单选题 On the first Earth Day, the U.S. was a poisoned nation. Dense air pollution blanketed cities like Los Angeles, where smog alerts were a fact of life. Dangerous pesticides like DDT were still in use, and water pollution was rampant—symbolized by raging fires on Cleveland's Cuyahoga River. But the green movement that was energized by Earth Day— and the landmark federal actions that followed it—changed much of that. Today air pollution is down significantly in most urban areas, the water is cleaner, and even the Cuyahoga is home to fish again.
But if the land is healing, Americans may be sickening. Since World War Ⅱ, production of industrial chemicals has risen rapidly, and the U.S. generates or imports some 19 billion kg of them per day. These aren't the sorts of chemicals that come to mind when we picture pollution—huge plants spilling contaminated wastewater into rivers. Rather, they're the molecules that make good on the old "better living through chemistry" promise, appearing in items like unbreakable baby bottles and big-screen TVs. Those chemicals have a, habit of finding their way out of everyday products and into the environment—and ultimately into living organisms. A recent biomonitoring survey found traces of 212 environmental chemicals in Americans—including toxic metals, pesticides, etc. "It's not the environment that's contaminated so much," says the director of the Cincinnati Children's Environmental Health Center. "It's us."
As scientists get better at detecting the chemicals in our bodies, they're discovering that even tiny quantities of toxins can have a potentially serious impact on our health—and our children's future. Chemicals like bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates—key ingredients in modern plastics—may disrupt the delicate endocrine system. A host of modern ills that have been rising unchecked for a generation—obesity, diabetes, attention-deficit disorder —could have chemical connections. "We don't give environmental exposure the attention it deserves," says Dr. Philip Landrigan. "But there's an emerging understanding that kids are uniquely susceptible to environmental hazards."
Washington has been slow to arrive at that conclusion. The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the 34-year-old vehicle for federal chemical regulation, has generally been a failure. The burden of proving chemicals dangerous falls almost entirely on the government. And the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been able to issue restrictions on only a handful of chemicals and has lacked the power to ban even some dangerous cancer-causing substances.
But change is coming. The Obama Administration is taking a closer look at chemicals. More important, Congress may finally be ready to act. "We can't permit this assault on our children's health—and our own health—to continue," says Senator Frank Lautenberg.

单选题 Which of the following is true according to Paragraph 1?
[A] Earth Day is the only day for people to participate in green movement.
[B] Earth Day motivated people to change the polluted environment.
[C] Los Angeles once had environmental problems like water pollution.
[D] The raging fires on Cleveland's Cuyahoga River resulted from smog.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[试题类型] 具体信息题。
[解题思路] 根据题干要求定位至第一段。该段第四句指出，地球日引发了绿色运动(the green movement that was energized by Earth Day)，并且在此之后政府也采取了一系列措施使环境发生了巨变。由此可知，地球日激励了人们投身于改善受污染的环境，故正确选项为[B]。
[干扰排除] 该段第四句指出，地球日促发的绿色运动以及这之后政府采取的一系列行动都使环境发生了巨变，由此可知，绿色运动是一个长期开展的活动，而非仅地球日一天，故排除选项[A]。该段第二句指出，严重的空气污染(dense air pollution)笼罩着洛杉矶，烟雾警报成为常态，但文中并没有提及洛杉矶是否曾经出现过水污染的现象，故排除选项[C]。由该段第三句可知，库雅荷加河上的大火是山河水污染严重引起的(water pollution was rampant—symbolized by raging fires on...)，而非烟雾，故排除选项[D]。

单选题 The environmental chemicals in the U.S.______.
[A] come from spilling contaminated wastewater
[B] appear in everyday products
[C] cause more contamination to the environment
[D] have few sorts but serious impact

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[试题类型] 具体信息题。
[解题思路] 根据题干关键词environmental chemicals定位至第二段。该段指出，第二次世界大战后美国的工业化学品(industrial chemicals)猛增，而那些化学物质并非来自我们通常认为的受污染的河水，而是来自婴儿奶瓶以及电视机，并且这些化学物质总能从日常用品中释放出来(out of everyday products)进入环境及活的有机体中，由此可知，污染环境的化学物质存在于日常用品中，故正确选项为[B]。
[干扰排除] 由第二段可知，对美国环境及美国人的身体造成严重危害的是每天大量生产的日常用品中的化学物质，而不是从工厂排入河流的污水，故排除选项[A]。第二段末句指出，受到严重污染的不是环境，而是我们自己，选项[C]的表述与原文相反，故排除。该段倒数第二句指出，检测发现美国人体内有212种来自外界环境的化学物质，因此，化学物质种类较少的说法是错误的，故排除选项[D]。

单选题 As to the chemical problem, the author holds in Paragraph 4 that______.
[A] Washington has successfully made some federal chemical regulations
[B] the EPA has issued restrictions on various chemicals
[C] Washington was slow to realize the problem and take measures
[D] the government should take all the responsibility for proving dangerous chemicals

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[试题类型] 观点态度题。
[解题思路] 根据题干关键词Paragraph 4定位至第四段。该段前两句指出，华盛顿政府迟迟没有意识到化学物质的危害，并且政府实施的《有毒物质管理法》也很失败。由此可知，选项[C]“华盛顿政府迟迟没有意识到问题的严重性并采取措施”正确。
[干扰排除] 由第四段前两句就可以排除选项[A]。由该段第四句可知，EPA只能对少数的化学物质实行限制(only a handful of chemicals)，而无权禁止一些危险的致癌物，因此排除选项[B]。由该段三、四句可知，证明化学物质是否有害都由政府说了算，而其他的机构则权力有限，这导致各机构对于化学物质的管制不力。由此可知，作者不赞成由政府全权负责证明化学物质是否有害的工作，因此排除选项[D]。

单选题 According to Senator Frank Lautenberg, ______.
[A] actions should be taken to protect children from the environmental chemicals
[B] more people begin to realize children's susceptibility to environmental hazards
[C] we should give more attention to environmental exposure
[D] it's more important and urgent to protect children's health

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[试题类型] 推理引申题。
[解题思路] 根据题干关键词Senator Frank Lautenberg定位至末段最后两句：更重要的是，国会可能最终会采取行动。参议员弗兰克·劳滕伯格说：“我们绝不允许这种对我们的后代以及我们自已的健康造成伤害的情况继续发生。”由此可知，在劳滕伯格看来，政府应该采取措施保护孩子的健康以及我们自己的健康，使大家不受环境中有售化学物质的伤害，故选项[A]为答案。
[干扰排除] 选项[B]、[C]是根据第三段菲利普·兰德里根博士所陈述的内容设置的干扰项，故排除。参议员富兰克·劳滕伯格并没有将保护孩子的健康与其他问题进行对比，因此不能得出保护孩子的健康更加重要的结论，故排除选项[D]。

单选题 What's the author's attitude towards the United States' solving the chemical problem?
[A] indignant [B] skeptical [C] puzzled [D] optimistic

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[试题类型] 观点态度题。
[解题思路] 本题考查的是对全文的理解及对作者态度的推断。通读全文可知，作者在第一段指出，美国现在的环境状况较以前有所改善。接着在第二、三段指出，虽然环境正在改善，但人类自身受化学物质“污染”的情况越来越严重，并且儿童更容易受到环境危害的影响。最后两段作者指出，虽然在控制化学物质的使用方面还存在诸多问题，但现在情况正在改变，政府已经意识到了这一问题并对此更加关注，国会也会采取行动。由此可知，作者对美国化学物质污染问题的解决持乐观的态度，而不是愤慨的(indignant)、怀疑的(skeptical)，或者困惑的(puzzled)。故正确选项为[D]。
[干扰排除] 由以上分析可知，其他三个选项都不能准确概括作者的态度，故排除。