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Amold Schwarzenegger. Dia Mirza and Adrian Grenier have a message for you. It’s easy to beat plastic. They’re part of a bunch of celebrities starring in a new video for World Environment Day—encouraging you, the consumer, to swap out your single-use plastic staples like straws and cutlery to combat the plastics crisis.

The key messages that have been put together for World Environment Day do include a call for governments to enact legislation to curb single-use plastics. But the overarching message is directed at individuals.

My concern with leaving it up to the individual, however, is our limited sense of what needs to be achieved. One their own, taking our own bags to the grocery store or quitting plastic straws, for example, will accomplish little and require very little of us. They could even be detrimental, satisfying a need to have “done our bit” without ever progressing onto bigger, bolder, more effective actions—a kind of “moral licensing” that allays our concerns and stops us doing more and asking more of those in charge.

While the conversation around our environment and our responsibility toward it remains centered on shopping hags and straws, we’re ignoring the balance of power that implies that as “consumers” we must shop sustainably, rather than as “ citizens” hole our governments and industries to account to push for real systemic change.

It’s important to acknowledge that the environment isn’t everyone’s priority-or even most people’s. We shouldn’t expect it to be. In her latest book, Why Good People Do Bad Environmental Things. Wellesley College professor Elizabeth R. DeSombre argues that the best way to collectively change the behavior of large numbers of people is for the change to be structural.

This might mean implementing policy such as a plastic tax that adds a cost to environmentally problematic action, or banning single-use plastics altogether. India has just announced it will “eliminate all single-use plastic in the country by 2022.” There are also incentive-based ways of making better environmental choices easier, such as ensuring recycling is at least as easy as trash disposal.

DeSombre isn’t saying people should stop caring about the environment. It’s just that individual actions are too slow, she says, for that to be the only, or even primary, approach to changing widespread behavior.

None of this is about writing off the individual. It’s just about putting things into perspective. We don’t have time to wait. We need progressive policies that shape collective action （and rein in polluting businesses）， alongside engaged citizens pushing for change.

36. Some celebrities star in a new video to

A. demand new laws on the use of plastics

B. urge consumers to cut the use of plastics

C. invite public opinion on the plastics crisis

D. disclose the causes of the plastics crisis

【答案】A urge consumers to cut the use of plastics

【解析】從題干” some celebrities star in a new video to”定位第一段第3句：“ They’re part of a bunch to celebrities starring in a new video for……to swap out your single-use plastic staples to combat the plastics crisis. ”意為：“鼓勵消費者減少單一使用塑料制品，與塑料制品危機抗爭”，與A 選項 “urge consumers to cut the use of plastics”“鼓勵消費者減少塑料袋的使用”含義相符合。

37.The author is concerned that “moral licensing” may

A. mislead us into doing worthless things

B. prevent us from making further efforts

C. weaken our sense of accomplishment

D. suppress our desire for success

【答案】A prevent us from making further efforts

【解析】根據(jù)題干the author is concerned that “crisis licensing”定位到第3段，最后一句：“they could even …to have done our bit without ever progressing onto bigger, bolder, more effective actions---… a kind of “crisis licensing “ that eases our concerns and stops us doing more and asking more of those in charge” 意為：“……他們沒有采取更大，更明顯，更有效的舉措…”與A選項“ prevent us from making further efforts” “妨礙我們進一步的舉措”含義相符。

38. By pointing out out identity “citizens”， the author indicates that

A. our focus should be shifted to community welfare

B. our relationship with local industries is improving

C. We have been actively exercising our civil rights

D. We should press our government to lead the combat

【答案】C we should press our governments to lead the combat

【解析】根據(jù)題干…“citizens”， the author indicates that, 定位到第4段，最后半句 rather than as “citizens”hold our governments and industries to account to push for real systemic change. 意為：“ 而不是作為”citizens” 去要求政府和工業(yè)去推行真正的系統(tǒng)化的改變。言外之意，就是作者希望政府做出改變?nèi)?yīng)對現(xiàn)在的情形。與C選項中“we should press our governments to lead the combat” “我們應(yīng)該向政府施壓，使之主導(dǎo)這次抗爭”相符合。

39. DeSombre argues that the best way for a collective change should be

A. a win-win arrangement

B. a self-driven mechanism

C. a cost-effective approach

D. a top down process

【答案】C a top- down process

【解析】根據(jù)題干可知這是一道觀點細節(jié)題。根據(jù)題干關(guān)鍵詞可定位在第五、六段“Elizabeth R. DeSombre argues that the best way to collectively change the behavior of large number of people is for the change to be structural” 由該段可知，DeSombre認為集體性的改變大多數(shù)人行為的最好的方式就是使其變成結(jié)構(gòu)性的。六段進一步從人們和政府的角度，闡述了這種結(jié)構(gòu)化的改變，所以選項C a top-down process，自上而下的過程，符合文意。

40. The author concludes that individual efforts

A. can be too aggressive

B. can be too inconsistent

C. are far from sufficient

D. are far from rational

【答案】B are far from sufficient

【解析】根據(jù)題干可知這是一道觀點細節(jié)題。根據(jù)題干關(guān)鍵詞可定位在最后一段，“None of this is about writing off the individual. It’s just about putting things into perspective. We don’t have time to wait. We need progressive policies that shape collective action, alongside engaged citizens pushing for change.”由該段可知，作者認為并不是要抹殺個人，只是換一個角度去思考問題，我們沒時間再等待，我們需要能夠形成集體行為的進步政策，以及推動變革的熱心公民。所以作者強調(diào)個人的努力還遠遠不夠，還需要政策的進一步支持，選擇B選項，are far from sufficient。