8模块八课文原文.docx

8模块八课文原文.docx

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8模块八课文原文

Canwetaketheheat?

Inthelastfewdecades,scientistshavereachedconsensusand

reportedthathumanbeingsarecausingchangesintheEarth'sclimate-somethingpreviouslyseenasbeyondourcontrol.Theyclaimthatinthelast50years,gasespumpedintotheEarth'satmospherebythefactoriesandvehicleshavebeenspeedinguptheprocessofglobalwarmingandaffectingourclimate.Lookingahead,scientistsbelievethatglobalwarmingcouldbeoneofthebiggestenvironmentalproblemsfacingthe21stcentury.Butwhatexactlyisglobalwarming,whyisitseenasadanger,andhowisitrelevanttoourlives?

GlobalwarmingreferstoanaverageincreaseintheEarth'stemperaturethat,inturn,leadstoclimatechange.ScientistsfoundthatthetemperatureoftheEarthiscontrolledbygreenhousegasessuchascarbondioxidewhichtrapheatfromthesunintheEarth'satmosphere.Withoutthesenaturallyoccurringgases,thesun'srayswouldbouncebackintospaceleavingtheEarthcoldandimpossibletoliveon.Whenthepresenceofthesegasesintheatmosphereincrease,however,moreheatistrappedandtheEarth'stemperaturerises.

Overthelast100years,theglobalaveragetemperaturehasincreasedby1°Fandmanyexpertsinsistthattheblameforthisglobalwarmingcanmostlybepinnedonhumanactivities.Asaresultofincreasedindustry,agriculture,thecuttingdownofforests,theincreaseintransportandtheburningoffuels,nearly6tonnesofcarbondioxidegoesintotheatmosphereeveryyearforeveryoneoftheEarth's6billionpeople.Theamountofcarbondioxideintheatmospherehasrisenbymorethan30%inthelast250yearswithhalfofthisincreaseoccurringsince1960.Giventhisdata,itseemsthatthelinkbetweenhumanactivitiesandrisingglobaltemperaturesisnotmerelyacoincidence.

Atemperatureincreaseof1?

Fmaynotsoundlikealot,butifwe

continuetoproducecarbondioxideandothergasesinsuchhugequantities,wearecondemninglifeonEarthandshouldexpectsevereconsequences.Recentreportswarnedthatglobalwarmingwillcauseterribleclimatechangesincludingmorefrequentflooding,heatwavesanddroughts.Seriousdiseaseswillspreadandindustriesthatrelyonnaturesuchasfishingwillbebadlyaffected.Increasedtemperatureswillalsocausethepolaricetomelt,raisingsealevelsandfloodingmanyislandsandcities.Howcanwestopthesedisastersfromhappening?

Governmentsallovertheworldhavearesponsibilitytoreducetheamountofcarbondioxidewhichtheircountriesareproducing.Iflesscarbondioxidegoesintotheatmosphere,globalwarmingwillslowdown.Thisisnoeasytask,however,andsomegovernments,forexample,theUSA'sfederalgovernment,expressreservationsaboutwhetherglobalwarmingisreallycausedbyhumanactivities.

ManypeoplebelievethattheyaresimplynotpreparedtosacrificetheamountofmoneytheymakefromindustrytosavetheEarth.Butwhywaitaroundforgovernmentstotakeaction?

Expertsadvocatethateachpersonplaytheirpart.Theysuggestmakingsmallchangesliketakingpublictransport,recycling,usinglow-flowshowerheads,andbuyinglightbulbsthatuselessenergy.Evensimplethingslikeusingrecycledpaperorswitchingoffthelightswhenyouleavearoomcanhelp.Ifweaddupallthesesmallchangesmadebyeveryoneworldwide,theywon'tbesuchsmallchanges.Theycouldbethechangesthatsaveourfuture.Afterall,there'snosubstituteforourEarth.It'sallwe'vegottoliveon.

Natureisturningonus

Thelastfewyearshaveseenenvironmentaldisastersonagrandscale,andexpertsarepredictingfarworsetocome.JinLireportsonourEarth'schangeableweatherpatterns.

Inthelastdecade,thunderstorms,floods,earthquakes,typhoons,volcaniceruptions,tsunamisandforestfireshavebecomeincreasinglycommon.TherehasbeenterriblefloodinginAsia,Africa,AmericaandOceania.

（1）Stormshavebeengettingworseeverywheretoo,

withagrowingnumberofhurricaneshittingtheUS,andCentralAmerica.ReducedrainfallhasaffectedlargeareasofAfricaforyearsleavingirrigationcanalsdryandmanyotherzonesarebecomingdrier.

（2）Anumberofnationshavealreadybeeninarmedconflictoverwater,andreducedrainfallinthewestoftheUShasresultedinhugeforestfires.

Volcaniceruptionsandearthquakeshavealwaysbeenathreatincertainpartsoftheworld.AvolcaniceruptionnearlywipedoutthesmallislandofMontserratin1997,andtherehavebeenseriousearthquakesinmanypartsofAsia,EuropeandSouthAmerica.Inthelastthreeyears,Indonesiahashadaroughtime,sufferingseveralkillerquakesanditisstillrecoveringfromtheAsiantsunamicausedbyanoffshoreearthquakeonDecember26th,2004.Thetsunamikilled132,000Indonesiansandanother100,000peopleofothernationalities.Thiscatastropheisstillveryfreshinthemindsofpeopleworldwidewhohavenotyetgotovertheirseparationfromlovedoneslostinthetsunami.

Sowhyisnaturebeginningtoturnonus?

（3）Thepopulation

oftheworldisgrowingatthedisturbingrateof10,000peopleanhour,nearly90millionayear,withmostofthegrowthinthedevelopingworld.Peopleinagriculturalareas,withoutanymeanstoearntheirliving,movetothecities,andthenconstructshabbyhomesfromwhatevermaterialstheycanfindonpoorclaysoil.Thesehomes,seldommadeofbricks,caneasilyfalldowninearthquakesorslipandslidedownhillinlandslides,especiallyinmountainousareas.（4）Thishasmainlybeen

causedbythehugeamountsofcarbondioxideproducedbyfactoriesand

vehicles,andthedestructionoftheworld'sforests.Asaresult,ahotteroceancausesmorepowerfulwinds.Atlantichurricanes—theirhowling

windswithspeedsofover300kilometresanhour-are40%strongernowthantheywere30yearsago.

Volcanoesandearthquakesareevenmoredangerousthaninthepastasaroundhalftheworld'spopulationnowlivesincities.Therearemorethan300activevolcanoes,aboutfiftyofwhicherupteachyear,andmore

than500millionpeoplenowlivewithintherangeofavolcaniceruption.Becausethesenaturaldisastersoccuratrandomtimes,itisdifficulttowarnpeopleinadvance.InMay2006,thousandsofIndonesianslivingnearMtMerapi（whichmeansmountainoffire）hadtofleeastheythoughtitwasabouttoerupt.Anevengreaternumberofpeopleliveatrisk,tosomedegree,fromearthquakeswhichhaveclaimedmorethan1.6millionlivesinthelasthundredyears.

Mostdisasterexpertsbelievethereisthepotentialthatthingscouldgetalotworse.ProfessorHouMing,ofBeijingUniversitystudiesvolcanoesandhewarnsthattheworldhasnotseentheworstnaturecando.TheworsteruptioninhumanhistorywasprobablyMtTamborain1815,inIndonesia.DustfromthevolcanorolledacrosstheEarth'sskiesandprettymuchcancelledthefollowingsummerinEuropeandAmerica.（5）“Itreducedtemperaturesbymaybe6?

Cinsomeplacesandthewholeplanetwassentintowinterforyears.Andthereareabouttwooftheseeventsevery100,000years...”

Unit23Lesson1LivinginaCommunity

Drummerhitstheroad

YangMing,drummerfortherockband“Storm”,haspackedhisbags.He'sbidhisfurnishedapartmentgoodbyeaftercomplaintsfromhisneighboursaboutlossofsleep.Beingabachelor,YangMingheldpartieseverynightbutthebiggestproblemwashislatenightdrumming.

Seldomhasdrummingcausedsuchconflict.YangMing'sneighbourssaytheywerebeingdrivenmadbeingexposedtosuchnoise.Hadtheyknowntheirneighbourwasadrummer,theywouldn'thavemovedintothebuilding.Nosoonerhadtheymovedinthanthenoisebeganandrarelydidtheygetafullnight'ssleep.Neithercouldtheyrelaxorreadabookwithoutpluggingtheirears.OneneighbouralsoclaimsthatYangMingisanalcoholicandwasabadinfluenceonhisadolescentson.

Intheend,thelocalcounciltookaction.“ItwasonlyaftercarefulconsiderationthatwegaveYangMingawarning,”acouncilmembersaid.“Gettingenoughsleepisimportantforpeople'shealthandaftersuchachorusofcomplaints,wehadtotakeaction.”YangMing'sdeparture

haspleasedhisneighbours.“Lifewillgobacktonormalnow,”theysay.

ForYangMing'sversionofthestory,wefoundhimintheloungeofhissuiteatShanghai'sHolidayInnHotel.YangMingfeelsthathisrightshavebeenignored.YangMinghatesbeingcalledanalcoholic,butitisthefactthatpeoplehaveclassifiedhismusicas“noise”thatupsets

himmost.Otherwisehedoesn'treallymindhavingtoleavehisapartment.“LivinginahotelmeansamaidmakesmybedeverydayandIdon'thavetodomyownlaundry!

”Buthowlongwillthehoteltoleratehim?

Wewonder.

Grandpajailedafteroneshowertoomany

Eighty-year-oldretiredtailor,JamesMcKay,spentSaturdaynightinjailafterhittingthirty-year-oldKeithSmithovertheheadwithhiswalkingstick.McKay'swife,LaurenetoldusthatwhileMcKayisusuallyapeacefulperson,hehadbeendriventothisactofviolencebygettingwetjustoncetoooften.

SmithlivesabovetheMcKaysanditappearsthatnotonlyisheakeengardener,heisalsoafishcollector.Unfortunatelyforhim,thewaterhesentoverhisbalconyeverydayendedupontheMcKay's,ortoooften,ontheMcKaysthemselves.

“Forthelastfortnight,sinceSmithmovedintotheflataboveus,wehavehardlydaredgoontoourbalcony,”saidLaurene.Sheaddedthatitwasn'tsomuchthewaterfallingontotheirbalconyfromSmithwateringhisplantsthatbotheredthem,itwasmorethewayhecleanedhisfishtanks.“We'dbesittingtherehappilyreadingournewspapers,whensuddenlysomuchwaterwouldcomefromabovethatwe'dbeaswetasifwe