelter- have grown a lot cheaper．然后舉例說明，因此油燈和蠟燭只是為了進(jìn)一步闡述論證這個(gè)說法，故D項(xiàng)正確。

4.推理判斷題。根據(jù)文章最后一句可知， 如果氣候變化證明是輕微的，然而降低二氧化碳會(huì)引起麻煩，那么很可能會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)我們用止血帶纏繞脖子以止住鼻血。此處暗指對(duì)氣候變化的過度反應(yīng)存在著危險(xiǎn)，故選B。

5.細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章第二段末句He backs his findings with hard facts gathered through years of research.可知他是從長(zhǎng)期的研究中得出的結(jié)論，故答案選C。

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