2012年考研英語閱讀理解精讀篇（二）_跨考網(wǎng)

　　TEXT TWO

　　A line of water bottles that had become a symbol of environmental responsibility has been removed from the shelves of Canada's leading outdoor gear retailer over concerns about a chemical used in its manufacture.

　　The Mountain Equipment Co-op, which is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, removed the bottles, sold under the brand name Nalgene, and other polycarbonate containers from its 11 large-scale stores on Wednesday. The retailer said that it would not restock the bottles, which are made by Nalge Nunc International in Rochester, a unit of Thermo Fisher Scientific, until Health Canada completed a review of bisphenol-a, or B.P.A., a chemical used to make hard, transparent plastics as well as liners for food cans. ''We've been following the B.P.A. issue for at least three years,'' said Tim Southam, a spokesman for Mountain Equipment. ''The decision we've taken this week does not mean that polycarbonate products will never return to our stores. We're just seeking some certainty about this chemical.''

　　Church and environmental groups in Canada have mounted campaigns against bottled water because of concerns about the huge amount of plastic used in containers. As a result, the reusable Nalgene bottles have become ubiquitous on college campuses and elsewhere.

　　Polycarbonate plastic, which can only be produced by using B.P.A., creates bottles that are transparent and almost as hard as glass, but particularly shatter-resistant. Recently, however, the use of B.P.A.-based plastics in food containers has been questioned in Canada by Environmental Defence , a Toronto-based group. Environmentalists in the United States are also raising concerns about the chemical. Last year, San Francisco's board of governors passed a local law banning the use of the chemical in children's products. B.P.A. was removed from the ordinance before it went into effect, however, after an industry lawsuit. Critics point to studies dating back to 1936 showing that the chemical can disrupt the hormonal system.

　　While there is little dispute about that, the plastics industry, supported by several studies from government agencies in Japan, North America and Europe, contends that polycarbonate bottles contain very little of the chemical and release only insignificant amounts of B.P.A. into the bodies of users. ''Rarely has a chemical been the subject of such intense scientific testing and scrutiny, and still, important agencies across the globe agree that there is no danger posed to humans from polycarbonate bottles,'' Tom Cummins, the director of research and development at Nalge Nunc, said in a statement.

　　Rick Smith, the executive director of Environmental Defence, said that a paper published by 38 scientists after a government-sponsored conference in the United States found that the lack of research on the effects of B.P.A. on humans was a concern that required further investigation. Steven G. Hentges, the executive director of the American Chemistry Council's polycarbonate group, takes issue with that report's worries and points to a separate expert panel report published by the United States Department of Health and Human Services last month. In its 396-page report, which looked only at the impact of B.P.A. on reproduction, the panel said it had ''negligible concern'' about the chemical's effect on adult reproductive systems but raised some concerns about its impact on children and pregnant women.

　　1. The word “ubiquitous” (Line 3, Paragraph 3) most probably means_____

　　[A] omnipresent.

　　[B] popular.

　　[C] common.

　　[D] usual.

　　2.Which one of the following statements is TURE of the local law passed by San Francisco's board of governors?

　　[A] This law forbade the use of B.P.A. in food containers for children.

　　[B] This law was not enforced because of an industry lawsuit that was against the use of B.P.A.

　　[C] This law was revised to allow B.P.A. be used in children’s products.

　　[D] This law went into effect before B.P.A. was removed.

　　3. According to Tom Cummins, which one of the following is NOT true of B.P.A.?

　　[A] B.P.A. is rarely tested and scrutinized so intensely.

　　[B] The testing and scrutiny done to the other chemical are no comparison with that to B.P.A.

　　[C] That Polycarbonate bottles containing B.P.A. are not dangerous to humans is supported by multiple evidence.

　　[D] Polycarbonate bottles containing B.P.A. can be used safely by humans.

　　4.From the separate expert panel report it can be inferred that

　　[A] B.S.A. has no effect on reproduction.

　　[B] B.S.A. has trifling impact on children and pregnant women.

　　[C] B.S.A. has trifling impact on adult reproductive systems.

　　[D] B.S.A. has great effect on reproduction.

　　5. The author’s attitude to the use of Nalgene bottles is _____

　　[A] negative.

　　[B] positive.

　　[C] biased.

　　[D] unclear.

　　文章剖析：

　　這篇文章介紹了聚碳酸酯瓶被撤事件及相關(guān)原因。第一段、第二段介紹了聚碳酸酯瓶被商家撤柜的情況;第三段講述該瓶子興盛起來的原因;第四段講述人們對制造這種瓶子的化學(xué)物質(zhì)B.P.A的一些擔(dān)憂;第五段、第六段分別列出一些認(rèn)為這種瓶子對人類沒有危害的研究和評論。

　　詞匯注釋：

　　polycarbonate n.聚碳酸酯 ubiquitous adj.到處存在的

　　shatter-resistant adj. 防摔的 disrupt v.使瓦解, 破壞

　　難句突破：

　　(1) The retailer said that it would not restock the bottles, which are made by Nalge Nunc International in Rochester, a unit of Thermo Fisher Scientific, until Health Canada completed a review of bisphenol-a, or B.P.A., a chemical used to make hard, transparent plastics as well as liners for food cans.

　　[主體句式] The retailer said that it would not …until…

　　[結(jié)構(gòu)分析] 這是一個簡單句，賓語從句比較復(fù)雜。該賓語從句為帶有時間狀語從句的復(fù)雜句;該從句中，賓語bottles后有一個以which引導(dǎo)的非限定性定語從句，在該定語從句中，a unit…是前面Nalge Nunc International的同位語;在時間狀語從句中，a chemical used …是前面B.P.A的同位語。

　　[句子譯文] 該零售商稱不會再重新進(jìn)這些瓶子，直到“健康加拿大”完成了雙酚a(即B.P.A.)的調(diào)查后再予以考慮。這些瓶子的制造商下屬于Thermo Fisher Scientific位于羅徹斯特的Nalge Nunc國際制造。雙酚a 是一種用于制造透明高硬度塑料及食物罐鑲條的化學(xué)物質(zhì)。

　　(2) Rick Smith, the executive director of Environmental Defence, said that a paper published by 38 scientists after a government-sponsored conference in the United States found that the lack of research on the effects of B.S.A. on humans was a concern that required further investigation.

　　[主體句式] Rick Smith said that a paper found that…

　　[結(jié)構(gòu)分析]這是一個簡單句，有一個復(fù)雜的賓語從句;主語Rick Smith帶有一個同位語the executive director of …;在賓語從句中，a paper后面是一個過去分詞短語作它的定語，在從句的賓語從句中的賓語后面有一個that 引導(dǎo)的定語從句。

　　[句子譯文] “環(huán)境防衛(wèi)”執(zhí)行理事Rich Smith稱美國38名科學(xué)家在一次政府資助的會議結(jié)束后發(fā)表了一篇論文，該論文指出B.S.A.對人類的影響方面的研究不足，需要進(jìn)一步的調(diào)查。

　　題目分析：

　　1. The word “ubiquitous” (Line 3, Paragraph 3) most probably means_____ 1. “ubiquitou” (第三段第三行)的意思最有可能是_____

　　[A] omnipresent. [A] 無所不在的。

　　[B] popular. [B] 普遍的。

　　[C] common. [C] 普通的。

　　[D] usual. [D] 平常的。

　　[答案]A

　　[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆

　　[分析] 猜詞題。根據(jù)上下文來判斷該詞的意思，文章第四段講述當(dāng)時由于加拿大教會和環(huán)境組織因害怕制造容器大量使用塑料，所以發(fā)動了許多運動。而因為Nalgene瓶子可以重復(fù)使用，具有環(huán)保特征，因此在校園和許多地方應(yīng)該是普及了，到處能看得到了。答案為A選項。

　　2.Which one of the following statements is TURE of the local law passed by San Francisco's board of governors? 2. 關(guān)于舊金山州長會議通過的法律，下列哪個選項是正確的?

　　[A] This law forbade the use of B.P.A. in food containers for children. [A] 該法律禁止在兒童的食品容器制作中使用B.P.A.。

　　[B] This law was not enforced because of an industry lawsuit that was against the use of B.P.A. [B]該法律因為一個行業(yè)反B.P.A訴訟而沒有得以實施。

　　[C] This law was revised to allow B.P.A. be used in children’s products. [C] 該法律經(jīng)修訂后允許在兒童產(chǎn)品中使用B.P.A.。

　　[D] This law went into effect before B.P.A was removed. [D] 該法律在去除B.P.A之前已經(jīng)生效。

　　[答案] C

　　[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆

　　[分析] 細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第四段提到舊金山州長會議曾經(jīng)就通過了一項法律，該法律禁止在兒童產(chǎn)品中使用B.P.A., 但是這個法律還沒有實施的時候，就因為有一個行業(yè)訴訟，B.P.A.就從這項法律中免去了?？梢酝茰y，該法律可能同時規(guī)定了幾種化學(xué)物質(zhì)都不能用于兒童產(chǎn)品制造中，后來只是重新修訂了該法律，將B.P.A.除去了。因此，答案C符合題意。

　　3. According to Tom Cummins, which one of the following is NOT true of B.P.A.? 3. 根據(jù)湯姆·卡明斯所說的，關(guān)于B.P.A.下列哪個選項是不正確的?

　　[A] B.P.A. is rarely tested and scrutinized so intensely. [A] B.P.A.很少受到這么嚴(yán)格的審查和測驗。

　　[B] The testing and scrutiny done to the other chemical are no comparison with that to B.P.A. [B] 對其他化學(xué)物質(zhì)所作的審查和測驗無法與B.P.A.相匹敵。

　　[C] That Polycarbonate bottles containing B.P.A. are not dangerous to humans is supported by multiple evidences. [C] 有多種證據(jù)顯示含有B.P.A.的聚碳酸酯瓶子對人類沒有危險。

　　[D] Polycarbonate bottles containing B.P.A. can be used safely by humans. [D] 含有B.P.A.可以讓人類安全地使用。

　　[答案] A

　　[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆

　　[分析] 細(xì)節(jié)題。這個題目是有關(guān)湯姆·卡明斯的看法的，這在第五段提及。選項A、B都是他陳述的前半部分內(nèi)容，關(guān)鍵看這個句子如何理解：Rarely has a chemical been the subject of such intense scientific testing and scrutiny，意思是說很少有一種化學(xué)物質(zhì)能受到這么嚴(yán)格的測驗，意思是B.P.A. 受到的測驗很嚴(yán)格，那么選項A是錯誤的。選項C、D符合后半句的陳述。因此答案為A選項。

　　4.From the separate expert panel report it can be inferred that____ 4.由獨立專家小組報告可以推斷出_____

　　[A] B.P.A. has no effect on reproduction. [A] B.P.A.對生殖沒有影響。

　　[B] B.P.A. has trifling impact on children and pregnant women. [B]B.P.A.對孩子和懷孕婦女有很微弱的影響。

　　[C] B.P.A. has trifling impact on adult reproductive systems. [C]B.P.A. 對成人生殖系統(tǒng)影響甚微。

　　[D] B.P.A. has great effect on reproduction. [D]B.P.A.對生殖有很大的影響。

　　[答案]C

　　[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆☆

　　[分析] 推理題。題目是關(guān)于獨立專家小組報告的，這在文章第六段提及。這個報告只研究了B.P.A.對于生殖的影響，研究不怎么擔(dān)憂該化學(xué)物質(zhì)對成人生殖系統(tǒng)的影響，但對該化學(xué)物質(zhì)對兒童和懷孕婦女的影響卻有一定擔(dān)憂。由此可以推斷，該化學(xué)物質(zhì)可能對兒童和懷孕婦女有一定影響，但對成人生殖系統(tǒng)影響不大。選項A說沒有影響，過于絕對，因為文中多次提到有一定影響，但是不是很大。因此，答案為C選項。

　　5. The author’s attitude to the use of Nalgene bottles can be said to be _____ 5. 作者對于使用Nalgene瓶子的態(tài)度可以說是_____

　　[A] negative. [A] 否定的。

　　[B] positive. [B] 肯定的。

　　[C] biased. [C] 有偏見的。

　　[D] unclear. [D] 不明朗。

　　[答案]B

　　[難度系數(shù)] ☆

　　[分析]態(tài)度題。這篇文章分析了人們對于聚碳酸酯瓶子中的B.P.A.化學(xué)物質(zhì)的看法和爭議，列出了一些科學(xué)的研究和判斷，可以得出結(jié)論就是該瓶子中B.P.A.對人類影響有限，因此作者對使用該瓶子的態(tài)度是肯定的。

　　參考譯文：

　　由于擔(dān)心在制造過程中使用了一種化學(xué)物質(zhì)，一款本來已經(jīng)成為環(huán)保標(biāo)志的水瓶被加拿大最有名的戶外用品零售商移出了其櫥窗。

　　周三，位于不列顛哥倫比亞省的溫哥華的“高山設(shè)備Co-op” 將其11個大型商場中Nalgene牌子的瓶子和其他聚碳酸酯容器撤柜。該零售商稱不會再重新進(jìn)這些瓶子，直到“健康加拿大”完成了雙酚a(即B.P.A.)的調(diào)查后再予以考慮。這些瓶子的制造商下屬于Thermo Fisher Scientific位于羅徹斯特的Nalge Nunc國際制造。雙酚a 是一種用于制造透明高硬度塑料及食物罐鑲條的化學(xué)物質(zhì)?！案呱皆O(shè)備”的發(fā)言人Tim Southam說：“我們跟蹤B.P.A.事件已經(jīng)有三年了，我們這周所作的決定并不代表今后聚碳酸酯制品永遠(yuǎn)都不會上柜了。我們目前試圖得到關(guān)于這種化學(xué)物質(zhì)的肯定結(jié)果?！?/p>

　　加拿大教會和環(huán)境組織曾經(jīng)因為擔(dān)心容器需要使用大量的塑料，而發(fā)動了反對瓶裝水的運動。最后，這種可重復(fù)使用的Nalgene瓶子就在大學(xué)校園和其他地方普及開來。

　　聚碳酸酯塑料只能用B.P.A.才能制造，用這種塑料制造的瓶子透明，硬度與玻璃一樣，但卻非常防摔。但是，最近在加拿大多倫多的“環(huán)境防衛(wèi)”組織對使用B.P.A.塑料制造食品容器提出了質(zhì)疑。美國的環(huán)境保護(hù)主義者也對該化學(xué)物質(zhì)表示擔(dān)憂。去年，舊金山的州長會議通過了一項地方法律，禁止將該化學(xué)物質(zhì)用于兒童用品。但是，在該法令還沒有實施之前，B.P.A.就在一起行業(yè)起訴后從該法律中被移除了。批評者指出早在1936年人們研究就表明這種化學(xué)物質(zhì)可以破壞荷爾蒙系統(tǒng)。

　　雖然在這點上沒有爭議，但是塑料行業(yè)引用了日本、北美和歐洲政府機(jī)構(gòu)的研究，認(rèn)為聚碳酸酯中該化學(xué)物質(zhì)含量極少，且只會將微量的B.P.A.釋放到使用者體內(nèi)?！皩σ环N化學(xué)物質(zhì)進(jìn)行如此周密的科學(xué)測驗和審查是很罕見的，再說全世界重要的機(jī)構(gòu)都認(rèn)為聚碳酸酯瓶對人體沒有危害?！?Nalge Nunc研發(fā)部主任Tom Cumins在一次聲明中這樣說。

　　“環(huán)境防衛(wèi)”執(zhí)行理事Rich Smith稱美國38名科學(xué)家在一次政府資助的會議結(jié)束后發(fā)表了一篇論文，該論文指出B.S.A.對人類的影響方面的研究不足，需要進(jìn)一步的調(diào)查。美國化學(xué)委員會聚碳酸酯組織執(zhí)行理事Steven G·Hentges反對該報告提出的擔(dān)憂，指出上個月美國健康與人類服務(wù)部United States Department of Health and Human Services發(fā)表了一篇獨立的專家小組報告。這個長達(dá)396頁的報告中僅僅著眼于B.S.A.對于生殖的影響，該專家小組在報告中表示該化學(xué)物質(zhì)對成人生殖系統(tǒng)“影響甚微”，但是卻表示對孩子和懷孕婦女有一定影響。