GRE阅读理解官方题库 第1期
日期:2014-07-23 21:56

(单词翻译:单击)

阅读真题

Eco efficiency (measures to minimize environmental impact through the reduction or elimination of waste from production processes) has become a goal for companies worldwide, with many realizing significant cost savings from such innovations. Peter Senge and Goran Carstedt see this development as laudable but suggest that simply adopting eco efficiency innovations could actually worsen environmental stresses in the future. Such innovations reduce production waste but do not alter the number of products manufactured nor the waste generated from their use and discard; indeed, most companies invest in eco efficiency improvements in order to increase profits and growth. Moreover, there is no guarantee that increased economic growth from eco efficiency will come in similarly eco efficient ways, since in today’s global markets, greater profits may be turned into investment capital that could easily be reinvested in old-style eco-inefficient industries. Even a vastly more eco efficient industrial system could, were it to grow much larger, generate more total waste and destroy more habitat and species than would a smaller, less eco efficient economy. Senge and Carstedt argue that to preserve the global environment and sustain economic growth, businesses must develop a new systemic approach that reduces total material use and total accumulated waste. Focusing exclusively on eco efficiency, which offers a compelling business case according to established thinking, may distract companies from pursuing radically different products and business models.


1.The primary purpose of the passage is to

A. explain why a particular business strategy has been less successful than was once anticipated
B. propose an alternative to a particular business strategy that has inadvertently caused ecological damage
C. present a concern about the possible consequences of pursuing a particular business strategy
D. make a case for applying a particular business strategy on a larger scale than is currently practiced
E. suggest several possible outcomes of companies’ failure to understand the economic impact of a particular business strategy

2.The passage mentions which of the following as a possible consequence of companies’ realization of greater profits through eco efficiency?

A. The companies may be able to sell a greater number of products by lowering prices.
B. The companies may be better able to attract investment capital in the global market.
C. The profits may be reinvested to increase economic growth through eco efficiency.
D. The profits may be used as investment capital for industries that are not eco efficient.
E. The profits may encourage companies to make further innovations in reducing production waste.

3.The passage implies that which of the following is a possible consequence of a company’s adoption of innovations that increase its eco efficiency?

A. Company profits resulting from such innovations may be reinvested in that company with no guarantee that the company will continue to make further improvements in eco efficiency.
B. Company growth fostered by cost savings from such innovations may allow that company to manufacture a greater number of products that will be used and discarded, thus worsening environmental stress.
C. A company that fails to realize significant cost savings from such innovations may have little incentive to continue to minimize the environmental impact of its production processes.
D. A company that comes to depend on such innovations to increase its profits and growth may be vulnerable in the global market to competition from old-style eco-inefficient industries.
E. A company that meets its eco efficiency goals is unlikely to invest its increased profits in the development of new and innovative eco efficiency measures.

4.According to the passage, an exclusive pursuit of ecoefficiency may cause companies to

A. neglect the development of alternative business models and products
B. keep the number of products that they manufacture unchanged
C. invest capital from increased profits primarily in inefficient and outmoded industries that may prove unprofitable
D. overemphasize the production process as the key to increasing profits and growth
E. focus more on reducing costs than on reducing the environmental impact of production processes
参考答案


1.正确答案 C
2.正确答案 D
3.正确答案 B
4.正确答案 A



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重点单词
  • alternativeadj. 两者择一的; 供选择的; 非主流的 n. 替换
  • primaryadj. 主要的,初期的,根本的,初等教育的 n. 最主
  • habitatn. (动植物的)产地,栖息地
  • manufacturen. (复)产品,制造,制造业 v. 制造,捏造
  • stressn. 紧张,压力 v. 强调,着重 vt. 强调 n.
  • outmodedadj. 过时的 动词outmode的过去式和过去分词形
  • exclusivelyadv. 排他地(独占地,专门地,仅仅,只)
  • approachn. 接近; 途径,方法 v. 靠近,接近,动手处理
  • innovativeadj. 革新的,创新的
  • compellingadj. 强制的,引人注目的,令人信服的