Section C

Directions：There are 2 passages in this section.Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements.For each of them there are four choices marked A），B），C）and D）.You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line throughthe centre.

Passage One

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.

A very important world problem is the increasing number of people who actually inhabit（居住于）this planet.The limited amount of land and land resources will soon be unable to support the huge population if it continues to grow at its present rate.

So why is this huge increase in population taking place？It is really due to the spread of the knowledge and practice of what is becoming known as“Death Control”.You have no doubt heard of the term“Birth Control”. “Death Control”is something rather different.It recognises the work of the doctors and scientists who now keep alive people who，not very long ago，would have died of a variety of then incurable diseases.Through a wide variety of technological creations that include farming methods and the control of deadly diseases，we have found ways to reduce the rate at which we die.However，this success is the very cause of the greatest threat to mankind.

If we examine the amount of land available for this ever-increasing population，we begin to see the problem.If everyone on the planet had an equal share of land，we would each have about 50，000 square metres. This figure seems to be quite encouraging until we examine the amount of usable land we actually have.More than three-fifths of the world’s land cannot produce food.

Obviously，with so little land to support us，we should be taking great care not to reduce it further.But we are not！Instead，we are consuming its“capital”—its nonrenewable（不可再生的）fossil fuels and other mineral deposits that took millions of years to form but which are now being destroyed in decades.We are also doing the same with other vital resources not usually thought of as being nonrenewable such as fertile soils， groundwater and the millions of other species that share the earth with us.

It is a very common belief that the problems of the population explosion are caused mainly by poor people living in poor countries who do not know enough to limit their reproduction.This is not true.The actual number of people in an area is not as important as the effect they have on nature.Developing countries do have an effect on their environment，but it is the populations of richer countries that have a far greater impact on the earth as a whole.

46.According to the passage，what contributes to the population increase？

A）Human beings’ignorance. C）The success of“Death Control”.

B）The failure of“Birth Control”. D）Technological creations.

47.Land to support human beings is insufficient because.

A）most of the world’s land is unusable

B）farm land becomes desert due to climate change

C）populations in poor countries take up greater land

D）the world’s land is not distributed equally

48.What do we learn from the fourth paragraph？

A）Mineral resources do bring people fortune.

B）Fertile soils are nonrenewable sources in fact.

C）People have learned to use land in a protective way.

D）People usually regard groundwater as not replaceable.

49.According to the passage，many people tend to believe that.

A）lowering the birth rate doesn’t make any sense

B）it is wealthy countries that should practice birth control

C）it’s wrong to artificially extend people’s lives

D）poor countries are to blame for the harm to nature

50.What is the author really concerned about in the passage？

A）Unnecessarily extended life spans. C）Overuse of resources.

B）Population explosion. D）The gap between the rich and the poor.

Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

Women are on the margin of outnumbering men in the workforce for the first time，a historic reversal caused by long-term changes in women’s roles and massive job losses for men during this recession.

Women held 49.83%of the nation’s 132 million jobs in June and they’re gaining the vast majority of jobs in the few sectors of the economy that are growing，according to the most recent numbers available from the Bureau of Labour Statistics.

That’s a record high for a measure that’s been growing steadily for decades and accelerating during the recession.At the current pace，women will become a majority of workers in October or November.

“It was a long historical slog（沉重缓慢的前进）to get to this point，”says labour economist Heidi Hartmann，president of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

“The change reflects the growing importance of women as wage earners，but it doesn’t show full equality，” Hartmann says.“On average，women work fewer hours than men，hold more part-time jobs and earn 77%of what men make，”she says.Men also still dominate higher-paying executive ranks.

Women have been a growing share of the once heavily male labour force for nearly a century，recording big bumps during epochal（划时代的）events such as the Depression and World War II.This time，the boost came from a severe recession that has been brutal（无情的）on male-dominated professions such as construction and manufacturing.

The only parts of the economy still growing—health care，education and government—have traditionally hired mostly women.That leading position has increased in part because federal stimulus（刺激，促进）capital directed money to education，health care and state and local governments.

The gender transformation is especially remarkable in local government’s 14.6 million-person workforce. Cities，schools，water authorities and other local legal power have cut 86，000 men from staff lists during the recession—while adding 167，000 women，according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics.

“Unemployment among men isn’t going to last forever，”says University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan.“People will move from construction and manufacturing to industries that are creating new jobs.” Mulligan expects the portion of jobs held by women to peak slightly above 50%this year，then drop below half when the economy recovers and more men find work.

51.What does the author say about the workforce during this recession？

A）Men make up the most beneficial sectors.

B）Women gain jobs while men lose jobs.

C）Women take the most jobs in the economy.

D）Women outnumber men in few sectors.

52.According to labour economist Heidi Hartmann，the current workforce change.

A）will bring women equal pay as men

B）couldn’t hide sexual inequality that still exists

C）reflects women’s struggle to support the family

D）results from men’s leading position in higher-paying jobs

53.What happened to the women workforce during World War II？

A）It decreased suddenly. C）It enjoyed a boost.

B）It contributed to the high unemployment rate. D）It took over the male-dominated professions.

54.According to the passage，one aim of the federal stimulus capital is to.

A）promote health care and education C）reduce the unemployment rate

B）create new jobs for laid-off men D）encourage women to work outside the home

55.It is anticipated by economist Casey Mulligan that.

A）there will be equality in workforce numbers by the end of this year

B）it will be much easier for men to find work compared with women

C）the image that the man has to be the breadwinner will soon change

D）men will exceed women in the workforce with the economic recovery