课程咨询

托福考试网 托福资料下载 托福资讯 0元讲座 水平测试

托福考试练习
新东方在线 > TOEFL > 托福阅读 > 正文
托福培训

扫码免费领资料

托福全科备考资料

免费水平测试及规划

托福培训

扫码关注掌握一手留学资讯

回复XDF免费水平测试

录播精讲 直播课HOT

托福阅读材料:大众丑闻A mucky business

2016-07-25 12:48:32来源：网络

　　There is also a certain apprehension. Sigmar Gabriel, the vice-chancellor and economics minister, said on September 21st that he hoped the export brand of Germany as a whole would not be tarnished. Germany’s economic strength rests in large part on the idea that anything stamped “Made in Germany” will offer a high level of reliability, trustworthiness and engineering prowess. Much of that reputation rests on the broad shoulders and sturdy tyres of the car industry, which directly or indirectly employs one in seven of the country’s workers; and with a stable of marques that includes Porsche and Audi, VW is that industry’s leader. Industrialists fret that consumers worldwide could exact reputational Sippenhaft—collective punishment, but literally “kin liability”—on all German engineering.

　　As well as being a threat to Germany’s export earnings, the scandal also menaces the brainchild of one of its most eminent engineers, Rudolf Diesel—at least as far as its future in cars is concerned. Diesel engines use fuel more efficiently than engines with spark plugs, and better efficiency reduces both drivers’ expenses and carbon-dioxide emissions. Those advantages have endeared diesel engines to thrifty Europeans with green governments; none too popular elsewhere in the world, they power half of Europe’s cars (see chart 2).

托福阅读材料:大众丑闻A mucky business

Unfortunately, the benefits come with costs. Diesel cars’ alt="托福阅读材料:大众丑闻A mucky business" efficiency comes from burning their fuel at a higher temperature, and that means they turn more of the nitrogen in the air they use for burning into various oxides of nitrogen, collectively known as NOx. This does not have global climate effects on the same scale as those of carbon dioxide, which is the most important long-lived greenhouse gas. But it has far worse local effects, generating smogs and damaging plants and lungs. To make matters worse, the catalytic technologies used to deal with the NOx emitted by petrol engines are not well suited for use with diesels, requiring engine makers to deploy more complex and expensive alternatives. That is not a big problem for large engines like those of trucks and ships. But it is for small engines like those of cars.

　　In America NOx standards are more demanding than they are in Europe. Mazda and Honda, both accomplished producers of diesel engines, have had trouble complying with them. It now appears that VW, which has put a lot of effort into persuading Americans that diesels can be clean and green, would also have failed to comply if it had not cheated. The campaign to convince Americans of the merits of diesel may thus well be at an end. And if it turns out that under real-life conditions many diesels also break Europe’s less stringent NOx standards then the future of diesel cars worldwide will be bleak.

本文关键字: 托福阅读 托福阅读材料

上一页 1 2 3 4 5 6 下一页

托福辅导

关注新东方在线托福

托福机经·Official题目练习

考前重点突破·听说读写海量资料

更多资料

关注新东方在线托福，
回复【XDF】获取大礼包

托福辅导
  • 1.打开手机微信【扫一扫】，识别上方二维码；
  • 2.点击【添加】，回复对应关键字领取学习资料。
更多>>
更多内容

免费获取托福备考大礼包

微信扫描下方二维码 立即领取

托福辅导
更多>>
更多公益讲座>>
更多>>
更多资料
托福TPO 托福听力练习 托福口语练习 托福阅读练习 托福写作练习
我要
反馈 返回
首页
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10