Ifyouexplainedthesituationtoyoursolicitor,he_____abletoadviseyoumuchbetterthanIcan.

Wecanbeginourdiscussionof“populationasglobalissue”withwhatmostpersonsmeanwhentheydiscuss“thepopulationproblem”:toomanypeopleonearthandatoorapidincreaseinthenumberaddedeachyear.Thefactsarenotindispute,Itwasquiterighttoemploytheanalogythatlikeneddemographicgrowthto“along,thinpowderfusethatburnssteadilyandhaltinglyuntilitfinallyreachesthechargeandexplodes.”

Tounderstandthecurrentsituation,whichischaracterizedbyrapidincreasesinpopulation,itisnecessarytounderstandthehistoryofpopulationtrends.Rapidgrowthisacomparativelyrecentphenomenon.Lookingbackatthe8,000yearsofdemographichistory,wefindthatpopulationshavebeenvirtuallystableorgrowingveryslightlyformostofhumanhistory.Formostofourancestors,lifewashard,oftennasty,andveryshort.Therewashighfertilityinmostplaces,butthiswasusuallybalancedbyhighmortality.Formostofhumanhistory,itwasseldomthecasethatoneintenpersonswouldlivepastforty,whileinfancyandchildhoodwereespeciallyriskyperiods.Often,societieswereincleardangerofextinctionbecausedeathratescouldexceedtheirbirthrates.Thus,thepopulationproblemthroughoutmostofhistorywashowtopreventextinctionofthehumanrace.

Thispatternisimportanttonotice.Notonlydoesitputthecurrentproblemsofdemographicgrowthintoahistoricalperspective,butitsuggeststhatthecauseofrapidincreaseinpopulationinrecentyearsisnotasuddenenthusiasmformorechildren,butanimprovementintheconditionsthattraditionallyhavecausedhighmortality.

Demographichistorycanbedividedintotwomajorperiods:atimeoflong,slowgrowthwhichextendedfromabout8,000BC.tillapproximatelyAD.1650.Inthefirstperiodofsome9600years,thepopulationincreasedfromsome8millionto500millionin1650.Between1650andthepresent,thepopulationhasincreasedfrom500milliontomorethan4billion.Anditisestimatedthatbytheyear2000therewillbe6.2billionpeoplethroughouttheworld.Onewaytoappreciatethisdramaticdifferenceinsuchabstractnumbersistoreducethetimeframetosomethingthatismoremanageable.Between8000BCand1650,anaverageofonly50,000personswasbeingaddedannuallytotheworld’spopulationeachyear.Atpresent,thisnumberisaddedeverysixhours.Theincreaseisabout80,000,000personsannually.

1.Whichofthefollowingdemographicgrowthpatternismostsuitableforthelongthinpowderfuseanalogy?

A.Avirtuallystableorslightlydecreasingperiodandthenasuddenexplosionofpopulation.

B.Aslowgrowthforalongtimeandthenaperiodofrapid,dramaticincrease.

C.Toomanypeopleonearthandafewrapidincreaseinthenumberaddedeachyear.

D.Alongperiodwhendeathratesexceedsbirthratesandthenashortperiodwithhigherfertilityandlowermortality.

2.Duringthefirstperiodofdemographichistory,societieswereoftenindangerofextinctionbecause___.

A.onlyoneintenpersonscouldlivepast40.

B.therewashighermortalitythanfertilityinmostplaces.

C.itwastoodangeroustohavebabiesduetothepoorconditions.

D.ourancestorshadlittleenthusiasmformorechildren.

3.Whichstatementistrueaboutpopulationincrease?

A.Theremightbeanincreaseof2.2billionpersonsfromnowtotheyear2000.

B.About50,000babiesareborneverysixhoursatpresent.

C.Between8000BCandthepresent,thepopulationincreaseisabout80,000,000personseachyear.

D.Thepopulationincreasedfasterbetween8000BCand1650thanbetween1650andthepresent.

4.Theauthorofthepassageintendsto___.

A.warnpeopleagainstthepopulationexplosioninthenearfuture.

B.comparethedemographicgrowthpatterninthepastwiththatafter1650.

C.findoutthecauseforrapidincreaseinpopulationinrecentyears.

D.presentusaclearandcompletepictureofthedemographicgrowth.

5.Theword“demographic”inthefirstparagraphmeans___.

A.statisticsofhuman.

B.surroundingsstudy.

C.accumulationofhuman.

D.developmentofhuman.

Whyaretoday'soldermiddle-agedandelderlybecomingthenewwinners?

Passage2

Questions6to10arebasedonthefollowingpassage:

Thefoodweeatseemstohaveprofoundeffectsonourhealth.Althoughsciencehasmadeenormousstepsinmakingfoodmorefittoeat,ithas,atthesametime,mademanyfoodsunfittoeat.Someresearchhasshowntat40percentofcancerisrelatedtothedietaswell,especiallycancerofthecolon.Differentculturesatemorepronetogetcertainillnessesbecauseofthefoodthatischaracteristicinthesecultures.Thatfoodisrelatedtoillnessisnotanewdiscovery.In1945,governmentresearchersrealizedthatnitratesandnitrites,commonlyusedtopreservecolorinmeats,andotherfoodadditives,causedcancer.Yetthesecarcinogenicadditivesremaininourfood,anditbecomesmoredifficultallthetimetoknowwhichthingsonthepackaginglabelsofprocessedfoodarehelpfulorharmful.Theadditivesthatweeatarenotallsodirect.Farmersoftengivepenicillintobeefandpoultry,andbecauseofthis,penicillinhasbeenfoundinthemilkoftreatedcows.Sometimessimilardrugsareadministeredtoanimalsnotformedicinalpurposes,butforfinancialreasons.Thefarmersaresimplytryingtofattentheanimalsinordertoobtainahigherpriceonthemarket.AlthoughtheFoodandDrugAdministration(FDA)hastriedrepeatedlytocontroltheseprocedures,thepracticescontinue.

6.Howhassciencedoneadisservicetomankind?

A.Becauseofscience,mostofthefoodsweeattodayarecontaminated.

B.Ithascausedalackofinformationconcerningthevalueoffood.

C.Asaresultofscientificintervention,somepotentiallyharmfulsubstanceshasbeenaddedtoourfood.

D.Thescientistshavepreservedthecolorofmeats,butnotofvegetables.

7.Whatarenitratesusedfor?

A.Theypreservesflavorinpackagedfoods.

B.Theypreservethecolorofmeats.

C.Theyaretheobjectsofresearch.

D.Theycausetheanimalstobecomefatter.

8.TheFDAhastriedrepeatedlytocontrol.

A.theattempttofattentheanimals

B.theattempttocuresickanimals

C.theusingofdrugstoanimals

D.theusingofadditivestopreservethedoloroffood

9.Theword“carcinogenic”meansmostnearlythesameas.

A.trouble-makingB.color-retaining

C.money-savingD.cancer-causing

10.WhichofthefollowingstatementsisNOTtrue?

A.Drugsarealwaysgiventoanimalsformedicalreasons.

B.Someoftheadditivesinourfoodareaddedtothefooditselfandsomearegiventothelivinganimals.

C.Researchershaveknownaboutthepotentialhazardsofthefoodadditivesforoverthirty-fiveyears.

D.Foodmaycausefortypercentofcancerintheworld.

Passage4

Questions16to20arebasedonthefollowingpassage:

Cultureshockisanoccupationaldisease(职业病)forpeoplewhohavebeensuddenlytransplantedabroad.

Cultureshockiscausedbytheanxietythatresultsfromlosingallfamiliarsignsandsymbolsofsocialintercourse.Thosesignsareasfollowing:whentoshakehandsandwhattosaywhenmeetpeople,whenandhowtogivetips,howtomakepurchases,whentoacceptandrefuseinvitations,whentotakestatementsseriouslyandwhennot.Thesesigns,whichmaybewords,gestures,facialexpressions,orcustoms,areacquiredbyallofusinthecourseofgrowingupandasmuchapartofourcultureasthelanguagewespeakorthebeliefsweaccept.Allofusdependonhundredsofthesesignsforourpeaceofmindandday-to-dayefficiency,butwedonotcarrymostatthelevelofconsciousawareness.

Nowwhenanindividualentersastrangeculture,allormostofthesefamiliarsignsareremoved.Nomatterhowbroadmindedorfullofgoodwillyoumaybeaseriesofsupportshavebeenknockedfromunderyou,followedbyafeelingoffrustration.Whensufferingfromcultureshockpeoplefirstrejecttheenvironmentwhichcauseddiscomfort.Thewaysofthehostcountryarebadbecausetheymakeusfeelbad.Whenforeignersinastrangelandgettogetherincomplainaboutthehostcountryitspeople,youcanbesurethattheyaresufferingfromcultureshock.

16.Accordingtothepassage,cultureshockis.

A.anoccupationaldiseaseofforeignpeopleB.mayleadtoveryserioussymptoms

C.actuallynotadiseaseD.incurable

17.Accordingtothepassage,cultureshockresultfrom.

A.thesuddenchangeofsocialatmosphereandcustoms

B.thesuddenchangeofourdailyhabits

C.thesuddenlossofourownsignsandsymbols

D.thediscomfortthatwefeelwhenfacedwithaforeigner

18.Whichoneofthefollowingmaynotbeasymptomofcultureshock?

A.Youdon’tknowhowtoexpressyourgratitude.

B.Youdon’tknowhowtogreetotherpeople.

C.Yousuddenlyforgetwhatawordmeans.

D.Youdon’tunderstandwhyaforeignershrugs.

19.Accordingtothepassage,howwouldapersonwhostaysabroadmostprobablyreactwhenheisfrustratedbythecultureshock?

A.Heismostlikelytorefusetoabsorbthestrangeenvironmentatfirst.

B.Heisreallytoacceptthechangeandadapthimselftothenewenvironment.

C.Althoughhetakestheculturedifferenceforgranted,hestilldoesn’tknowhowtodowithit.

D.Hemaybegintohatethepeopleorthingsaroundhim.

20.Themainideaofthispassageisthat.

A.cultureshockisanoccupationaldisease

B.cultureshockiscausedbytheanxietyoflivinginastrangeculture

C.cultureshockhaspeculiarsymptoms

D.itisveryhardtocopewithlifeinanewsetting