大学生英语竞赛C类阅读理解专项强化真题试卷15 - 众享搜题网

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首页 > 外语类 > 大学生英语竞赛（NECCS） > C类竞赛（非英语专业本科） > 大学生英语竞赛C类阅读理解专项强化真题试卷15

The latest Human Development Report from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) contains some good news, but also a very serious warning about the threat posed by climate change. The report, published annually since 1990, seeks to assess “human development”around the world, and calculates a “Human Development Index”(HDI) for 169 countries. The HDI is based on average income, life expectancy and level of education in a country. Not surprisingly, rich countries tend to have higher HDIs than poor countries, but there are interesting variations in human development among countries with similar levels of economic development, because some have better health and education systems than others. According to the 2010 report, the country with the highest level of human development is Norway , followed by Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Ireland. Most of the lowest HDIs belong to countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Almost all countries around the world have higher HDIs now than in 1990, despite the fact that since the 2008 financial crisis, the total number of people living in extreme poverty has increased. The report concludes that most people are healthier, live longer, are better educated and have access to more goods and services. Even in countries with severe economic problems, people’s level of health and education has generally improved. Although sub-Saharan African countries are at the bottom of the pile in terms of human development, some of them have made significant progress since 1990. The report is critical, however, of the fact that economic inequality has increased significantly in the last twenty years, both within and between countries. The greatest threat to improving HDIs in the future, according to the report, is climate change. Economic growth increases average incomes in a country through increasing production and consumption. However, if this leads to greater emissions of greenhouse gases, as has always been the case in the past, global warming will probably accelerate, and cause severe environmental problems in some parts of the world that will threaten the livelihoods of huge numbers of people. The progress of the last twenty years, therefore, might not be sustainable. The only solution, according to the report, is to break the link between economic growth and greenhouse gas emissions—which, needless to say, is easier said than done.

The latest Human Development Report from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) contains some good news, but also a very serious warning about the threat posed by climate change. The report, published annually since 1990, seeks to assess “human development”around the world, and calculates a “Human Development Index”(HDI) for 169 countries. The HDI is based on average income, life expectancy and level of education in a country. Not surprisingly, rich countries tend to have higher HDIs than poor countries, but there are interesting variations in human development among countries with similar levels of economic development, because some have better health and education systems than others. According to the 2010 report, the country with the highest level of human development is Norway , followed by Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Ireland. Most of the lowest HDIs belong to countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Almost all countries around the world have higher HDIs now than in 1990, despite the fact that since the 2008 financial crisis, the total number of people living in extreme poverty has increased. The report concludes that most people are healthier, live longer, are better educated and have access to more goods and services. Even in countries with severe economic problems, people’s level of health and education has generally improved. Although sub-Saharan African countries are at the bottom of the pile in terms of human development, some of them have made significant progress since 1990. The report is critical, however, of the fact that economic inequality has increased significantly in the last twenty years, both within and between countries. The greatest threat to improving HDIs in the future, according to the report, is climate change. Economic growth increases average incomes in a country through increasing production and consumption. However, if this leads to greater emissions of greenhouse gases, as has always been the case in the past, global warming will probably accelerate, and cause severe environmental problems in some parts of the world that will threaten the livelihoods of huge numbers of people. The progress of the last twenty years, therefore, might not be sustainable. The only solution, according to the report, is to break the link between economic growth and greenhouse gas emissions—which, needless to say, is easier said than done.

[*] Tens of millions of television viewers around the world have become familiar with the musical talent show The X Factor, which originated in Britain in 2004 and has since become an international franchise. In some countries the name is different—for example, Factor X in Spain and XSeer Al Najah in Arabic-speaking countries—but the format is usually the same; aspiring pop singers or groups compete in front of a small group of judges, and a large studio audience, for the prize of a lucrative recording contract. The British version of the show has been enormously successful. Broadcast on Saturday evenings between August and December, it is watched by an average of around 13 million people— more than a fifth of the population. The studio audience is extremely enthusiastic (at times almost hysterical) and the four judges, who give their opinions immediately after each performance, are u-sually jeered if they make negative comments. The TV audience votes by telephone for their favourite singer, and on Sunday evening the results are announced in a follow-up show. The two singers who receive the fewest votes from the public normally have to perform again in the follow-up show, and then their fate is in the hands of the judges. The competitor the judges think has sung better stays in the competition, but the loser is eliminated. As the competition progresses, the performers are in the public eye far longer than two evenings a week. Their talents (or lack thereof) , personalities and off-stage behaviour are also discussed endlessly by gossip magazines and tabloids, their faces frequently appearing on the front pages. Feelings run so high that campaigns for or against certain contestants are launched on social networking sites. In Britain, winning The X Factor guarantees that a singer or group will be able to make a lot of money from their music, at least in the short term. In most years, for example, a debut single by the winner, released in December, has reached the top of the singles charts by Christmas. Some people, however, think the programme has too much influence on the music-buying public , which is why in 2009 there was a successful campaign to encourage people to buy an alternative single and thereby ensure the song by The X Factor winner wouldn’t be number one at Christmas. The campaign is being repeated this year. In another kind of protest against the 2010 competition, a lot of people tried to undermine it by voting every week for the contestant with by far the worst singing voice—he was finally eliminated only in late November.

[*] Tens of millions of television viewers around the world have become familiar with the musical talent show The X Factor, which originated in Britain in 2004 and has since become an international franchise. In some countries the name is different—for example, Factor X in Spain and XSeer Al Najah in Arabic-speaking countries—but the format is usually the same; aspiring pop singers or groups compete in front of a small group of judges, and a large studio audience, for the prize of a lucrative recording contract. The British version of the show has been enormously successful. Broadcast on Saturday evenings between August and December, it is watched by an average of around 13 million people— more than a fifth of the population. The studio audience is extremely enthusiastic (at times almost hysterical) and the four judges, who give their opinions immediately after each performance, are u-sually jeered if they make negative comments. The TV audience votes by telephone for their favourite singer, and on Sunday evening the results are announced in a follow-up show. The two singers who receive the fewest votes from the public normally have to perform again in the follow-up show, and then their fate is in the hands of the judges. The competitor the judges think has sung better stays in the competition, but the loser is eliminated. As the competition progresses, the performers are in the public eye far longer than two evenings a week. Their talents (or lack thereof) , personalities and off-stage behaviour are also discussed endlessly by gossip magazines and tabloids, their faces frequently appearing on the front pages. Feelings run so high that campaigns for or against certain contestants are launched on social networking sites. In Britain, winning The X Factor guarantees that a singer or group will be able to make a lot of money from their music, at least in the short term. In most years, for example, a debut single by the winner, released in December, has reached the top of the singles charts by Christmas. Some people, however, think the programme has too much influence on the music-buying public , which is why in 2009 there was a successful campaign to encourage people to buy an alternative single and thereby ensure the song by The X Factor winner wouldn’t be number one at Christmas. The campaign is being repeated this year. In another kind of protest against the 2010 competition, a lot of people tried to undermine it by voting every week for the contestant with by far the worst singing voice—he was finally eliminated only in late November.

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