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  3. British air is far cleaner than it was a few decades ago. Fewer people use coal-burning stoves: old industrial plants have been

British air is far cleaner than it was a few decades ago. Fewer people use coal-burning stoves: old industrial plants have been

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问题     British air is far cleaner than it was a few decades ago. Fewer people use coal-burning stoves: old industrial plants have been abandoned. But since 2009 levels of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, coarse or fine particles that are linked to lung cancer and asthma(哮喘), have fallen more slowly. The exact number of deaths caused by dirty air is unknown. But in 2010 a government advisory group estimated that removing man-made fine particulate matter from the atmosphere would increase life expectancy for those born in 2008 by an average of six months.
    Much of the slowdown is the result of fumes from diesel(柴油)cars, which were championed by successive governments because they use less fuel and thus produce less carbon dioxide than petrol cars. In 2001 only 14% of all cars ran on diesel: by 2013 the proportion had increased to 35% . Greener "hybrid" and electric cars have increased ninefold since 2006, but account for just 0. 5% of the entire fleet. Second-hand cars are particularly toxic, but even newer ones have not been as clean as hoped. Many cars that let out few pollutants in tests produced more when on the roads.
    Government irresolution has not helped. Part of the problem is that several departments are responsible for air pollution. This means nobody has taken a lead on it, complains Joan Walley, a Labour MP who chairs an environmental committee that has released a series of damning reports. And few politicians are keen to criticize drivers. Talking to Britons about car ownership is " like talking to an American about hand guns", jokes one air-pollution scientist.
    Some improvements have been made. In 2008 a "low-emission zone" was created in London, which targets large vans and coaches. A smaller "ultra low-emission zone" has been proposed for 2020, which would charge all vehicles that are not of a certain standard ￡ 12. 50 a day. European Commission fines for breaching limits may encourage cities to do more. But other countries are more ambitious: 60 such zones exist in Germany, targeting private cars as well as vans. In December Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, announced that she wanted to ban diesel cars by 2020. Cities in Denmark and the Netherlands do more to boost cycling.
What do we know about the government’s attitude towards pollution control?
选项 A、It doesn’t have the intention to solve the problem.
B、Every department wants to play a leading role.
C、Its passive attitude partly accounts for the slowdown.
D、Politicians avoid blaming drivers for the problem.
答案C
解析 推理判断题。第三段提到两点原因，解释政府在治理空气污染问题上的不力。一是“部分问题在于有好几个部门都对空气污染负有责任。这意味着没有人愿意出头”；二是“很少有政客愿意指责司机”。这两点共同暗示了政府在治理污染问题时态度不够积极，C)选项为这两点原因的概括，故为答案。政府任命几个部门对空气污染负责，不能说政府没有解决问题的意图，故排除A)；第三段第三句明确说明“没有人愿意出头”，B)选项“每个部门都想起主导作用”与该处语义相反，故排除；D)选项说“政客回避指责汽车司机”，这与原文“很少有政客愿意指责司机”意思基本一致，但这只是政府在承担污染治理低效的部分原因，与C)选项相比不够全面，故排除该选项。
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