GRE阅读中环境保护是个伪命题吗？各政策的有效性如何评价？全面体会生物/环境类别阅读考察形式

快来更新一下环保小知识吧，别只会“社区你我他，环保靠大家”啦

GRE阅读一向以涵盖面广泛著称，除了我们已经前述介绍了的黑人历史、女权议题、社会发展等社科话题之外，另一个热门topic就是和生物以及环境保护相关的题目了。

随着工业发展和城市建设加速进程，人类对自然的利用和剥削导致了很多无可逆转的环境与资源问题。从《寂静的春天》中的一声长叹——“庭院无鸟鸣，丛中失蜜蜂，溪水难见鱼，这样的春天是多么可怕啊”，到越来越频繁出现的灭绝和濒临灭绝生物，对能源和地球的保护呼声也成为主流。

然而，这却并非能够轻松实现的一项事业。国际权力与责任的争议，替代能源安全性，经济发展优先性，保护工作的统筹安排等等，各方阻力导致进展缓慢，甚至不进反退。近年，更是因为一些所谓radical environmentalism、eco-fascism的事情导致整个理念备受攻击，各位5G冲浪互联网的小伙伴们一定不会陌生。

所以我们今天就沿着ETS为我们铺的路，从理论和实践两方面，全面地体会生物和环境类别的阅读题目都会有什么样的考察形式吧。

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MacArthur and Wilson suggested that the biodiversity of an island will vary in direct proportion to a function of the island’s size (i.e., larger islands can support a greater number of species) and in inverse proportion to a function of its distance from the mainland (i.e., many remote islands will tend to support fewer species).

Reduced biodiversity in an island context is likely to require significant adaptation on the part of colonizing human populations. Evans argues that this limitation makes islands ideal laboratories for the study of human adaptations to the natural environment, whilst Renfrew and Wagstaff, in the introduction to their study of Melos, focus on this limitation in biodiversity as a “significant characteristic of the island ecosystem.”

For human communities, however, this limitation may potentially be offset by other factors. The reduced biodiversity of an island ecosystem applies only to terrestrial resources:

the resources of the sea will be as rich as on any other coastal area, and may be equally important to human communities. A small island such as Malta or Melos allows all communities direct access to the sea, providing an important nutritional “safety net,” as well as an element of dietary diversity, which may actually give island communities an advantage over their landlocked counterparts.

Islands may also have specific nonbiological resources (such as obsidian on Melos), which may be used in exchange with communities on other islands and adjacent mainlands.

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The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. evaluate two contrasting approaches to island biodiversity
B. discuss the relevance of certain data pertaining to island biodiversity
C. call into question a particular understanding of island biodiversity
D. consider various reasons for reduced biodiversity on islands
E. contrast large and small islands in terms of overall biodiversity
选 C

根据句2：Reduced biodiversity in an island context is likely to require significant adaptation on the part of colonizing human populations.

动植物的种类少，貌似需要人类努力适应。句3列举了两拨学者的观点，都是为了支撑句2的推论。然而从句4开始，作者话锋一转，用句后面四句话反驳了这种观点。所以选C。

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Consider each of the choices separately and select all that apply.
According to the author, factors of potential importance to human communities on islands include

A. the accessibility of the sea’s resources
B. a diet superior in some respects to the diet of landlocked communities
C. nonbiological resources that can be exploited
选ABC

👉根据句6、7：
A small island such as Malta or Melos allows all communities direct access to the sea, providing an important nutritional “safety net,” as well as an element of dietary diversity, which may actually give island communities an advantage over their landlocked counterparts.

Islands may also have specific nonbiological resources (such as obsidian on Melos), which may be used in exchange with communities on other islands and adjacent mainlands.

这道题定位和细节呼应都比较明显，大家做对了吗？

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The author suggests that in considering the biodiversity of islands, Evans

A. focuses too exclusively on terrestrial resources
B. misunderstands the relationship between an island’s size and its terrestrial resources
C. misinterprets the work of MacArthur and Wilson
D. is wrong to assume that more remote islands support fewer species
E. downplays the ways that human communities adapt to island biodiversity
选 A

首先我们应该意识到，作者通篇的目的是为了反驳句2的观点：Reduced biodiversity in an island context is likely to require significant adaptation on the part of colonizing human populations.

【is likely to 如何如何(实际情况未必是这样)】

问题是，关于E 通篇只有一句话：Evans argues that this limitation makes islands ideal laboratories for the study of human adaptations to the natural environment …

如果同学们实在看不出作者反对他什么，不妨换个方向思考。

既然作者反对句 2，Evans支持句 2，那么作者如何反驳了句 2，可能就是作者对 Evans 的态度，直到我们在句5得到重要提示：The reduced biodiversity of an island ecosystem applies only to terrestrial resources: the resources of the sea will be as rich as on any other coastal area, and may be equally important to human communities.

既然Evans认为reduced biodiversity那么重要，以致到了考验岛民适应能力的程度，那么我们有理由怀疑，作者认为E过于强调，或只强调terrestrial resources了，没有看到海洋资源的因素。所以选A~

我们刚刚也有提到，环保政策的颁布和执行都面临着很多细节且相矛盾的限制，比如可能有多种方式需要针砭利弊，比如短期长期的效果难以平衡，比如政策倡议和人们的实际行为出现偏差等等，这不简直是为我们的逻辑单题量身定制的题材嘛！也确实，在阅读中出现了一些环保相关的逻辑题，我们下面就一起推理一番。

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Although recent years have seen substantial reductions in noxious pollutants from individual motor vehicles, the number of such vehicles has been steadily increasing; consequently, more than 100 cities in the United States still have levels of carbon monoxide, particulate matter, and ozone (generated by photochemical reactions with hydrocarbons from vehicle exhaust) that exceed legally established limits.

每辆汽车排放变少，但汽车的数量在增加，所以总的排放还是超出了法定限制。文章后面给出的建议是换新能源，虽然新能源也有自己的问题，但改善之后总会比以前要好。
新能源的问题是什么呢？我们继续看。

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Vehicles incorporating only the simplest of the engine improvements that makes methanol feasible would still contribute to an immediate lessening of urban air pollution.

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Which of the following most closely parallels the situation described in the first sentence of the passage?

A. Although a town reduces its public services in order to avoid a tax increase, the town’s tax rate exceeds that of other towns in the surrounding area.

B. Although a state passes strict laws to limit the type of toxic material that can be disposed of in public landfills, illegal dumping continues to increase.

C. Although a town’s citizens reduce their individual use of water, the town’s water supplies continue to dwindle because of a steady increase in the total population of the town.

D. Although a country attempts to increase the sale of domestic goods by adding a tax to the price of imported goods, the sale of imported goods within the country continues to increase.

E. Although a country reduces the speed limit on its national highways, the number of fatalities caused by automobile accidents continues to increase.
选 C

句1所表述的可以概括为，从个体看形势在好转，但整体形势恶化。

所以C正确。尽管小镇居民个人用水量减少(节约)，但总人口不断增加导致水供应紧张逐渐加剧(整体恶化)。

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It can be inferred from the passage that a vehicle specifically designed to use methanol for fuel would

A. be somewhat lighter in total body weight than a conventional vehicle fueled with gasoline

B. be more expensive to operate than a conventional vehicle fueled with gasoline

C. have a larger and more powerful engine than a conventional vehicle fueled with gasoline

D. have a larger and heavier fuel tank than a “gasoline clone” vehicle fueled with methanol

E. average more miles per gallon than a “gasoline clone” vehicle fueled with methanol
选E

根据However, since methanol-fueled vehicles could be designed to be much more efficient than “gasoline clone” vehicles fueled with methanol, they would need comparatively less fuel.

大家脑子里得有概念，认识到这是三种效率。

A 汽油车烧汽油。
B 汽油车烧甲醇。
C 改装车烧甲醇。
单纯比较效率，A > C > B，但文章开头就说A引起环境问题，所以就算效率高也不考虑了，这句话比较的是B和C，结论是C相对效率更高，更省油。所以选E。

不过再看别的文章，你会发现换了新能源也可能带来问题。

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A plant-based automobile fuel has just become available in Ternland. A car can be driven as far on a gallon of the new plant-based fuel as a car can be driven on a gallon of gasoline, but a gallon of the plant-based fuel both costs less and results in less pollution. Therefore, drivers in Ternland who switch to it will reduce the amount they spend one fuel in a year while causing less environmental damage.

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Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument relies?

A. There is no expense associated with operating an automobile that is higher when the automobile uses the plant-based fuel than when it uses gasoline.
B. Automobiles that have been operated using the plant-based fuel can no longer be operated using regular gasoline.
C. The environmental damage attributable to automobiles is due almost entirely to the production and combustion of fuel automobiles use.
D. The advantages of the plant-based fuel over gasoline will not lead those who switch to the plant-based fuel to do more driving.
E. Most drivers in Ternland will switch from gasoline to the plant-based fuel.
文章逻辑链比较清晰，就是新的燃料比老的汽油单价更便宜且污染更少，所以换了燃料的司机会更少在燃料方面花钱且环境危害更小。因此选项中必须要同时涉及既可以保护环境又可以省钱的选项，可以pass掉AC。

然后E也可排除，它并不是作者建议的假设基础，而是建议的结果。

再来看BD，B说用植物油的引擎不能再用汽油，首先题目并没有表达这层含义，和题目结论并不相关，其次即便是真的，这个假设旨在表达原先使用汽油的人需要重新购买植物油引擎，这是不省钱的，pass。D说植物油的这些优点（花费少，环境污染小），不会导致司机开得更多，显然，花费再少污染再少结果司机开得距离变多了也是白搭，所以D正确。

可见换燃料也不是一劳永逸，GRE阅读题里面还出现了另一个解决方案：公交车免费，大家少开车。

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Mayor: Vehicle exhaust produces dangerously high ozone levels in our city in hot, humid weather. As an incentive for people to commute by bus rather than by car, special free commuter buses will be scheduled on hot, humid days. Since bus can carry about 40 people but produces only about 20 times as much exhaust as a car, ozone levels will be lower as long as the buses are more than half full.

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Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

A. Most of the people who would take the special free buses are currently members of carpools.
B. The city does not currently have enough buses to transport all of the commuters who normally commute by car.
C. Buses that would be operating on hot, humid days would rarely, if ever, be filled to capacity.
D. The amount of vehicle exhaust produced in the city is not significantly higher on hot, humid days.
E. Not all commuter routes are used by enough people to warrant providing bus service for them.
大概意思是，在很热和湿润的时候公交车免费，鼓励大家多做公交出行。一辆公交车可以载40个，产生的尾气是一辆汽车的20倍，所以只要公交车乘客人数超过20，就算成功。
题目要求削弱，就是说在作者给的那些条件的情况下，乘客数在20人之上也不一定成功。

正确答案是A，会去坐免费公交的人大多数目前出行都是carpool（拼车）。这样可能4个人一辆汽车产生1单位的污染；20个在拼车的情况下产生5单位的污染，在坐公交车的情况下产生20单位的污染，反而环境危害更大了。原文的论证预设了一个人出行的排放等于一辆汽车的排放，A攻击的是这个预设。

选项B，该市目前没有足够的公共汽车来运送所有那些通常开车上下班的人。即使不够，只要还满足市长的逻辑，哪怕只有一辆公交车可以通勤，那么臭氧含量也会降低，少一点是一点。

选项C，公交车很少能满负荷运行。市长的逻辑是只要过半就可以，不需要满负荷。

选项D，汽车尾气排放量并没有显著增加。这个和市长的论证毫无关系，不増加，按照市长的算法，也是公交车的人数过半就环保。

选项E，并不是所有的通勤路线都被足够多的人使用，足以保证为他们提供公共汽车服务。这个选项和B选项相似，多一个是一个，公交车够不够和市长的论证没有关系。