Question

　　There is much discussion today about whether economic growth is desirable. At an early period, our desire for material wealth may have been justified. Now, however, this desire for more than we need is causing serious problems. Even though we have good intentions, we may be producing too much, too fast.

　　Those who criticize economic growth argue that we must slow down. They believe that society is approaching certain limits on growth. These include the fixed supply of natural resources, the possible negative effects of industry on the natural environment, and the continuing increase in the world's population. As society reaches these limits, economic growth can no longer continue, and the quality of life will decrease.

　　People who want more economic growth, on the other hand, argue that even at the present growth rate there are still many poor people in the world. These proponents of economic growth believe that only more growth can create the capital（资金）needed to improve the quality of life in the world. Furthermore, they argue that only continued growth can provide the financial resources required to protect our natural surroundings from industrialization.

　　This debate over the desirability of continued economic growth is of vital importance to business and industry. If those who argue against economic growth are correct, the problems they mention cannot be ignored. To find a solution, economists and the business community must pay attention to these problems and continue discussing them with one another.

(1) According to those who argue against economic growth we must slow down for the following reasons except that ________

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A．our natural surroundings are in danger of being destroyed by industry.

B．the fixed supply of natural resources marks a point beyond which economic growth cannot continue.

C．the world population is ever increasing.

D．more efforts should be made to improve the quality of our material life.

(2) It can be inferred that the underlined word“proponents” (paragraph 3) most probably means ____.

[　　]

A．arguments in support of something

B．disagreements

C．people who argue against something

D．people who argue for something

(3) The passage is mainly about _______.

[　　]

A. the contradiction（矛盾）between economists and the business community

B．the present debate on economic growth

C．the importance of the debate on economic growth

D．the advantages and disadvantages of economic growth

(4) We may infer from the passage that ______.

[　　]

A．the author describes the case as it is

B．the author is for economic growth

C．the author is against continued economic growth

D．the author is very much worried about the problems caused by continued economic growth

Answer 1

答案：D;A;B;A
解析：

(1) 短文的第二段开头就指出：反对经济增长的人们认为经济增长需要慢下来，接下来便叙述原因，第2句至第4句叙述了A、B、C三项的内容，只有D项没有提到。 (2) 本题考查学生猜测词义的能力。由本词所在的句子内容可知，proponents of economic growth相信经济增长可为提高全世界的生活质量，创造所需要的资金，因此能推断出proponents of economic growth是支持经济增长的人。据此也能猜出proponents的意思应为“支持者”。 (3) 本题是对文章主旨大意的考查。本文第一段的第一句即为本文的主题句，“关于是否需要经济增长，存在着许多争论。”下文主要叙述辩论双方对此问题的不同看法。 (4) 作者在本文中始终没有表明自己对此问题的态度，只是实事求是地对此进行了叙述。