Consumers are being confused and misled by the hodge-podge (大雜燴) of environmental claims made by household products, according to a “green labeling” study published by Consumers International Friday.
Among the report’s more outrageous (令人無法容忍的) 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 (洗滌劑) 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.
1. 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
2. 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
3. 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
4. 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
5. 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
這是一篇關(guān)于產(chǎn)品的環(huán)保問題的專題報道。文中談到，消費者常常被產(chǎn)品的宣傳所誤導(dǎo)而感到迷惑不解。國際消費者協(xié)會的調(diào)查表明，很多聲稱環(huán)保的產(chǎn)品實際上名不副實，各種產(chǎn)品所稱的內(nèi)容往往具有欺騙性。要使消費者意識到各類不同產(chǎn)品對環(huán)境的影響，還需要很長一段時間。目前正在大力推進的工作是使產(chǎn)品標(biāo)簽?zāi)軌蚍蠂H標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化組織(ISO)的要求。
參考答案：
1.B 推論題，各種產(chǎn)品生成的內(nèi)容常常含混不清或具有欺騙性。
參見文章第2段：a German fertilizer described itself as, a brand of flour said it was and a British toilet paper claimed to be這句話中所提到的“ earthworm friendly” ,“non-polluting” ,“environmentally friendlier”均屬NCC發(fā)現(xiàn)的含混不清或具有欺騙性的內(nèi)容。
其他選項：A，所有被調(diào)查的產(chǎn)品都聲稱符合ISO標(biāo)準(zhǔn);C，消費者愿意相信許多產(chǎn)品聲稱的內(nèi)容;D，很少有產(chǎn)品實際上證明是有利于環(huán)保的。
2. D 推論題，(消費者)仍然不知道各種不同產(chǎn)品對環(huán)境的確切影響。
參見文中第4段：“ 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,”這句話的意思是：盡管有許多有關(guān)的和有用的聲明，要確保購買者充分了解不同產(chǎn)品對環(huán)境的確切影響，還有漫長的道路要走。由此暗示消費者仍然不知道各種產(chǎn)品對環(huán)境的確切影響。
其他選項的意思是：A，對他們將購買的產(chǎn)品更加小心;B，仍然不愿意為帶綠色標(biāo)簽的產(chǎn)品多付錢;C，更加清楚不同的產(chǎn)品對環(huán)境的影響。
3. C 細節(jié)題，對照ISO標(biāo)準(zhǔn)檢查各種產(chǎn)品所生成的內(nèi)容。
參見文中第5，6段：The 10-country study surveyed product packaging…,compared them to labeling guidelines set by the International Standards Organization (ISO)
其他選項的意思是：A，查明產(chǎn)品所生成的內(nèi)容有多少未能達到環(huán)保標(biāo)準(zhǔn);B，告知消費者關(guān)于他們購買的產(chǎn)品對環(huán)保的影響;D，通過國際標(biāo)準(zhǔn)組織修訂指導(dǎo)方針。
4. B 細節(jié)題，消費者發(fā)現(xiàn)很難區(qū)分產(chǎn)品的真假。
參見文中第9段：The high numbers show how very confusing it must be for consumers to sort the true from the misleading.”
其他選項的意思：A，它們很有可能導(dǎo)致嚴(yán)重的環(huán)保問題;B，消費者發(fā)現(xiàn)真假很能區(qū)別;C，它們可能會在消費者中引起普遍的憤怒。
5. A 推論題，使產(chǎn)品標(biāo)簽?zāi)芊蠂H化標(biāo)準(zhǔn)組織(ISO)的要求。
參見中文第10段Philip Page的原話：What we are now pushing for is to have multinational corporations meet the standards set by the ISO.
其他選項：B，確保所有家庭產(chǎn)品符合環(huán)保標(biāo)準(zhǔn);C，警告消費者所謂的綠色產(chǎn)品具有的危險;D，核實非污染產(chǎn)品的成就。
|
