2014届高三英语二轮专题步步提升：阅读理解23.docVIP

2014高考英语二轮复习专题步步提升：阅读理解 阅读理解 ABottled water is big business.Americans chug more than 8 billion gallons of the stuff a year—and a $10 billion industry has sprung up to meet the demand.These days，consumers can choose between water sourced from Icelandic glaciers or the thawing snows of Mt.Fuji；there’s even one brand—Woof Water—specially designed for dogs. Of course，America’s thirst for bottled water is taking an environmental cost.According to the Earth Policy Institute，producing all those plastic bottles requires some 17 million barrels of oil a year.The energy needed to process and transport the bottles rises to 50 million barrels—enough to run 3 million cars for a whole year.Meanwhile，water itself is growing increasingly scarce，prompting some communities to question the wisdom of giving bottling companies free rein (缰绳) to siphon_off local supplies.Bottling plants can consume hundreds of millions of gallons of water a year，seriously impacting groundwater levels—and experts say the natural-spring sources preferred by consumers are precisely the sources most vulnerable (脆弱的) to over-pumping. Fortunately，local leaders are starting to take note.The US Conference of Mayors is working to manage bottling plants and monitor the effect of thrown-away bottles；leaders in San Francisco，Salt Lake City，Los Angeles，and Santa Barbara have already promised to stop spending city funds on bottled water.Some lawmakers are going further still：This month，Chicago introduced a new 5-cent tax on every bottle sold，while Washington State and the city of Madison are both considering bottled-water bans. The bottling companies have launched a two-pronged counterattack.Individual brands are seeking to clean up their image：Fuji Water recently promised to go carbonnegative，and other companies are likely to follow suit.The trade groups representing the industry，meanwhile，are playing hardball：They’ve launched a major lobbying (游说) effort and legal campaign to try to roll back the new efforts. Fo