Thegoodnewsisthatmorepeopleboughtelectriccarsin2020.The...

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The good news is that more people bought electric cars in 2020. The bad news is that SUVs continued to grow in popularity, too. The fall in oil consumption due to the first trend was completely cancelled out by the second, say Laura Cozzi and Apostolos Petropoulos at the International Energy Agency (IEA) in France.

The growing popularity of SUVs is making it even harder to cut carbon dioxide emissions （排放） and meet climate goals. “Policy-makers need to find ways to persuade consumers to choose smaller and more efficient cars,” says Petropoulos.

Oil consumption by conventional cars – not including SUVs – is estimated to have fallen 10 percent in 2020, or by more than 1.8 million barrels （桶） a day, Cozzi and Petropoulos say in a commentary published by the IEA on 15 January. Most of this fall was due to reduced travel and is likely to be temporary.

But a small part of the drop, around 40,000 barrels a day, was as a result of the increased share of electric vehicles (EVs). “We have seen a skyrocketing of global electric car sales in 2020,” says Petropoulos. Unfortunately, the number of SUVs increased as well. While overall car sales fell in 2020, 42 percent of buyers chose SUVs, up around three percentage points from 2019.

Globally, there are now more than 280 million SUVs being driven, up from fewer than 50 million in 2010. On average, SUVs consume 20 percent more energy per kilometre than a medium-sized car.

The increase in SUVs in 2020 led to a rise in oil consumption that cancelled out the effect of electric cars, says Petropoulos. Much the same is true over the past decade. Between 2010 and 2020, global CO2 emissions from conventional cars fell by nearly 350 megatonnes, due to factors such as fuel efficiency improvements as well as the switch to electric cars. Emissions from SUVs rose by more than 500 megatonnes.

“While the growth in EVs is encouraging, the increase in SUVs is heart-breaking,” says Glen Peters at the CICERO climate research centre in Norway.

There are many reasons for the growing popularity of SUVs, says Petropoulos. Rising prosperity （繁榮） in many countries means more people are able to afford them, for instance. Some people see them as a symbol of social position. SUVs are also heavily advertised by car-makers, he says, whose profits are higher on these vehicles.

There are now some electric SUVs available. “Hopefully, in time, you will see electric vehicles entering the SUV market,” says Peters.

Even if it happens, switching to electric SUVs isn’t an ideal solution. Due to their size and bigger batteries, it takes more resources to build electric SUVs, and they consume around 15 percent more electricity. Higher electricity demand makes it harder to green the electricity supply.

1 ． Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A ． The SUVs driven in 2019 reached up to 280 million.

B ． Electric cars appeared a sharp decline in sales in 2020.

C ． Buyers of SUVs in 2020 increased 42 percent than those in 2019.

D ． Global SUVs being driven now are over five times as many as those in 2010.

2 ． From the increase of SUVs, we can infer ________.

A ． it could have harmful consequences for the air quality

B ． the oil consumption will increase and the price will fall

C ． people all over the world are getting wealthier than before

D ． the car-makers think it’s unnecessary to advertise any more

3 ． What can we conclude from the passage?

A ． The purchases of SUVs should be reduced.

B ． The SUVs should be discontinued immediately.

C ． The awareness of using electric cars needs to be improved.

D ． Increasing electric cars can solve the problem of oil consumption.

4 ． What’s the author’s attitude to electric SUVs?

A ． Unconcerned. B ． Disapproving.

C ． Supportive. D ． Uncertain.

【回答】

1 ． D

2 ． A

3 ． A

4 ． B

【分析】

這是一篇説明文。文章講述了更多的人購買了電動汽車使得石油消費下降，然而 SUV 的受歡迎程度也在持續增長，這使得減少二氧化碳排放和實現氣候目標變得更加困難。

1. 細節理解題。根據文章第五段 “Globally, there are now more than 280 million SUVs being driven, up from fewer than 50 million in 2010. （在全球範圍內，目前有超過 2.8 億輛 SUV 被駕駛，而 2010 年這一數字還不到 5000 萬輛。） ” 可知，目前全球 SUV 的使用量是 2010 年的 5 倍多。故選 D 。

2. 推理判斷題。根據文章第二段 “The growing popularity of SUVs is making it even harder to cut carbon dioxide emissions and meet climate goals. （ SUV 越來越受歡迎，這使得減少二氧化碳排放和實現氣候目標變得更加困難。） ” 和文章第六段 “The increase in SUVs in 2020 led to a rise in oil consumption that cancelled out the effect of electric cars, says Petropoulos… SUVs rose by more than 500 megatonnes.( Petropoulos 説， 2020 年 SUV 的增加導致了石油消耗的增加，抵消了電動汽車的影響。過去十年的情況也大致如此。從 2010 年到 2020 年，由於燃油效率的提高以及轉向電動汽車等因素，傳統汽車的全球二氧化碳排放量下降了近 350 萬噸。越野車的排放量增加了 500 多萬噸。 )” 可知，它可能會對空氣質量產生有害的後果。故選 A 。

3. 推理判斷題。根據文章第一段 “The bad news is that SUVs continued to grow in popularity, too. （壞消息是 suv 的受歡迎程度也在持續增長。）、文章第二段 “The growing popularity of SUVs is making it even harder to cut carbon dioxide emissions and meet climate goals. （ suv 越來越受歡迎，這使得減少二氧化碳排放和實現氣候目標變得更加困難。） ” 和文章第七段 ““While the growth in EVs is encouraging, the increase in SUVs is heart-breaking,” says Glen Peters at the CICERO climate research centre in Norway. （挪威西塞羅氣候研究中心的格倫 • 彼得斯説 :“ 雖然電動汽車的增長令人鼓舞，但 SUV 的增長卻令人心碎。 ” ） ” 可推知， SUV 的購買應該減少。故選 A 。

4. 推理判斷題。根據文章最後一段 “Even if it happens, switching to electric SUVs isn’t an ideal solution. Due to their size and bigger batteries, it takes more resources to build electric SUVs, and they consume around 15 percent more electricity. Higher electricity demand makes it harder to green the electricity supply. （即使發生這種情況，換成電動 SUV 也不是一個理想的解決方案。由於它們的體積和更大的電池，製造電動 SUV 需要更多的資源，它們大約多消耗 15% 的電力。更高的電力需求使得環保電力供應變得更加困難。） ” 可推知，作者對於電動 SUV 持反對意見。故選 B 。

知識點：旅遊和交通

題型：閲讀理解