考研英语(二)-12
(总分100,考试时间90分钟)
Reading Comprehension
At the prent time, 98 percent of the world energy **es from stored sources, such as fossil fuels or nuclear fuel. Only hydroelectric and wood energy **pletely renewable sources on ordinary time scales. Discovery of large additional fossil fuel rerves, solution of the nuclear safety and waste disposal problems, or the development of controlled thermonuclear fusion will provide only a short-term solution to the world"s energy crisis. Within about 100 years, the thermal pollution resulting from our incread energy consumption will make solar energy a necessity at any cost.
Man"s energy consumption is currently about one part in ten thousand that of the energy we receive from the sun. However, it is growing at a 5 percent rate, of which about 2 percent reprents a population growth and 3 percent a per capita energy increa. If this g
rowth continues, within 100 years our energy consumption will be about 1 percent of the absorbed solar energy, enough to increa the average temperature of the earth by about one degree centigrade if stored energy continues to be our predominant source. This will be the point at which there will be significant effects in our climate, including the melting of the polar ice caps, a phenomenon which will rai the level of the oceans and flood parts of our major cities. There is positive feedback associated with this process, since the polar ice cap contributes to the partial reflectivity of the energy arriving from the sun. As the ice caps begin to melt, the reflectivity will decrea, thus heating the earth still further.
It is often stated that the growth rate will decline or that energy conrvation measures will preclude any long-range problem. Instead, this only postpones the problem by a few years. Conrvation by a factor of two together with a maintenance of the 5 percent growth rate delays the problem by only 14 years. Reduction of the growth rate to 4 percent postpones the problem by only 25 years; in addition, the inequities in standards of living throughout the world will provide pressure toward an increa in growth rate, part轮船怎么画
icularly if cheap energy is available. The problem of a changing climate will not be evident until perhaps ten years before it becomes critical due to the nature of an exponential growth rate together with the normal annual weather variations. This may be too short a period to circumvent the problem by converting to other energy sources, so advance planning is a necessity.
The only practical means of avoiding the problem of thermal pollution appears to be the u of solar energy. Using the solar energy before it is dissipated to heat does not increa the earth"s energy balance. The cost of solar energy is extremely favorable now, particularly **pared to the cost of relocating many of our major cities.
1. All of the following are factors which will tend to increa thermal pollution EXCEPT ______.
A. the earth"s increasing population
B. the increa in per capita energy consumption
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C. expected anomalies in weather patterns破产宣告
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D. the melting of the polar ice caps
2. The positive feedback mentioned in the cond paragraph means that the melting of the polar ice caps will ______.
A. reduce per capita energy consumption
B. accelerate the transition to solar energy
C. intensify the effects of thermal pollution
D. necessitate a shift to alternative energy sources
3. The possibility of energy conrvation is mentioned in order to ______.
A. refute a possible objection to the author"s position
一群人一起拼励志句子B. support directly the central idea of the text
C. prove that such measures are ineffective
D. provide the reader with additional background information
4. Which of the following would be the most logical topic for the author to address in a succeeding paragraph?
A. The problems of nuclear safety and waste disposal.
B. The availability and cost of solar energy technology.
C. The practical effects of flooding of coastal cities.
D. A history of the development of solar energy.
5. The tone of the text is best described as one of ______.
A. optimism B. indignation
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C. suspicion D. pessimism
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Minorities often get parate and unequal mental health care: They"re less likely than whites to receive needed treatment, and the care they do get is of lower quality, says a Surgeon General"s report out Sunday. Among the key caus of the "striking disparities" in care for U.S. whites and minorities are financial barriers, racism, mistrust of doctors and language problems. "Our failure to address the disparities is playing out in homeless shelters, in foster care in prisons and jails," says Surgeon General David Satcher.
Poverty greatly rais the risk of rious mental disorders, so some minority groups are especially vulnerable. Blacks and Hispanics have about triple the poverty rate of whites. And 37% of Hispanics have no health insurance, more than double the rate for whites. Lack of private insurance throws mentally ill people at the mercy of a thinning "safety net" of public treatment centers. In many cities, such as Detroit, the net is so thin, "it"s barely there," says psychologist James Jackson of the Institute for Social Rearch at University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
Minority kids po special concerns. Hispanic youth have significantly poorer mental health than whites, Satcher says. Some 45% of children in foster care are black, as are more than half awaiting adoption. Many have rious mental disorders, rearch suggests. Even when they can afford care, feelings of stigma may get in the way. "Within many Asian cultures, mental illness is heavily stigmatized. I know, becau there"s mental illness in my family," says Richard Nakamura, deputy director at the National Institute of Mental Health. Mistrust of therapists isn"t totally off the mark. There"s evidence of racial and ethnic bias by counlors, the report says.
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