四级阅读练习.docx

四级阅读练习.docx

《四级阅读练习.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《四级阅读练习.docx（25页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

四级阅读练习

快速阅读

Passage1

CrowdedCities

Humansareabouttobecomeamajorityurbanspeciesforthefirsttime.Doesthistrendmeanpovertyorprosperityfortheworld'surbandwellers?

Asasocialproblem,howisurbanizationnegativelyaffectingoursociety?

Theanswertothesequestionsisnotasimpleone.

AUNforecastreleasedlastweekreportsthathalfofallhumanswillliveinurbanareasbytheendoftheyear2008-and70percentby2050-eventhoughcitiesoccupyonlyabout3percentofEarth'slandsurface.

Urbangrowthisdrivenbythedevelopingworld,whereAfricanandAsiancitiesgrowbyamillionpeopleaweek,accordingtotheUNPopulationFund（UNFPA）report.Citiesaregrowing,inpart,becausetheirlarge,youngpopulationsareintheirreproductiveprime.Butobserversnotethatmuchmoreurbangrowthstemsfromsteadymigrationsofruraldwellerslookingforeconomicopportunity.

EconomicEnginesareBehindtheCityExpansion

Surgingcitiesineconomicallychallengednationscanpresentahostofproblems.Aboutabillionpeoplecurrentlyliveinexpansivecityslums（贫民窟）withinadequateaccesstocleanwater,propersanitation（卫生）,orlegitimatehousing,thereportstates.Thatnumbercoulddoubleinthreedecades.

Butsomeexperts,includingthereport'sleadauthor,sayurbanizationprovidesvaluableeconomicopportunities.ThehistoricallywealthynationsinEuropeandNorthAmerica,forexample,aremorethan70percenturbanized."Contrarytowhatmostpolicymakershavebeensaying,urbangrowthcanbeextremelypositiveforeconomicgrowth,socialdevelopment,demographic（人口统计学的）stabilization,andevenforenvironmentalissues,"saidGeorgeMartine,ademographerwhowrotetheUNFPA'srecentStateofWorldPopulation2007report."Butinorderforthattohappen,we'llneedtotakeacompletelydifferentapproachfromtheonethatpeoplearetakingnow."

Martinenotesthatcitiesgeneratemostoftheworld'sincomefromgoodsandservices."Sototrytopreventurbangrowthislikeshootingyourselfinthefootfromaneconomicstandpoint,"hesaid."Ifyouhavebetterchancesforeconomicgrowth,thisalsohasimplicationsforsocialdevelopment-youneedresourcestoprovidesocialservices.Education,healthcare,anytypeofsocialservicecostslessincitiespercapitalthanitdoesinruralareas."

Unfortunately,manycitiesarefailingtoprovidesuchservicestotheirquicklygrowingpopulations,observerssay.DavidSatterthwaite,aseniorfellowwiththeInternationalInstituteforEnvironmentandDevelopmentinLondon,saystheblamefallssquarelyongovernments."Igetannoyedbypeoplelookingaturbanizationnegatively.Whatweshouldlookatnegativelyistheincompetenceofgovernmentstoactuallymanageit,"hesaid.

Muchurbangrowthisunregulatedbecausesomeauthoritiesdon'twanttoencouragethetrendtowardurbanization,Martineadded."Theywouldlikeurbanizationtostopbecausetheyseeitconcentratingpoverty,"hesaid."It'saveryvisibleandnegativemanifestationintermsofpolitics."

"Rightsizing"CitiesistheOnlyWayOut?

By2050,theremaybeasmanyas27megacities（大城市）-citieswithpopulationsoftenmillionormore-upfrom19megacitiestoday.Butsuchhugecenterswon'trepresentmosturbangrowth,expertssay.Instead,globalurbanizationwilllargelyoccurinsmallercitiesthatarepartofbroader,growingurbanareas,theynote."Ingeneralascitiesgetverylarge,yougetapatternofaveryurbanizedregion,butalotofproductionisdecentralized,"Satterthwaitesaid.Henotesthatmanybigcities,likeBuenosAires,Argentina;RiodeJaneiro,Brazil;andKolkata（Calcutta）,India,actuallyhavemorepeoplemovingoutthancomingin.

Smallercitiesmayofferthechanceatbettergovernance-andthusgreatersuccess-becausetheirdevelopinggovernmentsaremoretransparent,whilesomebigcitieshavealreadybecometooburdensome,accordingtoKamlaGuptaoftheInternationalInstituteforPopulationSciencesinMumbai（Bombay）."Thereisaneedtolimitthephysicalandpopulationsizeofcitiesthathaveexpandedtoomuch…andhaveachievedinordinatelylargepopulationsize,"shesaid."Itisextremelydifficulttomanageovergrowncities,inspiteofhugeinvestments."

OneSizeDoesn'tFitAll

GeographerNigelThrift,vicechancelloroftheUK'sUniversityofWarwick,stressesthattheurbanizationtrendisanythingbuthomogenousacrosstheglobe."Youshouldn'tinferthatthesamesolutionswouldworkindifferentpartsoftheworld,"hesaid."TherearemanyAsiancitieswhere,thoughtherearemanypeoplelivingindifficultcircumstances,thefiguresoneconomicgrowthsuggestthatitmaybepossibletodosomethingaboutit.Inothercitiesthat'snotthecase."

HesuggeststhatakindofglobalMarshallPlan,theeconomicaidpackagethathelpedrebuildpostwarEurope,couldbeimplementedtoaddresstheneedsofgrowingcities.Suchaidwouldneedtobeflexibletoaccommodatetheuniqueneedsofdifferentlocales,hesaid."（In）citieswithmorepotential,whatyou'redoingthereisinvestingingrowth,"hesaid."Withtheothers,that'snotenough."

Inthosemostdesperatecities,accordingtoMartine,theauthoroftheUNreport,turningurbangrowthintoapositiveprocessbeginswithplanningfordecenthousing."Whatreallydetermineswhetherornotpeoplearegoingtohaveaccesstowhatthecityhastoofferistohaveahome,anaddress,aplacetheycankeeptheirstuff,lockthedoor,orsetupalittlebusiness,"hesaid."Itmaybeunstableatthebeginning,butit'sreallythestartingpointforaccessingwhatthecityhastooffer."

1.AccordingtotheUNreport,howmuchoftheworldpopulationwillbeurbanizedbytheyearof2050?

A）50%B）30%C）70%D）3%

2.Whatisthemoreimportantfactorthatcontributestotheurbangrowth?

A）Thelarge,youngcitypopulationsareintheirreproductiveprime.

B）TheAfricansandAsiansliketoliveinthecities.

C）Theyoungpeoplearemoreattractedtothecitylife.

D）Theruraldwellersmoveintolookforeconomicopportunity.

3.Howmanypeoplewillliveinexpansivecityslumsinthreedecades?

A）1billion.B）2billion.C）3billion.D）4billion.

4.Example（s）toshowthaturbanizationprovidesvaluableeconomicopportunitiesis（are）the________.

A）UNFPA’srecentStateofWorldPopulation2007report

B）historicallywealthnationsinEuropeandNorthAmerica

C）positiveeffectsofurbangrowthoneconomicgrowth

D）cities’socialdevelopment,demographicstabilization

5.AccordingtoDavidSatterthwaite,whoistoblameforthecity'sfailingtoprovidesufficientservicestoitsdwellers?

A）Thepoliticians.B）Theimmigratedruraldwellers.

C）Thecityresidents.D）Thecitygovernments.

6.Insteadofthegrowingmegacities,globalurbanizationlargelytakesplacein________.

A）smallercitiesthatarepartofbroaderurbanareas

B）bigcitiesthataregrowingwithmorepeoplemovingin

C）megacitieswithtenmillionormorepopulation

D）smallercitiesthataretransformedfromruralareas

7.KamlaGuptasaiditisnecessaryto________.

A）controltheimmigrationofruraldwellers

B）limittheexpansionofthecityareas

C）limitthephysicalandpopulationsizeofthecities

D）managetheovergrowncitieswithhugeinvestments

8.GeographerNigelThriftsuggeststhatakindofMarshallplancanbeemployedto________________.

9.AccordingtoMartine,thebeginningofturningurbangrowthintoapositiveprocessisto___________.

10.Thestartingpointforaccessingwhatthecityhastoofferis__________________.

Passage2

CarbonMonoxide（一氧化碳）,theSilentKiller

Thewinterseasonisarrivingsooninthenorthernpartoftheworld.Winterbringscoldweatherandwithitadangerasoldasman'sknowledgeoffire.Thedangerisdeathorinjurybycarbonmonoxidepoisoning.Today,wetellaboutthisancientandcontinuingdanger.

Severalyearsago,afamilyinthewesternstateofCaliforniawasenjoyingaholidaynearthePacificOcean.Thefamilyincludedafatherandamotherandfivechildren.Theoldestchildwastwelveyearsold.Theyoungestwasthree.Thefamilywasspendingtheweekendinacamper.Acamperisasmallsheltercarriedinthebackofatruck.Peoplecansleepinitforafewdays.

Theweatherturnedcoldthesecondnightthefamilystayedatthebeach.Thecamperdidnothaveanyheatingequipmenttowarmtheinsideareawhilefamilymembersslept.Someonedecidedtoheatthespacebyplacingacookingdevicecalledacharcoalgrill（焦炭烧烤架）insidethecamper.Thegrillburnedawoodproductcalledcharcoal.Thefireimmediatelywarmedthemembersofthefamily.Theyallwenttosleep.

Thenextday,otherpeoplevisitingthebeachfoundthefamily.Theparentsandtheirfivechildrenhaddiedintheirsleep.Theydiedbecausetheydidnotknowthatburningwoodproductscreatesadeadlygas.

Thedeadlygasiscarbonmonoxide.Carbonmonoxidepoisoningisknownasasilentkiller.TheCaliforniafamilywenttosleepintheirwarmcamperandneverwokeup.

Carbonmonoxidepoisoningcausesdeathandinjuriesthroughouttheworld.Thepoisongashasbeenaproblemsincehumansfirstbeganburningfuelstocookfoodortocreateheatduringcoldweather.

MorepeoplediefromcarbonmonoxidepoisoningintheUnitedStateseachyearthanfromanyotherkindofpoisoning.Americanhealthrecordsshowthatthispoisongaskillsabout220peopleeachyear.Morethan5000aretakentomedicalcenteremergencyroomsfortreatment.Thisdangerousgasisaprobleminallareasoftheworldthatexperiencecoldweather.

Carbonmonoxidegasiscalledthesilentkillerbecausepeopledonotrealizeitisintheair.Carbonmonoxide