We can begin our discussion of “population as a global issue” with what most person mean when they discuss “ the population problem”: too many people on earth and a too rapid increase in the number added each year. The facts are not in dispute. It was quite right to employ a similar matter that linked demographic(人口统计学）growth to “ a long, thin power fuse that burns steadily from time to time until it finally reaches the limit, and explodes”.

To understand the current situation, which is characterized by rapid increases in population, it is necessary to understand the history of population trends. Rapid growth is a comparatively recent phenomenon. Looking back at the 8,000 years of demographic history. We find that population have been really stable or growing very slightly for most of human history. For most of our ancestors, life was hard, often nasty, and very short. For most of human history, it was seldom the case that one in ten persons would live past forty, where infancy and childhood were especially risky periods. Often, societies were in clear danger of extinction because death rates could exceed their birth rates. Thus, the population problem throughout most of history was how to prevent extinction of the human race.

This pattern is important to know. Not only does it put the current problems of demographic growth into a historical perspective, but it suggests that the cause of rapid increase in population in recent years is not a sudden enthusiasm for more children, but an improvement in the conditions that traditionally have caused high rate of death.

Demographic history can be divided into two major periods: a time of long, slow growth which extended from about 8000B.C. till approximately 1650 A.D. And a period of rapid growth since 1650. In the first period of some 9,600 years, the population increased form some 8 million to 500 million in 1650. Between 1650 and the present, the population has increased from 500 million to more than 4 billion. And it is estimated that by the year 2020 there will be 8 billion people throughout the world. One way to appreciate this dramatic difference in such abstract numbers is to reduce the time frame to something that is more manageable. Between 8000B.C. and 1650, an average of only 50,000 persons was being added annually to the world’s population each year. At present, this number is added very six hours. The increase is about 80,000,000 persons annually.

1.According to the passage, “population as a global issue” ____.

A. is quite unlike the population problem and thus doesn’t need our concern

B. focuses on tracking down the reason of rapid population growth

C. deals with the same problem aroused by the population problem

D. will manage the population growth problem from global perspectives

2.It can be inferred from the example of a power fuse that _____.

A. too much population will one day lead to the doom of human beings

B. the trend of population growth will keep unsteady until the destruction of Earth

C. demographic growth will follow a certain pattern of ups and downs

D. it is likely in the near future that population will reduce gradually

3.What leads to a stable growth of population for most of human history?

A. Species competition??? B. Low fertility???? C. Tribal fights? D. High rate of death

4.The reason for a rapid growth of population lies in the fact that ______.

A. people are permitted to have more children???

B. people can live better than before

C. newborn babies die less than before??????????

D. we have found the secret of longevity

5.How many people are born every six hours at present, according to the author?

A. Eighty million.?? B. Eight thousand?

C. Fifty thousand?? D. Five million

In order to tell what I believe, I must briefly introduce some of my personal history.
The turning point of my life was my decision to give up a promising business career and study music. My parents, sharing my love of music, _16_____ of it as a profession. This was understandable in view of the family __17____. My grandfather had taught music for nearly forty years and earned barely enough to __18____ for his large family. My father often said it was only the hardheaded thriftiness of my grandmother that helped the family live a life. As a(an) __19___ of this example in the family, my mention of music as a profession carried with it a picture of an existence with __20____ financial rewards. My parents insisted upon college instead of a conservatory of a career of music, and so finally I went to college quite happily.
Before my graduation from Columbia, the family met with severe financial problems and I felt it my duty to __21____ college and take a job. Thus was I started a business career – which I always think of as the wasted years.
Now I do not for a moment mean to disparage business. My whole point I is that it was not for me. I went into it for __22___, and apart from the satisfaction of being able to help the family, money is all I got out of it. It was not enough. I felt that life was passing me by. From being merely dissatisfied I became really ___23___. I knew what I wanted is to save enough to __24____ and go to Europe to study ___25__. I used to get up at dawn to practice before I left for “downtown”, disappointing my poor mother by eating a hurried breakfast at the last minute. I continued to make money, and finally, bit by bit, saved enough to __26____ me to go abroad. And, by now, the family didn’t need my help any longer. I ended my business career, feeling like a man released from prison, and sailed for Europe. I stayed four years, worked harder than ever and ___27___ every minute of it.
“Enjoyed” is too mild a word. I walked on air. I really lived. I was a __28____ man and I was doing what I loved to do and what I was meant to do.
If I had stayed in business, I might be a __29____ man today, but I do not believe I would have made a success of living. I would have given up all those inner satisfactions, which money can never buy.
When I broken away from business, it was against the advice of all my friends and family. Most of us are so accustomed to the association of success with money__30___the thought of giving up a good income for an idea seemed rather crazy. If so, all I can say is “Ah! It’s great to be crazy.”

In order to tell what I believe, I must briefly introduce some of my personal history.

The turning point of my life was my decision to give up a promising business career and study music. My parents, sharing my love of music, _16_____ of it as a profession. This was understandable in view of the family __17____. My grandfather had taught music for nearly forty years and earned barely enough to __18____ for his large family. My father often said it was only the hardheaded thriftiness of my grandmother that helped the family live a life. As a(an) __19___ of this example in the family, my mention of music as a profession carried with it a picture of an existence with __20____ financial rewards. My parents insisted upon college instead of a conservatory of a career of music, and so finally I went to college quite happily.

Before my graduation from Columbia, the family met with severe financial problems and I felt it my duty to __21____ college and take a job. Thus was I started a business career – which I always think of as the wasted years.

Now I do not for a moment mean to disparage business. My whole point I is that it was not for me. I went into it for __22___, and apart from the satisfaction of being able to help the family, money is all I got out of it. It was not enough. I felt that life was passing me by. From being merely dissatisfied I became really ___23___. I knew what I wanted is to save enough to __24____ and go to Europe to study ___25__. I used to get up at dawn to practice before I left for “downtown”, disappointing my poor mother by eating a hurried breakfast at the last minute. I continued to make money, and finally, bit by bit, saved enough to __26____ me to go abroad. And, by now, the family didn’t need my help any longer. I ended my business career, feeling like a man released from prison, and sailed for Europe. I stayed four years, worked harder than ever and ___27___ every minute of it.

“Enjoyed” is too mild a word. I walked on air. I really lived. I was a __28____ man and I was doing what I loved to do and what I was meant to do.

If I had stayed in business, I might be a __29____ man today, but I do not believe I would have made a success of living. I would have given up all those inner satisfactions, which money can never buy.

When I broken away from business, it was against the advice of all my friends and family. Most of us are so accustomed to the association of success with money__30___the thought of giving up a good income for an idea seemed rather crazy. If so, all I can say is “Ah! It’s great to be crazy.”

1.                A．thought        B．disapproved     C．agreed   D．disagreed

2.                A．background     B．experience      C．tradition  D．belief

3.                A．offer           B．support         C．provide   D．give

4.                A．expectation     B．intention        C．cause    D．consequence

5.                A．certain         B．uncertain       C．sure D．ensured

6.                A．enter          B．join            C．leave D．apply

7.                A．interest        B．dreams         C．money   D．hope

8.                A．painful         B．excited         C．embarrassed   D．cheerful

9.                A．drop           B．satisfy          C．live  D．quit

10.               A．music          B．medicine       C．economy  D．Business

11.               A．let            B．make          C．encourage D．enable

12.               A．spent          B．enjoyed        C．wasted    D．used

13.               A．free           B．wealthy        C．creative   D．enthusiastic

14.               A．strong         B．successful       C．wealthy   D．satisfied

15.               A．it             B．which          C．that  D．as