Thoreau said education often made straight-cut ditches out of twisting small streams. But not at the EcoDorm, which houses 36 undergraduates and is the spiritual heart of Warren Wilson College, a liberalarts school of fewer than 1,000 students in Swannanoa, N.C. In recent years, colleges like Warren Wilson took a leading role in the sustainability movement, which seeks to develop a durable human relationship with the environment. More than 600 U.S. colleges and universities have signed up for a pledge to become carbon neutral. Ninety dorms are now LEED certified, the most widely accepted national standard for green design. The EcoDorm is one of only two student residences that have LEED's highest rating. Two Warren Wilson students first proposed the dorm a decade ago. Undergraduates on the planning committee initially suggested that it be built with corncobs or straw. The design, by Asheville-based Samsel Architects, required compromises—as well as a number of creative solutions. The wood used for building the walls was harvested from campus trees that were suffering from a certain disease. The kitchen cabinets were made from recycled fence posts. Rainwater is collected into a disused railway tanker car and pumped back into the house to clean the low-flow toilets. Two toilets, which convert decaying organic matter to fertilizer, are also available on the second floor; students shovel (铲) in wood chips after they use them. The EcoDorm consumes nearly two-thirds less electricity than would a conventional building of the same size. Margo Flood, the executive director of Warren Wilson's Environmental Leadership Center, says those who apply to live there "see an integration between their actions and their values." They pledge not to use hair dryers. Their music does not have its sound made louder electronically. The residents plant and harvest scores of fruits and vegetables in their garden. The EcoDorm's residents speak of the comfort of finding a home where their values are shared. "I didn't have to worry about paper towels being wasted or feeling bad about drying my clothes outside," Jeremy Lekich, a senior who oversees the dorm's garden, says. "Basically, it has made my life easier."
单选题
What is the aim of the sustainability movement?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析:该句后半部分which引导的非限制性定语从句的先行词即为sustainability movement,故本题答案为定语从句中的内容。该句提到这项运动旨在建立一种持续永久的人与环境的关系。C中的harmonious(和谐的)与文中的durable对应,human-environment relationship对应human relationship with the environment,故C为正确答案。
单选题
What do we learn about Warren Wilson College?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析:在第2段最后两句表明EcoDorm在设计上是最“绿色”的,而在该段中,“绿色”就是“可持续”和“环保”,因此,也可以说,根据LEED标准,EcoDorm是两间最可持续的学生宿舍之一,而根据第l段最后一句可知EcoDorm是Warren Wilson College的学生宿舍,由此可见,B的说法与原文内容最为相近,为本题答案。
单选题
The design by Asheville-based Samsel Architects required compromises in _______.