阅读理解 The energy crisis, which is being felt around the world, has dramatized how the reckless despoiling of the earth's resources has brought the whole world to brink of disaster. The overdevelopment of motor transport, with its increase of more cars, more highways, more pollution, more suburbs, more commuting, has contributed to the near-destruction of our cities, the disintegration of the family, and the pollution not only of local air, but also of the earth's atmosphere. The catastrophe has arrived in the form of the energy crisis.
Our present situation is unlike war, revolution, or depression. It is also unlike the great natural catastrophes of the past. Worldwide resources exploitation and energy use have brought us to a state where long-range planning is crucial. What we need is not a continuation of our present perilous state, which endangers the future of our country, our children, and our earth, but a movement forward to a new norm in order to work rapidly and effectively on planetary problems.
This country has been reeling under the continuing exposures of loss of moral integrity and the revelation that lawbreaking has reached into the highest places in the land. There is a strong demand for moral revival and for some commitment that is vast enough and yet personal enough to enlist the loyalty of all. In the past it has been only in a war in defense of their own country and their own ideals that any people have been able to invoke a total commitment.
This is the first time that we have been asked to defend ourselves and what we hold dear in cooperation with all the other inhabitants of this planet, who share with us the same endangered air and the same endangered oceans. There is a common need to reassess our present course, to change that course, and to devise new methods through which the world can survive. This is a priceless opportunity.
To grasp it, we need a widespread understanding of the nature of the crisis confronting us—and the world—a crisis that is no passing inconvenience, no by-product of the ambition of the oil producing countries, no environmentalists' mere fears, no by-product of any present system of government. What we face is the outcome of the invention of the last four hundred years. What we need is a transformed lifestyle. This new life style can flow directly from science and technology, but its acceptance depends on an overriding commitment to a higher quality of life for the world's children and future generation.
单选题 1.According to the author, the energy crisis has led the world close to _____.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】事实细节题。答案在第一段。该段中提到能源危机的存在,并分析其产生的原因和导致的后果,明确说明人类对地球资源的肆意掠夺导致整个世界濒临灾难边缘(brink of disaster),故C项正确。
单选题 2.What does the author think has contributed to the near disaster of our cities?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】事实细节题。根据near disaster of our cities定位到第一段。其中提到交通运输的过度发展使我们的城市遭受破坏,我们的家庭逐渐瓦解,而且不仅是当地空气遭受污染,整个地球的大气层也同样难逃厄运,故选D项。
单选题 3.Which of the following indicates our loss of moral integrity according to the passage?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】推理判断题。根据loss of moral integrity定位到第三段。该段进一步说明社会对道德复兴的强烈渴求,其中明确提到人们渴望某项事业能够体现全体国民的忠诚奉献,故选B项“缺少忠诚度是道德缺失的一种表现”。
单选题 4.By comparing the past with the present, the author wants to draw people's attention to _____.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】观点态度题。根据comparing the past with the present定位到第三段末尾和第四段段首。文中提到“在过去,只有当人们为自己的国家或理想而战时,他们才能做出如此毫无保留的奉献”,“这是我们第一次被要求与其他国民一道来保护我们自己”,故可以推断作者意在说明能源危机已经超越个人的范畴,需要全体人类积极应对,故选A项。
单选题 5.Which of the following commitments does the author feel people need to make?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】事实细节题。根据题干定位于第五段,其中指出我们必须了解能源危机的本质,进而明确改变生活方式才是出路,故C项为正确答案。