Text 2 Do you remember all those years when scientists argued that smoking would kill us

Text2

Doyourememberallthoseyearswhenscientistsarguedthatsmokingwouldkillusbutthedoubtersinsistedthatwedidn’tknowforsure?Thattheevidencewasinconclusive,thescienceuncertain?Thattheantismokinglobbywasouttodestr oyourwayoflifeandthegovernmentshouldstayoutoftheway?LotsofAmericansboughtthatnonsense,andoverthreedecades,some10millionsmokerswenttoearlygraves.

Thereareupsettingparallelstoday,asscientistsinonewaveafteranothertr ytoawakenustothegrowingthreatofglobalwarming.ThelatestwasapanelfromtheNationalAcademyofSciences,enlistedbytheWhiteHouse,totellusthattheEarth’satmosphereisdefinitelywarmingandthattheproblemislargelyman-made.Theclearmessageisthatweshouldgetmovingtoprotectourselves.ThepresidentoftheNationalAcademy,BruceAlberts,addedthiskeypointintheprefacetothepanel’sreport:“Scienceneverhasalltheanswers.Butsciencedoesprovideuswiththebestavailableguidetothefuture,anditiscriticalthatoutnationandtheworldbaseimportantpoliciesonthebestjudgmentsthatsciencecanprovideconcerningthefutureconsequencesofpresentactions.”

Justasonsmoking,voicesnowcomefrommanyquartersinsistingthatthescienceaboutglobalwarmingisincomplete,thatit’sOktokeeppouringfumesintotheairuntilweknowforsure.Thisisadangerousgame:bythe100percentoftheevidenceisin,itmaybetoolate.Withtherisksobviousandgrowing,aprudentpeoplewouldtakeoutaninsurancepolicynow.

Fortunately,theWhiteHouseisstartingtopayattention.Butit’sobviousthatamajorityofthepresident’sadvisersstilldon’ttakeglobalwarmingseriously.Insteadofaplanofaction,theycontinuetopressformoreresearch--aclassiccaseof“paralysisbyanalysis”.

Toserveasresponsiblestewardsoftheplanet,wemustpressforwardondeeperatmosphericandoceanicresearch.Butr esearchaloneisinadequate.IftheAdministr ationwon’ttakethelegislativeinitiative,Congressshouldhelptobeginfashioningconservationmeasures.AbillbyDemocraticSenatorRobertByrdofWestVirginia,whichwouldofferfinancialincentivesforprivateindustr y,isapromisingstart.Manyseethatthecountr yisgettingreadytobuildlotsofnewpowerplantstomeetourenergyneeds.Ifweareevergoingtoprotecttheatmosphere,itiscrucialthatthosenewplantsbeenvironmentallysound.

26.Anargumentmadebysupportersofsmokingwasthat________.

[A]therewasnoscientificevidenceofthecorrelationbetweensmokinganddeath

[B]thenumberofearlydeathsofsmokersinthepastd ecadeswasinsignificant

[C]peoplehadthefreedomtochoosetheirownwayoflife

[D]antismokingpeoplewereusuallytalkingnonsense