单选题
The role of governments in environmental management
is difficult but inescapable. Sometimes, the state tries to manage the resources
it owns, and does so badly. Often, {{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}},
governments act in an even more harmful way. They actually subsidize the
exploitation and {{U}} {{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}of natural
resources. A whole {{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}of policies, from
farm-price support to protection for coal-mining, do environmental damage and
(often) {{U}} {{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}no economic sense. Scrapping
them offers a two-fold {{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}}: a cleane r
environment and a more efficient economy. Growth and environmentalism can
actually go hand in hand, if politicians have the courage to {{U}} {{U}}
6 {{/U}} {{/U}}the vested interest that subsidies create.
No activity affects more of the earth's surface than farming. It shapes a
third of the planet's land area, not {{U}} {{U}} 7 {{/U}}
{{/U}}Antarctica, and the proportion is rising. World food output per head has
risen by 4 per cent between the 1970s and 1980s mainly as a result of increases
in {{U}} {{U}} 8 {{/U}} {{/U}}from land already in {{U}}
{{U}} 9 {{/U}} {{/U}}, but also because more land has been brought
under the plough. Higher yields have been achieved by increased irrigation,
better crop breeding, and a {{U}} {{U}} 10 {{/U}} {{/U}}in the
use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers in the 1970s and 1980s.
All these activities may have {{U}} {{U}} 11 {{/U}}
{{/U}}environmental impacts. For example, land clearing for agriculture is the
largest single {{U}} {{U}} 12 {{/U}} {{/U}}of deforestation;
chemical fertilizers and pesticides may {{U}} {{U}} 13 {{/U}}
{{/U}}water supplies; more intensive farming and the abandonment of fallow periods
{{U}} {{U}} 14 {{/U}} {{/U}}exacerbate soil erosion; and the
spread of monoculture and use of high-yielding varieties of crops have been
accompanied by the {{U}} {{U}} 15 {{/U}} {{/U}}of old varieties
of food plants which {{U}} {{U}} 16 {{/U}} {{/U}}some insurance
against pests or diseases in future. Soil erosion threatens the productivity of
land in both rich and poor countries. The United States, {{U}} {{U}}
17 {{/U}} {{/U}}the most careful measurements have been done, discovered
in 1982 that about one-fifth of its farmland was losing topsoil at a rate
{{U}} {{U}} 18 {{/U}} {{/U}}to diminish the soil's productivity.
The country subsequently {{U}} {{U}} 19 {{/U}} {{/U}}a program
to convert 11 per cent of its cropped land to meadow or forest. Topsoil in India
and China is {{U}} {{U}} 20 {{/U}} {{/U}}much faster than in
America.
单选题
A. when
B. while
C. which
D. where
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】本题测试语法。when引导时间状语从句；while引导时间、让步状语从句； which引导定语从句：where引导地点状语、定语从句。所填之词引导的从句修饰 The United States，表示地点，所以应该选D。
【答案解析】本题测试词义搭配。vanish意为“消失，突然不见”，指从视线中消失、不复存在：stay意为“保持，保留”，指继续在一个地方；appear意为“出现，出来”，指显露出来；dissolve意为“使溶解，解散”，指使固态物溶解为液体。前面句子提到its farmland was losing topsoil，而本句话的主语是topsoil，并且还是讲土壤流失的问题，所以应该选A。
单选题
A. however
B. therefore
C. but
D. hence
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】本题测试逻辑搭配。however表示转折，通常用逗号与句子隔开；therefore表示结果；but表示转折，通常用在句首：hence表示结果。前面句子说政府管理资源的表现很差，本句话用的是in an even more harmful way，说明前后句子意思转折，所以应该选A。
单选题
A. conjunction
B. compensation
C. consumption
D. constitution
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】本题测试词义搭配。conjunction意为“连接，联合”；compensation意为“补偿，赔偿”；consumption意为“消费，消，耗”；constitution意为“构造，构成”。 of natural resources 修饰所填之词，并且应该与exploitation的意思相近，所以应该选C。
单选题
A. area
B. range
C. scope
D. field
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】本题测试搭配。area意为“范围”，指经验、活动或知识的分开部分；range意为“范围”，指涉及的所有范围，通常构成a range of短语；scope意为“范围”，指一项规定的活动或者主题所涉及的范围；field意为“范围”，指一个题目、课题或学术兴趣或专业的领域。所填之词与a whole…of构成短语，所以应该选B。
单选题
A. take
B. hold
C. lose
D. make
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】本题测试搭配。make sense是固定搭配，意思是“有意义，意思清楚，有道理”。
单选题
A. profit
B. bonus
C. benefit
D. prize
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】本题测试词义搭配。profit意为“利润，益处”，指一笔生意中除去所有的运作费用后所得的回报；bonus意为“好处，优点”，指做……附带的优点或者好处； benefit意为“利益，好处”，指促进或增强福利的东西；prize意为“奖品，奖赏”，指在竞争或在比赛中给予的或者力求获得的东西。two-fold修饰所填之词，根据后面的a cleaner environment and a more efficient economy可知，应该选B。
【答案解析】本题测试词义搭配。think意为“认为，思考”；consider意为“考虑，认为”； long意为“渴望，热望”；count意为“计算在内，计算”。前面的句子说It shapes a third of the planet's land area可知，随后提到没有Antarctica，所以应该选D。
【答案解析】本题测试词义搭配。excuse意为“理由，借口”，指为……提供理由或为获得谅解而作的解释；justification意为“正当的理由，认为有理”，指可为……辩护的东西，比如事实或环境；cause意为“动机，根据”，指对某种行为或结果的发生产生作用的人、事情或条件；ground意为“理由，根据”，指促使采取行动的根本条件，通常用复数。根据land clearing for agriculture与deforestation之间的关系可知，应该选C。
单选题
A. purify
B. clean
C. dirty
D. contaminate
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】本题测试词义搭配。purify意为“净化，使纯净”；clean意为“清扫，使干净”；dirty意为“弄脏，变脏”，指使……不干净；contaminate意为“污染，弄脏”，指通过接触或混合使……不纯净或不洁净。句子的主语是chemical fertilizers and pesticides，所填之词的宾语是water supplies，所以应该选D。
单选题
A. come to
B. bring to
C. tend to
D. stand to
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】本题测试词组。come to意为“复苏，达到”：bring to意为“使复苏，阻碍”； tend to意为“趋向于，往往”；stand to意为“坚持，遵守”。句子的主语是intensive farming and the abandonment of fallow periods，根据后面的exacerbate soil erosion(使土壤侵蚀的现象恶化)可知，应该选C。
单选题
A. disappearance
B. discovery
C. disposition
D. disturbance
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】本题测试词义搭配。disappearance意为“消失，不见”；discovery意为“发现，发明”；disposition意为“部署，安排”：disturbance意为“打搅，干扰”。根据the spread of monoculture and use of high-yielding varieties of crops(单一栽培技术的扩散以及大量高产作物的引入)与old varieties of food plants之间的关系可知，应该选A。
单选题
A. must have been provided
B. might have provided
C. must have provided
D. might have been provided
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】本题测试语法。must have been provided表示一种肯定推测；might have provided表示一种可能的猜测；must have provided表示一种肯定推测；might have been provided表示一种可能的猜测。根据后面的some insurance against pests or diseases in future可知，本句话表示一种可能性，并且应该用主动语态，所以应该选B。