Section II Reading Comprehension Part A

　　Directions: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)

　　How can the train operators possibly justify yet another increase to rail passenger fares? It has become a grimly reliable annual ritual: every January the cost of travelling by train rises, imposing a significant extra burden on those who have no option but to use the rail network to get to work or otherwise. This year's rise, an average of 2.7 per cent, may be a fraction lower than last year's, but it is still well above the official Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure of inflation.

　　Successive governments have permitted such increases on the grounds that the cost of investing in and running the rail network should be borne by those who use it, rather than the general taxpayer. Why, the argument goes, should a car-driving pensioner from Lincolnshire have to subsidise the daily commute of a stockbroker from Surrey? Equally there is a sense that the travails of commuters in the South East, many of whom will face among the biggest rises, have received too much attention compared to those who must endure the relatively poor infrastructure of the Midlands and the North.

　　However, over the past12 months, those commuters have also experienced some of the worst rail strikes in years. It is all very well train operators trumpeting the improvements they are making to the network, but passengers should be able to expect a basic level of service for the substantial sums they are now paying to travel. The responsibility for the latest wave of strikes rests on the unions. However, there is a strong case that those who have been worst affected by industrial action should receive compensation for the disruption they have suffered.

　　The Government has pledged to change the law to introduce a minimum service requirement so that, even when strikes occur, services can continue to operate. This should form part of a wider package of measures to address the long-running problems on Britain's railways. Yes, more investment is needed, but passengers will not be willing to pay more indefinitely if they must also endure cramped, unreliable services, punctuated by regular chaos when timetables are changed, or planned maintenance is managed incompetently. The threat of nationalisation may have been seen off for now, but it will return with a vengeance if the justified anger of passengers is not addressed in short order.

　　21.【题干】The author holds that this year's increase in rail passengers fares_____.

　　【选项】

　　A.will ease train operation's' burden.

　　B.has kept pace with inflation.

　　C.is a big surprise to commuters.

　　D.remains an unreasonable measure.

　　22.【题干】The stockbroker in 2 is used to stand for_____.

　　【选项】

　　A.car drivers

　　B.rail travellers

　　C.local investors

　　D.ordinary taxpayers

　　23.【题干】It is indicated in 3 that train operators_____.

　　【选项】

　　A.are offering compensations to commuters.

　　B.are trying to repair relations with the unions.

　　C.have failed to provide an adequate service.

　　D.have suffered huge losses owing to the strikes.

　　24.【题干】If unable to calm down passengers, the railways may have to face_____.

　　【选项】

　　A.the loss of investment.

　　B.the collapse of operations.

　　C.a reduction of revenue

　　D.a change of ownership.

　　25.【题干】Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

　　【选项】

　　A.Who Are to Blame for the Strikes?

　　B.Constant Complaining Doesn't Work

　　C.Can Nationalization Bring Hope?

　　D.Ever-rising Fares Aren't Sustainable

　　Last year marked the third year in a row of that Indonesia’s bleak rate of deforestation has slowed in pace. One reason for the turnaround may be the country's antipoverty program.

　　In 2007, Indonesia started phasing in program that gives money to its poorest residents under certain conditions, such as requiring people to keep kids in school or get regular medical care. Called conditional cash transfers or CCTs, these social assistance programs are designed to reduce inequality and break the cycle of poverty. They're already used in dozens of countries worldwide. In Indonesia, the program has provided enough food and medicine to substantially reduce severe growth problems among children.

　　But CCT programs don't generally consider effects on the environment. In fact, poverty alleviation and environmental protection are often viewed as conflicting goals, says Paul Ferraro, an economist at Johns Hopkins University.

　　That's because economic growth can be correlated with environmental degradation, while protecting the environment is sometimes correlated with greater poverty. However, those correlations don't prove cause and effect. The only previous study analyzing causality, based on an area in Mexico that had instituted CCTs, supported the traditional view. There, as people got more money, some of them may have more cleared land for cattle to raise for meat, Ferraro says.

　　Such programs do not have to negatively affect the environment, though. Ferraro wanted to see if Indonesia's poverty-alleviation program was affecting deforestation. Indonesia has the third-largest area of tropical forest in the world and one of the highest deforestation rates.

　　Ferraro analyzed satellite data showing annual forest loss from 2008 to 2012-including during Indonesia's phase-in of the antipoverty program-in 7, 468 forested villages across 15 provinces and multiple islands. The duo separated the effects of the CCT program on forest loss from other factors, like weather and macroeconomic changes, which were also affecting forest loss. With that, "we see that the program is associated with a 30 percent reduction in deforestation," Ferraro says.

　　That's likely because the rural poor are using the money as makeshift insurance policies against inclement weather, Ferraro says. Typically, if rains are delayed, people may clear land to plant more rice to supplement their harvests. With the CCTs, individuals instead can use the money to supplement their harvests.

　　Whether this research translates elsewhere is anybody's guess. Ferraro suggests the importance of growing rice and market access. And regardless of transferability, the study shows that what's good for people may also be good for the value of the avoided deforestation just for carbon dioxide emissions alone is more than the program costs.

　　26.【题干】According to the first two paragraphs, CCT programs aim to_____.

　　【选项】

　　A.facilitate health care reform.

　　B.help poor families get better off.

　　C.improve local education systems.

　　D.lower deforestation rates.

　　27.【题干】The study based on an area in Mexico is cited to show that_____.

　　【选项】

　　A.cattle rearing has been a major means of livelihood for the poor.

　　B.CCT programs have he helped preserve traditional lifestyles.

　　C.antipoverty efforts require the participation of local farmers.

　　D.economic growth tends to cause environmental degradation.

　　28.【题干】In his study about Indonesia, Ferraro intends to find out_____.

　　【选项】

　　A.its acceptance level of CCTs.

　　B.its annual rate of poverty alleviation.

　　C.the relation of ccts to its forest loss.

　　D.the role of its forests in climate change.

　　29.【题干】According to Ferraro, the CCT program in Indonesia is most valuable in that_____.

　　【选项】

　　A.it will benefit other Asian countries.

　　B.it will reduce regional inequality.

　　C.it can protect the environment.

　　D.it can boost grain production.

　　30.【题干】What is the text centered on?

　　【选项】

　　A.The effects of a program.

　　B.The debates over a program.

　　C.The process of a study.

　　D.The transferability of a study.

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