阅读理解

　　When the world was a simpler place, the rich were fat, the poor were thin, and right-thinking people worried about how to feed the hungry．Now, in much of the world, the rich are thin, the poor are fat, and right-thinking people are worrying about fatness．

　　Evolution(进化)is mostly to blame．It has designed mankind to deal with lack, not plenty．

　　People are perfectly fit to store energy in good years to see them through lean ones．But when bad time never comes, they are stuck with that energy, stored around their expanding bellies．

　　Thanks to rising agricultural productivity, lean years are rarer all over the globe．According to the UN, the number of people short of food fell from 920 m in 1980 to 799 m 20 years later, even though the world’s population increased by 1．6 billion over the period．This is mostly a cause for celebration．Mankind has won what was, for most of his time on this planet, his biggest battle：to ensure that he and his offspring had enough to eat．But every silver lining has a cloud, and the result of prosperity is a new trouble．

　　Fatness is the world’s biggest public-health topic today－the main cause of heart disease, which kills more people these days than AIDS, malaria(疟疾), war；the major risk factor in diabetes(糖尿病)；heavily connected with cancer and other diseases．Since the World Health Organization labeled fatness an“epidemic(流行病)”in 2000, reports on its fearful results have come thick and fast．

　　Will public-health warnings, combined with media pressure, persuade people to get thinner, just as they finally put them off tobacco? Possibly．In the rich world, sales of healthier foods are booming and new figures suggest that over the past year Americans got very slightly thinner for the first time in recorded history．But even if Americans are losing a few ounces, it will be many years before the country solves the health problems caused by half a century’s dining to overload．

　　And, everywhere else in the world, people are still piling on the pounds．That’s why there is now an agreement among doctors that governments should do something to stop them．

阅读理解

　　Today, the world is rapidly urbanizing．With half of the world population expected to live in cities by the early part of the 21^st century, the Shanghai 2010 World Expo's focus on a better city bears profound meaning．

　　What might future cities look like 28 years from now? Here are some scenarios： things to come, things to go．

　　Zero waste

　　Waste disposal is one of the biggest headaches for cities．Apart from recyclable waste, everything is buried or incinerated(焚烧), only to pollute the environment．Plastic waste remains underground for several decades．The world produces much more garbage than it can dispose of．

　　Now at the Expo, all waste is delivered to a compression station where the waste is sorted, filtered, decontaminated, deodorized and compressed before finally being disposed of at designated spots．In Beijing, people living in the Asuwei area turn their household waste into organic fertilizers which are used to grow plants at residence communities．

　　No more transportation problems during Spring Festival

　　The Spring Festival, the most important Chinese holiday when everyone returns home, has caused headaches for millions of Chinese．More than 2 billion people travel at the same time, making obtaining travel tickets and the journey difficult．

　　But in 28 years, Spring Festival travel may not be a problem at all．China plans to have more than 120, 000 kilometers of railway and a rapid transportation network that will serve 90 percent of the population by 2020．And because most of China will be cities, people will not have to go to other places to find a job, so migration will no longer be so large－scale．

　　Newspapers to disappear

　　American scholar Philip Meyer predicts that newspaper will come to an end in 2043．Utagawa Reizou, former editor－in－chief of The Mainichi Daily News, believes that the newspaper will be gone in 2030．

　　This kind of prediction may worry those in print news business．In the U．K．, the circulations of national newspapers are declining．Major Japanese newspapers have gone into debt．In the U．S．, declining circulations and ad revenues have forced several newspapers to stop printing paper editions．

　　Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch thinks the future of media relies on interaction through the Internet．In the future, digital newspapers will be sent to portal web terminals through wirelessly．Readers can discuss issues with journalists and editors．Information will move faster．

　　Oil to run out

　　In August 2009, Fatih Birol, chief economist of the International Energy Agency, said that oil is running out faster than expected and that the world will likely feel the tightness in supply in the next five years．

　　Scientists have found substitutes for oil as fuel．Coal, natural gas, soar power, nuclear power and even water can replace oil as sources of energy．Flammable ice reserves alone can support humans for the next 1, 000 years．