Fifty years from now the world’s population will be declining, with no end in sight. Unless people’s values change greatly, several centuries from now there could be fewer people living in the entire world than live in the United States today. The big surprise of the past twenty years is that in not one country did fertility (生育能力) stop falling when it reached the replacement rate（出生率）—2.1 children per woman. In Italy, for example, the rate has fallen to 1.2. In Western Europe as a whole and in Japan it is down to 1.5. The evidence now indicates that within fifty years or so world population will peak at about eight billion before starting a fairly rapid decline.
Because in the past two centuries world population has increased from one billion to nearly six billion, many people still fear that it will keep “exploding” until there are too many people for the earth to support. But that is like fearing that your baby will grow to 1,000 pounds because its weight doubles three times in its first seven years. World population was growing by two percent a year in the 1960s; the rate is now down to one percent a year, and if the patterns of the past century don’t change completely, it will head into negative numbers. This view is coming to be widely accepted among population experts, even as the public continues to focus on the threat of uncontrolled population growth.
As long ago as September of 1974 Scientific American published a special issue on population that described what demographers (人口统计学家) had begun calling the “demographic transition” from traditional high rates of birth and death to the low ones of modern society. The experts believed that birth and death rates would be more or less equal in the future, as they had been in the past, keeping total population stable after a level of 10-12 billion people was reached during the transition.
56. Which of the following statement is NOT true according to the passage?
A. The world’s population in the future will be reducing endlessly.
B. When the earth population reaches 8 billion, it will see a rapid decrease.
C. In modern society the birth and death rates will be more or less equal in the future.
D. The public now pay little attention to the threat of uncontrolled population growth.
57. What’s reason for the sharp increase of world population in the past two centuries?
A. Because people fear that the world will explode.
B. Because the world’s replacement rate keeps falling.
C. Because people’s values has greatly changed.
D. The passage doesn't mention it.
58. The expression “demographic transition” (Paragraph 3) probably means _______.
A. high death rate to the low one
B. high birth rate to the low one
C. high rates of birth and death to the low ones
D. low rates of birth and death to the high ones
59. We can learn from the passage that _______.
A. in the near future there will be a rapid decline of the world population
B. the birth and death rates of modern society will be unequal in the future
C. there would be the same population living in the world than it in the US today
D. in Western Europe the replacement rate has declined to a negative number

第三部分 阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
A
Fifty years from now the world’s population will be declining, with no end in sight. Unless people’s values change greatly, several centuries from now there could be fewer people living in the entire world than live in the United States today. The big surprise of the past twenty years is that in not one country did fertility (生育能力) stop falling when it reached the replacement rate（出生率）—2.1 children per woman. In Italy, for example, the rate has fallen to 1.2. In Western Europe as a whole and in Japan it is down to 1.5. The evidence now indicates that within fifty years or so world population will peak at about eight billion before starting a fairly rapid decline.
Because in the past two centuries world population has increased from one billion to nearly six billion, many people still fear that it will keep “exploding” until there are too many people for the earth to support. But that is like fearing that your baby will grow to 1,000 pounds because its weight doubles three times in its first seven years. World population was growing by two percent a year in the 1960s; the rate is now down to one percent a year, and if the patterns of the past century don’t change completely, it will head into negative numbers. This view is coming to be widely accepted among population experts, even as the public continues to focus on the threat of uncontrolled population growth.
As long ago as September of 1974 Scientific American published a special issue on population that described what demographers (人口统计学家) had begun calling the “demographic transition” from traditional high rates of birth and death to the low ones of modern society. The experts believed that birth and death rates would be more or less equal in the future, as they had been in the past, keeping total population stable after a level of 10-12 billion people was reached during the transition.
56. Which of the following statement is NOT true according to the passage?
A. The world’s population in the future will be reducing endlessly.
B. When the earth population reaches 8 billion, it will see a rapid decrease.
C. In modern society the birth and death rates will be more or less equal in the future.
D. The public now pay little attention to the threat of uncontrolled population growth.
57. What’s reason for the sharp increase of world population in the past two centuries?
A. Because people fear that the world will explode.
B. Because the world’s replacement rate keeps falling.
C. Because people’s values has greatly changed.
D. The passage doesn't mention it.
58. The expression “demographic transition” (Paragraph 3) probably means _______.
A. high death rate to the low one
B. high birth rate to the low one
C. high rates of birth and death to the low ones
D. low rates of birth and death to the high ones
59. We can learn from the passage that _______.
A. in the near future there will be a rapid decline of the world population
B. the birth and death rates of modern society will be unequal in the future
C. there would be the same population living in the world than it in the US today
D. in Western Europe the replacement rate has declined to a negative number

In recent years, the world has made progress in reducing deaths among children under the age of five. A new report says an estimated 6.9 million children worldwide died before their fifth birthday. That compares to about twelve million in1990.
The report says child mortality rates have fallen in all areas. It says the number of deaths is down by at least 50 percent in eastern, western and southeastern Asia. The number also fell in North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Ties Boerma is head of the WHO’s Department of Health Statistics and Informatics. He says most child deaths happen in just a few areas.
TIES BOERMA: “Sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia face the greatest challenges in child survival. More than eighty percent of child deaths in the world occur in these two regions. About half of child deaths occur in just five countries—India, which actually takes twenty-four percent of the global total; Nigeria, eleven percent; the Democratic Republic of Congo, seven percent; Pakistan, five percent and China, four percent of under-five deaths in the world.”
Ties Boerma notes that, in developed countries, one child in one hundred fifty-two dies before his or her fifth birthday. But south of the Sahara Desert, one out of nine children dies before the age of five. In Asia, the mortality rate is one in sixteen.  
The report lists the top five causes of death among children under five worldwide. They are pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and problems both before and during birth.
Tessa Wardlaw is with the U-N Children’s Fund. She is pleased with the progress being made in Sub-Saharan Africa. The area has the highest under-five mortality rate in the world. But she says the rate of decline in child deaths has more than doubled in Africa.
TESSA WARDLAW: “We welcome the widespread progress in child survival, but we importantly want to stress that there’s a lot of work that remains to be done. There’s unfinished business and the fact is that today on average, around nineteen thousand children are still dying every day from largely preventable causes.”
The World Health Organization says one way to solve these problems is to make sure health care services are available to women. In this way, medical problems can be avoided or treated when identified.
【小题1】Since 1990, the number of the children who died before 5 in the world has dropped by about__________.

In recent years, the world has made progress in reducing deaths among children under the age of five. A new report says an estimated 6.9 million children worldwide died before their fifth birthday. That compares to about twelve million in1990.

The report says child mortality rates have fallen in all areas. It says the number of deaths is down by at least 50 percent in eastern, western and southeastern Asia. The number also fell in North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Ties Boerma is head of the WHO’s Department of Health Statistics and Informatics. He says most child deaths happen in just a few areas.

TIES BOERMA: “Sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia face the greatest challenges in child survival. More than eighty percent of child deaths in the world occur in these two regions. About half of child deaths occur in just five countries—India, which actually takes twenty-four percent of the global total; Nigeria, eleven percent; the Democratic Republic of Congo, seven percent; Pakistan, five percent and China, four percent of under-five deaths in the world.”

Ties Boerma notes that, in developed countries, one child in one hundred fifty-two dies before his or her fifth birthday. But south of the Sahara Desert, one out of nine children dies before the age of five. In Asia, the mortality rate is one in sixteen.  

The report lists the top five causes of death among children under five worldwide. They are pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and problems both before and during birth.

Tessa Wardlaw is with the U-N Children’s Fund. She is pleased with the progress being made in Sub-Saharan Africa. The area has the highest under-five mortality rate in the world. But she says the rate of decline in child deaths has more than doubled in Africa.

TESSA WARDLAW: “We welcome the widespread progress in child survival, but we importantly want to stress that there’s a lot of work that remains to be done. There’s unfinished business and the fact is that today on average, around nineteen thousand children are still dying every day from largely preventable causes.”

The World Health Organization says one way to solve these problems is to make sure health care services are available to women. In this way, medical problems can be avoided or treated when identified.

1.Since 1990, the number of the children who died before 5 in the world has dropped by about__________.

A．6,900,000         B．12,000,000        C．1,200,000         D．5,100,000

2. What does the underlined word “mortality” ( in Paragraph 2)mean?

A．illness            B．reduction         C．death            D．problem

3.According to the passage, the readers are likely to believe that __________.

A．child mortality rates have fallen just in five areas

B．Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest under-five mortality rate in the world

C．in developed countries, no children die before the age of five

D．the world has made little progress in reducing the rates of child mortality

4.______ is the top-one cause of death among children under five worldwide.

A．Global warming     B．Malaria           C．Pneumonia        D．Diarrhea

5.What will be probably referred to in the following paragraph?

A．Women do not want to have babies.

B．How more health care services are available to women.

C．Medical problems are completely solved.

D．The World Health Organization.

In recent years, the world has made progress in reducing deaths among children under the age of five. A new report says an estimated 6.9 million children worldwide died before their fifth birthday. That compares to about twelve million in1990.
The report says child mortality rates have fallen in all areas. It says the number of deaths is down by at least 50 percent in eastern, western and southeastern Asia. The number also fell in North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Ties Boerma is head of the WHO’s Department of Health Statistics and Informatics. He says most child deaths happen in just a few areas.
TIES BOERMA: “Sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia face the greatest challenges in child survival. More than eighty percent of child deaths in the world occur in these two regions. About half of child deaths occur in just five countries—India, which actually takes twenty-four percent of the global total; Nigeria, eleven percent; the Democratic Republic of Congo, seven percent; Pakistan, five percent and China, four percent of under-five deaths in the world.”
Ties Boerma notes that, in developed countries, one child in one hundred fifty-two dies before his or her fifth birthday. But south of the Sahara Desert, one out of nine children dies before the age of five. In Asia, the mortality rate is one in sixteen.  
The report lists the top five causes of death among children under five worldwide. They are pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and problems both before and during birth.
Tessa Wardlaw is with the U-N Children’s Fund. She is pleased with the progress being made in Sub-Saharan Africa. The area has the highest under-five mortality rate in the world. But she says the rate of decline in child deaths has more than doubled in Africa.
TESSA WARDLAW: “We welcome the widespread progress in child survival, but we importantly want to stress that there’s a lot of work that remains to be done. There’s unfinished business and the fact is that today on average, around nineteen thousand children are still dying every day from largely preventable causes.”
The World Health Organization says one way to solve these problems is to make sure health care services are available to women. In this way, medical problems can be avoided or treated when identified

1. 1.

   Since 1990, the number of the children who died before 5 in the world has dropped by about__________

   1. A.
      6,900,000
   2. B.
      12,000,000
   3. C.
      1,200,000
   4. D.
      5,100,000
2. 2.

   What does the underlined word “mortality” ( in Paragraph 2)mean?

   1. A.
      illness
   2. B.
      reduction
   3. C.
      death
   4. D.
      problem
3. 3.

   According to the passage, the readers are likely to believe that __________

   1. A.
      child mortality rates have fallen just in five areas
   2. B.
      Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest under-five mortality rate in the world
   3. C.
      in developed countries, no children die before the age of five
   4. D.
      the world has made little progress in reducing the rates of child mortality
4. 4.

   ______ is the top-one cause of death among children under five worldwide

   1. A.
      Global warming
   2. B.
      Malaria
   3. C.
      Pneumonia
   4. D.
      Diarrhea
5. 5.

   What will be probably referred to in the following paragraph?

   1. A.
      Women do not want to have babies
   2. B.
      How more health care services are available to women
   3. C.
      Medical problems are completely solved
   4. D.
      The World Health Organization