Despite decades of scientific research, no one yet knows how much damage human activity is doing to the environment. Humans are thought to be responsible for a whole host of environmental problems, ranging from global warning to ozone depletion. What is not in doubt, however, is the devastating effect humans are having on the animal and plant life of the planet.
Currently, an estimated 50,000 species become extinct every year. If this carries on, the impact on all living creatures is likely to be profound, says Dr. Nick Middleton, a geographer at Oxford University. " All species depend in some way on each other to survive. And the danger is that, if you remove one species from this very complex web of interrelationships, you have very little idea about the knock-on effects of other extinctions. "
Complicating matters is the fact that there are no obvious solutions to the problem. Unlike global warning and ozone depletion—which, if the political wil
A. Global warming and ozone depletion
B. Species extinction and corruption
C. Sustainable management
D. A gigantic experiment we’re conducting with Earth
English is now the international language for airline pilots, scientists, medical experts, businessmen and many others. Consequently, more and more people are learning it. The BBC’s English teaching programs are broadcast daily to four continents (31) ______. Films and video are on the air or used in institutions in over 100 countries. All this helps to add more speakers to the estimated 100 million (32) ______. The rush to learn English has reached even China. The main reason for the upsurge (上升) in interest is (33) ______. Unlike many other widely used languages, English can be correctly used in a very simple form with less than one thousand words and (34) ______. This was pointed out in the 1920’s by two Cambridge scholars, Ogden and Richards, (35) ______. Another reason for the popularity of English is that English-speaking countries are spread throughout the world. An estimated 310 million people in Britain, the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, South Africa, etc. (36)
A. A second language opens the door to the world-wide sharing of skills and discoveries in science, engineering and medicine. (From English World-wide) and supplied to radio stations in 120 countries
B. very few grammatical rules
C. who use English as a second language
D. recent increase in China’s contacts with the outside world
E. use English as their mother tongue
F. who devised a system called "Basic English"
G. while the northerner prefers English to any of the southern languages
H. where many local languages are spoken
I. that spreading the use of English is entirely beneficial has its opponents
J. English in one form or another will be spoken by far more people
K. and those who have little or no education
L. it will doubtless continue to change and develop
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