Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Air pollution is deteriorating in many places around the world. The fact that public parks in cities become crowded as soon as the sun shines proves that people long to breathe in green, open spaces. They do not all know what they are seeking but they flock there, nevertheless. And, in these surroundings, they are generally both peaceful and peaceable. It is rare to see people fighting in a garden. perhaps struggle unfolds first, not at an economic or social level, but over the appropriation of air, essential to life itself. If human beings can breathe and share air, they don’t need to struggle with one another.
Unfortunately, in our western tradition, neither materialist nor idealist theoreticians give enough consideration to this basic condition for life. As for politicians, despite proposing curbs on environmental pollution, they have not yet called for it to be made a crime. Wealthy countries are even allowed to pollute if they pay for it.
But is our life worth anything other than money? The plant world shows us in silence what faithfulness to life consists of. It also helps us to a new beginning, urging us to care for our breath, not only at a vital but also at a spiritual level. The interdependence to which we must pay the closest attention is that which exists between ourselves and the plant world. often described as “the lungs of the planet”, the woods that cover the earth offer us the gift of breathable air by releasing oxygen. But their capacity to renew the air polluted by industry has long reached its limit. If we lack the air necessary for a healthy life, it is because we have filled it with chemicals and undercut the ability of plants to regenerate it. As we know, rapid deforestation combined with the massive burning of fossil fuels is an explosive recipe for an irreversible disaster.
The fight over the appropriation of resources will lead the entire planet to hell unless humans learn to share life, both with each other and with plants. This task is simultaneously ethical and political because it can be discharged only when each takes it upon herself or himself and only when it is accomplished together with others. The lesson taught by plants is that sharing life expands and enhances the sphere of the living, while dividing life into so-called natural or human resources diminishes it. We must come to view the air, the plants and ourselves as the contributors to the preservation of life and growth, rather than a web of quantifiable objects or productive potentialities at our disposal. Perhaps then we would finally begin to live, rather than being concerned with bare survival.
61. What does the author assume might be the primary reason that people would struggle with each other?
A) To get their share of clean air
B) To pursue a comfortable life.
C) To gain a higher social status.
D) To seek economic benefits.
62. What does the author accuse western politicians of?
A) Depriving common people of the right to clean air.
B) Giving priority to theory rather than practical action.
C) Offering preferential treatment to wealthy countries.
D) Failing to pass laws to curb environmental pollution.
63. What does the author try to draw our closest attention to?
A) The massive burning of fossil fuels.
B) Our relationship to the plant world.
C) The capacity of plants to renew polluted air.
D) Large-scale deforestation across the world.
64. How can human beings accomplish the goal of protecting the plant according to the author?
A) By showing respect for plants.
B) By preserving all forms of life.
C) By tapping all natural resources.
D) By pooling their efforts together.
65. What does the author suggest we do in order not just to survive?
A) Expand the sphere of living.
B) develop nature’s potentials.
C) Share life with nature.
D) Allocate the resources.
答案解析：
61. 由题干中的关键词“primary reason that people would struggle with each other”定位到第一段“Perhaps struggle unfolds first, not at an economic or social level, but over the appropriation of air, essential to life itself. If human beings can breathe and share air, they don’t need to struggle with one another.”，文中提到或许斗争首先不是在经济或社会层面，而是在对空气这种生命必需品的争夺上，如果人们能呼吸并共享空气，就不需要相互斗争，所以作者假设人们相互斗争的主要原因是争夺清洁空气，选A。
62. 由题干中的关键词“accuse western politicians of”定位到第二段，第二段最后一句提到，“Wealthy countries are even allowed to pollute if they pay for it.（如果环境污染是有偿的，政治家甚至允许富裕国家这样做”，可知，作者指控西方政治家们为富裕国家提供优惠待遇，允许他们污染环境，所以选C。
63. 由题干中的关键词“draw our closest attention to”定位到第三段“The interdependence to which we must pay the closest attention is that which exists between ourselves and the plant world.”，文中明确提到我们必须最密切关注的是我们与植物世界之间的相互依存关系，选B。
64. 由题干中的关键词“accomplish the goal of protecting the plant”定位到最后一段“This task is simultaneously ethical and political because it can be discharged only when each takes it upon herself or himself and only when it is accomplished together with others.”，文中表明只有每个人都承担起责任，并且与他人共同完成，才能实现保护植物的目标，即要齐心协力，选D。
65. 由题干中的关键词“suggest we do in order not just to survive”定位到最后一段“Perhaps then we would finally begin to live, rather than being concerned with bare survival.”，结合前文提到要学会与彼此和植物共享生命，所以作者建议我们与自然共享生命，而不仅仅是为了生存，选C。
