“人口環境”話題閱讀

鄭　源

(A)

Lesson from the Nature

Today, too many trees are still being cut down in many countries and floods all over the world are getting more and more serious. A lot of land has gone with them. This is a lesson from the nature.

When people move into a new place, they often cut down trees or pull out many wild plants to make farmland. Maybe they dont think they can eat trees or grass. They dont know very much that trees can stop floods and the wind from washing or blowing the earth away, and that many of these wild plants are food for some wild animals. If the animals cannot find enough plants to eat, they will die or have to leave the place.

In one part of the United States, for example, the deer there like to eat a kind of wild flower. The mountain tigers there eat the deer. But people killed many mountain tigers to protect the deer. Soon there were so many deer that they ate up all the wild flowers. Then the deer began to eat the green leaves of the young trees. So the farmers thought of ways to protect their trees. Now the deer had nothing to eat and many of them died.

The number of trees, deer, tigers, wild flowers and plants has changed much—less and less. We need to do more to keep the balance of the nature.

Now more “Great Green Walls” are needed to save a lot of land and wild animals all over the world. People try to plant many more trees and grass, to protect wild plants and all kinds of wild animals, even tigers. People came to understand: to protect all living things on the earth means protecting people themselves.

根據短文內容，判斷正(T)誤(F)。

1. Floods are getting more and more serious because too many trees are

being cut down.

2. When people move into a new place, they often cut down trees or

pull out wild plants to make fire.

3. Its very important to keep balance of nature.

4. We need more “Great Green Walls” to save and protect the land and wild animals.

5. We must protect ourselves when we meet wild animals.

(B)

The Worlds Water Shortage

The world is not only hungry, but it is also thirsty for water. This may seem strange to you, since nearly 70 percent of the earths surface is covered with water. But about 97 percent of this huge amount is sea water, or salt water. Man can only drink and use the other 3 percent—the fresh water from rivers, lakes, underground, and other sources. And we cannot even use all of that, because some of it is in the form of icebergs and glaciers. Even worse, some of it has been polluted.

However, as things stand today, this small amount of fresh water is still enough for us. But our need for water is increasing rapidly—almost day by day. Only if we take steps to deal with this problem now can we avoid a serious worldwide water shortage later on.

We all have to learn how to stop wasting our valuable water. One of the first steps is to develop ways of reusing it.

Today in most large cities, water is used only once and then sent out into a sewer(下水道) system. From there it returns to the sea or runs into underground storage tanks. But it is possible to pipe used water to a purifying plant(工廠). There it can be treated with chemicals so that it can be used again, just as if it were fresh from a spring（泉).

But even if every large city purified and reused its water, we still would not have enough. All wed have to do to make use of the vast reserves of sea water in the world is to remove the salt.

If we take these steps well be in no danger of drying up.

1. The world is thirsty for water because we can only use ____ percent

of the water covering the surface of the earth.

A. 3 B. more than 3 C. less than 3 D. 97

2. To reuse water, we should ____.

A. treat it with chemicals

B. use it only once

C. send it out into a sewer system

D. make it flow into underground tanks

3. In order to have enough water, we should also make use of ____.

A. icebergs and glaciers B. sea water

C. rivers and lakes D. underground water

4. In the passage, the writer tells us ____.

A. to make enough water

B. to pay more attention to the water shortage problem

C. to pipe used water to a purifying plant

D. to reuse the water

(C)

Modern zoos are different from those built fifty years ago. In those zoos were places where people could go to see animals from many parts of the world. The animals lived in cages with iron bars. Although the zoo keepers took good care of them, many of the animals did not feel comfortable, and they often fell ill.

In modern zoos, people can see animals in more natural conditions. The animals are given more freedom in larger places so that they can be more comfortable. Even the appearance of zoos has changed. Trees and grass grow in cages, and water flows through the places the animals live in. There are few bars; instead, there is often a deep ditch, filled with water which surrounds a space where several kinds of animals live together as they would naturally. In an American zoo, the visitors can walk through a huge special cage that is filled with trees, some small animals and many birds, and large enough for the birds to live naturally. In a zoo in New York, with the use of special night light, people can watch certain animals that are active only at night, when most zoos are closed. Some zoos have special places for visitors to watch animals that live in the desert.

Modern zoos not only show animals to visitors, but also keep and save rare animals. For this reason, fifty years from now, the grandchildren of todays visitors will still be able to enjoy watching these animals. Lets do something to protect animals—our friends.

1. It seems that ____ is something most important for animals.

A. eating good food B. living in cages

C. living with other animals D. living in natural conditions

2. In modern zoos ____.

A. different kinds of animals are kept separately

B. animals are no longer taken good care of

C. animals have more freedom

D. visitors can walk wherever they like

3. In some zoos people can ____.

A. walk through huge special cages to watch all sorts of animals

B. see animals which live in special conditions

C. during the day watch animals that are active at night

D. watch all the rare animals that may not be seen in the future

4. The main idea of the passage is that ____.

A. zoos are now places where animals can live naturally

B. zoos are places where people can see animals from all over the

world

C. there should be old and modern zoos alike

D. rare animals may soon die out

(D)

Hundreds of years ago, life was much harder than it is today. People didnt have modern machines. There was no modern medicine, either.

Life today has brought new problems. One of the biggest is pollution. Water pollution has made our rivers and lakes dirty. It kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us talk louder and become angry more easily. Air pollution is the most serious kind of pollution. Its bad to all living things in the world.

Cars, planes and factories all pollute our air every day. Sometimes the polluted air is so thick that it is like a quilt over a city. This kind of quilt is called smog.

Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. Factories must now clean their water before it is thrown away, and they mustnt blow dirty smoke into the air.

We need to do many other things. We can put waste things in the dustbin and do not throw them on the ground, and there will be less pollution.

Rules are not enough. Every person must help to fight pollution.

1. Hundreds of years ago, life was much harder than it is today because

____.

A. there were not any modern machines

B. there was no modern medicine

C. both A and B

D. there were not many people

2. What is the biggest problem in todays life? ____.

A. Water pollution B. Air pollution

C. Noise D. Pollution

3. The most serious kind of pollution is ____.

A. noise pollution B. air pollution

C. water pollution D. A, B and C

4. Factories must clean their water ____.

A. before they are thrown away B. when they are thrown away

C. after it is thrown away D. before it is thrown away

5. From the passage we know that ____.

A. a few years ago, there was no smog at all

B. today people dont have to talk to each other in a loud voice

C. we can drink water from the polluted rivers and lakes

D. people are making rules in order to fight pollution

Key(1)