The holidays are a wonderful, cheerful time when most people wait for Santa to bring them presents. But I’m not like most people. I spend my time wondering just what the environmental impacts of Santa Claus and his reindeer are, and more importantly, how I can calculate those impacts.

Lately I’ve been particularly curious as to whether Santa’s old sled is a clean green flying machine, or if he should be replacing his 8 reindeer with an environmentally-friendly car.

I should mention that, surprisingly, I was unable to find statistics specific to Santa’s magical flying reindeer, so these calculations use numbers from various sources and may not represent actual pollution caused by Santa and his animals. In other words, don’t complain to the government about the damage Santa is causing to the environment based on this article.

Santa’s yearly trip around the globe is 44,000km long, twice the average of a North American driver. If we assume that the magic provides the altitude for this trip, then reindeer power only needs to push Santa’s sled forward. To complete the trip in 12 hours, I estimate they must travel at a speed of about 3100km/h. To travel at this speed, for this length of time, the reindeer need to eat an incredible 980 million calories each!

So the next question is: how much food is in 980 million calories? Well, if they’re eating corn, they’d need to eat 16,500 lbs each - or 1.6 acres of food. Growing 12.8 acres of corn has its own implications for the environment that we’ll leave for another calculation.

We now need to consider that during the global trip the reindeer are “letting out” some of that corn in the form of methane (甲烷，沼气). A resting cow produces 110 kg of methane per year, so flying reindeer would each let out about 4.8 tons. With methane causing 20 times the global warming damage of CO2, and the altitude increasing that damage by 1000% that another 20 times, we can put Santa’s round-trip emissions at 15,488 tons. This is much more than the 100 tons an environmentally-friendly car would release on the same trip!

Bad Santa.

【1】Which aspect does the writer NOT mention in her analyses about reindeer’s influence on environment?

A.Distance covered.B.Money spent on food.

C.Tons of waste let out.D.Calories consumed.

【2】According to the passage, how many acres of corn would Santa need to feed 12 reindeer?

A.12.8.B.16.C.19.2.D.128.

【3】Which of the following words best describes the tone of the passage?

A.Humorous and concerned.B.Cheerful and friendly.

C.Academic and formal.D.Serious and boring.

【4】Which of the following is the best title for this passage?

A.Santa, watch where you’re going!B.Let’s reduce waste on Christmas celebrations!

C.Santa Claus is coming to town!D.Is Santa driving clean and green?

【答案】

【1】B

【2】C

【3】A

【4】D

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。假期是一个美妙的，令人愉快的时候，大多数人等待圣诞老人给他们带来礼物。但是Krista Fairles以一种有趣的方式看待这个话题，他通过一系列的数字列举来分析了圣诞老人乘坐他的驯鹿派发圣诞礼物会对环境造成破坏。

【1】细节理解题。根据第五段中Santa’s yearly trip around the globe is 44,000km long, twice the average of a North American driver.（圣诞老人每年的环球旅行长达4.4万公里，是北美司机平均里程的两倍）可知作者在分析驯鹿对环境的影响时，提到了距离覆盖方面，故排除A选项；根据第五段中To travel at this speed, for this length of time, the reindeer need to eat an incredible 980 million calories each!（要以这样的速度，在这么长的时间里，每只驯鹿需要吃下令人难以置信的9.8亿卡路里!）可知作者在分析驯鹿对环境的影响时，提到了卡路里消耗问题，故排除D选项；根据倒数第二段中A resting cow produces 110 kg of methane per year, so flying reindeer would each let out about 4.8 tons.（一头静止的奶牛每年产生110公斤的甲烷，所以会飞的驯鹿每年释放4.8吨甲烷）可知提到了成吨的废物被排除，故排除C选项。只有B项“花在食物上的钱”在文中没有提及。故选B。

【2】细节理解题。根据倒数第三段中Well, if they’re eating corn, they’d need to eat 16,500 lbs each - or 1.6 acres of food.（如果他们吃玉米，每头麋鹿需要吃16500磅，也就是1.6英亩的食物）可知圣诞老人需要1.6*12=19.2英亩的玉米来喂养12只驯鹿。故选C。

【3】推理判断题。作者在第二至四段中用了幽默的语言指出了圣诞老人乘坐驯鹿派发圣诞礼物会对环境造成破坏，而根据第五段中To travel at this speed, for this length of time, the reindeer need to eat an incredible 980 million calories each! （要以这样的速度，在这么长的时间里，每只驯鹿需要吃下令人难以置信的9.8亿卡路里!），以及第七段中A resting cow produces 110 kg of methane per year, so flying reindeer would each let out about 4.8 tons.（一头静止的奶牛每年产生110公斤的甲烷，所以会飞的驯鹿每年释放4.8吨甲烷）列举的数字可以看出作者对此感到担忧。故选A。

【4】主旨大意题。根据第三段Lately I’ve been particularly curious as to whether Santa’s old sled is a clean green flying machine, or if he should be replacing his 8 reindeer with an environmentally-friendly car.（最近我特别好奇，圣诞老人的旧雪橇是干净的绿色飞行机器，还是应该把他的8只驯鹿换成一辆环保汽车）以及通读全文可知，作者分析了圣诞老人乘坐他的驯鹿派发圣诞礼物会对环境造成破坏，由此可知D项“圣诞老人的代步工具是环保的吗”作标题最恰当。故选D。