1、In June,California department of forestry and fire protection determined that 12 devastating fires that struck Northern California tate last year were the result of trees coming into contact with power lines or other problems tied to the electric utility PG& E.Thanks to a policy known as inverse conclemnation,the utility could be on the hook for those damages,even if ii is not found to be negligeni.In the past,PG&-E has paid the bills when it was blamed for fires and other damages.But the company now says it cannot keep footing the bill so long as climate change continues to increase the likelihood of fires.Millions of trees have died across California after years of intense drought.creating vast quantities of fuel that allow fires to burn faster and over greater clistances-all combined with higher temperatures.It has pushed to raise electricity rates to pay for tlie clamage.Meanwhile.state officials are pushing a change in the law.Governor Jerry Brown proposed a new plan ihat would allow a court to decide whether the utility acted"reasonably"before forcing the company to pay claims."Costly wildfires and natural disasters have the poiential to undermine the sysiem*"Brown told legislators."leaving our energy sector in a state of weakness at a time when it shoulcl be making even greater investments in safety."Within the U.S.,the debate over liability for climate change has taken several forms.On the fecleral level,proactive policymakers have pushed to rework the National Flood Insurance Program(NFIP),which pays people to rebuild their homes after floods-even in areas where damage is likely to strike again.In effect,that program,which is more than$20 billion in clebt,put.s the burden of climate-change-related natural disasters in the hands of the U.S.government ancl the taxpayer.Infrastructure experts have also pushed the government to rethink its post disaster funding to require climate change preparedness measures.A group of pioneering American cities have sought to have the oil-and-gas industry pay for climate-change-relatecl clamages and disaster-prevention measures.A series of lawsuits have blamed the companies for years of polluting the planet while concealing evidence that emissions would contribute to devastaiing climate change.The authorities behind the lawsuits hope that courts will force the industry to pay up.Thus far,U.S.courts have expressed skepticism-not necessarily of the fault of oil and gas but of the ability of the judicial system to address the issue."The problem deserves a solution on a more vast scale than can be supplied by a district judge or jury in a public nuisance case,"wrote William Alsup of the U.S.District Court in Northern California.Elsewhere,a large number of litigants have also looked to the courts.Lacking other avenues for addressing the issue,people feeling the impacts of climate change are increasingly Lurning to courts to help find a global answer to a global problem. Which of the following is the best title of the text?

　　A Who pays for climate change damage?

　　B What causes devastating natural disasters?

　　C Should oil and gas companies pay for greenhouse gas emissions?

　　D Should governments stress disaster prevention or disaster recovery?

　　正确答案：A  

　　答案解析：本文第一至三段讲述加州案例：加州大火频发、损失巨大，按照一项现有政策，PG&.E应为损失买单，但该公司提出气候变暖使得自然灾害无论是爆发的概率还是造成的损失都在增大，自己已无力承担，政府官员也在寻求法律改变以解决问题。第四至六段提出就“谁为气候变化负责”的争论已有数种形式，并具体阐述政策制定者、某些城市、法庭等多方观点。末段作者提出，受到气候变化冲击的人们在缺乏解决途径时日益转向求助法庭，以期就一个全球问题得到全面的答案。可见A.为全文关注问题，是恰当标题。[解题技巧]B.错误有二：首先将文章关注范围“气候变暖引发的自然灾害”扩大为“(一切)自然灾害”;其次，文章并非具体讨论灾害成因，而是谁该为灾害买单。C.过窄，虽然能概括第四、五段内容，但无力概括全篇，尤其是第三段。D.利用文中具体表述climate change preparedness、rebuild their homes after floods等设置干扰，但偏离文章内容，文章并未具体讨论灾难的预防和修复。

　　2、In June,California department of forestry and fire protection determined that 12 devastating fires that struck Northern California tate last year were the result of trees coming into contact with power lines or other problems tied to the electric utility PG& E.Thanks to a policy known as inverse conclemnation,the utility could be on the hook for those damages,even if ii is not found to be negligeni.In the past,PG&-E has paid the bills when it was blamed for fires and other damages.But the company now says it cannot keep footing the bill so long as climate change continues to increase the likelihood of fires.Millions of trees have died across California after years of intense drought.creating vast quantities of fuel that allow fires to burn faster and over greater clistances-all combined with higher temperatures.It has pushed to raise electricity rates to pay for tlie clamage.Meanwhile.state officials are pushing a change in the law.Governor Jerry Brown proposed a new plan ihat would allow a court to decide whether the utility acted"reasonably"before forcing the company to pay claims."Costly wildfires and natural disasters have the poiential to undermine the sysiem*"Brown told legislators."leaving our energy sector in a state of weakness at a time when it shoulcl be making even greater investments in safety."Within the U.S.,the debate over liability for climate change has taken several forms.On the fecleral level,proactive policymakers have pushed to rework the National Flood Insurance Program(NFIP),which pays people to rebuild their homes after floods-even in areas where damage is likely to strike again.In effect,that program,which is more than$20 billion in clebt,put.s the burden of climate-change-related natural disasters in the hands of the U.S.government ancl the taxpayer.Infrastructure experts have also pushed the government to rethink its post disaster funding to require climate change preparedness measures.A group of pioneering American cities have sought to have the oil-and-gas industry pay for climate-change-relatecl clamages and disaster-prevention measures.A series of lawsuits have blamed the companies for years of polluting the planet while concealing evidence that emissions would contribute to devastaiing climate change.The authorities behind the lawsuits hope that courts will force the industry to pay up.Thus far,U.S.courts have expressed skepticism-not necessarily of the fault of oil and gas but of the ability of the judicial system to address the issue."The problem deserves a solution on a more vast scale than can be supplied by a district judge or jury in a public nuisance case,"wrote William Alsup of the U.S.District Court in Northern California.Elsewhere,a large number of litigants have also looked to the courts.Lacking other avenues for addressing the issue,people feeling the impacts of climate change are increasingly Lurning to courts to help find a global answer to a global problem. In Jerry Brown's opinion,the right thing to do now is to

　　A force PG&E to pay for fire damages.

　　B determine whether PG&E acted properly.

　　C limit the cost of natural disasters.

　　D increase investment in the energy sector.

　　正确答案：B  

　　答案解析：根据题干中人名关键词Jerry Brown定位到第三段。该段指出加州州长Jerry Brown提议了一项新计划·使法庭可在强迫公司PG&E(the company承上指代PG&E)支付赔偿之前，先确定该公司(the utility同样承上指代PG&.E)的行为是否合理，即：若公司没有不当行为，可降低或免于赔偿。可见B.符合Jerry Brown观点。[解题技巧]A.与②句“在强迫该公司支付灾害索赔之前，先确定它行为是否合理”相悖。C.对③句Costly wildfires and natural disaslers have the potential lo undermine the system过度推导，该句意在说明“不应让高额灾难赔偿毁掉能源部门”，并非“当务之急要控制灾难成本”。D.对③句our energy scctor.…making even greatcr investment断章取义，该内容整体意在说明“不应让能源公司在急需加大安全投入之时·反而因支付巨额赔偿而陷入赢弱状态”，与“对能源部门的投入”无关。

　　3、The development,hundreds of years ago,of ship and cargo insurance was revolutionary.It marked the start of commercial insurance;protection against loss from fire and the perils of the high seas fostered global trade.But in the 21st century the value of companies consists less of solid objects,such as boats and buildings,than of intangible elements,such as intellectual property,data and reputation."Today the most valuable assets are more likely to be stored in the cloud than in a warehouse,"says Inga Beale,chief executive of Lloyd's of London.As the importance of intangibles has grown,so has companies'need to protect themselves against"intangible risks"of two types:damage to intangible assets(eg,reputational harm caused by a tweet or computer hack);or posed by them(say,physical damage or theft resulting from a cyberattack).Companies are not oblivious.Respondents to a survey last year by Aon,an insurance broker,ranked reputation as their top risk and cyber-risk as their fifth.But there is a big difference between how risk managers perceive such risks and how boards do.And if firms do seek insurance against some of these risks,insurers have not exactly been giving them too many novel products.Even when policies are labelled"innovative"it's usually to insure physical assets in the sharing economy rather than intangibles.But in a world where Airbnb,in effect the world's largest hotel chain,owns no hotels and Uber,its largest taxi firm,owns no cabs,such policies are of limited use.Those that do protect assets such as data,IP and reputation are often expensive and custom-made,and include strict exclusions and lrmits.Insurers'caution is understandable.Intangible risks are not only new and comple)c"They're a bit like not-yet-set jelly,"says Julia Graham of Airmic."Their shape constantly changes."Underwriters like to look at past data on events'frequency as well as clients'current exposure-which may be next to impossible when assessing the risk and impact of a cyberattack,or a scandal,which would have been very differently priced even a couple of years ago.But some underwriters are starting to come up with more suitable policies.One is parametric cover,which pays a fixed amount automatically after a defined event,such as a hack.The advantage of such policies is that they can provide cash quickly,meeting an immediate need after misfortune strikes.The downside is that these products tend to cover only a share of damages.Companies also have to do more to protect themselves.Just as insurance was only part of the answer to fire and maritime risk,it is only part of the answer to modern perils.Plenty of cyber-breaches could doubtless have been avoided if software had simply been kept up to date.Insurers need to catch up with the intangible age;but so do their clients. In the last two paragraphs,the author suggests that

　　A parametric cover performs quite well in assessing the costs of misfortune.

　　B companies need to buy several types of insurance to protect themselves.

　　C companies and insurers should work together to protect against intangible risks.

　　D insurers should keep updating their software to protect the privacy of their clients.

　　正确答案：C  

　　答案解析：第六段指出：企业也须努力保护自己，保险只是现代风险的“部分答案”;保险商需跟上无形时代步伐，它们的客户(即企业)也应如此。可见作者认为企业和保险公司应共同防范无形风险,C.正确。[解题技巧]A.将第五段首句suitable policies断章取义为“参数化保险擅长评估不幸事件的成本”，但由下文可知，参数化保险采用的是“赔偿固定数额”，而不能“有效评估成本”，它只是一种“相对更合适的保险”。B.将第六段首句companies also have to do more to protect themselves(公司需更加努力保护自己免于无形风险)错误理解为“公司应购买多个险种”。D.将末段③句所述“企业做法——更新软件”张冠李戴为“保险公司做法”，并捏造出“保护客户隐私”这一无关信息。

　　4、In June,California department of forestry and fire protection determined that 12 devastating fires that struck Northern California tate last year were the result of trees coming into contact with power lines or other problems tied to the electric utility PG& E.Thanks to a policy known as inverse conclemnation,the utility could be on the hook for those damages,even if ii is not found to be negligeni.In the past,PG&-E has paid the bills when it was blamed for fires and other damages.But the company now says it cannot keep footing the bill so long as climate change continues to increase the likelihood of fires.Millions of trees have died across California after years of intense drought.creating vast quantities of fuel that allow fires to burn faster and over greater clistances-all combined with higher temperatures.It has pushed to raise electricity rates to pay for tlie clamage.Meanwhile.state officials are pushing a change in the law.Governor Jerry Brown proposed a new plan ihat would allow a court to decide whether the utility acted"reasonably"before forcing the company to pay claims."Costly wildfires and natural disasters have the poiential to undermine the sysiem*"Brown told legislators."leaving our energy sector in a state of weakness at a time when it shoulcl be making even greater investments in safety."Within the U.S.,the debate over liability for climate change has taken several forms.On the fecleral level,proactive policymakers have pushed to rework the National Flood Insurance Program(NFIP),which pays people to rebuild their homes after floods-even in areas where damage is likely to strike again.In effect,that program,which is more than$20 billion in clebt,put.s the burden of climate-change-related natural disasters in the hands of the U.S.government ancl the taxpayer.Infrastructure experts have also pushed the government to rethink its post disaster funding to require climate change preparedness measures.A group of pioneering American cities have sought to have the oil-and-gas industry pay for climate-change-relatecl clamages and disaster-prevention measures.A series of lawsuits have blamed the companies for years of polluting the planet while concealing evidence that emissions would contribute to devastaiing climate change.The authorities behind the lawsuits hope that courts will force the industry to pay up.Thus far,U.S.courts have expressed skepticism-not necessarily of the fault of oil and gas but of the ability of the judicial system to address the issue."The problem deserves a solution on a more vast scale than can be supplied by a district judge or jury in a public nuisance case,"wrote William Alsup of the U.S.District Court in Northern California.Elsewhere,a large number of litigants have also looked to the courts.Lacking other avenues for addressing the issue,people feeling the impacts of climate change are increasingly Lurning to courts to help find a global answer to a global problem. To which of the following would William Alsup most probably agree?

　　A The oil-and-gas industry should pay for climate-change-related damages.

　　B Climate change should not be viewed as the faulr of oil and gas.

　　C The problem of a warming planet is too big for the courts to solve.

　　D The judicial system has the responsibility to settle greenhouse-gas-related disputes.

　　正确答案：C  

　　答案解析：第五段指出，一些城市提出让油气行业为气候变化相关损失以及灾难预防措施买单。第六段则指出法院对此持怀疑态度：倒不一定是对“气候问题错在油气(公司)”表示怀疑，而是对“司法体系解决这一问题的能力”表示怀疑。随后引用William Alsup话语指出：这一问题需要更大范围的方案，并非某一地方法院或陪审团就某一案件的审判便能解决。可见’C.符合该观点。[解题技巧]解答本题的关键是认识到“William Alsup观点”是对“美国法庭观点”的例证，二者可视为一体，共同对“一些城市的看法”表示怀疑。A.将“以William Alsup为代表的美国法庭怀疑的观点(第五段所述一些城市的观点)”当作其持有的观点。B.与第六段①句“美国法院倒并不一定是对油气公司的责任表示怀疑(not necessarily of the fault of oil and gas)”相悖。D.与第六段①句“美国法院对司法体系解决这一问题的能力表示怀疑(of the abiIlty of the judicial system to address the issue)”相悖。

　　5、In June,California department of forestry and fire protection determined that 12 devastating fires that struck Northern California tate last year were the result of trees coming into contact with power lines or other problems tied to the electric utility PG& E.Thanks to a policy known as inverse conclemnation,the utility could be on the hook for those damages,even if ii is not found to be negligeni.In the past,PG&-E has paid the bills when it was blamed for fires and other damages.But the company now says it cannot keep footing the bill so long as climate change continues to increase the likelihood of fires.Millions of trees have died across California after years of intense drought.creating vast quantities of fuel that allow fires to burn faster and over greater clistances-all combined with higher temperatures.It has pushed to raise electricity rates to pay for tlie clamage.Meanwhile.state officials are pushing a change in the law.Governor Jerry Brown proposed a new plan ihat would allow a court to decide whether the utility acted"reasonably"before forcing the company to pay claims."Costly wildfires and natural disasters have the poiential to undermine the sysiem*"Brown told legislators."leaving our energy sector in a state of weakness at a time when it shoulcl be making even greater investments in safety."Within the U.S.,the debate over liability for climate change has taken several forms.On the fecleral level,proactive policymakers have pushed to rework the National Flood Insurance Program(NFIP),which pays people to rebuild their homes after floods-even in areas where damage is likely to strike again.In effect,that program,which is more than$20 billion in clebt,put.s the burden of climate-change-related natural disasters in the hands of the U.S.government ancl the taxpayer.Infrastructure experts have also pushed the government to rethink its post disaster funding to require climate change preparedness measures.A group of pioneering American cities have sought to have the oil-and-gas industry pay for climate-change-relatecl clamages and disaster-prevention measures.A series of lawsuits have blamed the companies for years of polluting the planet while concealing evidence that emissions would contribute to devastaiing climate change.The authorities behind the lawsuits hope that courts will force the industry to pay up.Thus far,U.S.courts have expressed skepticism-not necessarily of the fault of oil and gas but of the ability of the judicial system to address the issue."The problem deserves a solution on a more vast scale than can be supplied by a district judge or jury in a public nuisance case,"wrote William Alsup of the U.S.District Court in Northern California.Elsewhere,a large number of litigants have also looked to the courts.Lacking other avenues for addressing the issue,people feeling the impacts of climate change are increasingly Lurning to courts to help find a global answer to a global problem. Which of the following is true about NFIP?

　　A Ii is viewed as a highly effective policy by proactive policymakers.

　　B It pays those who rebuild homes in areas vulnerable to disasters.

　　C It has passed on its debt burden to the government and the taxpayer.

　　D It provides funding to clevelop climate change preparedness measures.

　　正确答案：B  

　　答案解析：根据题千中关键名词NFIP定位到第四段。该段②句指出，国家洪水保险计划(NFIP)支付人们洪灾之后重建家园的费用——甚至是在灾难很可能再次降临的区域，可见B.为事实，areas vulnerable to disasters同义改写原文areas where damage is likely to strike again。[解题技巧]A.与第四段②句“积极的政策制定者们已经在推动修改NFIP(言外之意，他们对该计划不满)”相反。另外，从下文“该计划对美国政府和纳税人造成了巨大负担”也可推知政策制定者对该计划很可能心怀不满。C.对③句断章取义.该句意为“NFIP已是负债累累，它将气候变化所造成的自然灾害的负担放到了政府和纳税人的手中”，并不涉及NFIP自身的债务转移。D.利用④句内容干扰.但这已是段落另一层次，是基础设施专家的观点，与NFIP无直接关联。

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