江苏高考英语任务型阅读Word文档格式.docx

江苏高考英语任务型阅读Word文档格式.docx

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Whyistheworld’spopulationgrowing?

Theanswerisnotwhatyoumightthink．Thereasonfortheexplosionisnotthatpeoplehavebeenreproducinglikerabbits¸

butthatpeoplehavestoppeddroppingdeadlikeflies.In1900¸

peoplediedattheaverageageof30.By2000theaverageagewas65.Butwhileincreasinghealthwasatypicalfeatureofthe20thcentury¸

decliningbirthratecouldbeadefiningoneofthe21st．

Statisticsshowthattheaveragenumberofbirthsperwomanhasfallenfrom4．9intheearly1960sto2.5nowadays.Furthermore¸

around50%oftheworld’spopulationliveinregionswherethefigureisnowbelowthereplacementlevel（i.e.2.1birthsperwoman）andalmostalldevelopednationsareexperiencingsub-replacementbirthrate.Youmightthinkthatdevelopingnationswouldmakeuptheloss（especiallysince80%oftheworld’speoplenowliveinsuchnations）¸

butyou’dbewrong.Decliningbirthrateisamajorprobleminmanydevelopingregionstoo¸

whichmightcausecatastrophicglobalshortagesofworkforcewithinafewdecades．

AgreatdeclineinyoungworkforceislikelytooccurinChina¸

forinstance.Whatdoesitimply?

First¸

Chinaneedstoundergorapideconomicdevelopmentbeforeapopulationdeclinehitsthecountry.Second¸

ifotherfactorssuchastechnologyremainconstant¸

economicgrowthandmaterialexpectationswillfallwellbelowrecentstandardsandthiscouldinvitetrouble．

Russiaisanothercountrywithpopulationproblemsthatcouldbreakitseconomicpromise.Since1992thenumberofpeopledyinghasbeenbiggerthanthatofthosebeingbornbyamassive50%.Indeedofficialfiguressuggestthecountryhasshrunkby5%since1993andpeopleinRussialiveashorterlifenowthanthosein1961.Whyisthisoccurring?

Nobodyisquitesure¸

butpoordietandabovealllong-timealcoholismhavemuchtodowithit.Ifcurrenttrendsdon’tbend¸

Russia’spopulationwillbeaboutthesizeofYemen’sbytheyear2050．

InthenorthofIndia¸

thepopulationisboomingduetohighbirthrates¸

butinthesouth¸

wheremosteconomicdevelopmentistakingplace¸

birthrateisfallingrapidly.Inafurthertwist¸

birthrateishighestinpoorlyeducatedruralareasandlowestinhighlyeducatedurbanareas.Intotal¸

25%ofIndia’sworking-agepopulationhasnoeducation.In2030¸

asixthofthecountry’spotentialworkforcecouldbetotallyuneducated．

0nesolutionisobviouslytoimportforeignworkersviaimmigration.AsfortheUSA¸

itisalmostuniqueamongdevelopednationsinhavingapopulationthatisexpectedtogrowby20%from2010—2030.Moreover¸

theUSAhasatrackrecordofsuccessfullyacceptingimmigrants.Asaresultit’slikelytoseeariseinthesizeofitsworking-agepopulationandtowitnessstrongeconomicgrowthoverthelongerterm．

（2016江苏）

An 

Extension 

of 

the 

Human 

Brain

0therpeoplecanhelpuscompensateforourmentalandemotionaldeficiencies（欠缺）¸

muchasawoodenlegcancompensateforaphysicaldeficiency.Tobeexact,otherpeoplecanextendourintelligenceandhelpusunderstandandadjustouremotions.Whenanotherpersonhelpsusinsuchways,heorsheisparticipatinginwhatI’vecalleda“socialprosthetic（义肢的）system．”Suchsystemsdonotneedtooperateface-to-face,andit’scleartomethattheInternetisexpandingtherangeofmyownsocialprostheticsystems.It’salreadyabigbankofmanyminds.Eveninitscurrentstate,theInternethasextendedmymemoryandjudgment．

Regardingmemory:

0nceIlookupsomethingontheInternet,Idon’tneedtokeepallthedetailsforfutureuse—Iknowwheretofindthatinformationagainandcanquicklyandeasilydoso.Moregenerally,theInternetfunctionsasifitweremymemory.ThisfunctionoftheInternetisparticularlystrikingwhenI’mwriting;

I’mnolongercomfortablewritingifI’mnotconnectedtotheInternet.It’sbecomenaturaltocheckfactsasIwrite,takingaminuteortwotodipintoPubMed,Wikipedia,orotherwebsites．

Regardingjudgment:

TheInternethasmademesmarterinmatterssmallandlarge.Forexample,whenI’mwritingatextbook,ithasbecomesecondnaturetocheckadozendefinitionsofakeyterm,whichhelpsmedigintothecoreandunderstanditsmeaning.Butmorethanthat,Inowregularlycomparemyviewswiththoseofmanyothers.IfIhavea“newidea,”Inowquicklylooktoseewhethersomebodyelsehasalreadythoughtofit,orsomethingsimilar—andIthencomparewhatIthinkwithwhatothershavethought.Thiscertainlymakesmyownviewsclearer.Moreover,IcanfindoutwhethermyreactionstoaneventarereasonableenoughbyreadingaboutthoseofothersontheInternet．

TheseeffectsoftheInternethavebecomeevenmorestrikingsinceI’vebegunusingasmartphone.Inowregularlypulloutmyphonetocheckafact,watchavideo,readweibo.Suchactiv