2024高考英語閱讀理解精讀consent

2024高考英語閱讀理解精讀

consent

Anewcommoditybringsaboutahighlyprofitable,

fast-growingindustry,urgingantitrust反壟斷/egulatorstostep

intocheckthosewhocontrolitsflow.Acenturyago,the

resourceinquestionwasoil.Nowsimilarconcernsarebeing

raisedbythegiants(巨頭)thatdealindata,theoilofthedigital

age.ThemostvaluablefirmsareGoogle,Amazon,Facebookand

Microsoft.Alllookunstoppable.

Suchsituationshaveledtocallsforthetechgiantstobe

brokenup.Butsizealoneisnotacrime.Thegiants'successhas

benefitedconsumers.Fewwanttolivewithoutsearchenginesor

aquickdelivery.Farfromchargingconsumershighprices,many

oftheseservicesarefree(userspay,ineffect,byhandingover

yetmoredata).Andtheappearanceofnew-borngiants

suggeststhatnewcomerscanmakewaves,too.

Butthereiscauseforconcern.TheInternethasmade

dataabundantall-presentandfarmorevaluable,changingthe

natureofdataandcompetition.Googleinitiallyusedthedata

collectedfromuserstotargetadvertisingbetter.Butrecentlyit

hasdiscoveredthatdatacanbeturnedintonew

services:translationandvisualrecognition,tobesoldtoother

companies.Internetcompanies'controlofdatagives

themenormouspower.Sotheyhavea"Godzseyeview"of

activitiesintheirownmarketsandbeyond.

Thisnatureofdatamakestheantitrustmeasuresofthepast

lessuseful.BreakingupfirmslikeGoogleintofivesmallones

wouldnotstopremakingthemselves:intime,oneofthem

wouldbecomegreatagain.Arethinkisrequired—andasa

newapproachstartstobecomeapparent,twoideasstandout.

Thefirstisthatantitrustauthoritiesneedtomovefromthe

industrialageintothe21stcentury.Whenconsideringa

merger（兼并），forexample,theyhavetraditionallyusedsizeto

determinewhentostepin.Theynowneedtotakeintoaccount

theextentoffirms/dataassets（資產(chǎn)）whenassessingtheimpact

ofdeals.Thepurchasepricecouldalsobeasignalthatan

establishedcompanyisbuyinganew-bornthreat.Whenthis

takesplace；especiallywhenanew-borncompanyhas

norevenuetospeakofztheregulatorsshouldraiseredflags.

Thesecondprincipleistoloosenthecontrolthatprovidersof

on-lineserviceshaveoverdataandgivemoretothosewho

supplythem.Companiescouldbeforcedto

consumerswhatinformationtheyholdandhowmanymoney

theymakeformit.Governmentscouldorderthesharingof

certainkindsofdata,withusers'consent.

Restartingantitrustfortheinformationagewillnotbeeasy.

Butifgovernmentsdon'twantadataeconomycontrolledbya

fewgiants,theymustactsoon.

61.Whyisthereacalltobreakupgiants?

A.Theyhavecontrolledthedatamarket.

B.Theycollectenormousprivatedata.

C.Theynolongerprovidefreeservices.

D.Theydismissedsomenew-borngiants.

62.WhatdoesthetechnologicalinnovationinParagraph3

indicate?

A.Datagiants'technologyisveryexpensive.

B.Googlezsideaispopularamongdatafirms.

C.Datacanstrengthengiants7controllingposition.

Whilecleanenergyisincreasinglyusedinourdailylife,global

warmingwillcontinueforsomedecadesafterCO2emissions（排

放）peak.Soevenifemissionsweretobegintodecreasetoday,

wewouldstillfacethechallengeofadaptingtoclimatechange.

HereIwillstresssomesmarterandmorecreativeexamplesof

climateadaptation.

Whenitcomestoadaptation,itisimportanttounderstandthat

climatechangeisaprocess.Wearethereforenottalkingabout

adaptingtoanewstandard,buttoaconstantlyshiftingsetof

conditions.Thisiswhy,inpartatleast,theUSNationalClimate

Assessmentsaysthat:"Thereisno'one-sizefitsall'

adaptation."Nevertheless,therearesomeactionsthatoffer

muchandcarrylittleriskorcost.

Aroundtheworld,peopleareadaptinginsurprisingways,

especiallyinsomepoorcountries.Floodshavebecomemore

damaginginBangladeshinrecentdecades.MohammedRezwan

sawopportunitywhereotherssawonlydisaster.His

not-for-profitorganizationruns100riverboatsthatserveas

floatinglibraries,schools,andhealthclinics,andareequipped

withsolarpanelsandothercommunicatingfacilities.Rezwanis

creatingfloatingconnectivity（連體）toreplacefloodedroads

andhighways.Butheisalsoworkingatafar

morefundamentallevel:hisstaffshowpeoplehowtomake

floatinggardensandfishpondspreventstarvationduringthe

wetseason.

ElsewhereinAsiaevenmoreastonishingactionsarebeing

taken.ChewangNorphellivesinamountainousregioninIndia,

whereheisknownastheIceMan.Thelossofglaciers（冰川）there

duetoglobalwarmingrepresentsanenormousthreat

toagriculture.Withouttheglaciers,waterwillarriveintherivers

attimeswhenitcandamagecrops.Norphelsinspirationcame

fromseeingthewasteofwateroverwinter,whenitwasnot

needed.Hedirectedthewastedwaterintoshallowbasinswhere

itfroze,andwasstoreduntilthespring.Hisfieldsoficesupply

perfectlytimedirrigation（灌溉）water.Havingcreatedninesuch

icereserves,Norphelcalculatesthathehasstoredabout200,

000m3ofwater.Climatechangeisacontinuingprocess,so

Norphel'sicereserveswillnotlastforever.Warming

willovertakethem.Butheisprovidingafewyearsduringwhich

thefarmerswill,perhaps,beabletofindothermeansof

adapting.

IncreasingEarth'sreflectivenesscancooltheplanet.In

southernSpainthesuddenincreaseofgreenhouses(which

reflectlightbacktospace)haschangedthewarmingtrend

locally,andactuallycooledtheregion.WhileSpainasawholeis

heatingupquickly,temperaturesnearthegreenhouseshave

decreased.Thisexampleshouldactasaninspirationforallcities.

Bypaintingbuildingswhite,citiesmayslowdownthewarming

process.

InPeru,localfarmersaroundamountainwithaglacierthat

hasalreadyfallenvictimtoclimatechangehavebegunpainting

theentiremountainpeakwhiteinthehopethattheadded

reflectivenesswillrestorethelife-givingice.Theoutcomeisst川

farfromclear.ButtheWorldBankhasincludedtheprojectonits

of"100ideastosavetheplanet".

Moreordinaryformsofadaptationarehappening

everywhere.Afriendofmineownsanareaoflandinwestern

Victoria.Overfivegenerationsthelandhasbeentoowetfor

cropping.Butduringthepastdecadedecliningrainfallhas

allowedhimtoplanthighlyprofitablecrops.Farmersinmany

countriesarealsoadaptinglikethis—eitherbygrowingnew

produce,orbygrowingthesamethingsdifferently.This

iscommonsense.Butsomesuggestionsforadaptingarenot.

Whenthepollutingindustriesarguethatwezvelostthebattleto

controlcarbonpollutionandhavenochoicebuttoadapt,it'sa

nonsensedesignedtomakethecaseforbusinessasusual.

Humanbeingswillcontinuetoadapttothechangingclimate

inbothordinaryandastonishingways.Butthemost

sensibleformofadaptationissurelytoadaptourenergy

systemstoemitlesscarbonpollution.Afterall,ifweadaptin

thatway,wemayavoidtheneedtochangeinsomanyothers.

65.TheunderlinedpartinParagraph2implies.

A.adaptationisanever-changingprocess

B.thecostofadaptationvarieswithtime

C.globalwarmingaffectsadaptationforms

D.adaptationtoclimatechangeischallenging

66.WhatisspecialwithregardtoRezwan'sproject?

A.Theprojectreceivesgovernmentsupport.

B.Differentorganizationsworkwitheachother.

C.Hisorganizationmakesthebestofabadsituation.

D.Theprojectconnectsflooded