大学四级-1526及答案解析.doc
《大学四级-1526及答案解析.doc》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《大学四级-1526及答案解析.doc(32页珍藏版)》请在麦多课文档分享上搜索。
1、大学四级-1526 及答案解析(总分:712.00,做题时间:90 分钟)一、Part Writing(总题数:1,分数:106.00)1.Current situations in the universities on compulsory courses and optional courses.2. Reasons of having more optional courses.3. Your answer to the question.(分数:106.00)_二、Part Reading Compr(总题数:1,分数:70.00)Can Business Be Cool?Why a
2、 growing number of firms are taking global warming seriously. Companies supporting environment protectionRupert Murdoch is no green activist. But in Pebble Beach later this summer, the annual gathering of executives of Mr Murdochs News Corporation-which last year led to a dramatic shift in the media
3、 conglomerates attitude to the Internet-will be addressed by several leading environmentalists, including a vice-president turned climate-change movie star. Last month BSkyB, a British satellitetelevision company chaired by Mr. Murdoch and run by his son, James, declared itself “carbon-neutral“, hav
4、ing taken various steps to cut or offset its discharges of carbon into the atmosphere.The army of corporate greens is growing fast. Late last year HSBC became the first big bank to announce that it was carbon-neutral, joining other financial institutions, including Swiss Re, a reinsurer, and Goldman
5、 Sachs, an investment bank, in waging war on climate-warming gases (of which carbon dioxide is the main culprit). Last year General Electric (GE), an industrial powerhouse, launched its “Ecomagination“ strategy, aiming to cut its output of greenhouse gases and to invest heavily in clean (i.e., carbo
6、n-free) technologies. In October Wal-Mart announced a series of environmental schemes, including doubling the fuel-efficiency of its fleet of vehicles within a decade. Tesco and Sainsbury, two Of Britains biggest retailers, are competing fiercely to be the greenest. And on June 7th some leading Brit
7、ish bosses lobbied Tony Blair for a more ambitious policy on climate change, even if that involves harsher regulation.The other sideThe greening of business is by no means universal, however. Money from Exxon Mobil, Ford and General Motors helped pay for television advertisements aired recently in A
8、merica by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, with the daft slogan “Carbon dioxide: they call it pollution; we call it life“. Besides, environmentalist critics say, some firms are engaged in superficial “greenwash to boost the image of essentially climate-hurting businesses. Take BP, the most prom
9、inent corporate advocate of action on climate change, with its “Beyond Petroleum“ ad campaign, high-profile investments in green energy, and even a “carbon calculator“ on its websites helps consumers measure their personal “carbon footprint“, or overall emissions of carbon. Yet, critics complain, BP
10、s recent record profits are largely thanks to sales of huge amounts of carbon-packed oil and gas.On the other hand, some free-market thinkers see the support of firms for regulation of carbon as the latest attempt at “regulatory capture“, by those who stand to profit from new rules. Max Schulz of th
11、e Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, notes darkly that “Enron was into pushing the idea of climate change, because it was good for its business“.Others argue that climate change has no more place in corporate boardrooms than do discussions of other partisan political issues, such as Dar
12、fur or gay marriage. That criticism, at least, is surely wrong. Most of the corporate converts say they are acting not out of some vague sense of social responsibility, or even personal angst, but because climate change creates real business risks and opportunitiesfrom regulatory compliance to insur
13、ing clients on flood plains. And although these concerns vary hugely from one company to the next, few firms can be sure of remaining unaffected. The climate of opinionThe most obvious risk is of rising energy costs. Indeed, the recent high price of oil and natural gas, allied to fears over the secu
14、rity of energy supplies from the Middle East and Russianeither of which have anything to de with climate changemay be the main reason why many firms have recently become interested in alternative energy sources. But at the same time, a growing number of bosseswhatever their personal views about the
15、scientific evidence of climate changenow think that the public has become convinced that global warming is for real. Hurricane Katrina was particularly important in changing opinion in America. Many businessmen have concluded that this new public mood will result, sooner or later, in government acti
16、on to control carbon emissionsmost likely, using some sort of carbon tax or Kyoto-like system of tradable caps on firms carbon emissions.A carbon-trading system is already in place in the European Union. But even in America, some influential businesses are exerting pressure on the government to cont
17、rol carbon emissions. One motive is to help firms facing decisions that will depend for their long-term profitability on what carbon regime, if any, is in place. “Some asset-intensive industries are making investments now that have a 30-to-50-year horizon,“ says Travis Engen, who recently stepped do
18、wn as boss of Alcan, a big aluminium firm. “As CEO, I wanted to make damn sure my investments were good for the future, not just today“which, for him, meant evaluating investments assuming that his firm would soon have to pay to emit carbon.Indeed, some expect President Bush to start thinking more a
19、bout climate change after Novembers mid-term elections, especially now that he has appointed a keen environmentalist as treasury secretary Hank Paulson, who as boss of Goldman Sachs was the force behind the investment banks greener stance. “American businesses are starting to realise that something
20、is going to happen on carbon,“ says Jim Rogers, chief executive of Duke Energy, one of the countrys biggest power producers, who reckons legislation is quite likely to pass in Congress by 2009.Companies moveAs firms try to do something about climate change, the typical first step is to improve their
21、 energy efficiency, by both reducing consumption and also shifting the mix of sources from hydrocarbons towards cleaner alternatives. Given high oil prices, those that have already done so have found energy efficiency to be surprisingly good for profits.“Carbon Down, Profits Up“, a report by the Cli
22、mate Group, an organisation founded in 2004 by various firms and governments, listed 74 companies from 18 industries in 11 countries that are committed to cutting greenhouse-gas emissions. So far, this has brought them combined savings of $11.6 billion, claims the report. Four firms- Bayer, British
23、Telecom, DuPont and Norske Canadaaccount for $4 billion of this between them.Many companies, including BP, also see the chance to make money from providing things that help reduce global warmingfrom clean coal-fired power-stations, to wind farms, to mortgages with better rates for homes that are car
24、bon-neutral. GE plans to double its revenues from 17 clean-technology businesses to $20 billion by 2010. HSBCs decision to become carbon-neutral is part of a plan to develop a carbon-finance business, both for retail consumers and corporate clients. “We believe it is a major business opportunity for
- 1.请仔细阅读文档,确保文档完整性,对于不预览、不比对内容而直接下载带来的问题本站不予受理。
- 2.下载的文档,不会出现我们的网址水印。
- 3、该文档所得收入(下载+内容+预览)归上传者、原创作者;如果您是本文档原作者,请点此认领!既往收益都归您。
下载文档到电脑,查找使用更方便
2000 积分 0人已下载
下载 | 加入VIP,交流精品资源 |
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- 大学 1526 答案 解析 DOC
