TEXT FOURTEEN

A line of water bottles that had become a symbol of environmental responsibility has been removed from the shelves of Canada's leading outdoor gear retailer over concerns about a chemical used in its manufacture.

The Mountain Equipment Co-op, which is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, removed the bottles, sold under the brand name Nalgene, and other polycarbonate containers from its 11 large-scale stores on Wednesday. The retailer said that it would not restock the bottles, which are made by Nalge Nunc International in Rochester, a unit of Thermo Fisher Scientific, until Health Canada completed a review of bisphenol-a, or B.P.A., a chemical used to make hard, transparent plastics as well as liners for food cans. ''We've been following the B.P.A. issue for at least three years,'' said Tim Southam, a spokesman for Mountain Equipment. ''The decision we've taken this week does not mean that polycarbonate products will never return to our stores. We're just seeking some certainty about this chemical.''

Church and environmental groups in Canada have mounted campaigns against bottled water because of concerns about the huge amount of plastic used in containers. As a result, the reusable Nalgene bottles have become ubiquitous on college campuses and elsewhere.

Polycarbonate plastic, which can only be produced by using B.P.A., creates bottles that are transparent and almost as hard as glass, but particularly shatter-resistant. Recently, however, the use of B.P.A.-based plastics in food containers has been questioned in Canada by Environmental Defence , a Toronto-based group. Environmentalists in the United States are also raising concerns about the chemical. Last year, San Francisco's board of governors passed a local law banning the use of the chemical in children's products. B.P.A. was removed from the ordinance before it went into effect, however, after an industry lawsuit. Critics point to studies dating back to 1936 showing that the chemical can disrupt the hormonal system.

While there is little dispute about that, the plastics industry, supported by several studies from government agencies in Japan, North America and Europe, contends that polycarbonate bottles contain very little of the chemical and release only insignificant amounts of B.P.A. into the bodies of users. ''Rarely has a chemical been the subject of such intense scientific testing and scrutiny, and still, important agencies across the globe agree that there is no danger posed to humans from polycarbonate bottles,'' Tom Cummins, the director of research and development at Nalge Nunc, said in a statement.

Rick Smith, the executive director of Environmental Defence, said that a paper published by 38 scientists after a government-sponsored conference in the United States found that the lack of research on the effects of B.P.A. on humans was a concern that required further investigation. Steven G. Hentges, the executive director of the American Chemistry Council's polycarbonate group, takes issue with that report's worries and points to a separate expert panel report published by the United States Department of Health and Human Services last month. In its 396-page report, which looked only at the impact of B.P.A. on reproduction, the panel said it had ''negligible concern'' about the chemical's effect on adult reproductive systems but raised some concerns about its impact on children and pregnant women.

1. The word “ubiquitous” (Line 2, Paragraph 3) most probably means_____.

[A] omnipresent

[B] popular

[C] common

[D] usual

2．Which one of the following statements is TURE of the local law passed by San Francisco's board of governors?

[A] this law forbade the use of B.P.A. in food containers for children

[B] this law was not enforced because of an industry lawsuit that was against the use of B.P.A

[C] this law was revised to allow B.P.A. be used in children’s products

[D] this law went into effect before B.P.A. was removed

3. According to Tom Cummins, which one of the following is NOT true of B.P.A.?

[A] B.P.A. is rarely tested and scrutinized so intensely.

[B] The testing and scrutiny done to the other chemical are no comparison with that to B.P.A.

[C] That Polycarbonate bottles containing B.P.A. are not dangerous to humans is supported by multiple evidence.

[D] Polycarbonate bottles containing B.P.A. can be used safely by humans.

4．From the separate expert panel report it can be inferred that____.

[A] B.S.A. has no effect on reproduction

[B] B.S.A. has trifling impact on children and pregnant women

[C] B.S.A. has trifling impact on adult reproductive systems

[D] B.S.A. has great effect on reproduction.

5. The author’s attitude to the use of Nalgene bottles is _____.

[A] negative

[B] positive

[C] biased

[D] unclear

文章剖析：

這篇文章介紹了聚碳酸酯瓶被撤事件及相關的原因。第一段、第二段介紹了聚碳酸酯瓶被商家撤柜情況；第三段講述該瓶子興盛起來的原因；第四段講述對制造該瓶子的化學物質B.P.A人們的一些擔憂；第五段、第六段分別列出一些人為該瓶子對人類沒有危害的研究和評論。

詞匯注釋：

polycarbonate n.聚碳酸酯 disrupt v.使瓦解, 破壞

ubiquitous adj.到處存在的 shatter-resistant adj. 防摔的

難句突破：

(1) The retailer said that it would not restock the bottles, which are made by Nalge Nunc International in Rochester, a unit of Thermo Fisher Scientific, until Health Canada completed a review of bisphenol-a, or B.P.A., a chemical used to make hard, transparent plastics as well as liners for food cans.

[主體句式] The retailer said that it would not …until…

[結構分析] 這是一個簡單句，賓語從句比較復雜。該賓語從句為帶有時間狀語從句的復雜句；該從句中，賓語bottles后有一個以which引導的非限定性定語從句，在該定語從句中，a unit…是前面Nalge Nunc International的同位語；在時間狀語從句中，a chemical used …是前面B.P.A的同位語。

[句子譯文] 該零售商稱不會再重新進這些瓶子，直到“健康加拿大”完成了雙酚a（B.P.A.）的調查后再考慮。這些瓶子是Thermo Fisher Scientific下屬的一個單位，位于羅徹斯特的Nalge Nunc國際制造的。雙酚a 是一種用于制造透明的高硬度塑料及食物罐鑲條的化學物質。

(2) Rick Smith, the executive director of Environmental Defence, said that a paper published by 38 scientists after a government-sponsored conference in the United States found that the lack of research on the effects of B.S.A. on humans was a concern that required further investigation.

[主體句式] Rick Smith said that a paper found that…

[結構分析]這是一個簡單句，有一個復雜的賓語從句；主語Rick Smith帶有一個同位語the executive director of …；在賓語從句中，a paper后面是一個過去分詞短語作它的定語，在從句的賓語從句中的賓語后面有一個that 引導的定語從句。

[句子譯文] “環境防衛”執行理事里克·史密斯稱美國38名科學家在一次政府資助的會議結束后發表了一篇論文，該論文發現B.S.A.對人類的影響方面的研究不足，需要進一步的調查。

題目分析：

1. The word “ubiquitous” (Line 2, Paragraph 3) most probably means_____.

1. “ubiquitou” (第三段第二行)的意思最有可能是_____。

[A] omnipresent

[A] 無所不在的

[B] popular

[B] 普遍的

[C] common

[C] 普通的

[D] usual

[D] 平常的

[答案]A

[難度系數] ☆☆☆

[分析] 猜詞題。根據上下文來判斷該詞的意思，文章第四段講述當時由于加拿大教會和環境組織因害怕制造容器大量使用塑料，所以發動了許多運動。而因為Nalgene瓶子可以重復使用，具有環保特征，因此在校園和許多地方應該是普及了，到處能看得到了。答案為A。

2．Which one of the following statements is TURE of the local law passed by San Francisco's board of governors?

2. 關于舊金山州長會議通過的法律，下列哪個選項是正確的？

[A] this law forbade the use of B.P.A. in food containers for children

[A] 該法律禁止在兒童的食品容器制作中使用B.P.A.

[B] this law was not enforced because of an industry lawsuit that was against the use of B.P.A

[B]該法律因為一個行業反B.P.A訴訟而沒有得以實施。

[C] this law was revised to allow B.P.A. be used in children’s products

[C] 該法律經修訂后允許在兒童產品中使用B.P.A.

[D] this law went into effect before B.P.A was removed

[D] 該法律在去除B.P.A之前已經生效

[答案] C

[難度系數] ☆☆☆

[分析] 細節題。文章第四段提到舊金山州長會議曾經就通過了一項法律，該法律禁止在兒童產品中使用B.P.A., 但是這個法律還沒有實施的時候，就因為有一個行業訴訟，B.P.A.就從這項法律中免去了。可以推測，該法律可能同時規定了幾種化學物質都不能用于兒童產品制造中，后來只是重新修訂了該法律，將B.P.A.除去了。因此，答案C符合題意。

3. According to Tom Cummins, which one of the following is NOT true of B.P.A.?

3. 根據湯姆·卡明斯所說的，關于B.P.A.下列哪個選項是不正確的？

[A] B.P.A. is rarely tested and scrutinized so intensely.

[A] B.P.A.很少受到這么嚴格的審查和測驗。

[B] The testing and scrutiny done to the other chemical are no comparison with that to B.P.A.

[B] 對其他化學物質所作的審查和測驗和對B.P.A.所作的是沒法比的。

[C] That Polycarbonate bottles containing B.P.A. are not dangerous to humans is supported by multiple evidences.

[C] 有多種證據顯示含有B.P.A.的聚碳酸酯瓶子對人類沒有危險。

[D] Polycarbonate bottles containing B.P.A. can be used safely by humans.

[D] 含有B.P.A.可以讓人類安全地使用。

[答案] B

[難度系數] ☆☆☆

[分析] 細節題。這個題目是有關湯姆·卡明斯的看法的，這在第五段提及。選項A、B都是他陳述的前半部分內容，關鍵看這個句子如何理解：Rarely has a chemical been the subject of such intense scientific testing and scrutiny，意思是說很少有一種化學物質能受到這么嚴格的測驗，意思是B.P.A. 受到的測驗很嚴格，那么選項A是錯誤的。選項CD符合后半句的陳述。

4．From the separate expert panel report it can be inferred that____.

4．由獨立專家小組報告可以推斷出_____。

[A] B.P.A. has no effect on reproduction

[A] B.P.A.對生殖沒有影響。

[B] B.P.A. has trifling impact on children and pregnant women

[B]B.P.A.對孩子和懷孕婦女有很微弱的影響。

[C] B.P.A. has trifling impact on adult reproductive systems

[C]B.P.A. 對成人生殖系統影響甚微。

[D] B.P.A. has great effect on reproduction.

[D]B.P.A.對生殖有很大的影響。

[答案]C

[難度系數] ☆☆☆☆

[分析] 推理題。題目是關于獨立專家小組報告的，這在文章第六段提及。這個報告只研究了B.P.A.對于生殖的影響，研究不怎么擔憂該化學物質對成人生殖系統的影響，但對該化學物質對兒童和懷孕婦女的影響卻有一定擔憂。由此可以推斷，該化學物質可能對兒童和懷孕婦女有一定影響，但對成人生殖系統影響不大。選項A說沒有影響，過于絕對，因為文中多次提到有一定影響，但是不是很大。因此，答案為C。

5. The author’s attitude to the use of Nalgene bottles can be said to be _____.

5. 作者對于使用Nalgene瓶子的態度可以說是_____。

[A] negative

[A] 否定的

[B] positive

[B] 肯定的

[C] biased

[C] 有偏見的

[D] unclear

[D] 不明朗

[答案]B

[難度系數] ☆

[分析]態度題。這篇文章分析了人們對于聚碳酸酯瓶子中的B.P.A.化學物質的看法和爭議，列出了一些科學的研究和判斷，可以得出結論就是該瓶子中B.P.A.對人類影響有限，因此作者對使用該瓶子的態度是肯定的。

參考譯文：

由于擔心水瓶在制造過程中用的一種化學物質，一排本來已經成為環保標志的水瓶被加拿大最有名的戶外用品零售商移出其櫥窗。

周三，位于不列顛哥倫比亞省的溫哥華的“高山設備Co-op” 將其11個大型商場中Nalgene牌子的瓶子和其他聚碳酸酯容器撤柜。該零售商稱不會再重新進這些瓶子，直到“健康加拿大”完成了雙酚a（B.P.A.）的調查后再考慮。這些瓶子是Thermo Fisher Scientific下屬的一個單位，位于羅徹斯特的Nalge Nunc國際制造的。雙酚a 是一種用于制造透明的高硬度塑料及食物罐鑲條的化學物質?！案呱皆O備”的發言人提姆·Southam說：“我們跟蹤B.P.A.事件已經有三年了，我們這周所作的決定并不代表今后聚碳酸酯制品永遠都不會上柜了。我們目前試圖找到這種化學物質的肯定結果。”

加拿大教會和環境組織因為擔心容器需要用大量的塑料，因此發動了反對瓶裝水的運動。最后，這種可重復使用的Nalgene瓶子就在大學校園和其他地方普及開來。

聚碳酸酯塑料只能用B.P.A.才能制造，用這種塑料制造的瓶子透明，硬度與玻璃一樣，但卻防摔。但是，最近在加拿大用B.P.A.塑料制造食品容器受到位于多倫多的“環境防衛”組織的質疑。美國的環境保護主義者也對該化學物質表示擔憂。去年，舊金山的州長會議通過了一項地方法律，禁止將該化學物質用于兒童用品。但是，這個法令還沒有實施，在一個行業起訴后，B.P.A.就從該法律中被移除了。批評者指出早在1936年人們研究就表明這種化學物質可以破壞荷爾蒙系統。

雖然關于這一點沒有爭議，但是塑料行業根據日本、北美和歐洲政府機構研究認為聚碳酸酯含有微量的這種化學物質，且只會將極少量的B.P.A.釋放到使用者體內。“對一種化學物質進行如此周密的科學測驗和審查是很罕見的，再說全世界重要的機構都認為聚碳酸酯瓶對人體沒有危害?！?Nalge Nunc研發部主任湯姆·卡明斯在一次聲明中這樣說。

“環境防衛”執行理事里克·史密斯稱美國38名科學家在一次政府資助的會議結束后發表了一篇論文，該論文發現B.S.A.對人類的影響方面的研究不足，需要進一步的調查。美國化學委員會聚碳酸酯組織執行理事史蒂文·G·Hentges反對該報告所表示的擔憂，指出上個月美國健康與人類服務部United States Department of Health and Human Services發表了一篇獨立的專家小組報告。這個長達396頁的報告中只著眼于B.S.A.對于升值的影響，在報告中該專家小組表示該化學物質對成人生殖系統“影響甚微”，但是卻表示對孩子和懷孕婦女有一定影響。