I。ReadingComprehension。

AMultipleChoice。

PleasereadthefollowingpassagesandchooseA，B，CorDtobestcompletethestatementsaboutthem。

TheGreeningofAmerica

—HowAmericaislikelytotakeoverleadershipofthefightagainstclimatechange;andhowitcangetitright。

Acountrywithapresidentialsystemtendstogetidentifiedwithitsleader。So，fortherestoftheworld，AmericaisGeorgeBush‘sAmericarightnow。ItisthecountrythathasmismanagedtheIraqwar;holdsprisonerswithouttrialatGuantánamoBay;restrictsfundingforstem－cellresearchbecauseoffundamentalistreligiousbeliefs;anddestroyedthechanceofaglobalclimate－changedealbasedontheKyotoProtocol。

Buttosimplifythusistomisunderstand—especiallyinthecaseofthehuge，federalAmerica。Oneofitsgreatstrengthsisthediversityofitspolitical，economicandculturallife。WhiletheWhiteHousedugitsheelsinonglobalwarming，muchoftherestofthecountrywasmoving。That‘swhatforcedthepresident‘sconcessiontogreensinthestate－of－the－unionaddress。HispollratingssinkingundertheweightofIraq，PresidentBushisgraspingforpopularissuestokeephimafloat;andglobalwarminghasevidentlybecomesuchanissue。Albeitinthecontextofenergysecurity，anowfamiliarconcernofhis，PresidentBushspokeforthefirsttimetoCongressof“theseriouschallengeofglobalclimatechange“andproposedmeasuresdesigned，inpart，tocombatit。

It‘stheweather，appropriately，thathasturnedpublicopinion—startingwithHurricaneKatrina。ScientistshadbeenwarningAmericansforyearsthattheriskof“extremeweatherevents“wouldprobablyincreaseasaresultofclimatechange。Butscientificpapersdonotdrivemessageshomeasconvincinglyasthedestructionofacity。AndtheheatwavethattorchedAmerica‘swestcoastlastyear，accompaniedbyaconstantdripofnewresearchonmeltingglaciersanddyingpolarbears，hasonlystrengthenedthebeliefthatsomethingmustbedone。

Businessischangingitsmindtoo。FiveyearsagocorporateAmericawassolidlyagainstcarboncontrols。Butthethreatofapatchworkofstateregulations，combinedwiththeopportunitytoprofitfromnewtechnologies，begantoshiftbusinessattitudes。Andthatmovementhasgainedmomentum，becausecompaniesthatsawtheircompetitorsespousecarboncontrolsbegantofearthat，oncethegovernmentgotdowntodesigningregulations，theywouldbeleftoutofthediscussioniftheydidnotjumponthebandwagon。Sonowtheloudestvoicesarenotresistingchangebutarguingforit。

Supportforcarboncontrolshasalsogrownamongsomeunlikelygroups：securityhawks;farmers;andevangelicals。Thisalliancehashelpedpersuadepoliticianstomove。ArnoldSchwarzenegger，California‘sRepublicangovernor，hasledtheadvance，withmuscularmeasureslegislatingKyoto－stylecurbsinhisstate。Hispopularityhasreboundedasaresult。Andnowthereismovementtooatthefederallevel，whichiswhereitreallymatters。Billstotackleclimatechangehaveproliferated。Andthreeoftheseriouscandidatesforthepresidencyin2008—JohnMcCain，HillaryClintonandBarackObama—areallpushingforfederalmeasures。

Unfortunately，PresidentBush‘snewfoundinterestinclimatechangeiscoupledwith，anddistortedby，hisfocusonenergysecurity。ReducingAmerica‘spetrolconsumptionby20%2017，atargetheannouncedinthestate－of－the－unionaddress，wouldcertainlydiminishthecountry‘sdependenceonMiddleEasternoil，butthewayheplanstogoaboutitmaynotbeeitherefficientorclean。Increasingfuel－economystandardsforcarsandtruckswillgopartoftheway，butformostoftheswitchAmericawillhavetorelyonagreateruseofalternativefuels。Thatmeansethanolorliquefiedcoal

ThemeasureofPresidentBush‘sfailuretotacklethisissueseriouslyishiscontinuedrejectionoftheonlytwocleanandefficientsolutionstoclimatechange。Oneisacarbontax，whichthispaperhaslongadvocated。Thesecondisacap－and－tradesystemofthesortEuropeintroducedtomeettheKyototargets。Itwouldlimitcompanies‘emissionswhileallowingthemtobuyandsellpermitstopollute。Eithersystemshould，bysettingapriceoncarbon，discourageemission;and，indoingso，encouragethedevelopmentanduseofcleaner－energytechnologies。JustasAmerica‘sadoptionofcatalyticconvertersledeventuallytotheworld‘sconversiontolead－freepetrol，soitsdrivetoclean－energytechnologieswillensurethatthesetoospread。

AtaxisunlikelybecauseofAmerica‘saversiontothatthree－letterword。Giventhat，itshouldgoforatoughcap－and－tradesystem。Indoingso，itcanusefullylearnfromEurope‘sexperience。First，getgooddata。Europefailedtodoso：companiesweregiventoomanypermits，andemissionshavethereforenotfallen。Second，auctionpermitsratherthangivingthemawayfree。Europegavethemaway，whichallowedpolluterstomakewindfallprofits。Thiswillbeahugefight;for，ifthefederalgovernmentdidwhattheEuropeansdid，itwouldhandout$40billionto$50billioninpermits。Third，setalongtime－horizon。Europeansdonotknowwhethercarbonemissionswillstillbeconstrainedafter2012，whenKyotorunsout。Sincemostclean－energyprojectshaveapaybackperiodofmorethanfiveyears，thesystemthusfailstoencouragegreeninvestment。