Today, among people everywhere, there is an increasing awareness and worry about

         Today,among people everywhere, there is an increasing awareness and worry about thesteady growth in the world’s population．A recent survey conducted by the United Nations Fund for PopulationActivities （UNFPA） reported that this growth willcontinue until the end of the next century．For developing countries alone, the annual average population growthis, at present, 4．6%compared to 2．0%for developed countries．At this rate, the world’s population will reach 10．2 billion by the turn of the21st century．Withthe growth in population is the problem of food security… the guarantee of asteady supply of food．The unstoppable growth in population justifies the MalthusianDoctrine that population of a region will continue to grow unless checked, andthis is of course alarming since it will inevitably lead to food shortages ofconsiderable proportions．

         Ourforests are an abundant source of food and fuel, two items essential insustaining life．Above30% of the world’s land surface is covered by such forests．In Asia alone, more than twobillion people depend heavily on forest products for their subsistence andsurvival．Tomaintain a reasonable balance between population growth and food supply, thisnatural source of life — sustaining food and fuel must be conserved andprotected from its worst enemy — man himself．It is appalling （令人震惊的） to note that in many developing countries,which are themselves heavily hit by population-food imbalance, governmentsapprove the cutting down of forests to meet their immediate needs for saleabletimber, and also for agricultural land．Often the cutting down and burning of forests is conducted withtotal abandon owing to the absence of sound forestry techniques and management．At the rate tropical forestsare now being cleared each year, the world’s tropical forests will becompletely destroyed within the next 100 years．

         Inorder to maintain food security for the world’s population, the Food andAgricultural Organization of the United Nations （FAO） has launched a campaign aimed at ensuring food supply, maximizingstability in the flow of this supply and ensuring access to it by all．Forestry, according to the FAO,plays a vital role in making it possible to fulfill all its three objectives．Its most important role is thatof conserving soil and water．Trees provide natural protection against soil erosion （侵蚀） by absorbing the excesswater brought by heavy rains．

1．The first paragraph tells us that ____．

         A．the flow of food supply is theresult of population increase．

         B．the world population hasreached the 10-billion mark．

         C．the problem of populationgrowth has caused considerable alarm in a few countries．

         D．the problem of food supply goeshand-in-hand with population increase．

2．The Malthusian Doctrine presents ____ as far as world population isconcerned．

         A．an optimistic view of thefuture         B．a pessimistic outlook for thefuture

         C．an encouragingpicture             D．an indifferent picture

3．In this context, “this natural source of life — sustaining food andfuel” （in Paragraph2） refers to ____．

         A．the flow of food supply              B．forests

         C．woodland products               D．man’s worst enemy

4．The three objectives of the FAO can be replaced by ____．

         A．stopping populationgrowth          B．increasing food production

         C．achieving food security            D．ensuring maximum utilization offorests

试题答案

【答案】

 D

 B

 B

 C

【解析】