Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 44 to 50.
In the United States, air-conditioning has influenced the movement of population from the cooler northern states to the southern ones. Since air-conditioning made life more pleasant in the summer months, states like Florida and Arizona began to draw people from the north. This population shift has affected regional economies between northern and southern states.
The effects of air-conditioning on society are hardly limited to the United States. Singapore's Senior Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, claims that air-conditioning is one reason for Singapore's rise as an Asian power. In his view, societies in the past progressed most rapidly in countries with cooler climates, but now that countries in tropical zones are using air-conditioning, they can also expand and grow. The use of air-conditioning is seen in some Asian countries as a way to show status. In Hong Kong, for example, office managers tend to keep temperatures extremely cold, sometimes at only 60°F (16°C), 10 to 14°F (6 to 7°C) below the recommended settings. The main reason is simply to show that the company can afford it.
Although air-conditioning has led to economic improvement and has increased daily comfort for people everywhere, its impact on the environment has not been so positive. First, air conditioning units release polluting chemicals into the air, which contribute to global warming. Furthermore, running air-conditioning on a large scale requires enormous amounts of energy. The burning of coal and oil to produce this energy also contributes to air pollution and thus, to global warming.
In some countries, governments and industry are beginning to search for ways to reduce the harm caused by air-conditioning. In Japan, summer temperatures have been raised in office buildings to conserve energy. In the United States, government, industry, and private groups are searching for ways to reduce the amount of dangerous chemicals released by air conditioners. Staying cool is important, and many cannot imagine life without air-conditioning. However, new technologies are to be found to make sure that air-conditioning does not create more problems than it solves.
(Adapted from Advanced Reading Power by B.S. Mikulecky and L. Jefferies)
