We can begin our discussion of “population as global issue” with what most persons mean when they discuss “the population problem”: too many people on earth and a too rapid increase in the number added each year. The facts are not in dispute, It was quite right to employ the analogy that likened demographic growth to “a long, thin powder fuse that burns steadily and haltingly until it finally reaches the charge and explodes.”
To understand the current situation, which is characterized by rapid increases in population, it is necessary to understand the history of population trends. Rapid growth is a comparatively recent phenomenon. Looking back at the 8,000 years of demographic history, we find that populations have been virtually stable or growing very slightly for most of human history. For most of our ancestors, life was hard, often nasty, and very short. There was high fertility in most places, but this was usually balanced by high mortality. For most of human history, it was seldom the case that one in ten persons would live past forty, while infancy and childhood were especially risky periods. Often, societies were in clear danger of extinction because death rates could exceed their birthrates. Thus, the population problem throughout most of history was how to prevent extinction of the human race.
This pattern is important to notice. Not only does it put the current problems of demographic growth into a historical perspective, but it suggests that the cause of rapid increase in population in recent years is not a sudden enthusiasm for more children, but an improvement in the conditions that traditionally have caused high mortality.
Demographic history can be divided into two major periods: a time of long, slow growth which extended from about 8,000 BC.till approximately AD. 1650. In the first period of some 9600 years, the population increased from some 8 million to 500 million in 1650. Between 1650 and the present, the population has increased from 500 million to more than 4 billion. And it is estimated that by the year 2000 there will be 6.2 billion people throughout the world. One way to appreciate this dramatic difference in such abstract numbers is to reduce the time frame to something that is more manageable. Between 8000BC and 1650, an average of only 50,000 persons was being added annually to the world’s population each year. At present, this number is added every six hours. The increase is about 80,000,000 persons annually.
1.Which of the following demographic growth pattern is most suitable for the long thin powder fuse analogy?
A.A virtually stable or slightly decreasing period and then a sudden explosion of population.
B.A slow growth for a long time and then a period of rapid, dramatic increase.
C.Too many people on earth and a few rapid increase in the number added each year.
D.A long period when death rates exceeds birthrates and then a short period with higher fertility and lower mortality.
2.During the first period of demographic history, societies were often in danger of extinction because___.
A.only one in ten persons could live past 40.
B.there was higher mortality than fertility in most places.
C.it was too dangerous to have babies due to the poor conditions.
D.our ancestors had little enthusiasm for more children.
3.Which statement is true about population increase?
A.There might be an increase of 2.2 billion persons from now to the year 2000.
B.About 50,000 babies are born every six hours at present.
C.Between 8000 BC and the present, the population increase is about 80,000,000 persons each year.
D.The population increased faster between 8000BC and 1650 than between 1650 and the present.
4.The author of the passage intends to___.
A.warn people against the population explosion in the near future.
B.compare the demographic growth pattern in the past with that after 1650.
C.find out the cause for rapid increase in population in recent years.
D.present us a clear and complete picture of the demographic growth.
5.The word “demographic” in the first paragraph means___.
A.statistics of human.
B.surroundings study.
C.accumulation of human.
D.development of human.
ABADA
暂无解析
Part I Reading Comprehension
Directions: In this part there are four passages. Each passage is followed by four comprehension questions. Read the passage and answer the questions. Then mark your answer on the Answer Sheet.
Passage 1
Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage:
Ask three people to look the same window at a busy street corner and tell you what they see. Chances are you will receive three different answers. Each person sees the same scene, but each perceives something different about it.
Perceiving goes on in our minds. Of the three people who look out the window, one may say that he sees a policeman giving a motorist a ticket. Another may say that he sees a rush-hour traffic jam at the intersection. The third may tell you that he sees a woman trying to cross the street with four children in tow. For perception is the mind’s interpretation of what the senses—in this case our eyes—tell us.
Many psychologists today are working to try to determine just how a person experiences or perceives the world around him. Using a scientific approach, these psychologists set up experiments in which they can control all of the factors. By measuring and charting the results of many experiments, they are trying to find out what makes different people perceive totally different things about the same scene.
1. Seeing and perceiving are .
A. the same action
B. two separate actions
C. two actions carried on entirely by eyes
D. several actions that take place at different times
2. Perceiving is an action that takes place .
A. in our eyes
B. only when we think very hard about something
C. only under the direction of a psychologist
D. in every person’s mind
3. People perceive different things about the same scene because .
A. they see different things B. some have better eyesight
C. they cannot agree about things D. none of these
4. Which of the following is implied but not stated in the passage?
A. Psychologists do not yet know people see.
B. The experiments in which all factors are controlled are better.
C. The study of perception is going on now.
D. Perception does not involve psychological factors.
5. The best title for this selection is .
A. How We See
B. Learning about Our Minds through Science
C. What Psychologists Perceive
D. How to Because an Experimental Psychologist
翻译：
中华民族的传统文化博大精深、源远流长。早在2 000多年前，就产生了儒家学说和道家学说，以及其他很多在中国思想史上有地位的学说流派，这就是有名的“诸子百家”。从孔夫子到孙中山，中华民族传统文化有它的很多珍贵品质。比如“天下兴亡，匹夫有责”的爱国情操，“民为邦本”、“民贵君轻”的民本思想和“己所不欲，勿施于人”的行为准则。
The first paragraph is intended to ________.
Paragraphs 2 and 3 explain ________.
The matter is not to be ____.
