硕士学位英语2.doc

Call for a climate culture shift Part I Introduction 1、In the fight against climate change, humans will need to do more than switch to energy-efficient light bulbs and buy `green goods. As environmental scientist David Orr points out in Down to the Wire, what is needed is a radical shift in culture that alters our priorities(主题句T.S.). The question is whether that task, which seems impossible, can be made to happen. Orrs book, along with recent research and social initiatives, give hope that it can. Part II Elucidation （阐明，说明，解释） 2、There is a growing scientific consensus that humanity is rapidly approaching a global climate catastrophe. Although we have increasing knowledge of the dangers and costs ahead there is little time to avert a disaster. Orr acknowledges these dire circumstances, but does not wallow in despair or defeatism. His book is a clear-sighted view of what we need to change now. (本段小结We need to change sth. under the circumstances of a global climate catastrophe) 3、He describes three essential categories of radical change（T.S.）, in increasing order of difficulty. The first and most easily achievable is a redesign of the infrastructure for producing food, energy, water and other commodities so that it is powered by renewable sources. Second is an overhaul of education systems to develop ecological literacy and encourage creative, real-world problem solving. The third is to reform our political systems from the current corporate plutocracies to true democracies with real leaders. 4、We live, as Orr says, amid the ruins of failed‘-isms. Both communism and capitalism have pursued policies of `growth at all costs that has failed to account adequately for the value of natural and social capital assets, such as a stable climate, functioning ecosystems and successful human communities. An alternative solution is needed to formulate a fundamentally different set of economic goals for society（T.S.）,. Orr prescribes three such goals that presently appear to be