单选题
How best to solve the pollution problems of a city sunk so deep within sulfurous clouds that it was described as hell on earth? Simply answered: Relocate all urban smoke-creating industry and encircle the metropolis of London with sweetly scented flowers and elegant hedges.
In fact, as Christine L. Corton, a Cambridge scholar, reveals in her new book, London Fog, this fragrant anti-smoke scheme was the brainchild of John Evelyn, the 17th-century diarist. King Charles Ⅱ was said to be much pleased with Evelyn"s idea, and a bill against the smoky nuisance was duly drafted. Then nothing was done. Nobody at the time, and nobody right up to the middle of the 20th century, was willing to put public health above business interests.
And yet it"s a surprise to discover how beloved a feature of London life these multicolored fogs became. A painter, Claude Monet, fleeing besieged Paris in 1870, fell in love with London"s vaporous, mutating clouds. He looked upon the familiar mist as his reliable collaborator. Visitors from abroad may have delighted in the fog, but homegrown artists lit candles and vainly scrubbed the
grime
from their gloom-filled studio windows. "Give us light!" Frederic Leighton pleaded to the guests at a Lord Mayor"s banquet in 1882, begging them to have pity on the poor painter.
The more serious side of Corton"s book documents how business has taken precedence over humanity where London"s history of pollution is concerned. A prevailing westerly wind meant that those dwelling to the east were always at most risk. Those who could afford it lived elsewhere. The east was abandoned to the underclass. Lord Palmerston spoke up for choking East Enders in the 1850s, pointing a finger at the interests of the furnace owners. A bill was passed, but there was little change. Eventually, another connection was established: between London"s perpetual veil of smog and its citizens" cozily smoldering grates. Sadly, popular World War I songs like "Keep the Home Fires Burning" didn"t do much to encourage the adoption of smokeless fuel.
It wasn"t until what came to be known as the "Great Killer Fog" of 1952 that the casualty rate became impossible to ignore and the British press finally took up the cause. It was left to a Member of Parliament to steer the Clean Air Act into law in 1956. Within a few years, even as the war against pollution was still in its infancy, the dreaded fog began to fade.
Corton"s book combines meticulous social history with a wealth of eccentric detail. Thus we learn that London"s ubiquitous plane trees were chosen for their shiny, fog-resistant foliage. It"s discoveries like these that make reading London Fog such an unusual and enlightening experience.
单选题
Which of the following can be inferred from Paragraph 2?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 推断题
根据题干关键词定位到第二段。根据该段最后一句Nobody at the time, and nobody right up to the middle of the 20th century, was willing to put public health above business interests. 可知，20世纪中叶之前，没有人愿意把公共健康置于商业利益之上。由此可推断出D项“直到20世纪中叶才有人愿意把公共健康置于商业利益之上”为正确答案，D项运用了强调句和not until，反向推断可能发生的现象。A项“芬芳抗烟方案的灵感来自约翰·伊夫林的孩子，原文只是说“芬芳抗烟方案是17世纪日记作家约翰·伊夫林的想法”，所以A项错误。B项“查理二世国王其实不满意伊夫林这个点子”与原文的much pleased with相反。C项“拟定抗烟雾公害法案的过程比较慢”与原文的duly“按时地；适当地”不符。
单选题
The word "grime" (Para. 3) is closest in meaning to ______.
单选题
Which of the following would be most heavily affected by London"s pollution according to Corton"s book?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 推断题
根据题干关键词定位到第四段。根据该段第二句A prevailing westerly wind meant that those dwelling to the east were always at most risk可知，由于风向，住在东边的人受污染的影响更大。所以排除B项。再结合第三句Those who could afford it lived elsewhere可知有钱人会搬家，故A项不符合。因此C项“东伦敦的贫民区居民们”为污染影响最严重的群体，为正确答案。D项“大熔炉主人们的佣人”原文没有提及。
单选题
The author mainly shows in the last but one paragraph that ______.