四级阅读练习.docx
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四级阅读练习
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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