In the 20th century the planet's population'doubled twice.It will not double even once in the 1 century,because birth rates in much of the world have 2 steeply.But the number of people over 65 is set to 3 within just 25 years.This shift in the structure o

完形填空Many of the world’s pollution problems have been caused by the crowding of large groups of people into cities.Satisfying the 21 of the people leads to further polluting by industry.If the rapid increase in human population 22 at the present rate (比率), there may be much greater harm.Some scientists speak of the 23 in number of people as “Population Pollution”.

About 2000 years ago, the world 24 was probably about 250 million.It reached a billion in 1850.By 1930 the population was two billion.It is 25 three and a half billion.It is expected to double by the year 2000.If the population continues to grow at the same 26 , there would be 25 billion people in the world a hundred years from now.

Man has been using the earth’s 27 more and more rapidly over the years.Some of them are almost gone.Now many people believe that man’s greatest 28 is how to control the growth of this population.The materials in the world will not support the human population in time to come if the present rate of increase continues.29 there is over crowding in the cities and hunger in some countries.Can man’s rate of increase continue?

Many people believe that human survival (幸存者) in the future 30 on the answer to the question.

21.A.needs

B.supplies

C.service

D.supports

22.A.stops

B.continues

C.slows down

D.adds to

23.A.increase

B.reduce

C.country

D.improvement

24.A.people

B.situation

C.population

D.land

25.A.now

B.in the past

C.in the future

D.then

26.A.place

B.time

C.rate

D.result

27.A coal

B.oil

C.mines

D.resources

28.A.problem

B.power

C.plan

D.idea

29.A.Already

B.Yet

C.Still

D.Often

30.A.feeds

B.lives

C.keeps

D.depends

The world’s population continues to grow. There now are about 4 billion of us on earth. That could reach 6 billion by the end of the century and 11 billion in a further 75 years. Experts have long been concerned about such a growth. Where will we find the food, water, jobs, houses, school and health care for all these people?

A major new study shows that the situation may be changing. A large and rapid drop in the world’s birth rate has taken place during the past 10 years. Families generally are smaller now than they were a few years ago. It is happening in both developing and industrial nations.

Researchers said they found a number of reasons for this. More men and women are waiting longer to get married and are using birth control devices and methods to prevent or delay pregnancy. More women are going to school or working at jobs away from home instead of having children. And more governments, especially in developing nations, now support family planning programs to reduce population grow.

China is one of the nations that have made great progress in reducing its population growth. China has already cut its rate of population growth by about half since 1970.

Each Chinese family is now urged to have no more than one child. And the hope is to reach a zero population growth with the total number of births equaling the total number of deaths by the year 2000.

Several nations in Europe already have fewer births than deaths. Experts said that these nations could face a serious shortage of workers in the future. And the persons who are working could face much higher taxes to help support the growing number of retired people.

1. The world’s population could reach ____________.

A. 6 billion in 75 years

B. 11 billion in 2075

C. 11 billion by the end of this century

D. 600 million in 15 years

2. Which of the following is true?

A. The world’s birth rate is higher than ten years ago.

B. There has been a slower population growth in the past ten years.

C. Families are as large as before.

D. Birth control has been well practiced in all nations.

3. By the year 2000, the number of births and the number of deaths in China will _______.

A. be greatly different

B. drop a great deal

C. be equal

D. become much larger

4. According to the essay, China’s population control ________.

A. is not quite successful

B. should be considered a big success

C. is far from being successful

D. is a complete failure

5. It may happen in the future that the people who are working in Europe will have to pay much higher taxes because___________.

A. more and more children will be born

B. the number of retired people will become ever larger

C. fewer and fewer children will be born

D. they will be making a lot of money

Benjamin Disraeli, the famous nineteenth century prime minister, said, "London is not a city, - it is a nation." Today this is an understatementLondon, with its vast range of different ethnic groups, is a world. Certainly, London is the most culturally diverse city in the world. The city was founded by the Romans and since then new arrivals have constantly added to its character and prosperity. Within 10 years 40% of Londoners will be from ethnic minority groups, including the growing number of Londoners of mixed ethnic origin, but most of them will have been born in Britain. Children of Caribbean-Chinese marriages will go to school with children of Russian-Irish couples. None of them will be English but all of them will be Londoners. Most of Britain's ethnic minority residents live in the capital, speaking over 300 languages. Nearly all of the African population and many of the Caribbean population of Britain live in London (83% and 58% respectively)39% of the Chinese population of Britain and 36% of the Asian population of Britain live in London. The largest migrant community is from the Irish Republic with 256,000 people, 3.8% of the total population of London. There are an estimated 330,000 refugees and asylum seekers living in London, with most recent arrivals coming from Eastern Europe, North Africa and Kurdistan. Young people, in particular, are skilled at dealing with a large number of different and hybrid cultures. They themselves often have several different ethnic identities since their parents and grandparents may come from several different backgrounds and their friends and partners do also. They are "skilled cross-cultural travelers" without leaving their home-town.

1.Why does the writer think that Benjamin Disraeli's statement is an understatement? Because he thinks London is ().

2. London is regarded as the most culturally diverse city in the world due to the following facts EXCEPT that ().

3. Ethnic minority groups will make up () of the London population in the future.

4. The last paragraph mainly tells us in London ().

5. The passage mainly deals with ().

(1).A、a miniature world thanks to its great cultural diversity

B、even larger than some countries in the world

C、not a nation at all

(2).A、within 10 years 40% Londoners will be from ethnic minority groups

B、many young people are immigrants from different backgrounds

C、London accommodates about 330,000 refugees and asylum seekers from many other countries

(3).A、36%

B、40%

C、39%

(4).A、young people feel at ease with a large number of diversified cultures

B、young people are raised in a multicultural environment

C、young people find it hard to adapt themselves to hybrid cultures

(5).A、the advantage of hybrid cultures in London

B、the composition of the population in London

C、the cultural diversity in London

Australia is the world's smallest continent and largest island, a relatively young nation established in an ancient land. Its development represents a triumph(胜利)over remoteness and a harsh landscape.

It is generally accepted that Australia's original inhabitants, the aboriginal(土著的)people, have lived on the continent for 40,000 to 60,000 years. They were also its sole(唯一的)human inhabitants until two centuries ago. Indonesian traders probably visited Australia's northwest but it was unknown to the rest of the world until the 1600s. A huge south land appeared on maps before 200 AD but its existence was not confirmed until the 17th century when Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch merchants ventured into Asia.

The first European settlement of the continent--by the British--began in 1788, on the site now occupied by Sydney, Australia's largest city. There were then about 1500 Europeans and an estimated 300,000 aboriginal people in Australia. The population has reached 2.25 million by 1881, 5.41 million by 1921 and 7.4 million by the end of World War II(1945). It increased sharply, partly because of a large postwar immigration program, and reached more than 17 million in 1991, despite a decline that began in the 1970s in the natural increase and net immigration. The rate of population increase in the 40 years after world war II, about two percent, has halved.

Australia is one of the most urbanized countries in the world, with about 70 percent of the population living in the 10 largest cities. Australians have a high standard of living by world standards. The flag of Australia is the only one to fly over a whole continent in the world. The small Union Jack represents the historical link with Britain, the largest star has six points for each of the states and one point for the territories, and the small stars form. the Southern Cross - a prominent of the southern hemisphere night sky.

1. The passage is written to _____.

A. present a general picture of Australia

B. persuade people to travel in Australia

C. tell people the history of Australia

D. describe the characteristic of Australia

2. The first sentence in paragraph 1 mainly suggests that _____.

A. Australia is a strange country

B. it is not easy to find Australia

C. Australia has contradictory(矛盾的)features

D. Australia is a continent and a country as well

3. Which statement about Australia's population can NOT be inferred? _____

A. The population change is a gradual increase.

B. The population increased rapidly for a time owing to the government's special policy.

C. The rates of population increase in different periods varied.

D. The rate of population increase before World War II was about one percent.

4. The word urbanized means _____.

A. of towns or cities

B. of emergency

C. of suburbs

D. of the countryside

5. Which of the following statements is NOT true? _____

A. The large star on the flag of Australia has seven points.

B. People were certain of Australia's existence before 200 AD because it had appeared on maps.

C. Australia enjoy relatively high standard of living compared with people in other countries.

D. The aboriginal people of Australia were its only human inhabitants before the 18th century.

Interviewer-------- Why is English so important?

David------- Well, English is so important primarily because so many people speak it and use it, so it has now become the lingua franca in the world in a way that we’ve never seen before. We’ve never had a world language of this kind before. So people are learning it not just to be able tocommunicate with native speakers, but also with speakers of other language around world.

Interviewer-------And why has it become that dominant language?

David------I think the reason for that is actually very complicated, although in the twentieth century, we can just see that it’s the rise of the US military and consumer power. I mean the technology, all the big developments in technology largely came from the US. So all of these developments actually were produced within the English language, and people had to learn English in order to understand them, or to benefit from them. The Internet is only one example of that kind. Once a language has got into that position of dominance, it’s actually very different to shift it. So we could be seeing the emergence of other big languages in the world becoming more important than they have been, like Spanish, but it’s unlikely that they’re going to shift the English from its position of dominance.

36. English is important, according to David, __________________________. A). because it has become a world language B). because so many people speak and use it C). because a lot of people are learning it D). because it is the lingua franca

37. English has become the dominant language in the world________________________. A). because it has always been the way B). for a reason that is very complicated C). only in the 20th century D). for no reasons

38. English became the dominant language in the 20th century_________________________. A). in the USA

B). because of the increase in American consumer power

C). because developments in technology came mainly from USA. D). all over the world.

39. People had to learn English______________________.

A). because developments in technology were made by English speakers B). because they needed to understand the new developments in technology C). to use the Internet

D). to speak with native Americans

40. David thinks that__________________________.

A). it will be easy for another language to become dominant B). English will not always be the dominant language

C). it will not be easy for another language to become dominant D). English will be the dominant language

Passage Two

America put more people in prison in the 1990s than in any decade in its history. That started a debate over the wisdom of spending billions of dollars to keep nearly 2 million people locked up. According to statistics, the United States ends 1999 with 1983084 men and women in prisons. That shows an increase of nearly 840,000 prisoners during the 1990s and makes the United States the country with the highest prisoner population in the world. With the cost of housing a prisoner at about $20,000 a year the cost in 1999 for keeping all these prisoners behind bars is about $39 billion.

Some experts argue that the money is well spent, saying the cost of keeping prisoners behind bars doesn't seem much in comparison in the 1990s coincided with (与……相一致) a steady drop in the US crime rates. It is reported that serious crime has decreased for seven years in a row. "There are noticeable number of people who don't do crimes because they don't want to go to prison," they say.

36. There is a heated debate among American experts because ______.

A. America has put 2 million people in prison

B. the cost for housing a prisoner keeps rising

C. billions of dollars has been spent on prisoners

D. the prisoner population is the largest in the world