A United Nations report is sounding an alarm on the state of the earth’s natural resources, in advance of this month’s U. N. sponsored sustainable development summit (峰会) in Johannesburg.
The report says sea levels rose and forests were destroyed at unprecedented (前所未有的 ) rates during the last decade. It notes that more than 40 percent of the world’s population— two billion people—now faces water shortages. And it predicts that with the global population expected to increase from six billion to eight billion people over the next 25 years, further environmental stress is expected. U. N. Under Secretary General Nitin Desai says the most important message in the report is that the world’s environmental crises are interrelated. As an example, he cites the "Asian Brown Cloud", a "poisonous cocktail" of particulate (微粒的) matter, chemicals, and various aerosols (浮质), currently hanging over a vast area of southeast Asia.
A. At the sustainable development summit.
B. Before the Earth Summit.
C. After the sustainable development summit.
D. Last year.
Passage Two
According to the United States government, people are classified as homeless if they have no place to
stay and no expectation of finding a place for the next thirty days. Although technically accurate, that is an impersonal assessment of an enormous and very human problem.
The homeless population represents all of us Americans. It includes men and women, the elderly, children, and infants. Its members are from all ethnic(种族的) groups. What they have in common is poverty.
Currently in the U. S. , thirty-nine million people live in poverty. When money is really tight, paying the rent or buying food often becomes a choice. Government assistance in the form of food stamps does help but, as one homeless man explains, you can’t pay the rent with food stamps.
With no money for rent, the streets and homeless shelters become the alternative. Although men constitute the largest group within the homeless population, homeless wo
A. giving them homeless allowances
B. giving them food stamps
C. finding jobs for them
D. finding residences for them
The United Nations published a report that was called "The State of World Population". It shows that the growth rate of world population will actually go down in the next ten years. The growth rate will fall from the present 1.8% to a rate of about 1.6% by the end of this century. But the report also points out that problems of food, health care, housing, jobs and schools will get worse unless we do something about the situation.
Why is this Although the total growth rate of the world population will decrease, in some countries there will still be a big rise in the population. More people will be born in Third World countries than in the richer Northern countries. So the population will grow faster in poor countries; and the problems in these countries will be very serious. This is because the family is more likely to survive if there are a lot of children to work for the members who become old or who cannot find work.
A survey of the UN also shows that
A. Because they need more labor to support the family.
B. Because the people have the habit to have a big family.
C. Because the people there are poorer.
D. Because the people there want to be rich.
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