托福综合写作优秀作文练习题：环保材料乙醇

 　　托福综合写作阅读材料：

　　Ethanol fuel, made from plants such as cornand sugar cane¹, has been advocated by some people as an alternative to gasolinein the United States. However, many critics argue that ethanol is not a goodreplacement for gasoline for several reasons.

　　乙醇燃料是从玉米或者甘蔗之类的植物中提取的。在美国，一些人提倡使用乙醇燃料来代替汽油。然而，很多评论家认为一些原因使得乙醇燃料不是良好的汽油替代品。

　　First, the increased use of ethanol fuelwould not help to solve one of the biggest environmental problems caused bygasoline use: global warming. Like gasoline, ethanol releases carbon dioxide intothe atmosphere when it is burned for fuel, and carbon dioxide is a greenhousegas: it helps trap heat in the atmosphere. Thus, ethanol offers noenvironmental advantage over gasoline.

　　首先，使用汽油带来的最大的问题之一是全球变暖，而对于乙醇燃料使用的增加并不能解决这个问题。同汽油一样，乙醇燃烧后向大气释放二氧化碳，而二氧化碳是温室气体。它会保持大气层内的温度。因而，相对于汽油来说，乙醇并没有环保优势。

　　Second, the production of significantamounts of ethanol would dramatically reduce the amount of plants available foruses other than fuel. For example, much of the corn now grown in the United Statesis used to feed farm animals such as cows and chickens. It is estimated that ifethanol were used to satisfy just 10 percent of the fuel needs in the UnitedStates, more than 60 percent of the corn currently² grown in the United Stateswould have to be used to produce ethanol. If most of the corn were used toproduce ethanol, a substantial³ source of food for animals would disappear.

　　第二，乙醇产品的大量增加会导致用于其他目的作物数量减少。比如，在美国很多的玉米都是用来作动物饲料来喂养牛和鸡。可以推测，如果乙醇只满足美国对燃料需要的10%，那么美国就要用现在玉米产量的60%用来制造乙醇燃料。如果把玉米产量的大部分用来生产乙醇燃料的话，那么家畜主要的食物来源就不复存在了。

　　Third, ethanol fuel will never be able tocompete with gasoline on price. Although the prices of ethanol and gasoline forthe consumer are currentlyabout the same, this is only because of the help inthe form of tax subsidies⁴ given to ethanol producers by the United Statesgovernment. These tax subsidies have cost the United States government over $11billion in the past 30 years. If the United States government were to stophelping the producers in this way, the price of ethanol would increase greatly.

　　第三，乙醇燃料燃料在价格上永远无法与汽油竞争。虽然目前对消费者来说，乙醇燃料和汽油的相差无几，但是只是因为美国政府以税收补贴的形式补助乙醇燃料制造商。这个税收补贴在过去的三十年花掉了美国政府110亿美元。如果美国政府停止以这种形式帮助制造商，那么乙醇燃料的价格会大幅升高。

　　托福综合写作阅读部分需要提取的观点是：

　　- Main point: 乙醇燃料无法替代汽油

　　- Sub point 1: 燃烧乙醇燃料会排放二氧化碳，造成全球变暖

　　- Sub point 2: 制造乙醇燃料导致畜牧业缺乏饲料

　　- Sub point 3: 乙醇价格过高，依赖政府补贴

1 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

2 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

3 substantial   

adj.大的，相当可观的，大体上的

参考例句：

• She is preparing a substantial meal against his return.她正在准备一顿丰盛的饭菜为他接风。
• The country bought a substantial number of weapons.这个国家购买了大量武器。

4 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》