单选题 "If Congress won't act soon to protect future generations, I will," Barack Obama said last month in his state-of-the-union speech. "I will direct my cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy." This week Mr. Obama named the officials charged with fulfilling that directive: Gina McCarthy, his choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency, and Ernest Moniz, the prospective new secretary of energy. Their selection suggests that Mr. Obama is indeed serious about tackling climate change, but not doctrinaire in his approach.
Ms. McCarthy already works at the EPA, where she is in charge of air quality. That has given her a leading role drafting the administration's most ambitious and controversial environmental rules, including limits on emissions of greenhouse gases for new power plants and strict fuel-efficiency requirements for cars. She is the natural candidate to oversee the most obvious and consequential step Mr. Obama could take to stem global warming: a regulation curbing emissions from existing power plants.
Republicans do not fancy that idea at all, and have introduced bills in Congress to strip the EPA of its regulatory authority over greenhouse gases. They often accused Lisa Jackson, the agency's previous boss, of disregarding the cumulative impact of its many clean-air rules, and suffocating industry as a result.
Yet Ms. McCarthy makes an unlikely target. She has worked for Republican governors in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Industry groups mustered kind words about her nomination. As Mr. Obama put it, "She's earned a reputation as a straight-shooter."
单选题 Barack Obama will take steps to do all EXCEPT ______.
  • A.reducing pollution now and in the future
  • B.finding more sustainable sources of energy
  • C.preparing for the consequences of climate change
  • D.investing more funds for public health care system
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。 选项与原文对比。答案出现在首段第二句：“I will direct my cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy.”其中只有D项未提及，故D为答案。
单选题 According to the first paragraph, we can conclude that ______.
  • A.Obama will take environmental protection seriously
  • B.Obama will reduce the use of" car to reduce air pollution
  • C.America will soon find sustainable sources for their descendants
  • D.America faces the more serious environmental problem compared with other nations
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。 选项与原文对比。A原文：Their selection suggests that Mr. Obama is indeed serious about tackling climate change, but not doctrinaire in his approach.可见该项表达是正确的，其中climate change=environmental protection。B项无中生有。文章没提到reduce the use of car(减少汽车使用)。C．will soon过于绝对。原文说的是：and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy(加速向更可持续的能源过渡)，而没有说很快找到可持续的资源。D文章没有涉及other nations的对比，故该项也是错误的。
单选题 The roles Ms. McCarthy is playing include all EXCEPT ______.
  • A.placing limits on greenhouse gas emissions
  • B.introducing bills about environment to Congress
  • C.drafting the administration's environmental rules
  • D.supervising Mr. President's steps on global warming
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。 选项与原文对比。文章第二段第二句提到：That has given her a leading role drafting the administration's most ambitious and controversial environmental rules，including limits on emissions of greenhouse gases for new power plants and strict fuel-efficiency requirements for cars.其中drafting...rules=C；limits on emissions of greenhouse gases=A。该段最后一句：She is the natural candidate to oversee the most obvious and consequential step Mr. Obama could take to stem global warming: a regulation curbing emissions from existing power plants.其中oversee...step Mr. Obama could take...=D。未提及的是B，所以，B为答案。
单选题 What is the Republicans' attitude towards Obama's step taken to stop global warming?
  • A.Approval.
  • B.Skepticism.
  • C.Disapproval.
  • D.Indifference.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 观点态度题。 选项与原文对比。第三段首句明确指出：Republicans do not fancy that idea at all, and have introduced bills in Congress to strip the EPA of its regulatory authority over greenhouse gases.可见他们对于总统采取的措施态度非常明确，是do not fancy that idea at all；从not at all我们可以看出共和党人持反对态度，即C项是正确的。
单选题 What can we learn about Ms. McCarthy from the last paragraph?
  • A.Her goal cannot be achieved.
  • B.She was once a shooter in army.
  • C.She used to work against Republican.
  • D.She won the support of the President.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。 选项与原文对比。A原文：Yet Ms. McCarthy makes an unlikely target.原文说McCarthy制定了不太可能完成的目标，而非她的目标不可能完成。其中unlikely并不等于cannot，故A错误。B项是对最后一句“she's earned a reputation as a straight-shooter”的曲解，straight-shooter指的是坦白正直之人，而非该项说的shooter(射手；枪手)。C．used to work against与原文第二句She has worked for Republican government...相反，故错误。D文章开头第一段就提到：This week Mr. Obama named the officials charged with fulfilling that directive: Gina McCarthy...也就是说McCarthy是总统任命的，自然会得到总统的支持，故D项正确。