阅读理解

Skepticsarestrangelot．Someofthemrefusetoadmittheseriousthreatofhumanactivitiestotheenvironmentandtheyaretiredofpeoplewhodisagreewiththem．Thosepeoplesayskepticsspreadnotingbutbadnewsabouttheenvironment．The“eco-guilt”broughtonbythediscouragingnewsaboutourplanetgivesrisetothepopularityofskepticsaspeoplesearchformorecomfortingworldviews．

PerhapsthatexplainswhyanewbookbyBjornLombardreceivedsomuchpublicity．ThatbookTheSkepticalEnvironmentalistdeclaresthatit　measuresthe“realstateoftheworld’’asfine．Ofcourseanotherexplanationisthedeeppocketsofsomebigbusinesseswithspecialinterests．IndeedMr．Lombard’sviewsaresimilartothoseofsomeIndustry-fundedorganizationswhichstarthugeactivitiesthoughthemediatoconfusethepublicaboutissueslikeglobalwarming．

SoitwasstrangetoseeMr．Limburg’sbookgolargelyunchallengedinthemediathoughhisbeliefswerecontrarytomostscientificopinions．OnenationalnewspaperinCanadarananumberofarticlesandreviewsfullofwordsofpraiseevenwiththeconclusionthat“AfterLimburgtheenvironmentalmovementwillbegintodiedown．”

Suchone-sidedviewsshouldhaveimmediatelybeenchallenged．ButonlyadifferentreviewappearedinNaturearespectedsciencemagazinewithspecificreadership．ThereviewremarkedthatMr．Limburg’s“preferenceforunexaminedmaterialsisincredible(不可信的)”．

Acritical(批判的)eyeisvaluableandthemediashouldpresentinformationinsuchawaythatcouldallowpeopletomakeinformeddecisions．Unfortunatelythatisofteninaccessibleasblockedbythedesiretobeshockingortodefendsomespecialinterest．Peoplemightbecomehalf-blindbeforeaworldpartiallyexhibitedbythemedia．That’sashamebecausemattersconcerningthehealthoftheplanetarefartooimportanttobetreatedlightly．