【推荐1】Royal Dutch Shell is launching a $ 300 million and forestry program, at a time when an increasing number of oil companies are putting money in carbon offset（碳补偿）plans to meet climate goals. The company will spend the money over the next three years on projects to store carbon, including large forests in the Netherlands and Spain, and will start offering motorists the option of purchasing carbon offsets when they buy petrol at the pump.

The executives of the company explained that these carbon offset projects were a new business opportunity for Shell, as well as a way to meet its climate targets. “We believe that over time we will be building a business, because these carbon credits will become more valuable as carbon becomes more limited,” they said. Shell recently decided to cut its net carbon footprint by 2-3 percent in five years, which includes emissions from the products it sells. The company plans to produce carbon credits from the forestry projects, then sell these credits on to customers buying its oil and gas products, or apply the credits to its own operations to lower its carbon footprint.

Plants absorb carbon dioxide as they grow and restoring forests and other natural areas is considered one of the simplest ways to store carbon. However, the voluntary market for carbon credits based on forestry projects has its critics, as projects in developing countries can be hard to monitor. Shell's move has also been criticized by some environmentalists. They worried that there was a risk of “green wash” when companies invested in forestry projects. “There is an entire debate about whether forestry projects truly reduce emissions or not,” they said, pointing out that planting it one area could cause deforestation to another.

Shell said it would rely on the third party to ensure its forest program to meet the Voluntary Carbon Standard and strict biodiversity requirements. Mark Lewis. head of climate change investment research at BNP Paribas, said. “Planting trees to offset emissions as far as it goes. is a step in the right direction.”

1. What is popular among oil companies these days?

A．Investing projects to store carbon.	B．Launching forestry programs.
C．Working out carbon offset plans.	D．Selling carbon credits.

2. How will Shell Company make profits from its carbon offset projects?

A．By abandoning the emissions of its products.

B．By commercializing carbon credits it produces.

C．By limiting the oil used by other companies.

D．By reducing its carbon footprint sharply.

3. What does the underlined word “green wash” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Discount	B．Cheat
C．Decline	D．Change

4. What does the text imply about carbon offset projects?

A．They sharply reduce emissions.	B．They will fail in developing countries.
C．They require broader monitoring.	D．They contribute to deforestation.

【推荐2】In the past hundred years, a million people have died in earthquakes, another million have been killed by hurricanes and tornadoes, and 9 million have lost their lives in floods. In addition to this, many millions have died as a result of hunger and disease. We should also not forget in many of the world's countries, drought—serious water shortage—is a fact of life, especially in the African Sahel area bordering the Sahara Desert.

Scientists and engineers around the world have made great advances in earthquake engineering. It is, of course, physically impossible to move cities such as Tokyo and San Francisco that have been built on earthquake belts. But most often it is not the earthquake that kills people. It is the falling buildings, bridges and so on that cause deaths, and such a happening can be greatly reduced by better building programs.

Finally, perhaps we need to consider the natural disasters that we are causing ourselves. Through our mismanagement of the planet's resources we have sped up the dying out of hundreds of sorts of plants and animals, at the same time possibly destroying our own long-term surroundings for life. Maybe this is one disaster that could be prevented if we are willing to act with a sense of responsibility.

1. How many people have been killed in natural disasters in the past 100 years?

A．1 million.	B．9 million.
C．More than 11 million.	D．More than 1 million.

2. Which of the following has killed people directly according to the passage?

A．None of the below.	B．Earthquakes and floods.
C．Hurricanes and tornadoes.	D．Floods and water shortage.

3. According to the text, we can say that________.

A．nothing can be done with earthquakes

B．earthquake can be prevented from happening

C．cities built on earthquake belts can be moved in time

D．losses and deaths caused by earthquakes can be reduced with human efforts

4. What does the underlined "one disaster" in the last paragraph refer to?

A．Earthquakes.	B．The text doesn't tell us.
C．All of the disasters mentioned.	D．Man's mismanagement of natural resources.