首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
考研
How best to solve the pollution problems of a city sunk so deep within sulfurous clouds that it was described as hell on earth?
How best to solve the pollution problems of a city sunk so deep within sulfurous clouds that it was described as hell on earth?
admin
2017-12-19
59
问题
How best to solve the pollution problems of a city sunk so deep within sulfurous clouds that it was described as hell on earth? Simply answered: Relocate all urban smoke-creating industry and encircle the metropolis of London with sweetly scented flowers and elegant hedges.
In fact, as Christine L. Corton, a Cambridge scholar, reveals in her new book, London Fog, this fragrant anti-smoke scheme was the brainchild of John Evelyn, the 17th-century diarist. King Charles II was said to be much pleased with Evelyn’ s idea, and a bill against the smoky nuisance was duly drafted. Then nothing was done. Nobody at the time, and nobody right up to the middle of the 20th century, was willing to put public health above business interests.
And yet it’s a surprise to discover how beloved a feature of London life these multicolored fogs became. A painter, Claude Monet, fleeing besieged Paris in 1870, fell in love with London’s vaporous, mutating clouds. He looked upon the familiar mist as his reliable collaborator. Visitors from abroad may have delighted in the fog, but homegrown artists lit candles and vainly scrubbed the
grime
from their gloom-filled studio windows. "Give us light!" Frederic Leighton pleaded to the guests at a Lord Mayor’ s banquet in 1882, begging them to have pity on the poor painter.
The more serious side of Corton’ s book documents how business has taken precedence over humanity where London’ s history of pollution is concerned. A prevailing westerly wind meant that those dwelling to the east were always at most risk. Those who could afford it lived elsewhere. The east was abandoned to the underclass. Lord Palmerston spoke up for choking East Enders in the 1850s, pointing a finger at the interests of the furnace owners. A bill was passed, but there was little change. Eventually, another connection was established: between London’ s perpetual veil of smog and its citizens’ cozily smoldering grates. Sadly, popular World War I songs like "Keep the Home Fires Burning" didn’t do much to encourage the adoption of smokeless fuel.
It wasn ’t until what came to be known as the "Great Killer Fog" of 1952 that the casualty rate became impossible to ignore and the British press finally took up the cause. It was left to a Member of Parliament to steer the Clean Air Act into law in 1956. Within a few years, even as the war against pollution was still in its infancy, the dreaded fog began to fade.
Corton’s book combines meticulous social history with a wealth of eccentric detail. Thus we learn that London’s ubiquitous plane trees were chosen for their shiny, fog-resistant foliage. It’s discoveries like these that make reading London Fog such an unusual and enlightening experience.
The word "grime"(Para. 3)is closest in meaning to______.
选项
A、fog
B、dirt
C、frost
D、paint
答案
B
解析
含义题。根据题干关键词定位到第三段。该段第二句提到London’s vaporous, mutating clouds“伦敦蒸汽缭绕、如同变异的雾霭”,再结合第一段的sulfurous clouds“硫 磺雾霾”和urban smoke-creating industry“城市里所有制造浓烟的工业”可知,在画室窗 上的是煤尘污垢。故B项“污垢;灰尘”为正确答案。A项“雾”、C项“霜”和D项“颜料, 涂料:绘画作品”均不符合题意,故排除。
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.kaotiyun.com/show/B1BZ777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
Doctorsalreadyknowthatpeoplewhosmokecandamagetheirhearing.ThelateststudyinthejournalTobaccoControl,【C1】______m
Doctorsalreadyknowthatpeoplewhosmokecandamagetheirhearing.ThelateststudyinthejournalTobaccoControl,【C1】______m
Doctorsalreadyknowthatpeoplewhosmokecandamagetheirhearing.ThelateststudyinthejournalTobaccoControl,【C1】______m
About3billionpeoplelivewithin100miles(160km)ofthesea,anumberthatcoulddoubleinthenextdecadeashumansflockt
About3billionpeoplelivewithin100miles(160km)ofthesea,anumberthatcoulddoubleinthenextdecadeashumansflockt
About3billionpeoplelivewithin100miles(160km)ofthesea,anumberthatcoulddoubleinthenextdecadeashumansflockt
About3billionpeoplelivewithin100miles(160km)ofthesea,anumberthatcoulddoubleinthenextdecadeashumansflockt
Withincreasingprosperity,WesternEuropeanyouthishavingaflingthatiscreatingdistinctiveconsumerandculturalpatterns
WholesalepricesinJulyrosemoresharplythanexpectedandatafasterratethanconsumerprices,【C1】______thatbusinesseswe
WholesalepricesinJulyrosemoresharplythanexpectedandatafasterratethanconsumerprices,【C1】______thatbusinesseswe
随机试题
男孩,3岁。经常反复呼吸道感染,体格检查发现胸骨左缘第2肋间有Ⅱ一Ⅲ/6级收缩期杂音,无震颤,P2亢进伴固定分裂。胸透示肺门血管增粗,搏动强烈,右心室饱满。根据其血液动力学改变,主要表现为
阴茎癌并发感染,双侧腹股沟淋巴结转移时应当
王某与张某签订了一份书面合同,约定由王某在签约后3日借给张某2万元,张某于2年后偿还该2万元并支付10%的利息,该行为属于何种民事法律行为?
根据《建筑施工场界环境噪声排放标准GB12523--2011规定昼间噪声排放限值为70dB(A),夜间噪声排放限值为55dB(A)。夜间噪声最大声级超过限值的幅度不得高于()dB(A)。
当收盘价、开盘价和最低价三价相等时,K线图呈现()。
由于老年旅游者在生理、心理和行为上的特殊性,决定了导游人员必须树立“服务第一”的意识,把生活服务贯穿于整个旅游活动的全过程。()
Ofallthefollowingpairsofwords,____isaminimalpair.
【2014年济南市】在教育行动研究中,行动过程与研究过程相伴相随,同时推进,合二为一。()
阅读以下技术说明,根据要求回答问题1~问题4。[说明]某企业网络由总公司和分公司组成,其网络拓扑结构如图2-19所示。其中,总公司的网络自治系统1(AS1)采用RIPv2路由协议,分公司的网络自治系统2(AS2)采用OSPF路由协议。该企
A、Theywillorganizeameetingtodiscussaproposal.B、Theywillorganizeaprotesttoexpresstheiropposition.C、Theywillor
最新回复
(
0
)