Only about 5% of Gen Xers, now 32 to 52 years old, are "alarmed" and 18% "concerned" about climate change, reports the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research on Tuesday. Two-thirds, or 66% , of those surveyed last year said they aren't sure global warming is happening and 10% said they don't believe it's occurring.
"Most Generation Xers are surprisingly disengaged, dismissive or doubtful about whether global climate change is happening and they don't spend much time worrying about it," said author Jon D.Miller.
The report comes as several Obama administration officials have recently linked extreme weather to climate change. In a report last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cited six weather events last year and said that atmospheric changes caused by the burning of fossil fuels made
Texas' heat wave, for example, 20 times more likely than it would have been in the 1960s.
The Generation X survey of about 3,000 adults, the fourth in a continuing series, found a small butstatistically significant decline in Gen Xer's attention to climate change. In 2011, 16% said they followed the issue very or moderately closely, down from 2296 in 2009.
Why are Gen Xere so indifferent? The report, funded by the National Science Foundation, citesclimate change's complexity, pressing economic concerns and "issue fatigue". It finds educated adults tend to be more concerned about the issue. It also finds partisan (党派的) differences; nearly half ofliberal Democrats were concerned or alarmed compared to zero percent of conservative Republicans.
Miller said he expected that, given climate change's expected impact on future generations, parents of young children would be more concerned than those without kids.
"Not so," he said. " Generation X adults without minor children were. slightly more alarmed aboutclimate change than were parents. The difference is small, but it is in the opposite direction than weexpected. "' Miller said the report suggests that while there's broad awareness of climate change, manyGen Xers prefer to focus on more immediate issues such as jobs and schools.
What do we know about the Generation X according to the passage?
A.They are a group of people receiving little education.
B.They don't believe global warming will affect them.
C.They don't care very much about climate change.
D.They never think that climate change will happen.
63、 We can infer from Para. 4 that the American government______.
A.links extreme weather to climate change since last week
B.is concerned about the consequence of climate change
C.tries hard to inform people the influence of climate change
D.is opposed to the burning of fossil fuels in the country
64、 What does "issue fatigue" (Line 2, Para. 6) mean?
A.Generation Xers are not informed about the issue.
B.Generation Xers are conservative about the issue.
C.Generation Xers are not concerned about the issue.
D.Generation Xers are tired of the issue.
65、 Many Generation X parents don't worry so much about the influence of climate change on their children because______.
A. they are not aware of climate change
B.they don't care about climate change
C.they believe the situation will be better
D.they focus more on immediate issues
66、 What is the author's attitude toward Generation X's indifference?
A.Objective.
B.Critical.
C.Supportive.
D.Neutral.
Part IV Translation.(30minutes)
Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.
67、 中华民族的传统文化博大精深，源远流长。早在2000多年前，就产生了以孔盂为代表的儒家学说(Confucianism)和以老子和庄子为代表的道家学说(Taoism)，以及其他许多也在中国思想史上有地位的学说和学派(doctrines)。这就是有名的诸子百家(the masters’ hundred schools)。从孔夫子到孙中山。中华民族的传统文化有许多宝贵的思想和品质，许多人民性和民主性的好东西。比如，强调仁爱、强调群体、强调天下为公。
英语栏目推荐访问：
