It is true that world population is growing, but this is not the cause of our current and future global problems. Believing this will cause us to ignore the real problem and risk long-term damage to our planet. Let me start by explaining why overpopulation is a _ . For one thing, the UN Population Division regularly predicts population growth but provides a low variant , medium variant, and high variant to factor in various possibilities. In the 2010 revision, their high variant suggests that the world population will be almost 16 billion in 2100, but the low variant predicts it will peak at 8 billion and decrease to just over 6 billion by 2100. In most cases, it is the low variant that has come true in the past, suggesting the same will be true of their future population predictions. In addition to this, the size of families is actually decreasing. For another, if the Earth is overpopulated, there needs to be insufficient food, water, and space for humans to live. However, Indian economist Raj Krishna estimates that India alone is able to increase crop produce to the point of providing the entire world's food supply. The World Food Programme confirms that there is sufficient food grown to feed the world and there is the same amount of fresh water on the planet now as there was 10,000 years ago. So how is it possible that the number of people in the world is affecting our planet? Therefore, it is not an increase in population but an increase in consumption that is a severe threat. Materialism and overconsumption are facts of life for everybody in the western world, as possessions reflect a person's status in society and people strive to obtain happiness through owning the latest fashionable goods. Not only that, but waste is a common occurrence which has a huge effect on our resources. It is a sad truth that 80% of the world's resources are currently used by just 20% of the world's population. Our overconsumption must be addressed now to make our lives more sustainable and avoid continuing the terrible... According to the author, what causes our current and future global problems? A) The increase in population. B) Shortage of food and water. C) The fast growth of material needs. D) Failure to protect the environment.
C
(This selection was originally published in 1992. Pluto is no longer classified as a planet.) Pluto is in many ways the strangest of the planets. It is small and has a large moon(called Charon). Its orbit is unusual, which may cause it to have seasons in the sense that when it is close to the sun, the liquid methane on its surface boils to form a kind of atmospheric haze . When the planet moves farther away from the sun, it starts to snow solid methane. Pluto is not dark. Despite its great distance from the sun, the surface of Pluto is probably as bright as a moonlit night on Earth. The reason is all that methane, which is as white as newly fallen snow. The discovery of Pluto was more accident than design. The American astronomer Percival Lowell had predicted the existence of a ninth planet(he called it Planet X)based on what he took to be irregularities in the orbit of Neptune. Today astronomers argue that these "irregularities" weren't real, but the result of instrumental error. Nevertheless, Lowell produced predictions about where Planet X ought to be(although, to be honest, the predictions changed occasionally when he redid the calculations).In any case, in 1930 Clyde Tombaugh, doing a systemic sky survey that would have found the planet no matter where it was, discovered the planet we now call Pluto. By coincidence, its position was pretty close to where Lowell's last prediction said it should be. Was it just luck? We'll never know. The text mainly wants to _ . A) give a brief introduction of Pluto B) talk about the discovery of Pluto C) prove the exact position of Pluto D) describe the strangeness of Pluto
A
Q: April 27 is Take Our Daughters to Work Day in Britain. Started at first in the United States and brought to Britain in 1994, Take Our Daughters to Work Day has become a special day for girls between 11 and 15. On that day thousands of girls take a day off school and go together with one of their parents to their work places. The purpose of this day is to broaden girls' horizons and raise their self-confidence. For many years people have thought that boys can do better than girls in society. But actually, "girls can be whatever they want to be just like boys, whether it is a pilot, a nurse or a chief executive ."says the chairman of the Our Sons and Daughters Charitable Trust, an organization which supported the activity of the Day. "Now the girls have a close look at what their parents are doing and this may help them to be more self-confident when they are faced with a choice of work." Schools and many companies support the activity too. Palmers Green High School for girls in north of London, has made the day a necessary part of careers education. Zarina Bart, 15, from Palmers Green, went with her mother Gwen to her Lawyer's office this year's Take Our Daughters to Work Day. "I learned how to fill in a legal aid form and I read details of a case. Then I went to see the actual trial." she said. Zarina found it interesting to see her mother at work. "It's really strange seeing Mum at work--running around, getting serious and telling people what to do." She has always liked this idea of going into law and thinks it likely that she will follow in her mother's footsteps. Having a chance to see how her mother works has given her more self-confidence. Experts believe that girls with higher self-confidence aim higher and are more likely to be successful in life. Parents have important effect on the confidence of teenage girls. If parents believe in their daughters and show examples both at work as well as at home for them, this will give a lot of help to girls. Take Our Daughters to Work Day is surely a step in the... In the text the writer especially suggests the importance of _ . A) parents' job. B) support from society. C) understanding of the parents. D) girls' self-confidence.
A: D