PE 3 - Reading Comprehension | Reading Comprehension
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Answer the following questions based on the passage given below.
Few ideas are more deeply entrenched in our political culture than that of impending ecological doom. Beginning in 1962, when Rachel Carson warned that pollution was a threat to all human and animal life on the planet, pessimistic appraisals of the health of the environment have been issued with increasing urgency.
And yet, thanks in large part to her warnings, a powerful political movement was born and a series of landmark environmental bills became law. These laws and their equivalents in Western Europe, along with a vast array of private efforts spurred by environmental consciousness that Carson helped raise, have been a stunning success in both the United States and Europe where environmental trends are, for the most part, positive; and environmental regulations, far from being burdensome and expensive, have proved to be strikingly effective, have cost less than was anticipated, and have made the economies of the countries that have put them into effect stronger, not weaker. In recent years, several worrisome environmental trends have either declined from their peak or ended altogether. The amount of household trash dumped in landfills, for example, has been diminishing since the late nineteen eighties, when recycling began to take hold.
Recycling, which was a fringe idea a decade ago, is now a major growth industry, and is converting more than twenty per cent of America's municipal wastes into useful products. Despite start—up problems, many municipal recycling programs now pay for themselves. Emissions of chlorofluorocarbons, which deplete the ozone layer, have been declining since 1987. Studies now suggest that ozone—layer replenishment may begin within a decade. Dozens of American cities once dumped raw sludge into the ocean. This category of pollution passed into history in 1992, when the final load of New York City sludge slithered off a barge imaginatively named Spring Brook. Today, instead of being dumped into the ocean, municipal sludge is either disposed of in regulated landfills or, increasingly, put to good use as fertilizer.
America's record of protecting species threatened with extinction, which is often depicted as dismal, is in truth enviable. Since 1973, when the Endangered Species Act took effect, seven animal species in North America have disappeared. Several hundred others once considered certain to die out continue to exist in the wild. A number of species, including the bald eagle and the Arctic peregrine falcon have been or are being taken off the priority—protection list.
It's true, of course, that some environmental programs are muddled. For instance, the Endangered Species Act can have the unfair effect of penalizing landholders who discover rare creatures on their property, by prohibiting use of the land. In the main, though, conservation has been an excellent investment. Environmental initiatives worked well even in their early years, when they were driven by top—heavy federal edicts. They work even better as new regulations have centered on market mechanisms and voluntary choice; new acid—rain reductions, for example, are being achieved at unexpectedly affordable rates, thanks to a free—market program under which companies trade pollution "allowances " with each other. Western market economies excel at producing what they are asked to produce, and, increasingly, the market is being asked to produce conservation.
Consider some of what has been accomplished in this country. Thanks to legislation, technical advances, and lawsuits that have forced polluters to pay liability costs, America's air and water are getting cleaner, forests are expanding, and many other environmental indicators are on the upswing.
Nevertheless, the vocabulary of environmentalism has continued to be dominated by images of futility, crisis, and decline. Nor are environmentalists the only people reluctant to acknowledge the good news; advocates at both ends of the political spectrum, each side for its reasons, seem to have tacitly agreed to play it down. The left is afraid of the environmental good news because it undercuts stylish pessimism; the right is afraid of the good news because it shows that governmental regulations might occasionally amount to something other than wickedness incarnate, and actually produce benefits at an affordable cost.
For which of the following claims does the passage provide some supporting evidence or explanation?
- (a)
Environmental good news undercuts stylish pessimism.
- (b)
The vocabulary of environmentalists is dominated by images of doom.
- (c)
Environmental regulations in Europe have proven to be strikingly effective.
- (d)
Environmental initiatives have worked when centered on market mechanisms.
Solution
Discuss
ReportSuppose that current models of automobiles emit an average of eighty per cent less pollution per mile than was emitted by cars in 1970. How would this information affect the author's main point?
- (a)
It would support the claim.
- (b)
It would refute the claim.
- (c)
It would support the claim if it were shown that the emissions reductions were a consequence of environmental bills.
- (d)
It would support the claim if it were shown that the emissions reductions were not a consequence of environmental bills.
Which of the following statements is false as it pertains to the information given in the passage?
- (a)
Chlorofluorocarbons no longer damage the ozone layer.
- (b)
Technical advances have contributed to conservation.
- (c)
Raw sludge is no longer a source of ocean pollution for the United States.
- (d)
Recycling has had an impact on landfill dumping.
Based on information in the passage, each of the following statements is a plausible explanation of why pessimistic appraisals of the environment continue to be issued EXCEPT:
- (a)
environmentalists and politicians are unaware of the successes of the movement.
- (b)
an immense amount of work still needs to be done to save the environment.
- (c)
optimistic evaluations would have unwanted political repercussions.
- (d)
environmentalists garner support by arousing concerns and fears.
According to the passage, which of the following is most likely to be true about the impact of the Endangered Species Act on the overall number of animal species in America?
- (a)
The Endangered Species Act has caused the number of species to increase gradually.
- (b)
The Endangered Species Act has caused the number of species to rebound markedly.
- (c)
The Endangered Species Act has slowed the decline in the number of species.
- (d)
The Endangered Species Act has had no significant effect on the number of species.
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency recently gave a series of speeches pointing out that there were many signs of environmental progress in America. Which of the following best characterizes the relevance of this to the passage?
- (a)
It supports the claim that efforts at environmental reform have been costly but effective.
- (b)
It weakens the claim that efforts at environmental reform have been costly but effective.
- (c)
It supports the claim that the vocabulary of environmentalism is dominated by images of futility.
- (d)
It weakens the claim that the vocabulary of environmentalism is dominated by images of futility.
If the claims made in the passage are correct, how would politicians on the political right be expected to react to America's program to protect endangered species from extinction?
- (a)
They would extol it because its success is not attributable to governmental regulation.
- (b)
They would extol it because its success refutes the pessimistic claims of the political left.
- (c)
They would criticize it because its success was due to costly regulations.
- (d)
They would criticize it because it has not shown any measurable success
To which of the following hypothetical Congressional actions would the author probably lend the most support, based on the information in the passage?
- (a)
Establishing a subcommittee that would be devoted to environmental issues
- (b)
Streamlining the inefficient bureaucracies that arose during environmental reform
- (c)
Passing legislation that makes anti—pollution regulations difficult to enforce
- (d)
Passing bills that encourage rather than coerce industries to control pollution
The existence of which of the following phenomena would most strongly challenge the information in the passage?
- (a)
A speech by a senator who takes credit for saving his state's environment
- (b)
A species of animal that has disappeared in the past year
- (c)
A prediction by an environmentalist that the ozone layer problem will worsen
- (d)
A recycling program that is supported by federal funds