单选题
A very important world problem, if not the most serious of all the great world problems which affect us at the moment, is the increasing number of people who actually inhabit this planet. The limited amount of land and land resources will soon be unable to support the huge population if it continues to grow at its present rate. In an early survey conducted in 1888, a billion and a half people inhabited the earth. Now, the population exceeds five billion and is growing fast--by the staggering figure of 90 million in 1988 alone. This means that the world must accommodate a new population roughly equal to that of the United States and Canada every three years! Even though the rate of growth has begun to slow down, most experts believe the population size will still pass eight billion during the next 50 years. So why is this huge increase in population taking place? It is really due to the spread of the knowledge and practice of what is becoming known as "Death Control". You have no doubt heard of the term "Birth Control"--" Death Control" is something rather different. It recognizes the work of the doctors and scientists who now keep alive people who, not very long ago, would have died of a variety of then incurable diseases. Through a wide variety of technological innovations that include farming methods and sanitation, as well as the control of these deadly diseases, we have found ways to reduce the rate at which we die--creating a population explosion. We used to think that reaching seventy years old was a remarkable achievement, but now eighty or even ninety is becoming recognized as the normal life-span for humans. In a sense, this represents a tremendous achievement for our species. Biologically this is the very definition of success and we have undoubtedly become the dominant animal on the planet. However, this success is the very cause of the greatest threat to mankind. Man is constantly destroying the very resources which keep him alive. He is destroying the balance of nature which regulates climate and the atmosphere, produces and maintains healthy soils, provides food from the seas, etc. In short, by only considering our needs of today, we are ensuring there will be no tomorrow. An understanding of man's effect on the balance of nature is crucial to be able to find the appropriate remedial action. It is a very common belief that the problems of the population explosion are caused mainly by poor people living in poor countries who do not know enough to limit their reproduction. This is not true. The actual number of people in an area is not as important as the effect they have on nature. Developing countries do have an effect on their environment, but it is the populations of richer countries that have a far greater impact on the earth as a whole. The birth of a baby in, for example, Japan, imposes more than a hundred times the amount of stress on the world's resources as a baby in India. Most people in India do not grow up to own cars or air-conditioners--nor do they eat the huge amount of meat and fish that the Japanese child does. Their life-styles do not require vast quantities of minerals and energy. Also, they are aware of the requirements of the land around them and try to put something back into nature to replace what they take out. For example, tropical forests are known to be essential to the balance of nature yet we are destroying them at an incredible rate. They are being cleared not to benefit the natives of that country, but to satisfy the needs of richer countries. Central American forests are being destroyed for pastureland to make pet food in the United States cheaper; in Papua New Guinea, forests are destroyed to supply cheaper cardboard packaging for Japanese electronic products; in Burma and Thailand, forests have been destroyed to produce more attractive furniture in Singapore and Japan. Therefore, a rich person living thousands of miles away may cause more tropical forest destruction than a poor person living in the forest itself. In short then, it is everybody's duty to safeguard the future of mankind--not only through population control, but by being more aware of the effect his actions have on nature. Nature is both fragile and powerful. It is very easily destroyed; on the other hand, it can so easily destroy its most aggressive enemy--man.
单选题
"But eighty or even ninety.., normal life-span for humans" (paragraph 3)is closet in meaning to
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解题思路] 句意猜测题。问题是问在文章中具体句子的具体含义。通过题干部分的信息可将解题范围定位于文章第三段倒数第四句，而正确理解这一句的关键所在是作者的表述，即：We used to think that reaching seventy years old was a remarkable achievement，…(我们过去常常认为人活到70岁是极不寻常的事情)。而前半句中的remarkable和后半句中的normal构成了一对反义词，但此处normal一词不应理解为“正常的”而应理解为“不足为奇”。又因为此句中的life-span(寿命)一词与选项[D]中的life expectancy构成语义重现，故入选。
单选题
In paragraph 3, which of the following is NOT given as a reason for a reduction in death rates ?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解题思路] 细节题。解题时可以通过排除法。首先根据题干部分的关键词a reduction in death rates(死亡率的下降)将查找范围定位于第三段第五句。这句话解释了现今人口死亡率下降的原因，其中的重要因素包括farming methods(粮食产量的提高)，sanitation(卫生条件的改善)以及the control of these deadly diseases(对致命疾病的有效控制)。而在四个选项中，只有选项[A]New inventions(新的发明物)在文章中没有提及，故为正确答案。
单选题
The writer's main purpose in paragraph 6 is to argue that
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解题思路] 目的细节题。解题时应重点分析段落的某些部分，如某些词汇，句子结构等。在此段的第一句中作者只是说：Japan, imposes more than a hundred times the amount of stress on the world's resources as a baby in India．(日本的孩子所消耗的资源对世界自然资源所产生的压力是印度孩子的一百多倍)，而句中的stress和选项[A]中的impact构成语义重现，再者选项[A]people in developed countries generally have more impact on nature than others (发达国家的人在对自然的影响方面比起其他国家的人要大得多)的表述也与此句类似，因此是正确答案。
单选题
Which of the following recommendations might be made by the author?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解题思路] 态度题。阅读文章的首段可以通过the increasing number of people(日益增长的人口)和land and land resources(土地和土地资源)发现在这篇文章里实际出现了两个重要对象：人口和自然。这一点也可以在文章末段的。mankind，population和nature得到验证，因此证明作者在本文中实际要探讨人口增长和自然之间的关系。尤其在文章末段第一句说“每个人都有保卫人类未来的责任——不仅通过人口的控制，还有考虑人类日益对自然所产生的影响”，更是验证了这一点。因此作者可能在文中提出的建议应对人口和自然都有所涉及。而只有选项[C]Encouraging people worldwide to have fewer children and to behave in a more responsible way towards nature(在世界范围内鼓励人们少生优生并对自然持一种负责任的态度)同时出现了人口和自然两个关键词，而且表达的意思也与文章最后一段表达一致。