英語四級長篇閱讀基礎練習及答案詳解

　　在英語學習過程中,閱讀理解能力是學習者發展語言能力的基礎和手段。國內的各類英語考試中幾乎都有閱讀理解題型,大學英語四級考試也不例外。大學英語四級閱讀理解試題是試卷中分值最重的題型，為了提高大家的閱讀水平，下面是小編為大家帶來英語四級長篇閱讀基礎練習，希望對大家的學習有所幫助!

　　英語四級長篇閱讀基礎練習：

　　Green Growth

　　A. The enrichment of previously poor countries is the most inspiring development of our time. It is also worrying. The environment is already under strain. What willhappen when the global population rises from 7 billion today to 9.3 billion in 2050, as demographers***人口統計學家*** expect, and a growing proportion of these people can'afford goods that were once reserved for the elite? Can the planet support so much economic activity?

　　B .Many policymakers adopt a top-down and Western-centfic approach to such planetary problems. They discuss ambitious regulations in global forums, or look to giant multinationals and well-heeled ***富有的*** NGOs to set an example. But since most people live in the emerging world, it makes sense to look at what successful companies there are doing to make growth more sustainable.

　　C. A new study by the World Economic Forum ***WEF*** and the Boston Consulting Group ***BCG*** identifies 16 emerging-market firms that they say are turning eco-consciousness into a source of competitive advantage. These highly profitable companies ***which the study calls "the new sustainability champions"*** are using greenery to reduce costs, motivate workers and forge relationships. Their home-grown ideas will probably be easier for their peers to copy than anything cooked up in the West.

　　D. The most outstanding quality of these companies is that they turn limitationsof resources, labor and infrastructure*** into opportunities. Thus, India's Shree Cement, which has tong suffered from water shortages, developed the world's most water-efficient method for making cement, in part by using air-cooling rather than water-cooling. Manila Water, a utility in the Philippines, reduced the amount of water it was losing, through wastage and illegal tapping, from 63% in 1997 to 12% in 2010 by making water affordable for the poor.

　　Broad Group, a Chinese maker of air conditioners, taps the waste heat from buildings to power its machines. Zhangzidao Fishery Group, a Chinese aquaculture ***水產養殖*** company, recycles uneaten fish feed to fertilize crops.

　　E.Setting green goals is a common practice. Sekem, an Egyptian food producer, set itself the task of reclaiming *** 開墾*** desert land through organic farming. Florida Ice & Farm, a Costa Rican food and drink company, has adopted strict standards for the amount of water it can consume in producing drinks.

　　F.These firms measure themselves by their greenery, too. Florida Ice & Farm, for example, links 60% of its boss's pay to the triple bottom line of "people, planet and profit". The sustainability champions also encourage their workers to come up with green ideas. Natura, a Brazilian cosmetics company, gives bonuses to staff who find ways to reduce the firm's impact on the environment. Masisa, a Chilean forestry company, invites employees to "imagine unimaginable businesses" aimed at poorer consumers. Woolworths, a South African retailer, claims that many of its best green ideas have come from staff, not bosses.

　　G.In emerging markets it is hard for companies to stick to one specialism, because they have to worry about so many wider problems, from humble infrastructure to unreliable supply chains. So the sustainability champions seek to shape the business environment in which they operate. They lobby ***遊說*** regulators: Grupo Balbo, a Brazilian organic-sugar producer, is working with the Brazilian government to establish a certification system for organic products. They form partnerships with governments and NGOs. Kenya's Equity Bank has formed an alliance with groups such as The International Fund for Agricultural Development to reduce its risks when lending to smallholders. Natura has worked with its suppliers to produce sustainable packaging, including a new "green" plastic derived from sugar cane.

　　H. The firms also work hard to reach and educate poor consumers, often sacrificing short-term profits to create future markets. Masisa organizes local carpenters into networks and connects them to low-income furniture buyers. Broad Group has developed a miniature device for measuring air pollution that can fit into mobile phones. Jain Irrigation, an Indian maker of irrigation systems, uses dance and song to explain the benefits of drip irrigation to farmers who can't read. Suntech, a Chinese solar-power company, has established a low- carbon museum to celebrate ways of reducing carbon-dioxide emissions.

　　Rich became green, or green became rich?

　　I.One could quibble ***爭辯***with BCG's analysis. Phil Rosenzweig of Switzerland's IMD business school has argued that management writers are prone to "the halo effect": they treat the temporary success of a company as proof that it has discovered some eternal principle of good management. The fact that some successful companies have embraced greenery does not prove that greenery makes a firm successful. Some firms, having prospered, find they can afford to splurge *** 揮霍*** on greenery. Some successful firrns pursue greenery for public-relations purposes. And for every sustainable emerging champion, there are surely 100 firms that have prospered by belching *** 噴出 *** fumes into the air or pumping toxins into rivers.

　　J.Nonetheless, the central message of the WEF-BCG study--that some of the best emerging-world companies are combining profits with greenery--is thought-provoking. Many critics of environmentalism argue that it is a rich-world luxury: that the poor need adequate food before they need super-clean air. Some even see greenery as a rich-world conspiracy *** 陰謀***: the West grew rich by industrializing ***and polluting ***, but now wants to stop the rest of the world from following suit. The WEF-BCG report demonstrates that such fears are overblown. Emerging-world companies can be just as green as their Western rivals. Many have found that, when natural resources are scarce and consumers are cash-strapped *** 資金短缺的 ***, greenery can be a lucrative***利潤豐厚的*** business strategy.

　　46. An air-conditioner manufacturer uses the waste heat from buildings to supply its machines with power.

　　47. Many critics of environmentalism hold the view that greenery is a rich-world luxury because that's not what the poor people badly want.

　　48. Workers of the sustainability champions are motivated to bring forward green ideas.

　　49. It is meaningful to study what successful companies in the emerging world are doing to achieve more sustainable growth, since most people live there.

　　50. It's difficult for companies in emerging markets to keep focusing on one specific problem because they have many wider problems to worry about.

　　51. Although some successful firms have embraced greenery, it doesn't mean that greenery will lead to the success of a firm.

　　52. It will probably be easier for companies to follow the home-grown ideas than those invented in the West.

　　53. It has been found that greenery can be profitable when natural resources are scarce and consumers are short of cash.

　　54. Sekem, which produces food in Egypt, set a goal to reclaim desert land through organic farming.

　　55. To create future markets, the firms also make effort to reach and educate poor consumers, often at the cost of short-term profits.

　　綠色增長

　　A.曾經的貧窮國家變得富足是我們這個時代最令人振奮的發展了。但同時這種發展也令人擔憂，因為這些國家的環境早已不堪重負。如果正如人口統計學家預估的那樣，全球總人口從今天的70億上升至2050年的93億，並且越來越多的人將能買得起曾經只有精英階層才能享用的商品，到那時，會出現什麼樣的狀況呢?這個星球能夠承受那麼多的經濟活動嗎?

　　B.許多決策者都採取一種自上而下的、以西方為中心的方法來解決這類全球性的問題。他們在全球論壇上雄心勃勃地探討監管制度，或指望大型跨國公司和富有的非政府組織來樹立典範。[49]但是，鑑於大多數人都生活在新興世界，因此研究一下這些國家的成功企業為促進可持續發展做了些什麼是很有意義的。

　　C.世界經濟論壇和波士頓諮詢公司在近期的一項研究中遴選出16家來自新興市場的企業，他們認為這些企業正在將生態意識轉換為一種具有競爭優勢的資源。這些高盈利企業***在這項研究中被稱做“新型可持續發展先進企業”***正在利用環保因素來降低成本、激勵員工和打造關係網。[52]比起西方國家臆想出來的對策，起源於本土的理念可能更容易為其他企業所效仿。

　　D.這些企業最顯著的特點是它們將資源、勞動力和基礎設施上的不足化為機遇。正是遵循這一思路，長期受困於水資源匱乏的印度Shree水泥公司研發出了世界上最節水的水泥製造工藝，部分原因在於他們採用了風冷工藝而不是水冷S-藝。菲律賓的一家公用事業公司馬尼拉水廠將浪費和非法盜水這兩種渠道所導致的水資源流失量從l997年的63%降到了2010年的12%，這使得窮人也能買得起水。[46]中國的空調製造商遠大集團利用建築物中的廢熱來為機器提供動力。中國的水產養殖企業獐子島漁業集團則回收吃剩的魚食來為莊稼提供肥料。

　　E.設定環保目標是一種常見的做法。[54]埃及的一家食品生產商sekem以通過有機種植來改造沙漠化的土地為己任。哥斯大黎加的一家食品飲料公司Florida Ice&Farm，對生產飲料過程中的耗水量設定了嚴格的標準。

　　F.這些企業還通過環保事業來衡量自身的價值。例如，FloridaIce&Farm公司將老闆60%的薪水與“人、地球、利潤”這三重底線掛鉤。[48]這些“可持續發展先進企業”還鼓勵員工們提出環保創意。巴西的一家化妝品企業Natura向那些想出方法降低企業對環境造成的影響的員工發獎金。智利的一家林業企業Masisa動員員工以收入較低者為目標客戶，“想象難以想象的商機”。南非的一家零售商Woolworths稱，公司很多最佳環保點子來自員工而不是老闆。

　　G.[50]在新興市場主，企業很難專注於某一特定領域，因為它們還得考慮從糟糕的基礎設施到不穩定的供應鏈等很多更廣泛的問題 。因此，可持續發展先進企業力求打造一個適合自身運營的商業環境。同時，他們還會遊說監管機構，巴西的有機糖生產商Grupo Balbo正與巴西政府合作，以期建立有機產品的認證體系。它們還同各級政府和非政府組織建立合作關係。肯亞的Equity銀行通過與國際農業發展基金會等組織聯合來降低向小農貸款的風險。Natura與其供應商合作，生產可持續的包裝材料，其中包括從甘蔗中提煉出來的新型“綠色”塑料。

　　H.[55]這些企業還努力接觸、培養低收入消費者，時常為了開拓未來市場而犧牲短期利益。Masisa將當地的木匠組織成關係網，使他們和低收入的傢俱買家建立聯絡。遠大集團研發了一種可以嵌入手機、用來測量空氣汙染的微型裝置。印度的灌溉系統製造商JainIrrigation用舞蹈和音樂向那些不識字的農民解釋滴灌的好處。中國的太陽能企業尚德公司建立了一家低碳博物館以宣傳減少二氧化碳排放的多種途徑。

　　以環保謀發展。還是以發展促環保?

　　I.有人可能對波士頓諮詢公司的分析存有異議。瑞士洛桑國際管理髮展學院商學院的Phil Rosenzweig認為，管理學作家傾向於“光環效應”：他們將企業暫時取得的成功作為其發現了優質管理的永恆法則的證據。[51]一些成功的企業支援環保事業的事實並不能證明是環堡事業使這些企業取得成功，一些已經發展壯大的企業發現它們有錢做環保。還有一些成功的企業是出於公關的目的而從事環保事業。在所有這些積極倡導可持續發展的新興企業中，肯定有100家企業是通過向大氣排放廢氣或向河流排放有毒汙水而發展起來的。

　　J.不管怎樣，世界經濟論壇和波士頓諮詢公司的這份研究的核心資訊——新興國家中的一些最為優秀的企業正在將環保與盈利相結合一是發人深省的。[47]許多批判環保主義的人認為，環保是發達國家才能有的奢侈品：窮人首先要解決溫飽問題，然後才能談及對超潔淨空氣的需求。有些人甚至將環保事業看作發達國家的陰謀：西方國家通過工業化***以及汙染環境***致富了，現在卻想要阻止其他國家走同樣的道路。世界經濟論壇和波士頓諮詢公司的這份報名表明，這些擔憂被誇大了。新興國家的企業也可以和它們西方國家的競爭對手一樣追求環保。[53]很多人發現，當自然資源匱乏而消費者又資金短缺時，環保室業不失為一項利潤豐厚的企業發展戰略。

　　【答案解析】

　　46.D

　　解析：題幹意為，一家空調製造商利用建築物中的廢熱來為機器提供動力。注意抓住題幹中的關鍵資訊air-conditionermanufacturer和wasteheatfrombuildings。文中D段倒數第二句提到，中國的空調製造商遠大集團利用建築物中的廢熱來為機器提供動力。由此可知，題幹是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為D。

　　47.J

　　解析：題幹意為，批判環保主義的人認為，環保是發達國家才能有的奢侈品，因為那不是窮人最急需的。注意抓住題幹中的關鍵資訊critics of environmentalism和a rich.world luxury。文中J段第二句提到，許多批判環保主義的人認為，環保是發達國家才能有的奢侈品：窮人首先要解決溫飽問題，然後才能談及對超潔淨空氣的需求。由此可知，題幹是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為J。

　　48.F

　　解析：題幹意為，可持續發展先進企業的員工被鼓勵提出環保的想法。注意抓住題幹中的關鍵資訊workers和motivatedtobringforwardgreenideas。文中F段第三句提到，這些“可持續發展先進企業”還鼓勵員工提出環保創意。由此可知，題幹是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為F。

　　49.B

　　解析：題幹意為，研究新興世界的成功企業為促進可持續發展做了些什麼是很有意義的，因為大多數人生活在那裡。注意抓住題幹中的關鍵資訊successful companies in the emerging world和sustainablegrowth。文中B段末句提到，鑑於大多數人都生活在新興世界，因此研究一下這些國家的成功企業為促進可持續發展做了些什麼是很有意義的。由此可知，題幹是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為B。

　　S0.G

　　解析：題幹意為，新興市場中的企業有許多更廣泛的問題需要考慮，所以它們很難持續專注於某一個特定的問題。注意抓住題幹中的關鍵資訊difficult、companiesin emergingmarkets和widerproblems。文中G段首句提到，在新興市場中，企業很難專注於某一特定領域，因為它們還得考慮從糟糕的基礎設施到不穩定的供應鏈等很多更廣泛的問題。由此可知，題幹是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為G。

　　51.I

　　解析：題幹意為，儘管一些成功的企業支援環保事業，但這並不意味著環保事業能夠引領企業取得成功。注意抓住題幹中的關鍵資訊embracedgreenery和the SUCCESS ofafirm。文中I段第三句提到，一些成功的企業支援環保事業的事實並不能證明是環保事業使這些企業取得成功。由此可知，題幹是對原文的同義轉述。故答案為I。

　　52.C

　　解析：題幹意為，本土思維可能比西方國家憑空想象的做法更容易被各企業所效仿。注意抓住題幹中的關鍵資訊beeasier、home—grownideas和West。文中C段末句提到，比起西方國家臆想出來的對策，起源於本土的理念可能更容易為其他企業所效仿。由此可知，題幹是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為C。

　　53.J

　　解析：題幹意為，有人發現，當自然資源匱乏而消費者又資金短缺時，環保事業將會十分有利可圖。注意抓住題幹中的關鍵資訊greenery、profitable和natural resources are scarce。文中J段末句提到，很多人發現，當自然資源匱乏而消費者又資金短缺時，環保事業不失為一項利潤豐厚的企業發展戰略。由此可知，題幹是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為J。

　　54.E

　　解析：題幹意為，埃及的一家食品生產商Sekem設定了通過有機.農業改造沙漠化土地的目標。注意抓住題幹中的關鍵資訊Sekem、reclaimdesertland和organicfarming。文中E段第二句提到，埃及的一家食品生產商Sekem以通過有機種植來改造沙漠化的土地為己任。由此可知，題幹是對原文的同義轉述。故答案為E。

　　55.H

　　解析：題千意為，為了開拓未來市場，這些企業常常會努力接觸並培養低收入消費者，而這常常以犧牲一些短期利益為代價。注意抓住題千中的關鍵資訊futuremarkets、educatepoor consumers和short-termprofits。文中H段第一句提到，這些企業還努力接觸、培養低收入消費者，時常為了開拓未來市場而犧牲短期利益。由此可知，題幹是對原文的同義轉述，故答案為H。