¡¡¡¡The idea that “housing crisis” equals “concreted meadows” is pure lobby talk¡£ The issue is not the need for more houses but£¬ as always£¬ where to put them¡£ Under lobby pressure£¬ George Osborne favours rural new-build against urban renovation and renewal¡£ He favours out-of-town shopping sites against high streets¡£ This is not a free market but a biased one¡£ Rural towns and villages have grown and will always grow¡£ They do so best where building sticks to their edges and respects their character¡£ We do not ruin urban conservation areas¡£ Why ruin rural ones£¿
¡¡¡¡Development should be planned£¬ not let rip¡£ After the Netherlands£¬ Britain is Europe’s most crowded country¡£ Half a century of town and country planning has enabled it to retain an enviable rural coherence£¬ while still permitting low-density urban living¡£ There is no doubt of the alternative—the corrupted landscapes of southern Portugal£¬ Spain or Ireland¡£ Avoiding this rather than promoting it should unite the left and right of the political spectrum¡£
¡¡¡¡26¡£ Britain’s public sentiment about the countryside____
¡¡¡¡[A]didn’tstart till the Shakespearean age¡£
¡¡¡¡[B]has brought much benefit to the NHS¡£
¡¡¡¡[C]is fully backed by the royal family¡£
¡¡¡¡[D]is not well reflected in politics¡£
¡¡¡¡27¡£ According to Paragraph 2£¬ the achievements of the National Trust are now being____
¡¡¡¡[A]gradually destroyed¡£
¡¡¡¡[B]effectively reinforced¡£
¡¡¡¡[C]largely overshadowed¡£
¡¡¡¡[D]properly protected¡£
¡¡¡¡28¡£ Which of the following can be inferred from Paragraph 3£¿
¡¡¡¡[A]Labour is under attack for opposing development¡£
¡¡¡¡[B]The Conservatives may abandon “off-plan” building¡£
¡¡¡¡[C]The Liberal Democrats are losing political influence¡£
¡¡¡¡[D]Ukip may gain from its support for rural conservation¡£
¡¡¡¡29¡£ The author holds that George Osborne’s preference____
¡¡¡¡[A]highlights his firm stand against lobby pressure¡£
¡¡¡¡[B]shows his disregard for the character of rural areas¡£
¡¡¡¡[C]stresses the necessity of easing the housing crisis¡£
¡¡¡¡[D]reveals a strong prejudice against urban areas¡£
¡¡¡¡30¡£ In the last paragraph£¬ the author shows his appreciation of____
¡¡¡¡[A]the size of population in Britain¡£
¡¡¡¡[B]the political life in today’s Britain¡£
¡¡¡¡[C]the enviable urban lifestyle in Britain¡£
¡¡¡¡[D]the town-and-country planning in Britain¡£
¡¡¡¡Text 3
¡¡¡¡“There is one and only one social responsibility of business£¬” wrote Milton Friedman£¬a Nobel prize-winning economist “That is£¬ to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits¡£” But even if you accept Fiedman’s premise and regard corporate social responsibility £¨CSR£© policies as a waste of shareholders money£¬things may not be absolutely clear-cut.New research suggests that CSR may create monetary value for companies –at least when they are prosecuted for corruption¡£
¡¡¡¡The largest firms is America and Britain together spend more than $15 billion a year on CSR £¬ according to an estimate by EPG£¬a consulting firm £¬This could add value to their businesses in three ways.First£¬ consumers may take CSR spending as a “signal” that a company’s products are of high quality.Second£¬ customers may be willing to buy a company’s products as an indirect way to donate to the good causes is helps¡£ And third£¬ through a more diffuse “halo effect£¬” whereby its good deeds earn it greater consideration from consumers and others¡£
¡¡¡¡Previous studies on CSR have had trouble differentiating these effects because consumers can be affected by all three¡£ A recent study attempts to separate them by looking at bribery prosecutions under America’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act £¨FCPA£©¡£ It argues that since prosecutors do not consume a company‘s products as part of their investigations£¬ they could be influenced only by the halo effect¡£
¡¡¡¡The study found that£¬ among prosecuted firms£¬ those with the most comprehensiveCSR programmes tendedto getmore lenient penalties¡£ Their analysis ruled out the possibility that it was firms‘ political influence£¬ rather than their CSR stand£¬that accounted for the leniency£º Companies that contributed more to political campaigns did not receive lower fines¡£
¡¡¡¡In all£¬ the study concludes that whereas prosecutors should only evaluate a case based on its merits£¬ they do seen to influenced by a company’s record in CSR¡£ “We estimate that either eliminating a substantial labour-rights concern£¬ such as child labour£¬ or increasing corporate giving by about 20% results in fines that generally are 40% lower than the typical punishment for bribing foreign officials£¬” says one researcher¡£
