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Updated on: 22 Jun 2025, 23:24
Originally posted by Himanshee123 on 14 Sep 2021, 20:08.
Last edited by napolean92728 on 22 Jun 2025, 23:24, edited 2 times in total.
Last edited by napolean92728 on 22 Jun 2025, 23:24, edited 2 times in total.
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What would we be doing now if we took climate change seriously? Last week the government released a report on the likely temperature changes in the UK. It shows that life at the end of this century will bear no relationship to life at the beginning. It should have dominated the news for days. But it was too far away, too remote from current problems, too big to see.
Lord Giddens has been touting the hypothesis that people are reluctant to act on climate change until it becomes visible to them, by which time it will be too late. This thought, which has been common currency within the environment movement for at least 20 years, has been christened by this shrinking violet the "Giddens’ Paradox". It ranks among his other major discoveries, like the Giddens’ Postulate (people wear fewer clothes when temperatures rise) and the Giddens’ Effect (the Earth goes round the Sun). But despite his outrageous expropriation, the point is valid: we resist taking radical action until we have no choice, whereupon it will have no effect.
Our resistance to change is not peculiar to environmental issues. When confronted by crisis, we try to stick to the script. [C]onfronting change means making use of parts of the brain which require more energy to engage. We perceive high levels of energy use much as we perceive pain. For good biological reasons we seek to avoid them. We engage with change only when we have to. ...That"s a horribly simplified account of some very complex processes, but you get the general idea. Change is pain, a change for the worse is double pain. We pretend it"s not there, up to the point at which it starts hammering on the door.
So environmentalists seek to persuade us that we"ll love the green transition. This ‘downshifting’, ‘voluntary simplicity’ or ‘alternative hedonism’ is presented as a change for the better. A new green deal will save the planet, the workforce and the economy. Energy efficiency will protect the bottom line and the biosphere. A less frantic life will allow us to enjoy the small wonders that surround us.
There is both exaggeration and truth in all this, but effective action also involves a change for the worse: regulation, rationing, austerity, state spending. ...
Everything we need to do has been made harder by debt. Net state debt now exceeds £700bn. This introduces two environmental problems. The first is that there is no money left with which to fund a green new deal. The second is that we"ll be able to pay off these debts only by resuming economic growth. Greenhouse gases grow because the economy grows. The UK"s liabilities make the transition to a steady state economy, let alone a managed contraction, much harder to achieve. The debt crisis is an environmental disaster.
We could cut defence spending by 90% and suffer no loss to our national security. Instead, the MoD has just dropped its spending on climate change research. ... The last time we faced a crisis on the scale of the global climate crash, we thought of building tanks as the rational solution. Now the rational solution is to stop building tanks, and use the money to address a real threat.
Lord Giddens has been touting the hypothesis that people are reluctant to act on climate change until it becomes visible to them, by which time it will be too late. This thought, which has been common currency within the environment movement for at least 20 years, has been christened by this shrinking violet the "Giddens’ Paradox". It ranks among his other major discoveries, like the Giddens’ Postulate (people wear fewer clothes when temperatures rise) and the Giddens’ Effect (the Earth goes round the Sun). But despite his outrageous expropriation, the point is valid: we resist taking radical action until we have no choice, whereupon it will have no effect.
Our resistance to change is not peculiar to environmental issues. When confronted by crisis, we try to stick to the script. [C]onfronting change means making use of parts of the brain which require more energy to engage. We perceive high levels of energy use much as we perceive pain. For good biological reasons we seek to avoid them. We engage with change only when we have to. ...That"s a horribly simplified account of some very complex processes, but you get the general idea. Change is pain, a change for the worse is double pain. We pretend it"s not there, up to the point at which it starts hammering on the door.
So environmentalists seek to persuade us that we"ll love the green transition. This ‘downshifting’, ‘voluntary simplicity’ or ‘alternative hedonism’ is presented as a change for the better. A new green deal will save the planet, the workforce and the economy. Energy efficiency will protect the bottom line and the biosphere. A less frantic life will allow us to enjoy the small wonders that surround us.
There is both exaggeration and truth in all this, but effective action also involves a change for the worse: regulation, rationing, austerity, state spending. ...
Everything we need to do has been made harder by debt. Net state debt now exceeds £700bn. This introduces two environmental problems. The first is that there is no money left with which to fund a green new deal. The second is that we"ll be able to pay off these debts only by resuming economic growth. Greenhouse gases grow because the economy grows. The UK"s liabilities make the transition to a steady state economy, let alone a managed contraction, much harder to achieve. The debt crisis is an environmental disaster.
We could cut defence spending by 90% and suffer no loss to our national security. Instead, the MoD has just dropped its spending on climate change research. ... The last time we faced a crisis on the scale of the global climate crash, we thought of building tanks as the rational solution. Now the rational solution is to stop building tanks, and use the money to address a real threat.
1. Which of the following best summarises the author’s position in the passage?
(A) The author examines various problems faced by his country.
(B) The author is vituperative of the lackadaisical attitude of the government towards the problems faced by the people.
(C) The author focuses on a problem that has been totally ignored by the government and the people.
(D) The author analyses a problem and examines various related factors
2. According to the passage, the problematic issues related to the environment have been compounded by the debt crisis because
(A) the latter attracts all the attention and the former is relegated to the background.
(B) it is not possible to channelize surplus funds from other sectors of the economy.
(C) the economic growth needed to pay back the debts will result in an overall increase in environmental emissions.
(D) the funds needed for a green new deal are substantial
(A) the latter attracts all the attention and the former is relegated to the background.
(B) it is not possible to channelize surplus funds from other sectors of the economy.
(C) the economic growth needed to pay back the debts will result in an overall increase in environmental emissions.
(D) the funds needed for a green new deal are substantial
3. Which of the following best captures the author’s impression of “Giddens’ paradox”?
(A) The author’s tone is one of sarcasm as he criticizes its hypothesis.
(B) Though a repetition of a hackneyed concept, the author believes it is still relevant.
(C) Giddens has done well to bring to light what can no longer be ignored.
(D) By lending it his name, Giddens has appropriated to himself an idea long prevalent
(A) The author’s tone is one of sarcasm as he criticizes its hypothesis.
(B) Though a repetition of a hackneyed concept, the author believes it is still relevant.
(C) Giddens has done well to bring to light what can no longer be ignored.
(D) By lending it his name, Giddens has appropriated to himself an idea long prevalent
4. According to the passage, why do environmentalists paint the “green transition” as one for the better?
(A) There is little incentive to act if the change is for the worse.
(B) They genuinely believe that ‘downshifting’ or ‘voluntary simplicity’ or ‘alternative hedonism’ is the order of the day.
(C) A slowdown in our hectic race will benefit us physically, mentally and emotionally.
(D) As we have a natural resistance to change that is for the worse, they try to motivate us.
(A) There is little incentive to act if the change is for the worse.
(B) They genuinely believe that ‘downshifting’ or ‘voluntary simplicity’ or ‘alternative hedonism’ is the order of the day.
(C) A slowdown in our hectic race will benefit us physically, mentally and emotionally.
(D) As we have a natural resistance to change that is for the worse, they try to motivate us.
5. The “general idea” that the author expects us to understand (para 3) is that
(A) most people are apathetic to issues that do not affect them immediately.
(B) people will adopt change only when it can no longer be put off.
(C) we agree to change only when it is too late to change.
(D) people will not readily give up on the privileges that they have obtained with great difficulty
(A) most people are apathetic to issues that do not affect them immediately.
(B) people will adopt change only when it can no longer be put off.
(C) we agree to change only when it is too late to change.
(D) people will not readily give up on the privileges that they have obtained with great difficulty
14 Sep 2021, 20:40
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Sorry Guys! I have tried adding timer to the passage but some how its not showing up. Rest everything is fine;
22 Jun 2025, 23:25
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Don't worry the issue would be fixed soon.
Himanshee123
