Since the first Earth Day in 1970,American have gotten a lot “greener” toward the environment . “We didn’t know at that time there even was an environment ,let alone that there was a problem with it,” says Bruce Anderson, president of Earth Day USA.
But what began as nothing important in public affairs has grown into a social movement .Business people, political leaders, university professors, and especially millions of grass-roots Americans are taking part in the movement. “The understanding has increased many ,many times,” says Gaylord Nelson, the former governor from Wisconsin, who thought up the first According to US government reports , emissions (排放)from cars and trucks have dropped from 10.3 million tons a year to 5.5 tons .The number of cities producing CO beyond the standard has been reduced from 40 to 9 .Although serious problems still remain and need to be dealt with , the world is a safer and healthier place .A kind of “Green thinking ” has become part of practices .
Great improvement has been achieved .In 1988 there were only 600 recycling programs ,; today in 1995 there are about 6,600 .Advanced lights ,motors , and building designs have helped save a lot of energy and therefore prevented pollution .
Twenty –five years ago , there were hardly any education programs for environment .Today , it’s hard to find a public school , university , or law school that does not have such a kind of program .” Until we do that , nothing else will change! ” say Bruce Anderson .
小题1:According to Anderson , before 1970, Americans had little idea about ___
A．the social movement
B．recycling techniques
C．environmental problems
D．the importance of Earth Day小题2:Where does the support for environmental protection mainly come from?
A．The grass –roots level
B．The business circle
C．Government officials
D．University professors小题3:What have Americans achieved in environmental protection ?
A．They have cut car emissions to the lowest
B．They have settled their environmental problems
C．They have lowered their CO levels in forty cities.
D．They have reduced pollution through effective measures .小题4:What is especially important for environmental protection according to the last paragraph ?
A．Education
B．Planning
C．Green living
D．CO reduction
小题1:C
小题2:A
小题3:D
小题4:A
题目分析: 本文属于记叙文题材。在文章中作者介绍了自从1970年第一个地球日成立以来，美国的环境问题有了很大的改善。以前在公共事物中无足轻重的环境问题现在成了一项社会关注的问题，从科学家到大学教授到贫民百姓都有了环保意识。此外作者还指出教育在这种变化方面也起着非常重要的作用。
小题1:C 考查细节理解。根据文章首段Anderson说的话“We didn’t know at that time there even was an environment, let alone that there was a problem with it,可知当时人们不知道环境这个概念，更别说环境问题了，由此可知答案选C。
小题2:A 考查细节理解。根据文章第二段.Business people, political leaders, university professors, and especially millions of grass-roots可知商人，政界领导，大学教授，尤其是平民百姓们都参与到了保护环境的运动中来，由此判断保护环境的支持主要来自草根阶层，故答案选A。
小题3:D 考查细节理解。根据文章倒数第二段内容In 1988 there were only 600 recycling programs …… and building designs have helped save a lot of energy and therefore prevented pollution .可知回收工作的改进，先进产品和住房设计的研制开发等措施都有效地减少了污染，改善了环境,故答案选D。
小题4:A考查主旨要义。四个选项内容对于保护环境都是重要的，但是作者在文章末段提到目前几乎每所学校都有关于环境保护的课程，而且通过最后Bruce Anderson说的话“Until we do that , nothing else will change! ”可知教育在改变人们保护环境意识，改善环境问题方面至关重要，故答案选A。