How many more people can we squeeze onto our fragile planet? Surely, the Earth must be full? Pretending that human numbers can grow forever, with no ill-effects, is at best innocent and at worst utterly irresponsible.
Biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution, deforestation, water and food shortages — these are all worsened by our huge and ever-increasing numbers. Yet governments and most environmental groups choose to sidestep this giant elephant in the room. The human population was just 2.6 billion in 1950. But it has been 7.7 billion today and according to the UN it will reach 9.7 billion by 2050 and 11.2 billion by the end of the century. Where will so many people live? How will we feed them?
Unless we diffuse this “population bomb”, by the end of the century we will need several Earths to survive. But we can’t have several Earths, and so we will face a future of increasing poverty, food shortages, conflict and environmental degradation.
Admittedly, not everyone agrees with the UN’s predictions. But even the doubters calculate that the human population will grow to 8 or 9 billion sometime between 2040 and 2060. Ultimately, there has to be a limit.
The good news is that the human populations of about two dozen countries, from Poland and Italy to Cuba and Japan, are now decreasing. But that’s not true of most countries. The cradle of overpopulation is in Africa, which is where more than half of global population growth is expected to occur: from 1.3 billion people in 2020 to 4.3 billion in 2100.
The solution isn’t rocket science. There are two drivers of population growth: birth rates and longevity. We all aim to grow old, after all, but we can reduce birth rates. That’s not to say that anyone should be denied the right to have many children as they like. But it’s a fact that wherever women are empowered and literated, have help with family planning and have access to medical care, they generally choose to have fewer children. And the birth rate falls.
So why the stony silence? Why such a failure of leadership from governments and environmental groups? I think it’s for two reasons. First, calls for population control are often believed racist: relatively rich people in the developed world blaming poor people in the developing world. Second, it is often thought insincere. The problem is as much about consumerism as it is about population growth: westerners are consuming more and more, so it appears as if they are blaming the poor for the excesses of the rich. Most population growth is, indeed, taking place among those who consume almost nothing. But the uncomfortable truth is that we all need to consume much less.
Whatever the complications, we urgently need a UN Framework Convention on Population, just as we have for climate change. Either we limit our population growth or the natural world will do it for us.
1.What are the first three paragraphs mainly about?
A.Environmental degradation made by humans.
B.The increasing poverty coming with illnesses.
C.The problems resulting from the growing population.
D.Water shortages caused by climate change and pollution.
2.How do governments react to human population?
A.They are too busy with other problems to solve it.
B.They avoid seeking solutions to reduce population.
C.They know the consequence and face the problem.
D.They think the population will decline in the future.
3.What is practical for birth control according to the passage?
A.Consuming much less than before.
B.Removing the right to have more children.
C.Decreasing population in developed areas.
D.Educating women and providing health care.
4.What is the author’s attitude to the ever-increasing human population?
A.Neutral. B.Concerned.
C.Skeptical. D.Indifferent.
Infections that cross over from other species are a deadly problem. The new coronavirus(冠状病毒) is the latest example of a disease that jumped from animals into humans. When infections do this, they can be deadly—and 2019-nCoV is no exception.
Nearly all viruses and bacteria that infect other organisms are completely harmless to people. But a tiny proportion can infect us and cause so-called zoonotic diseases, which come from animals rather than people. Such diseases are a massive problem. They make around 2.5 billion people ill every year and kill 2.7 million. Not all zoonotic diseases cause serious illness, but the Ebola virus, for example, currently kills most of those it infects.
One reason zoonotic viruses can be this deadly is that we lack pre-existing immunity( 免疫) to them. Another is that these viruses aren’t adapted to humans. Viruses that normally circulate among people can develop to become less deadly, as this helps them spread. “They don’t want you to drop dead within a day because you won’t pass it to anyone else,” says Chris Coleman at the University of Nottingham, UK.
To get infected, people need to come into contact with the animal the virus usually infects. This is most likely with domesticated animals. Camels carry the MERS coronavirus that causes sporadic human cases, for instance.
Many viruses that jump into people, like MERS, seldom spread from person to person. They can still infect thousands, though. Rabies is mostly passed on by dog bites, but kills 60,000 people a year. Others, such as Ebola, can spread from person to person, but aren’t very good at it and so cause relatively small outbreaks. The 2019 coronavirus, by contrast, appears quite good at spreading from person to person. We don’t know how deadly it is yet.
Biologists have been warning for decades about the risks of animal viruses spreading to people. There is good reason to worry. The last global pandemic(传染病), the 2009 flu that killed up to 400,000 people, was caused by a strain of flu that came from pigs. And that flu is thought to be a descendant of the 1918 flu, which came from birds. HIV, which has infected about 75 million people, is now thought of as a human virus. But it jumped from chimpanzees into humans relatively recently, in the 1930s.
Coleman thinks there is little we can do to stop people coming into contact with animals that may carry dangerous viruses. “It’s very difficult to control that,” he says. Instead, he says we need to have vaccines( 疫苗) ready in advance. This could mean creating vaccines that are effective against a wide range of viruses and developing vaccines that require only minor changes to work against a new viral strain, much like annual flu vaccines.
1.What does the underlined word “circulate” in Para.3 probably mean?
A.Pass on. B.Attack each other.
C.Die away. D.Work together.
2.What can we learn from the passage?
A.People must keep away from wild animals.
B.The majority of viruses are a massive problem.
C.The 2009 flu had no connection with the 1918 flu.
D.Vaccines are an effective option to fight against viruses.
3.The passage mainly aims to _______.
A.analyze the origins of viruses
B.explain the consequence of diseases
C.draw people’s attention to zoonotic viruses
D.persuade people to protect the wild animals
4.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
A.How Are Vaccines Made?
B.Viruses Infected from Animals
C.A Global Health Emergency
D.Why Isn’t There a Coronavirus Vaccine Yet?
“If you could have any three things, what would you want?” Eleven-year-old Ruby Kate Chitsey loves asking that question, but it’s not a game. She asks it at nursing homes in the Harrison, Arkansas, where she lives. Even more amazing, she then sets out to make the residents’ wishes come true.
Ruby Kate has long been close to older folks. Her mother, Amanda Chitsey works at nursing homes in northwest Arkansas, and Ruby Kate often stays with her in the summer. The Chitseys learned that many nursing home residents are unable to afford even the smallest luxuries. So Ruby Kate decided to do something about it. “I’ve never found them scary at all, so I’m able to just go up to them and ask if they need anything,” she says.
She started by asking residents what three things they wanted most in the world. Amanda worried that people would ask for cars and other things an 11-year-old wouldn’t be able to provide. Instead, they asked for chocolate bars, McDonald’s fries, and pants that fit properly.
“It broke me as a human,” Amanda says. “We left the nursing home that day and went straight to a store and bought as many items as we could.”
Using their own money, the Chitseys granted the wishes of about 100 people in three months. Then they started asking for donations.
The good people of Harrison responded enthusiastically, so much that Amanda set up a GoFundMe page, Three Wishes for Ruby’s Residents, hoping to collect $5,000. They hit their goal in a month. After GoFundMe named Ruby Kate a Kid Hero and promoted her story nationwide this past January, Three Wishes raised $20,000 in 24 hours and more than $250,000 in five months. With those funds, the Chitseys were able to get more creative: One resident asked for a man cave, so they got him a Walkman and stocked his fridge with snacks. Another wanted to go to a friend’s out-of-state wedding; they gave her money for gas and food.
Earlier this year, Three Wishes for Ruby’s Residents became a nonprofit and launched its first nationwide chapters. One of its new goals is to set up a communal laptop in one nursing home in each state. Ruby Kate doesn’t plan to stop there. Actually, besides Ruby Kate, more youngsters are involved in helping others as a hobby. At one high school, students turned a single dollar into a truly inspirational act.
1.Why did the Chitseys decide to ask and meet the residents’ wishes?
A.It was Amanda’s duty to do that. B.The residents’ stories moved them.
C.They wanted to do something for the poor there. D.They had a close relationship with the residents.
2.Amanda said “It broke me as a human,” in Para.4, probably because _______.
A.the wishes were simple B.the wishes were in her plan
C.she couldn’t realize the wishes D.she couldn’t help her daughter
3.From last two paragraphs, we know the Chitseys _______.
A.started a page to get profit B.wrote stories about nursing homes
C.appealed to more people to join them D.carried out their project across the world
4.The story mainly inspires people to _______.
A.accompany the senior B.deliver kindness to others
C.treasure what they have D.be optimistic toward life
Every summer, we invite young writers to join our team for our six-week summer program. Think of yourself as an extension of our team where you will be writing main Youngzine articles.
We will work with you and after the first 1-2 articles, most of our young writers are up and running on their own. We will be selecting 4-6 young writers to join our team this year and will guide you through the experience. Does this sound like a challenge you are up to? First, let’s answer some questions that you might have.
How Old Should I Be?
Most of our Young Editors are typically 13-17 years of age. You will be writing on politics, science, environment and other current events which will require you to read and understand the background material. If you have strong writing skills, are part of your school newspaper or see yourself as a future journalist, this is for you!
How Long Is the Program?
It is a six-week program from July to mid-August, where you will be writing one article a week. We understand summer is also a time for vacations, and we are flexible as long as you inform us in advance.
What Do We Expect from a Young Editor?
Good writing skills and the ability to communicate your thoughts clearly are most important since you are writing for other young readers. We use current events to explain the underlying context or a concept, so you will need to put your research hats on. It is important that articles be unprejudiced and state all points of view of an issue. And of course, your articles have to be original—no copying! We will send you guidelines if you are selected. A few benefits of being a summer writer:
Your work will be seen by young readers all over the world.
Your knowledge of topics deepens, broadens and widens as you research and write articles.
Is that reason enough to want to join? Send us an email to editor@youngzine.org.
Please contact us by June 10 if you are interested.
1.What do we know about the summer program?
A.It is a vacation-free program.
B.It lasts for almost three months.
C.It is mainly designed for college students.
D.It asks participants to finish one article per week.
2.The summer program expects the editors who _______.
A.express their thoughts effectively B.understand all points of a concept
C.are curious about research methods D.have broad knowledge of many topics
3.The passage intends to _______.
A.hold a writing activity B.help sharpen writing skills
C.clarify the qualities of editors D.call for summer young writers
A few days before Christmas 2012, I found myself in Walmart. It was the last _______I wanted to be, especially during the chaos of last-minute Christmas shopping. It had been a little more than a month since my husband was laid off.
The school my kids attended asked if we needed help for Christmas, and we _______. If not for them, our kids would not have had Christmas gifts.
My children were with me that day at Walmart. Our cupboards were bare, and I had only eighty dollars to _________ a family of six for a week. It’s not impossible to _______, but certainly not comfortable. It leaves little _______ for anything extra. Yet, it was Christmas, and my kids asked if they could buy a present for their dad. How could I say “no”? I found a gift box of their dad’s favorite cologne and hoped I could _______ it. Lucky for me, my husband doesn’t have expensive_______.
My husband worked very hard to_______ for us, and I stayed home. It wasn’t by _______ . Having two children on the autism spectrum makes it difficult for me to work. Doctors’ appointments, therapy schedules, and school meetings make it near impossible to __________ a regular work schedule. So, when he was laid off, things got very __________ quickly. He wasn’t without a job long, but the __________ of income for a couple of weeks certainly put a stress on our family.
As I chose my groceries, I kept a running total in my head. As my cart (手推车) filled, my __________ rose. The more I thought about it, the less ___________ it was that I would be able to buy a gift for my husband.
When I went to the checkout, I set aside the cologne gift box. My kids____________, but I didn’t have much of a choice. My heart__________ when the grocery total was indeed too high for us to buy the gift, but an angel was waiting in the wings.
What happened left me speechless, and being the __________ type, speechless is rare for me. A man__________ us, put four twenty-dollar bills into my hand and happily exclaimed, “Merry Christmas!” He left so fast that I didn’t __________ have a chance to say, “Thank you.”
A wave of emotion came over me as I ___________the cologne gift set to the belt. We were thrilled, and my husband had a Christmas present. Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.
1.A.place B.moment C.season D.station
2.A.refused B.answered C.accepted D.ignored
3.A.warm B.feed C.help D.inspire
4.A.respond B.appreciate C.purchase D.accomplish
5.A.room B.excuse C.energy D.courage
6.A.offer B.afford C.owe D.earn
7.A.bill B.collection C.taste D.clothes
8.A.stand B.compete C.prepare D.provide
9.A.choice B.mistake C.heart D.nature
10.A.create B.design C.maintain D.discover
11.A.smooth B.tight C.unexpected D.simplified
12.A.increase B.discount C.steadiness D.absence
13.A.regret B.anxiety C.blame D.complaint
14.A.likely B.important C.necessary D.difficult
15.A.cheered B.followed C.protested D.supported
16.A.lost B.calmed C.beat D.sank
17.A.outgoing B.optimistic C.talkative D.hardworking
18.A.approached B.guided C.pleased D.trusted
19.A.ever B.even C.once D.already
20.A.threw B.cancelled C.recommended D.added
阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写 1 个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。
Recycling paper is a great way to help the environment, but reusing things1. (make) from paper is even better. Take a copy of magazine, for example. Once you 2. (finish) reading it, don’t put it in your recycling bin. Instead, consider sharing it 3. people who haven’t read it, or giving it to your school library so that your classmates can take a look. Alternatively, you could find a completely 4.(differ) use for the magazine’s pages. Some readers have used them to wrap gifts for their friends and family, picking pages with colourful pictures to make the presents look bright.
