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  3. We all know(or should know)by now that the carbon dioxide we produce when we burn fossil fuels and cut down forests is the plane

We all know(or should know)by now that the carbon dioxide we produce when we burn fossil fuels and cut down forests is the plane

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问题     We all know(or should know)by now that the carbon dioxide we produce when we burn fossil fuels and cut down forests is the planet’s single largest contributor to global warming. It persists in the atmosphere for centuries. Reducing these emissions by as much as half by 2050 is essential to avoid disastrous consequences by the end of this century, and we must begin immediately.
    But this is a herculean undertaking, both technically and politically. There is, however, a short-term strategy. We can slow this warming quickly by cutting emissions of four other climate pollutants: black carbon, a component of soot; methane, the main component of natural gas; lower-level ozone, a main ingredient of urban smog; and hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, which are used as coolants. They account for as much as 40 percent of current warming.
    We can reduce black carbon emissions significantly in the next few decades by using particulate filters on cars and trucks and switching to low-sulfur diesel. By employing those strategies, California, for instance, has cut the warming effect from diesel emissions by nearly half since the late 1980s. In addition, we can further reduce emissions of black carbon and carbon monoxide(which produces lower-level ozone)in the developing world simply by turning to efficient biomass cook stoves instead of using traditional mud stoves, by replacing kerosene lamps in villages with solar lamps, and by deploying modern brick kilns.
    Methane emissions can be cut by nearly a third by reducing leaks from gas pipes, coal mines and hydraulic fracturing, by capturing methane from waste dumps, water treatment plants and manure, and by cutting emissions from rice paddies.
    These reductions in methane, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds would also significantly reduce lower-level ozone, which is another important climate-warming pollutant that is formed by the interaction of sunlight with other short-lived pollutants.
    And HFCs, which are widely used in refrigerators, can be replaced with readily available climate-friendly refrigerants. Nearly 100 ozone-depleting chemicals have been phased out under the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty that took effect in 1989, and more than 100 countries support a shift to the safer HFC alternatives. Phasing down HFCs would provide climate protection many times greater than the current Kyoto climate treaty—the equivalent of about 100 billion tons of carbon dioxide by 2050.
    Unlike carbon dioxide, these pollutants are short-lived in the atmosphere. If we shtop emitting them, they will disappear in a matter of weeks to a few decades. These reductions would also prevent an estimated two to four million deaths from air pollution and avoid billions of dollars of crop loss annually, according to a study commissioned by the United Nations Environment Program and the World Meteorological Organization.
The word "herculean"(Line 1, Paragraph 2)is closest in meaning to______.
选项 A、easy
B、powerful
C、difficult
D、glorious
答案C
解析 本题考查考生对生词意思的理解。“herculean”出现在第二段的第一句。必须结合上下文才能推测出生词的意思。第一段介绍了二氧化碳是造成全球气候变暖的最大因素，因此减少二氧化碳的排放对于环境的改造是至关重要的，而第二段一开始就来了个“but”进行转折，可见这一方法不是那么顺利或者容易的，后面接着就引出了另一种短期战略，可见从二氧化碳着手是长期且艰巨的任务，因此C项正确，对应的A项错误。而文章中并没有任何地方可以推测出这一任务有任何“光荣”之处，因此D项也错误。“herculcan”一词源于“hercules”(赫拉克勒斯)，赫拉克勒斯是是希腊神话中最伟大的英雄，相当于罗马神话中的赫丘利(Hercules)。宙斯与阿尔克墨涅之子。他神勇无比，力大无穷，完成了十二项英雄伟绩，被升为武仙座。在现代hercules即为大力士的代名词，而“herculean”则指“有力量的”，B选项给出的是这个词在现代的直接意思，而此处则是它引申的含义——“需要耗费力气的，困难的”。C是正确选项。
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