Passage 3
Consumers are being confused and misled by the hodge-podge (大杂烩) of environmental claims made by household products, according to a “green labeling” study published by Consumers International Friday.
Among the report’s more outrageous (令人无法容忍的) findings-a German fertilizer described itself as “earthworm friendly” a brand of flour said it was “non-polluting” and a British toilet paper claimed to be “environmentally friendlier”
The study was written and researched by Britain’s National Consumer Council (NCC) for lobby group Consumer International. It was funded by the German and Dutch governments and the European Commission.
“ While many good and useful claims are being made, it is clear there is a long way to go in ensuring shoppers are adequately informed about the environmental impact of products they buy,” said Consumers International director Anna Fielder.
The 10-country study surveyed product packaging in Britain, Western Europe, Scandinavia and the United States. It found that products sold in Germany and the United Kingdom made the most environmental claims on average.
The report focused on claims made by specific products, such as detergent (洗涤剂) insect sprays and by some garden products. It did not test the claims, but compared them to labeling guidelines set by the International Standards Organization (ISO) in September, 1999.
Researchers documented claims of environmental friendliness made by about 2,000 products and found many too vague or too misleading to meet ISO standards.
“Many products had specially-designed labels to make them seem environmentally friendly, but in fact many of these symbols mean nothing,” said report researcher Philip Page.
“Laundry detergents made the most number of claims with 158. Household cleaners were second with 145 separate claims, while paints were third on our list with 73. The high numbers show how very confusing it must be for consumers to sort the true from the misleading.” he said.
The ISO labeling standards ban vague or misleading claims on product packaging, because terms such as “environmentally friendly” and “non-polluting” cannot be verified. “What we are now pushing for is to have multinational corporations meet the standards set by the ISO.” said Page.
31. According to the passage, the NCC found it outrageous that ________.
A) all the products surveyed claim to meet ISO standards
B) the claims made by products are often unclear or deceiving
C) consumers would believe many of the manufactures’ claim
D) few products actually prove to be environment friendly(B)
32. As indicated in this passage, with so many good claims, the consumers ________.
A) are becoming more cautious about the products they are going to buy
B) are still not willing to pay more for products with green labeling
C) are becoming more aware of the effects different products have on the environment
D) still do not know the exact impact of different products on the environment(D)
33. A study was carried out by Britain’s NCC to ________.
A) find out how many claims made by products fail to meet environmental standards
B) inform the consumers of the environmental impact of the products they buy
C) examine claims made by products against ISO standards
D) revise the guidelines set by the International Standards Organization(C)
34. What is one of the consequences caused by the many claims of household products?
A) They are likely to lead to serious environmental problems.
B) Consumers find it difficult to tell the true from the false.
C) They could arouse widespread anger among consumer.
D) Consumers will be tempted to buy products they don’t need.(B)
35. It can be inferred from the passage that the lobby group Consumer International wants to ________.
A) make product labeling satisfy ISO requirements
B) see all household products meet environmental standards
C) warn consumers of the danger of so-called green products
D) verify the efforts of non-polluting products(A)
这篇材料讲的是欧美国家日常用品上环保说明遭到滥用的现象。文章第一段十分精炼地交代了全篇所述的主要内容：消费者正受到环保说明的困扰和误导(Consumers are being confused and misled by……environmental claims);同时透露出这一内容的发布来源。余下的几段对首段的说法进行详细了阐述。这种金字塔结构属于英美报刊文章的典型特点。
第二段举出了几个实例说明环保说明遭到滥用的情形，使人对文章所述核心内容有一个感性的认识。一个例子是某德国肥料号称具有“蚯蚓友好性”(a German fertilizer described itself as “earthworm friendly”)，还有某品牌面粉也自称“不会引起污染”(non-polluting)，而一种英国卫生纸也自诩“环境友好性”(environmentally friendlier)。
第三段指出进行这一研究的单位：Britain’s National Consumer Council，这是为了体现研究的权威性。而后又说明了该研究机构的资助机构：German and Dutch governments and the European Commission，即德国、荷兰政府和欧盟执行委员会，这是为了说明该项研究的中立性，强调其可信度。
第四段引用研究人员的话，对其研究对象做出了总体评价：在告知顾客如何判断考(试^大商品对环境的影响上，还有很长的路要走(there is a long way to go in……)。之后的几段描述了研究的细节。
第五段说明该研究的覆盖范围(10-country)以及初步结论：德英两国的产品滥用环保说明的现象平均最多。第六段说明实际研究的主要商品类别(洗涤剂、杀虫剂和园艺用品)，并指出研究的方式是不做测试，而只是将其与ISO的商标说明进行比照(did not test the claims, but compared them to……)。下一段给出了比照结果：环保说明太过模糊、误导性过强，达不到ISO标准要求(too vague or too misleading to meet ISO standards)。
随后的两段分析了这些环保说明的实质，第八、九段引用研究员的话指出许多环保说明空无一物(these symbols mean nothing)，而环保说明的繁杂也使消费者无法判断其真伪(very confusing it must be for consumers to sort the true from the misleading)。
最后一段借Page之口道出了该项研究的目的：促使跨国公司达到ISO要求(have multinational corporations meet the standards set by the ISO)。
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