Question

A very important world problem－in fact, I am inclined(倾向) to say it is the most important of all the great world problems which face us at the present time－is the rapidly increasing pressure of population on land and on land resources.

It is not so much the actual population of the world but its rate of increase which is important. It works out to be about 1.6 percent per annual net increase. In terms of numbers this means something like forty to fifty－five million additional people every year. Canada has a population of twenty million－rather less than six month's climb in world population. There are ten million people in Australia. So, it takes the world less than three months to add to itself a population. Let us take our own crowded country－England and Wales: forty－five to fifty million people－just about a year's supply.

By this time tomorrow, and every day, there will be added to the earth about 120,000 extra people－just about the population of the city of York.

Here I am not talking about birth rate. This is net increase. To give you some idea of birth rate, look at the seconds hand of your watch. Every second three babies are born somewhere in the world. Another baby! You cannot speak quickly enough to keep pace with the birth rate.

This enormous increase of population will create immense problems. By 2020 unless something desperate happens, there will be as many as seven billion people on the surface of the earth! So this is a problem which you are going to see in your lifetime.

1. According to the author, ________ is the most important in the world at the present time.

A. the quality of the increasing population

B. the actual population of the world

C. the rapidly increasing pressure of population

D. farming land is reducing at great speed

2. From the passage we know that the author is a(n) ________.

A. Canadian      B. Australian

C. American      D. Englishman

3. It takes ________ for the world to have a population of Australia.

A. about three months

B. about six months

C. one year

D. more than four months

4. According to the passage ________ babies are born on the earth per hour.

A. 180         B. 3 million

C. 120,000      D. 10,800

5. The author mentions the different populations of several countries in order to ________.

A. show how small those countries are

B. show how thickly those countries are populated

C. emphasize the low increase of the world population

D. emphasize the high rate of increase of world population

Answer 1

1. 解析：选C。细节理解题。从文章第一段可知，人口对土地及其资源的不断快速增长的压力为最重要的世界问题。

2. 解析：选D。推理判断题。由文章第二段最后一句“Let us take our own crowded country－England and Wales”意为“让我们说一下我们自己拥挤的国家——英格兰和威尔士”可知。

3. 解析：选A。细节理解题。由文章第二段倒数第二句“因此，地球上的人类花不到三个月的时间就可以增加一个澳大利亚的人口。”可知其中，“less than three months”与“about three months”意思相近。

4. 解析：选D。推理判断题。由文章第四段第四句“Every second three babies are born somewhere in the world”可推知，每小时有10,800个婴儿出生。

5. 解析：选D。推理判断题。作者以不同国家的人口为例来强调世界人口的高增长率。