【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】
[听力原文] 11-15
Not until some 200 years ago did the world
population begin increasing at a rapid rate. In many parts of the world,
people's health began to improve as a result of improved sanitation, the
drainage of swamps, and, later, such developments in the field of medicine as
the use of antibiotics. Increased trade brought better economic conditions in
many countries. All these improvements made it possible for man to live longer.
The standard of livings throughout the world began to rise as a result of
advances in agriculture and in the processing of agricultural products. These
included better farming methods, mechanization, fertilization, and
refrigeration. Improved transportation helped to open new territories for
settlement in the Western Hemisphere and in Australia. It also helped in
distributing the great abundance of agricultural and industrial products that
began to be available.
The combination of a high birth rate and
a low death rate is creating a rapid population increase in Asia, Africa and
Latin America. Experts fear that the population may soon grow faster than the
food supply available in these continents, which are so dependent upon
agriculture. Conditions of absolute over-population would result in many
countries. In 1798 the English economist Thomas R. Malthus (1766-1834) said in
his famous Essay on the Principle of Population that
population increases at a faster rate than the food supply does. Therefore if
such natural checks as war, starvation, and disease did not decrease the
population, the world would outgrow its food supply. However, Malthus could not
foresee that in many parts of the world, medical, scientific, and technological
advances would wipe out these natural checks to population growth.
Solutions to the problem of overpopulation are not easy to find. In many
cases a people's culture and way of life stand in the way of such matters as
late marriages and birth control, which would help lower the birth rate. A
change from an agricultural to an industrial economy would provide another
answer. Many countries are planning such a change, but they lack the raw
materials, capital, transportation facilities, technical skills, and markets for
products. Migration from countries that are seriously overpopulated might help.
In many cases, however, the countries to which migrants want to go have laws
that prevent many of the migrants from entering.
11. Which of the following
factors for the improvement of people's health in many parts of the world is not
mentioned in the talk?