Forty years ago, Rachel Carson died and the Pittsburgh area lost perhaps its most influential citizen．A native of a Pennsylvania College for Women graduate, Carson published “Silent Spring” in 1962, a work that launched the modern environmental movement and led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency （EPA） as well as the passage of our major environmental laws．
However, there has been a puzzling and troubling trend in recent years: an attack on her theory by conservatives and the agrochemical （农用化学品） industry．For example, Rush Limbaugh gave the following quiz: “Who caused more deaths: Adolf Hitler or RachelCarson?” Limbaugh's answer was Carson, due to the approximately 100 million deaths from malaria （疟疾） since 1972, the year in which the pesticide （杀虫剂）DDT was banned for use in the United States in part as a result of “Silent Spring．”
Therefore, on this 40th anniversary of Carson's death, we need to take a scientific look at the myths that remain about pesticides．
Myth 1: Pesticide usage has declined since 1962．In fact, pesticide usage has more than doubled since 1962, and the global pesticide industry currently uses over 2．5 million tons of pesticides each year．Even DDT is still used abroad．
Myth 2: Pesticides are safe．In fact, as Carson warned us, these poisonous chemicals are unsafe since they are designed to kill biological organisms, but are often not specific in their targets．Pesticide exposure can cause skin irritation, headache, cancer and even death．According to the WHO, over 25 million people a year in developing countries suffer severe acute pesticide poisonings with over 20,000 deaths．
Of the 80,000 pesticides and other chemicals in use today, 10 percent are recognized as carcinogens （致癌物质）．According to recent studies, brain cancer rates are five times higher in homes with “no-pest” strips and six times higher in homes where pets wear flea collars （杀蚤颈圈）．Our homes have pesticide concentrations 10 to 100 times higher than outdoors．
So, if Carson were with us today, still battling the agrochemical industry that spent millions of dollars, what would she be advocating? I feel confident that she would be a strong supporter of a new principle of chemical assessment．
Simply put, this principle requires producers of pesticides to prove that they are safe and necessary before they are put on the market．Our current system puts the burden of proof on government and scientists to prove that a pesticide is dangerous and poses an “unacceptable risk” before it can be pulled from the market．
1．Limbaugh attacked Carson because he thought that _____．
A．“Silent Spring” had caused in part the 100 million deaths from malaria
B．she was supporting the production of poisonous pesticides
C．“Silent Spring” was originated from Hitler’s writings
D．she had not cared for the 100 million deaths from malaria
2．Which of the following is the content of Myth 1?
A．The production of pesticides has doubled during the past 40 years．
B．2．5 million tons of pesticides have been produced since 1962．
C．The usage of pesticides has been dropping since 1962．
D．Pesticides have become less poisonous since 1962．
3．The author mentions “flea collars” in the sixth paragraph to indicate _____．
A．pesticides contribute to the development of cancer
B．the close connection between them and dog cancer rates
C．the medical effect of flea collars on dogs
D．flea collars contribute to high pesticide concentrations indoors
4．What is the suggested new practice of chemical assessment?
A．Government should prove a pesticide is unsafe．
B．Scientists should be responsible for writing assessment reports．
C．Producers of pesticides should provide proof of their safety．
D．A special committee should be set up for chemical assessment．
科目：高中英语 来源：甘肃省兰州一中2012届高三上学期期中考试英语试题 题型：054
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
查看答案和解析>>
科目：高中英语 来源：2010 —2011 学年度北京市日坛中学高一下学期期中考试英语试卷 题型：阅读理解
You have heard of Webster Toys. Websters have made good safe and interesting toys for more than a hundred years. Now we sell them, and children play with them, in countries from New Zealand to Norway(挪威), and from Japan to Brazil(巴西). We are looking for someone to sell our toys in the Far East. He(She) will be between the ages of thirty and forty. He will already have some years of selling in world markets behind him. He will speak good English and at least one other language of the Far East.
The person we are looking for will live in Singapore, and work in our office there but he will travel for up to six months in other countries in one year. He will know the Far East well. He should know how to sell in established(建立) markets and where to find new ones. He will know to make more money than ever, for himself and for Webster Toys.
Websters want someone who can stand on his own feet. If you think you are the person we are looking for, write to Mr.J.Sloman at our office. Webster Toys Company Church Mill Watford.
【小题1】. What are Webster Toys?
| A．An old kind of toys. |
| B．Factories where good, safe and interesting toys are made. |
| C．People who are famous for making toys for children. |
| D．A company that has been making and selling toys. |
| A．in a book | B．in a dictionary | C．in a novel | D．in a newspaper |
lowing statements is TRUE?| A．If you are thirty years old, you can apply for the position. |
| B．If you live in Singaore, you can get the position. |
| C．If you speak good English , you can get the position. |
| D．The company is looking for some salesmen or saleswomen. |
查看答案和解析>>
科目：高中英语 来源：2012-2013学年广东省珠海市高一上学期期末质检英语试卷（带解析） 题型：填空题
阅读下列文字资料，按照要求匹配信息，并将答题卡上的相应选项涂黑。
请阅读下列科技新闻的信息：
A. One of the biggest science stories last year was the research on stem cells announced by South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk. But now it appears that the research was false. In June, Mr. Hwang reported that he and his team at Seoul National University had created eleven new stem cell lines.
B. Another major science story last year came from the United States. On December twentieth, a federal judge ruled that teaching “intelligent design” in public schools is a violation of the United States Constitution.
C. There was also news last year about the American space program. The American space shuttle（航天飞机） returned to the skies in July. Discovery and its seven-member crew made the first shuttle flight in two and one-half years. NASA had suspended shuttle flights following the deadly explosion of the shuttle Columbia in 2003.
D. Avian influenza（禽流感） was also a major science story last year. The H5N1 virus appeared in birds in Europe for the first time. Yet the only known human cases of the disease have been in East Asia. There have been about one hundred forty confirmed cases of bird flu since 2003. About half the people have died.
E. The World Health Organization advises patients to take a combination of four drugs to treat tuberculosis（肺结核）. These four antibiotics must be taken for about six months to cure the disease. Some people, however, take the drugs only until they feel better. Discontinuing treatment is a mistake.
F. The researchers began the study in January, 2002. They called it SMART---Strategies for Management of Anti-retroviral Therapy. The scientists reached more than ninety percent of the target before they halted（停止） new enrollments last month. The researchers tested all the people for the level of CD-four cells in their blood. The researchers divided the patients into two groups.
阅读以下与科技有关的信息卡，然后匹配信息卡和与之相关的科技新闻：
【小题1】Card 1: One group stayed on continuous anti-retroviral therapy. They took their medicines every day. The other took them periodically. They took the drugs only when their CD-four count fell below two hundred fifty cells per cubic millimeter of blood.
【小题2】Card 2 : Judge John Jones said that intelligent design is not science. He said it is a version of Christianity. So to teach it in public schools violates the law that requires the separation of church and state. Supporters of intelligent design criticize the science of evolution.
【小题3】Card 3: Stem cells have the ability to grow into other cells. Science magazine published the report. The new lines were made from the eggs of eighteen women and skin cells from eleven other people.
【小题4】Card 4: Many of the victims had touched or been around infected farm birds. But health experts around the world began warning that the bird flu virus could change into a form that is passed from person to person.
【小题5】Card 5 : That explosion was the result of damage done to Columbia during its launch. A piece of lightweight protective material fell off the shuttle’s external fuel container. The object hit the shuttle at a high rate of speed and made a hole in one of the wings. This permitted extremely hot gases to enter the shuttle and destroy the spacecraft as it returned to the earth.
查看答案和解析>>
科目：高中英语 来源：2015届浙江省高二上学期期中考试英语试卷（解析版） 题型：阅读理解
Maybe ten-year-old Elizabeth put it best when she said to her father, “But, Dad, you can’t be healthy if you’re dead.”
Dad, in a hurry to get home before dark so he could go for a run, had forgotten to wear his safety belt—a mistake 75% of the US population make every day. The big question is why.
There have been many myths about safety belts ever since their first appearance in cars some forty years ago. The following are three of the most common.
Myth Number One: It’s best to be “thrown clear” of a serious accident.
Truth: Sorry, but any accident serious enough to “throw you clear” is also going to be serious enough to give you a very bad landing. And chances are that you’ll have traveled through a wind shield(挡风玻璃) or door to do it. Studies show that chances of dying after a car accident are twenty-five times greater in cases where people are “thrown clear".
Myth Number Two: Safety belts “trap” people in cars that are burning or sinking in water.
Truth: Sorry again, but studies show that people knocked unconscious(昏迷) due to not wearing safety belts have a greater chance of dying in these accidents. People wearing safety belts are usually protected to the point of having a clear head to free themselves from such dangerous situations, not to be trapped in them.
Myth Number Three: Safety belts aren’t needed at speeds of less than 30 miles per hour.
Truth: When two cars traveling at 30 mph hit each other, an unbelted driver would meet the windshield with a force equal to diving headfirst into the ground from a height of 10 meters.
1. Why did Elizabeth say to her father, “But, Dad, you can’t be healthy if you’re dead”?
A. He was driving at great speed.
B. He was running across the street.
C. He didn’t have his safety belt on.
D. He didn’t take his medicine on time.
2. According to the text, the “thrown clear” of a serious accident is very dangerous because you _____.
A. may be knocked down by other cars
B. may get seriously hurt being thrown out of the car
C. may find it impossible to get away from the seat
D. may get caught in the car door
3.One of the reasons that some people prefer to drive without wearing a safety belt is that____.
A. the belt prevents them from escaping in an accident
B. they will be unable to think clearly in an accident
C. they will be caught when help comes
D. cars catch fire easily
查看答案和解析>>
科目：高中英语 来源：2014届江西红色六校高三上期第一次联考英语卷（解析版） 题型：阅读理解
Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s highest hunger rate. But according to a new report, African farmers also have ideas that could help the world fight hunger and poverty. Danielle Nierenberg from the Worldwatch Institute in Washington spent a year visiting twenty-five countries south of the Sahara. In Nairobi, Kenya, for example, Ms Nierenberg found women farmers growing vegetables just outside their doorsteps in the Kibera settlement. She says they are finding ways to make their lives better. The women feed their families and sell their surplus. They use the money to send their children to school.
Last year, about 925,000,000 people worldwide did not get enough to eat. Half of all people in the world now live in and around cities. Researchers like Ms Nierenberg are looking increasingly at creative ideas to feed those who don’t have enough good food to eat. She says there are a lot of lessons that people in the Western world can learn from Africa. And what they are doing can certainly be done in other developing countries.
Farmers in the developing world lose between twenty and forty percent of their harvest before it ever reaches market. There are many reasons why food gets wasted. Farmers are without electricity and cold storage. They lack good seeds and fertilizer. They lack good roads. Conditions like these keep small farmers in poverty. Ms Nierenberg says more attention needs to be paid to protecting harvests. She says, “Given all that we invest in producing food in the first place, we need to devote the same amount of attention to making sure that it is not wasted.”
In Nigeria, village processing centers are helping farmers reduce their losses and earn more money. They centers process cassava, a root vegetable, into basic food products. In Uganda, the Worldwatch report says some schools are teaching children how to grow local kinds of crops. And in South Africa and Kenya the report praises the breeding(培育) of local kinds of livestock. These animals may produce less milk or meat than other breeds, but they can survive heat and drought conditions.
1.We could learn from the new report in Para.1 that .
A.sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s highest hunger rate
B.African farmers have ideas to help fighting hunger and poverty
C.women farmers grow vegetables in the Kibera settlement
D.women farmers grow vegetables to send their children to school.
2.The underlined word “surplus” in Para.1 is closest in meaning to .
A. private vegetables B. side products
C. leftover vegetables D. home-made products
3.Ms Nierenberg suggests that .
A.the women spend more money on education instead of farming
B.more and more African people should live in and around cities
C.researchers find creative ideas to feed the people suffering hunger
D.people in the Western world do the same as the Africans have done
4.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A.Farmers in developing world often lose some of their harvest
B.Small farmers in developing countries often suffer poverty.
C.Farmers should pay more attention to protecting their harvest
D.Attention should be paid to saving food instead of producing food
5.The best title of this passage should be .
A.A New Report About African Farmers Fighting Hunger
B.Creative Ideas to Feed Those Who Have No Enough Food
C.Looking to Africa for Ideas About How to Fight Hunger
D.Animals That Can Survive Heat and Drought Conditions
查看答案和解析>>
湖北省互联网违法和不良信息举报平台 | 网上有害信息举报专区 | 电信诈骗举报专区 | 涉历史虚无主义有害信息举报专区 | 涉企侵权举报专区
违法和不良信息举报电话：027-86699610 举报邮箱：58377363@163.com
