北外2008年基础英语考研试题

北外 2008年基础英语真题哦

北外2008年基础英语考研试题

第一篇（经济学家 2007年01月25日）选择题

Climate change The greening of America 气候变化：绿化美国 Jan 25th 2007 From The Economist print edition

How America is likely to take over leadership of the fight against climate change; and how it can get it right

美国领导各国共同应对气候变化的可能性有多大？该如何正确应对呢？

A COUNTRY with a presidential system tends to get identified with its leader. So, for the rest of the world, America is George Bush's America right now. It is the country that has mismanaged the Iraq war; holds prisoners without trial at Guantanamo Bay; restricts funding for stem-cell research because of fundamentalist religious beliefs; and destroyed the chance of a global climate-change deal based on the Kyoto protocol.

人们往往认为，总统制国家就是其总统的国家。因此，在世界其他国家看来，现在的美国就是乔治?布什的美国。正是这样一个国家，对伊拉克战事处置失当，把战俘关押在关塔那摩海湾又不审讯，顾及原教旨主义分子的宗教信仰而限制对干细胞研究的资助；也正是这样一个国家，拒绝签署《京都议定书》有关的全球气候变化协议。

But to simplify thus is to misunderstand—especially in the case of huge, federal America. One of its great strengths is the diversity of its political, economic and cultural life. While the White House dug its heels in on global warming, much of the rest of the country was moving. That's what forced the president's concession to greens in the state-of-the-union address on January 23rd. His poll ratings sinking under the weight of Iraq, Mr Bush is grasping for popular issues to keep him afloat; and global warming has evidently become such an issue. Albeit in the context of energy security, a now familiar concern of his, Mr Bush spoke for the first time to Congress of “the serious challenge of global climate change” and proposed measures designed, in part, to combat it.

不过，只见树木，不见森林，对于泱泱联邦大国美国而言尤为如此。美国的重要特点之一就在于其政治、经济和文化生活的多样性。当白宫在全球气候变暖问题上始终坚持拒绝有所作为时，该国其他许多人都行动了起来。这也迫使总统在1月23日的国情咨文中对环保人士作出让步。受伊战所累，布什的民意支持率一路下滑，他也希望抓住民众关心的问题来提升自己的支持率，而全球气候变暖显然就成了这样一个问题。当下布什最关心的是能源安全问题，但尽管如此，布什还是以能源安全为依托，（在国情咨文讲话中）首次对国会提及“全球气候变化带来的严峻挑战”，并建议制定相应的应对措施。

Hot for the time of year 年度热点

It's the weather, appropriately, that has turned public opinion—starting with Hurricane Katrina. Scientists had been warning Americans for years that the risk of “extreme weather events” would probably increase as a result of climate change. But scientific papers do not drive messages home

北外 2008年基础英语真题哦

as convincingly as the destruction of a city. And the heatwave that torched America's west coast last year, accompanied by a constant drip of new research on melting glaciers and dying polar bears, has only strengthened the belief that something must be done.

让民意转向的恰好就是天气问题，而这又始于卡特里娜飓风。多年来科学家一直提醒美国人，随着气候的变化，发生“极端天气事件”的可能性增高，但是相比科学论文，天气事件毁坏一座城市的事实要更具有说服力。去年，酷热席卷了美国西海岸，同时关于冰川融化和北极熊面临死亡威胁的研究报告也是层出不穷，一切都使得有关方面进一步认识到必须有所举措了。

Business is changing its mind too. Five years ago corporate America was solidly against carbon controls. But the threat of a patchwork of state regulations, combined with the opportunity to profit from new technologies, began to shift business attitudes. And that movement has gained momentum, because companies that saw their competitors espouse carbon controls began to fear that, once the government got down to designing regulations, they would be left out of the discussion if they did not jump on the bandwagon. So now the loudest voices are not resisting change but arguing for it.

企业也在改变思路。5年前，美国企业坚决反对控制碳排放，但在州政府各项规定的约束之下，再加上新技术有利可图，企业纷纷开始转变态度。而且，这种势头越来越猛，因为企业眼见其竞争对手赞成控制碳排放，开始担心如若自己不“顺势而动”，那么一旦（联邦）政府考虑制定有关规定时，就不会采纳他们的意见。因此，如今企业叫得最凶的不是抵制而是支持改革。

Support for carbon controls has also grown among some unlikely groups: security hawks (who want to reduce America's dependence on Middle Eastern oil); farmers (who like subsidies for growing the raw material for ethanol); and evangelicals (who worry that man should be looking after the Earth God gave him a little better). This alliance has helped persuade politicians to move. Arnold Schwarzenegger, California's Republican governor, has led the advance, with muscular measures legislating Kyoto-style curbs in his state. His popularity has rebounded as a result. And now there is movement too at the federal level, which is where it really matters. Since the Democrats took control of Congress after the November mid-term elections, bills to tackle climate change have proliferated. And three of the serious candidates for the presidency in 2008—John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama—are all pushing for federal measures.

有些令人意想不到的团体也渐渐开始支持控制碳排放，比如能源安全鹰派成员（也就是希望减少美国对中东石油依赖的那些人）、农民（希望获得补贴用于种植提炼乙醇的原材料）和福音派人士（他们认为人类应当悉心呵护上帝所赐才会有好报）。这些人对说动政界人士也起到了推动作用。加州州长、共和党人阿诺德?施瓦辛格率先在本州采取了有力措施，按照《京都议定书》的有关要求，通过了强制性限排的立法，他也因此重拾威信。现在联邦政府一级也开始有所行动，而这才是真正重要的。自从11月中期选举后民主党主政国会以来，关于对付气候变化问题的提案越来越多。三名2008年总统候选人也都在力促联邦政府拿出举措，他们是约翰?麦凯恩、希拉里?克 …… 此处隐藏：7020字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……