精品班曹其军英语讲义3.doc

A Review of “Old Reading” Americans dont like to lose wars. Of course, a lot depends on how you define just what a war is. There are shooting wars---the kind that test patriotism and courage---and those are the kind at which the U.S excels. But other struggles test those qualities too. What else was the Great Depression or the space race or the construction of the railroads? If American indulge in a bit of flag—waving when the job is done, they earned it. Now there is a similar challenge: global warming. The steady deterioration(恶化)of the very climate of this very planet is becoming a war of the first order, and by any measure, the U.S. produces nearly a quarter of the worlds greenhouse gases each year and has stubbornly made it clear that it doesnt intend to do a whole lot about it. Although 174 nations approved the admittedly flawed Kyoto accords to reduce carbon levels, the U.S. walked away from them. There are vague promises of manufacturing fuel from herbs or powering cars with hydrogen. But for a country that tightly cites patriotism as one of its core values, the U.S. is taking a pass on what might be the most patriotic struggle of all. Its hard to imagine a bigger fight than one for the survival of a countrys coasts and farms, the health of its people and stability of its economy. ? The rub is, if the vast majority of people increasingly agree that climate change is a global emergency, theres far less agreement on how to fix it. Industry offers its plans, which too often would fix little. Environmentalists offer theirs, which too often amount to native wish lists that could weaken Americans growth. But lets assume that those interested parties and others will always be at the table and will always demand that their voices be heard and that their needs be addressed. What would an aggressive, ambitious, effective plan look like---one that would leave the U.S. both environmentally safe and economically sound? ? Halting climate change will be far harder. O