单选题 The number of people in the world is growing. By the year 2000 world population is expected to grow to 6.2 billion. The fastest growth is in developing countries, where there is already a shortage of food, housing, and jobs. Africa is the fastest-growing part of the world. In Kenya, for example, the population will increase 10 times in the next 80 years.
In Asia, a few countries have begun to reduce their population growth slowly. China still makes up about 21% of the world"s population, but it has greatly slowed down its rate of growth. It is now growing at a rate of only 0.8 % per- year. In India, however, the population continues to grow, and it is expected to be even larger than the Chinese population by the year 2040. The population in India is growing three times faster than in Australia, Japan, and the developed countries in Europe. In fact, European people are more worried about population decrease than increase. Eastern European countries are growing at a rate of only about 1%.
The best news is that, in general, population growth has slowed down — from 2.08% in 1970 to 1.6% in 1985. At the present rate, the earliest time that the world could reach zero population growth is 2040. At that time, there will probably be about eight billion people in the world. It is possible, though, that the population might not really stop growing until much later. With people living longer, the number of elderly will have grown by 15% by that time. Nearly half of the world"s population will be living in cities. This is a situation that could cause a long list of other problems including pollution and a lack of food, water, housing, and jobs.
单选题 Which of the following is the best title for the text?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 主旨题。题干意为“下面哪个是文章最好的标题?”文章前面介绍了目前世界人口的发展情况，后面接着对未来人口的发展及其所带来的问题做了预测。所以本题的正确答案为C。
单选题 Among all the countries mentioned in the text, the one with the highest growth rate is ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。题干意为“在文中提到的所有国家中，人口增长最快的是哪个国家?”文章第一段最后说Africa is the fastest-growing part of the world. In Kenya, for example, the population will increase 10 times in the next 80 years. 即非洲是世界上人口增长最快的地区，肯尼亚属于非洲。所以本题的正确答案选D。
单选题 People in European countries are more concerned about the fact that ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。题干意为“欧洲国家的人更关心什么事实?”文章第二段倒数第二句话说In fact. European people are more worried about population decrease than increase. 即欧洲国家的人更关心人口减少问题。所以本题的正确答案选D。
单选题 Which of the following facts is best supported by the text?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。题干意为“下列哪一项在文章中得到了最有力的支持?”文章最后一句话说This is a situation that could cause a long list of other problems including pollution and a lack of food…即随着城市人口越来越多，将来会出现一连串的问题。所以本题的正确答案选A。