职称英语A级复习重点

1、Why So Many Children? （综合A）

为什么有这么多的孩子

In many of the developing countries in Africa and Asia , the population is growing fast . The reason for this is simple : Women in these countries have a high birth rate — from 3.0 to 7.0 children per woman . The majority of these women are poor , without the food or resources to care for their families ? The answer may be that they often have no choice . There are several reasons for this .

One reason is economic . In a traditional agricultural economy , large families are helpful .

Having more children means having more workers in the fields and someone to take care of the parents in old age. In an industrial economy, the situation is different. Many children , do not help a family; instead, they are an expense. Thus, industrialization has generally brought down the birth rate. This was the case in Italy, which was industrialized quite recently and rapidly. In the early part of the twentieth century, Italy was a poor, largely agricultural country with a high birth rate. After World WarⅡ, Italy's economy was rapidly modernized and industrialized. By the end of the century, the birth rate had dropped to 1. 3 children per woman, the world's lowest.

However, the economy is not the only important factor that influences birth rate. Saudi Arabia, for example, does not have an agriculture-based economy, and it has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. Nevertheless, it also has a very high birth rate(7.0). Mexico and Indonesia, on the other hand, are poor countries, with largely agricultural economies, but they have recently reduced their population growth.

Clearly, other factors are involved. The most important of these is the condition of women.

A high birth rate almost always goes together with lack of education and low status for women. This would explain the high birth rate of Saudi Arabia. There, the traditional culture gives women little education or independence and few possibilities outside the home. On the other hand, the improved condition of women in Mexico, Thailand, and Indonesia explains the decline in birth rates in these countries. Their governments have taken measures to provide more education and opportunities for women.

Another key factor in the birth rate is birth control. Women may want to limit their families but have no way to do so. In countries where governments have made birth control easily available and inexpensive, birth rates have gone down. This is the case in Singapore, Sri Lanka, and India, as well as in Indonesia, Thailand, Mexico, and Brazil. In these countries, women have also been provided with health care and help in planning their families.

These trends show that an effective program to reduce population growth does not have to depend on better economic conditions. It can be effective if it aims to help women and meet their needs. Only then, in fact, does it have any real chance of success.

练习： 321

1. In a traditional agricultural economy, a large family_______.

A. can be an advantage

2. When countries become industrialized, _______.

B. the birth rate generally goes down

3. According to this passage, Italy today is an example of an _______.

C. industrialized country with a low birth rate

4. Saudi Arabia is mentioned in the passage because it shows that _______.

B. factors other than the economy influence birth rate

5. In Mexico, Thailand, and Indonesia, the government _______.

D. has tried to improve the condition of women

2、Narrow接近的Escape逃脱（综合A）

We had left the hut too late that morning. When we stepped outside, the sky beyond the mountains to our east was already livid with colour.1 It meant the day would be a hot one, and the warmth would loosen rocks that were gripped by ice.

As soon as we stepped out on to the face, it became obvious this was going to be an awkward route. The main problem was talus, the debris that collects on mountainsides. Talus is despised by mountaineers for two reasons. First, because it can easily be pushed off on to you by people climbing above. And second, because it makes every step you take insecure.

For about 30 minutes we moved steadily up the face. The rock was in poor condition, shattered horizontally and mazed with cracks. When I tried to haul myself up on a block of it, it would pull out towards me, like a drawer opening. My hands became progressively wetter and colder2. Then came a shout. "Cailloux! Cailloux!" I heard yelled from above, in a female voice. The words echoed down towards us. I looked up to see where they had come from.

There were just two rocks at first, leaping and bounding down the face towards us, once cannoning off each other in mid-air. And then the air above suddenly seemed alive with falling rocks, humming through the air and filling it with noise. Crack, went each one as it leapt off the rock face, then hum-hum-hum as it moved through the air, then crack again. The pause between the cracks lengthened each time, as the rocks gained momentum and jumped further and further. I continued to gaze up at the rocks as they fell and skipped towards me. A boy who had been a few years above me at school had taught me never to look up during a rock fall. "Why? Because a rock in your face is far less pleasant than a rock on your helmet," he told us. "Face in, always face in."

I heard Toby, my partner on the mountain that day, shouting at me. I looked across. He was safe beneath an overhanging canopy of rock. I could not understand him. Then I felt a thump, and was tugged backwards and round, as though somebody had clamped a heavy hand on my shoulder and turned me to face them. A rock had hit the lid of my rucksack.

I looked up again. A rock was heading down straight towards me. Instinctively, I leant backwards and arched m …… 此处隐藏：21324字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……