Australia’s Senate has voted to cancel the carbon tax, a charge on the biggest polluters passed by the previous Labor government.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott, whose Liberal-National coalition beat Labor in an election last year, had made the cancellation a central aim of his government.

Politicians have been locked in a fierce row about the tax for years. Labor says it helps to combat climate change, but the Liberals claim it punishes lawful businesses. The Australian Senate voted by 39 to 32 votes to give up the tax.

Introduced in July 2012, it charges the 348 highest polluters A$23 (£13; $22.60) for every tonne of greenhouse gases they produce.

Australia is the developed world’s worst polluter per head of population. But critics, including Mr Abbott, said that the tax cost jobs and forced energy prices up.

There were widespread protests against the introduction of the tax in Australia and its discharge formed a major part of Mr Abbot’s election manifesto. Mr Abbot says removing the carbon tax is a foundation of the government’s economic action strategy, calling the move “great news for Australian families”. “We are honoring our commitments to you and building a strong and prosperous economy for a safe and secure Australia.” he says. 

Labor and the Greens voted against the cancellation, with Greens leader Christine Milne describing the vote as an “appalling day for Australia”. Labor accused Mr Abbott of “taking Australia backwards while the rest of the world is moving forward”. “All of Australia’s major trading partners are taking serious action on climate change, including in our own region,” opposition leader Bill Shorten said in a statement. He says his party will include a policy to introduce an emissions trading scheme in its campaign for the 2016 election.

Australia has promised to reduce its emissions levels by 5% on 2000 levels by 2020. A target of obtaining 20% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020 also remains in place.

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1.Which party passed the carbon tax originally?

A The Labor.

B The Liberal.

C The Liberal-National coalition.

D The Greens.

解析：选A。细节理解题。根据文章第一段…passed by the previous Labor government可知，碳税法案是前届工党政府通过实施的。

2.What was the main reason that leads the present government to decide on the cancellation of the carbon tax?

A Politicians were determined to do so years ago.

B Australia is not safe and secure enough to live in.

C The government wants to keep its economy prosperous.

D The carbon tax worsened the Australian economy.

解析：选D。细节理解题。根据文章第五段Abbot的批评… that the tax cost jobs and forced energy prices up可知，碳税法案造成了失业，同时还造成了能源价格上涨。这是现届政府废除碳税法案的主要原因。

3.What can be implied in the passage?

A Mr Abbot thought that carbon tax had made a lot of families poor.

B Mr Abbot made use of the public protests against carbon tax in the election.

C Many people are unemployed because of the carbon tax.

D The carbon tax works as a barrier for the development of lawful businesses.

解析：选B。推理判断题。根据文章第二段made the cancellation a central aim of his government. 与第六段There were widespread protests… and its discharge formed a major part of Mr Abbot’s election manifesto可知，Abbot在当年参加竞选时将废除碳税法案当作自己的竞选宣言，以此获得公众支持。由此判断，B项正确。

4.What does the underlined word most probably mean in Paragraph Six？

A Exciting.

B Embarrassing.

C Horrifying.

D Unforgettable.

解析：选C。猜测词义题。根据voted against the cancellation可知，绿党反对废除碳税法案，认为这么做非常危险，这是让人感到“惊骇的一天”。appalling意为“令人惊骇的”。

5.What is suggested in the last paragraph?

A The cancellation of carbon tax helps reduce its emissions levels.

B Australia has made great effort to make the country promising.

C The author worries that the emission levels or the target can’t be realized.

D Australia has a long-term plan to make use of renewable resources.

解析：选C。推理判断题。前文介绍了绿党等团体反对废除碳税法案的情况，在最后一段罗列了澳大利亚近期的环境保护目标，一方面废除碳税法案，为二氧化碳排放开绿灯，但同时还制定减排目标，以及利用可再生能源发电，此消彼长，因此作者怀疑这样的目标能否实现。