阅读C

　　U.S. Farms Can't Compete Without Foreign Workers

　　The visa system for temporary agricultural workers is broken.

　　American farmers have been complaining of labor shortages for several years now. Given a multi-year decline in illegal immigration, and a similarly sustained pickup in the U.S. job market, the complaints are unlikely to stop without an overhaul of immigration rules for farm workers.

　　Efforts to create a more straightforward agricultural-workers visa that would enable foreign workers to stay longer in the U.S. and change jobs within the industry have so far failed in Congress. If this doesn't change, American businesses, communities and consumers will be the losers.

　　Perhaps half of U.S. farm laborers are undocumented immigrants. As fewer such workers enter the U.S., the characteristics of the agricultural workforce are changing. Today's farm laborers, while still predominantly born in Mexico, are more likely to be settled, rather than migrating, and more likely to be married than single. They are also aging. At the start of this century, about one-third of crop workers were over the age of 35. Now, more than half are. And crop picking is hard on older bodies.

　　One oft-debated cure for this labor shortage remains as implausible as it has been all along: Native U.S. workers won't be returning to the farm.

　　In a study published in 2013, economist Michael Clemens analyzed 15 years of data on North Carolina's farm-labor market and concluded, "There is virtually no supply of native manual farm laborers" in the state. This was true even in the depths of a severe recession.

　　In 2011, with 6,500 available farm jobs in the state, only 268 of the nearly 50000 unemployed North Carolinians applied for these jobs. More than 90 percent (245 people) of those applying were hired, but just 163 showed up for the first day of work. Only seven native workers completed the entire growing season, filing only one-tenth of 1 percent of the open farm jobs.

　　Mechanization is not the answer either--not yet at least. Production of corn, cotton, rice, soybeans and wheat have been largely mechanized, but many high-value, labor- intensive crops, such as strawberries, need labor. Even dairy far, where robots currently do only a small share of milking, have a long way to go before they are automated.

　　As a result, farms have grown increasingly reliant on temporary guest workers using the H-2A visa to fill the gaps in the agricultural workforce. Starting around 2012, requests for the visas rose sharply, from 2011 to 2016 the number of visas issued more than doubled.

　　The H-2A visa has no numerical cap, unlike the H-2B visa for nonagricultural work, which is limited to 66,000 annually. Even so, employers frequently complain that they aren't allotted all the workers they need. The process is cumbersome, expensive and unreliable. One survey found that bureaucratic delays led H-2A workers to arrive on the job an average of 22 days late. And the shortage is compounded by federal immigration raids, whích remove some workers and drive others underground.

　　Petitioning each year for laborers—and hoping the government provides enough, and that they arrive on time--is no way to run a business. In a 2012 survey by the California Farm Bureau, 71 percent of tree-fruit growers and nearly 80 percent of raisin and berry growers said they were short of labor. Some western growers have responded by moving operations to Mexico. Without reliable access to a reliable workforce, more growers will be tempted to move south.

　　According to a report by the Partnership for a New American Economy, Americans are consuming more fresh produce, which is good. But a rising share of it is grown elsewhere. In 1998-2000 14.5 percent of the fruit Americans consumed was imported. Little more than a decade later, the share of imported fruit had increased to 25.8 percent. Rural US. communities that might have benefited didn't.

　　In effect the U.S. can import food or it can import the workers who pick it The U.S. needs a simpler, streamlined multi-year visa for agricultural workers, accompanied by measures to guard against exploitation and a viable path to U.S. residency for workers who meet the requirements. Otherwise growers will continue to struggle with shortages and uncertainty, and the country as a whole will lose out.

　　31. 【题干】What problem should be addressed according to the first two paragraphs?

　　【选项】

　　A.Discrimination against foreign workers in the U.S.

　　B.Biased laws in favor of some American businesses.

　　C.Flaws in U.S. immigration rules for farm workers.

　　D.Decline of job opportunities in U.S. agriculture.

　　【答案】C

　　【解析】根据题干提示词first two paragraphs可知本题依据文章前两段命制，为双段推理型题目。快速扫读可知前两段大意为：美国针对外来农民所定移民规则中存在一些问题，并指出如不及时解决美国商业，社会以及消费者都会受到影响。比对选项可直接判断正确选项为C项，其余选项均属无中生有，直接排除。

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　　32. 【题干】One trouble with U.S. agricultural workforce is_______.

　　【选项】

　　A.the rising number of illegal immigrants

　　B.the high mobility of crop workers

　　C.the lack of experienced laborers

　　D.the aging of immigrant farm workers

　　【答案】D

　　【解析】细节推理题。根据题干中的trouble, U.S. agricultural workforce以及段落序列定位到文中第三段第二句。定位段第三至七句都在论证第二句的内容，其中第三句论证的是劳动力的来源及其倾向，第四至七句论证的是劳动力在变老并指出picking crops is hard on older bodies.与选项D吻合。选项A中的rising及illegal属于无中生有，选项B中的high mobility与定位段中的farm labors are more likely to be settled rather than immigrating矛盾，选项C属无中生有。

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　　33. 【题干】What is the much-argued solution to the labor shortage in U.S. farming?

　　【选项】

　　A.To attract younger laborers to farm work.

　　B.To get native U.S. workers back to farming.

　　C.To use more robots to grow high-value crops.

　　D.To strengthen financial support for farmers.

　　【答案】B

　　【解析】细节题。根据题干中的much-argued solution to the labor shortage定位到第三段最后一句，其中oft-debated对应原文的much-argued，solution对应原文的cure，剩余信息出答案，冒号解释了这个经常被谈论的方法：美国本国工人不会重返农场。说明本身的解决方法是让美国本国工人回到农场，与选项[B]一致。[A]选项attract younger laborers在文章未体现，文章只是提到现在的farm laborer在老龄化。[C]选项出现在文章的第四段，文章只是说在high-value crops上需要劳动力。在乳牛场机器人只做了一小部分工作。选项将两部分杂糅在一起了。[D]选项中financial support在文中未提及，属于无中生有。

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　　34. 【题干】Agricultural employers complain about the H-2A visa for its ___.

　　【选项】

　　A.slow granting procedures

　　B.limit on duration of stay

　　C.tightened requirements

　　D.control of annual admissions

　　【答案】A

　　【解析】因果细节题。根据题干中的具体信息，agricultural employers，complain，about the H-2A visa。回文定位到第六段。根据具体信息定位到第六段的，Employers complain they aren't given all the workers they need.这句话是抱怨的内容，文中问的是原因，紧接着下面一句话，the process is cumbersome，expensive，and unreliable.并且在这句话后面one survey 是例子。根据例子证明论点，下面的例子和前面的the process这句话表达的观点是一致的。同时，在例子中有for的同义词lead to，导致了arrive on the job 22 days late. Delay，late 对应选项中的slow，procedure对应process。所以选A。B中的limit，原文后面跟着是人数66,000，偷换概念。C中的request出现在例子中，说的是visa rose sharply。D项文中未提及，无中生有。

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　　35. 【题干】Which of the following could be the best title for this text?

　　【选项】

　　A.U.S. Agriculture in Decline?

　　B.Import Food or Labor?

　　C.America Saved by Mexico?

　　D.Manpower vs. Automation?

　　【答案】B

　　【解析】主旨题。文章第一段明确指出美国农民面临劳动力短缺的问题，而这一问题的根源在于针对农场工人的移民制度。二段和三段分析了移民签证和移民现状的冲突。第四段指出机械化并不能解决该问题。第五和六段分析了现在农场工人所依赖的H-2A签证政策也没能有助于解决劳动力短缺。第七段通过研究调查再次确定了劳动力短缺的问题。最后一段总结指出解决方案，美国要么进口食品，要么进口农场劳动力。Labor为本文中复现的主题词。故正确答案为B选项。A选项中的decline夸大概念。C选项中的saved无中生有，D选项中的Automation断章取义，且与原文表述相反。

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　　阅读D

　　Let's Stop Pretending Quitting Straws Will Solve Plastic Pollution

　　By Tess Riley

　　Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dia Mirza and Adrian Grenier have a message for you: It's easy to beat plastic. They're part of a bunch of celebrities starring in a new video for World Environment Day-encouraging you, the consumer, to swap out your single-use plastic staples like straws and cutlery to combat the plastics crisis.

　　Phew! If only I'd realized that we can buy our way out of the problem. Except we can't.

　　The key messages that have been put together for World Environment Day do include a call for governments to enact legislation to curb single-use plastics. But the overarching message is directed at individuals: Lead with your wallets.

　　The problem of perpetuating this individualistic narrative is that it's not going to get us very far and the plastics crisis we face is immense. Our oceans are blighted by the stuff, it's in our drinking water(including bottled water), and we could even be breathing it in.

　　I'm not dismissing individual actions like ordering straw-free drinks at bars, or opting for a reusable water bottle over a cup that' s going in the trash as soon as you've used it. I can't imagine not at least trying to minimize my own plastics footprint, whether it's lugging home my newly-refilled gallon bottle of washing-up liquid every few months, or buying packaging-free food, clothing and toiletries where possible.

　　On their own, however, none of these things is enough.

　　Part of my worry about leaving it up to the individual is that we're all just guessing at what's going on out there- and that's if we haven't been scared off from doing anything to start with in the face of such a huge challenge. As consumers, we have little idea about how much plastic has been used and discarded along the supply chain, for example.It' s also hard to compare, say, going to a bulk store that sells plastic-free products but requires you to drive some distance versus a more local shop where you may end up taking home some packaged items.

　　There's also a time and cost issue. Realistically, I'm not going to start making my own laundry detergents so I can avoid the plastic bottles they come in, and there can be extra costs associated with environmentally friendly products.

　　My biggest concern with leaving it up to the individual, however, is our limited sense of what needs to be achieved. On their own, taking our own bags to the grocery store or quitting plastic straws, for example, will accomplish little and require very little of us. They could even be detrimental, satisfying a need to have "done our bit "without ever progressing onto bigger, bolder, more effective actions-a kind of "moral licensing" that allays our concerns and stops us doing more and asking more of those in charge.

　　While the conversation around our environment and our responsibility toward it remains centered on shopping bags and straws, we're ignoring the balance of power that implies that as "consumers" we must shop sustainably, rather than as "citizens" hold our governments and industries to account to push for real systemic change. Nowhere in World Environment Day 2018's key messages is there anything about voting for environmentally progressive politicians, for example. Why not?

　　It' s important to acknowledge that the environment isn't everyone's priority-or even most people' S. We shouldn't expect it to be In her latest book, Why Good People Do Bad Environmental Things, Wellesley College professor Elizabeth R. DeSombre argues that best way to collectively change the behavior of large numbers of people is for the change to be structural.

　　This might mean implementing policy such as a plastic tax that adds a cost to environmentally problematic action, or banning single-use plastics altogether. India has just announced it will "eliminate all single-use plastic in the country by 2022." There are also incentive-based ways of making better environmental choices easier, such as ensuring recycling is at least as easy as trash disposal.

　　DeSombre isn't saying people should stop caring about the environment. It' s just that individual actions are too slow, she says, for that to be the only, or even primary, approach to changing widespread behavior.

　　None of this is about writing off the individual. It's just about putting things into perspective. We don't have time to wait. We need progressive policies that shape collective action (and rein in polluting businesses), alongside engaged citizens pushing for change. That' s not something we can buy.

　　36. 【题干】Some celebrities star in a new video to

　　【选项】

　　A.demand new laws on the use of plastics

　　B.urge consumers to cut the use of plastics

　　C.invite public opinion on the plastics crisis

　　D.disclose the causes of the plastics crisis

　　【答案】A

　　【解析】从题干“some celebrities star in a new video to”定位第一段第3句：“They're part of a bunch to celebrities starring in a new video for......to swap out your single-use plastic staples to combat the plastics crisis.”意为：“鼓励消费者减少单一使用塑料制品，与塑料制品危机抗争”，与A 选项“urge consumers to cut the use of plastics”“鼓励消费者减少塑料袋的使用”含义相符合。

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　　37. 【题干】The author is concerned that “moral licensing” may

　　【选项】

　　A.mislead us into doing worthless things

　　B.prevent us from making further efforts

　　C.weaken our sense of accomplishment

　　D.suppress our desire for success

　　【答案】A

　　【解析】根据题干the author is concerned that “crisis licensing”定位到第3段，最后一句：“they could even ...to have done our bit without ever progressing onto bigger, bolder, more effective actions---.... a kind of “crisis licensing “ that eases our concerns and stops us doing more and asking more of those in charge” 意为：“.....他们没有采取更大，更明显，更有效的举措...”与A选项“prevent us from making further efforts”“妨碍我们进一步的举措”含义相符。

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　　38. 【题干】By pointing out our identity as “citizens,”,the author indicates that

　　【选项】

　　A.our focus should be shifted to community welfare

　　B.our relationship with local industries is improving

　　C.We have been actively exercising our civil rights

　　D.We should press our government to lead the combat

　　【答案】C

　　【解析】根据题干...“ citizens”, the author indicates that,定位到第4段，最后半句 rather than as “citizens” hold our governments and industries to account to push for real systemic change.意为： 而不是作为“citizens”去要求政府和工业去推行真正的系统化的改变。言外之意，就是作者希望政府做出改变去应对现在的情形。与C选项中“we should press our governments to lead the combat”“我们应该向政府施压，使之主导这次抗争”相符合。

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　　39. 【题干】DeSombre argues that the best way for a collective change should be

　　【选项】

　　A.a win-win arrangement

　　B.a self-driven mechanism

　　C.a cost-effective approach

　　D.a top down process

　　【答案】C

　　【解析】根据题干可知这是一道观点细节题。根据题干关键词可定位在第五、六段“Elizabeth R. DeSombre argues that the best way to collectively change the behavior of large number of people is for the change to be structural” 由该段可知，DeSombre认为集体性的改变大多数人行为的最好的方式就是使其变成结构性的。六段进一步从人们和政府的角度，阐述了这种结构化的改变，所以选项C a top-down process，自上而下的过程，符合文意。

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　　40.【题干】The author concludes that individual efforts

　　【选项】

　　A.can be too aggressive

　　B.can be too inconsistent

　　C.are far from sufficient

　　D.are far from rational

　　【答案】B

　　【解析】根据题干可知这是一道观点细节题。根据题干关键词可定位在最后一段，“None of this is about writing off the individual. It's just about putting things into perspective. We don't have time to wait. We need progressive policies that shape collective action, alongside engaged citizens pushing for change.”由该段可知，作者认为并不是要抹杀个人，只是换一个角度去思考问题，我们没时间再等待，我们需要能够形成集体行为的进步政策，以及推动变革的热心公民。所以作者强调个人的努力还远远不够，还需要政策的进一步支持，选择B选项，are far from sufficient。

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