单选题 When enthusiasts talk of sustainable development, the eyes of most people glaze over. There is a whiff of sack-cloth and ashes about their arguments, which usually depend on people giving up the comforts of a modern economy to achieve some debatable greater good. Yet there is a serious point at issue. Modern industry pollutes, and it also seems to cause significant changes to the climate. What is needed is an industry that delivers the benefits without the costs. And the glimmerings of just such an industry can now be discerned.
That industry is based on biotechnology. At the moment, biotech's main uses are in medicine and agriculture. But its biggest long-term impact may be industrial. Here, it will diminish demand for oil by taking the cheapest raw materials imaginable, carbon dioxide and water, and using them to make fuel and plastics.
Plastics and fuels made in this way would have several advantages. They could accurately be called "renewables", since nothing is depleted to make them. They would be part of the natural carbon cycle, borrowing that element from the atmosphere for a few months, and returning it when they were burned or dumped. That means they could not possibly contribute to global warming. And they would be environmentally friendly in other ways. Bioplastics are biodegradable, since bacteria understand their chemistry and can therefore digest them. Biofuels, while not quite "zero emission" from the exhaust pipe (though a lot cleaner than petrol and diesel), would be cleaner overall even than the fuel-cell technology now being touted as an alternative to the internal-combustion engine. That is because making the hydrogen that fuel cells use is not an environmentally friendly process, and never will be—unless it, too, uses biotechnology.
All this will, in the end, depend on costs. But these do not look unfavourable. Already, the price of bioplastics overlaps the top end of the petroleum-based plastics market. Bulk production should bring prices down, particularly when the raw materials are free. Meanwhile, ethanol would be a lot easier to introduce than fuel cells. Existing engines will run on it with minor tweaking, so there is no need to change the way cars are made. And since, unlike hydrogen, it is a liquid, the fuel-distribution infrastructure would not need radical change.
The future could be green in ways that traditional environmentalists had not expected. Whether they will embrace that possibility, or stick to sack-cloth, remains to be seen.

单选题 According to the author, applying biotechnology to industry

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】本题问作者认为将生物技术应用到工业上会怎样。首段中“What is needed is an industry that delivers the benefits without the costs．And the glimmerings of just such an industry can now be discerned．”指出现在需要一种不付出环境代价又能给人们带来利益的产业，并指出现在这种产业已经隐约在望了；紧接着第二段首句“That industry is based on biotechnology．”回答了刚刚提到的问题，指出这种工业就是生物技术，即生物技术能带来发展但又不会危害环境，故[D]“有助于对环境有利的发展”正确。
[A]带来了可持续发展：文中讨论的生物技术是新兴的产业，刚刚开始发展，作者只是预测通过这种技术将来可能实现可持续发展，而不是说现在已经带来这种发展。
[B]将被证明只是个空想而已：作者在第三段和第四段分别从技术上和价格上论证了将生物技术应用到工业上的可行性，说明其并非空想。
[C]将使大多数人舍弃现代的舒适生活：首段中作者指出“…their arguments…depend on people giving up the comforts of a modern economy to achieve some debatable greater good．”，这表明以前的论证都以牺牲人们的舒适为代价，但最终也没有解决问题。而生物技术是能够解决这个问题的，也就是说，生物技术是不需要“舍弃现代的舒适生活”的。

单选题 The word "depleted" (Line 2, Paragraph 3) can be substituted by

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】本题问第三段第二行“depleted”一词可以被下面哪个词替换。该词所在句的前半句“They could accurately be called‘renewables’”，说明它们是可再生的，紧接着用“since”给出原因“nothing is depleted to make them．”，然后对此做进一步解释“They would be part of the natural carbon cycle，borrowing that element from the atmosphere for a few months，and returning it when they were burned or dumped．”这说明在生产它们的时候没有什么东西被消耗掉，只是进行了自然界的碳循环，故[A]“被消耗掉”正确。
[B]丢弃；[C]放弃；[D]浪费：均不合文意。

单选题 One advantage of the biofuels is that

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】本题问生物燃料的一个优点是什么。第四段倒数第一、第二句提到生物燃料适用于在用的汽车内燃机。所以[D]“它们适合内燃机”正确。
[A]不污染环境：过于绝对。根据第三段倒数第二句可知，生物燃料对环境还有少许污染。
[B]它们能被细菌降解：第三段中“Bioplastics are biodegradable…”说的是生物塑料而不是生物燃料。
[C]它们比氢燃料便宜：文章中只说它甚至比氢燃料更干净，至于是否比氢燃料便宜不得而知。

单选题 According to paragraph 4,

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】本题问由第四段可得出什么结论。第四段第三、四句谈到“Already，the price of bioplastics overlaps the top end of the petroleum-based plastics market．Bulk production should bring prices down…”，可见生物塑料的价格正在逐步下降，故D项“生物塑料的价格表现出下降的趋势”正确。
[A]生物技术工业的前景依赖于它的营销成本：第四段首句谈到“All this will，in the end，depend on costs”，这里的costs应该指所有成本，尤其是生产成本，文中并没有强调营销成本。
[B]在汽车工业，燃料电池比生物燃料更容易利用：与文意相反。
[C]在不久的将来生物燃料将取代燃料电池：过度引申。文中虽谈到生物燃料的优势，但是并没预测它很快就会取代燃料电池。

单选题 The best title for the passage might be

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】本题问文章的最佳标题。文章首段指出现代工业给环境造成了极大的破坏，要消除污染就要舍弃现代生活的安逸，针对此种情况提出了生物技术，井从技术和价格上论证了它应用于工业生产的可行性，说明它的确是“benefits without the costs”；最后指出“The future could be green in ways that traditional environmentalists had not expected”，也就是说生物技术既可避免污染，又可保持现代的物质文明。因此[A]“清洁而又舒适的世界”正确。
[B]防患于未然：文章并非讨论如何防止和解决全球环境污染破坏的大问题，而只是介绍了有利于环境保护的新生物技术。
[C]只有一个地球：这样的题目的内容应当是写目前环境破坏程度的严重性，然后呼吁人们保护地球，因为地球只有一个。但这篇文章只是以环境破坏为引子引出颇具优势的生物技术。
[D]急需能源的星球：文中提到了数种燃料，但都是为了和生物燃料作对比，说明生物燃料的优势，并没有谈到燃料需求的问题。