新视野大学英语读写教程听力 第一册 unit09b_new

[by:和谐英语学习网|http://www.hxen.net|和谐英语||和谐英语学习网]
[00:00.00]喜欢hxen.net，就把hxen.net复制到QQ个人资料中！Trends for the 21st Century
[00:-1.00]What problems will our world encounter in the next 1000 years?
[00:-2.00]Social scientists and economists,farming experts and environmentalists
[00:-3.00]pose this question and examine data,information from surveys.
[00:-4.00]In every field,experts examine changes to understand the state of the field.
[00:-5.00]To understand a country's economy,
[00:-6.00]economists check growth in an industry such as steel.
[00:-7.00]To understand the state of business,
[00:-8.00]they may look at the number of building permits for new houses.
[00:-9.00]The information learned shows increases or decreases.
[00:10.00]Important trends emerge in each field.
[00:11.00]Population
[00:12.00]Population is important to every person on Earth.
[00:13.00]People tend to live longer in most places.
[00:14.00]In Central Europe,however,life span is dropping
[00:15.00]because health care is not what it was a few years ago.
[00:16.00]Factors affecting general health include excessive smoking
[00:17.00]and drinking of alcohol and polluted water supplies.
[00:18.00]The population explosion on our planet
[00:19.00]has been increasing at an alarming rate
[00:20.00]but the percentage of increase is decreasing.
[00:21.00]One out of every five people on Earth is Chinese,
[00:22.00]yet China's growth rate has slowed.
[00:23.00]As the number of women going to school increases,the growth rate declines.
[00:24.00]Food Production
[00:25.00]The production of grain seems to be decreasing mainly because of climate changes.
[00:26.00]Natural disasters like storms and floods have washed away many crops.
[00:27.00]With less land for cattle and sheep,
[00:28.00]less meat like beef and lamb is being produced.
[00:29.00]Production of chicken,turkey and fish has increased, however.
[00:30.00]The amount of ocean fish has not increased,but fish farm production has.
[00:31.00]Fish farming is very efficient:
[00:32.00]producing a kilogram of fish utilizes less than 2 kilograms of feed,
[00:33.00]but it takes 2.2 kilograms of feed to produce 1 kilogram of chicken.
[00:34.00]One kilogram of beef requires 7 kilograms of grain.
[00:35.00]People,therefore,may eat less red meat in the future and more fish.
[00:36.00]Energy
[00:37.00]Using fossil fuels for energy has not altered very much
[00:38.00]but wind energy use is increasing significantly.
[00:39.00]Denmark,Germany,the Netherlands,Britain,and America
[00:40.00]have large wind power projects.
[00:41.00]China,India,Mexico,New Zealand,and the Ukraine are also developing wind power.
[00:42.00]Energy from nuclear power plants is steadily increasing
[00:43.00]but the problem of dangerous waste limits growth in many regions.
[00:44.00]Because many electrical companies consider nuclear energy too expensive,
[00:45.00]the trend is toward less dangerous sources of energy.
[00:46.00]While natural gas use increases,use of coal as fuel is decreasing.
[00:47.00]Natural gas,an outstanding energy fuel,
[00:48.00]can be used to heat homes,make electricity, and power cars.
[00:49.00]Economics
[00:50.00]As countries around the world trade more with one another,
[00:51.00]more products are available.
[00:52.00]But the fast development of world economy will bring about many new problems.
[00:53.00]With fewer trees,the paper industry
[00:54.00]is producing more paper from recycled materials
[00:55.00]but,unfortunately, damages the planet.
[00:56.00]The paper-making process uses large amounts of water,
[00:57.00]burns fossil fuels and produces much chemical waste.
[00:58.00]Automobile production is down;bicycle production is up.
[00:59.00]Crowded highways,high gasoline costs,
[-1:00.00]and ease of bicycling are three reasons for this change.
[-1:-1.00]Health
[-1:-2.00]Three major health trends exist as we begin the new century.
[-1:-3.00]Health care is better than ever.
[-1:-4.00]Medical research breakthroughs include finding tumors early,
[-1:-5.00]and saving lives through CAT scans and surgery.
[-1:-6.00]Surviving cancer is a new trend.