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2016年职称英语考试《综合B》阅读判断真题

发表时间：2016/3/29 16:40:27 来源：互联网点击关注微信：

2016年职称英语考试《综合B》阅读判断真题

Time to Stop Traveling by Air

Twenty-five years ago a young British mancalled Mark Ellingham decided that he wanted a change of scenery. So he went toAustralia, stopping off in many countries beween. He also decided to writeabout the experience and produced a guide for other travelers making similarjourneys.

In 1970, British airports were used by 32million people. In 2004, the figure was 216 million. In 2030, according togovernment forecasts, it will be around 500 million. It’s a growth driven bythe emergence of low cost airlines, offering access to all parts of the worldfor less than ￡100.

This has made a huge contribution to globalwarming. One return flight from Britain to the US produces the same carbondioxide (二氧化碳)as a year’smotoring (驾车). A returnflight to Australia equals the emissions (排放)of three average cars for a year. And the pollution is released at aheight where its effect on climate change is more than double that on theground.

Mark Ellingham built his business onhelping people travel. Now he wants to help people stop – at least by air.

He is calling for a ￡100 green tax on allflights to Europe and Africa, and ￡250 on flights to the rest of the world. Healso wants investment to create a low-carbon economy, as well as a halt to airportexpansion.

Mark Ellingham’s commitment is importantbecause his readers aren’t just the sort of young and adventurous people whowould happily jump on a plane to spend a weekend exploring a foreign culture.They are also the sort of people who say they care about the environment. It'sa debate that splits people down the middle.

The tourist industry has responded byoffering offsetting (补偿) schemes. A small increase in the price of a ticket is used toplant trees.

But critics say that it is not enough tojust be carbon neutral. We should be actively cutting back on puttinggreenhouse gases into the atmosphere. And for the average person, making aplane journey will be his or her largest contribution to global warming. It maybe good to repair the damage we do. But surely it is better not to do the damagein the first place.

16. Mark Ellingham spent quite a few days in China onhis way to Australia 25 years ago.