2) Brilliant advances

　　One reason we are richer, healthier, taller, cleverer, longer-lived and freer than ever before is that the four most basic human needs—food, clothing, fuel and shelter—have grown a lot cheaper. Take one example. In 1800 a candle providing one hour’s light cost six hours’ work. In the 1880s the same light from an oil lamp took 15 minutes’ work to pay for. In 1950 it was eight seconds. Today it’s half second.

　　3) Let’s not kill ourselves for climate change

　　Mitigating(减轻) climate change could prove just as damaging to human welfare as climate change itself. A child that dies from indoor smoke in a village, where the use of fossil-fuel(化石燃烧) electricity is forbidden by well-meaning members of green political movements trying to save the world, is just as great a tragedy as a child that dies in a flood caused by climate change. If climate change proves to be mild, but cutting carbon causes real pain, we may well find that we have stopped a nose-bleed by putting a tourniquet(止血带) around our necks.

　　1. What is the theme of Ridley’s most recent book?

　　A. Weakness of human nature.

　　B. Concern about climate change.

　　C. Importance of practical thinking.

　　D. Optimism about human progress.

　　2. How does Ridley look at shopping?

　　A. It encourages the creation of things.

【2017届湖北省黄冈市高考英语阅读理解二轮精练：9（含解析）】相关文章：

★ 【优化方案】2017届高考英语二轮复习全国卷Ⅱ题型重组训练：第11组（含解析）

★ 备战2016年高考英语第一轮复习的七大方法

★ 常熟市2014高考英阅读理解语一轮（暑假）训练题（6）及答案

★ 2014高考英语（新人教版）一轮基础训练（4）A、B卷（附答案或解析）

★ 2017高考四川省广安市英语阅读理解一轮系列训练：4（含解析）

★ 湖南省岳阳市2014高考英语一轮单项选择训练题（9）及答案

★ 【课堂新坐标】2017届高考英语（通用版）二轮复习书面表达专题训练：Ⅱ卷强化增分练 训练2（含解析）

★ 2017高考四川省广安市英语阅读理解一轮系列训练：24（含解析）

★ 2017届高考英语二轮复习课时训练：18（含解析）

★ 【课堂新坐标】2017届高考英语（通用版）二轮复习短文改错专题训练：模式3 错一词（含解析）