英語范文背誦精華 30.2 Trends for the 21st Century

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What problems will our world encounter in the next 1,000 years? Social scientists and economists, farming experts and environmentalists pose this question and examine data, information from surveys.

In every field, experts examine changes to understand the state of the field. To understand a country's economy, economists check growth in an industry such as steel. To understand the state of business, they may look at the number of building permits for new houses. The information learned shows increases or decreases. Important trends emerge in each field.

Population

Population is important to every person on Earth. People tend to live longer in most places. In Central Europe, however, life span is dropping because health care is not what it was a few years ago. Factors affecting general health include excessive smoking and drinking of alcohol and polluted water supplies.

The population explosion on our planet has been increasing at an alarming rate but the percentage of increase is decreasing. One out of every five people on Earth is Chinese, yet China's growth rate has slowed. As the number of women going to school increases, the growth rate declines.

Food Production

The production of grain seems to be decreasing mainly because of climate changes. Natural disasters like storms and floods have washed away many crops.

With less land for cattle and sheep, less meat like beef and lamb is being produced. Production of chicken, turkey and fish has increased, however. The amount of ocean fish has not increased, but fish farm production has.

Fish farming is very efficient: producing a kilogram of fish utilizes less than 2 kilograms of feed, but it takes 2.2 kilograms of feed to produce 1 kilogram of chicken. One kilogram of beef requires 7 kilograms of grain. People, therefore, may eat less red meat in the future and more fish.

Energy

Using fossil fuels for energy has not altered very much but wind energy use is increasing significantly. Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Britain, and America have large wind power projects. China, India, Mexico, New Zealand, and Ukraine are also developing wind power.

Energy from nuclear power plants is steadily increasing but the problem of dangerous waste limits growth in many regions. Because many electrical companies consider nuclear energy too expensive, the trend is toward less dangerous sources of energy.

While natural gas use increases, use of coal as fuel is decreasing. Natural gas, an outstanding energy fuel, can be used to heat homes, make electricity, and power cars.

Economics

As countries around the world trade more with one another, more products are available. But the fast development of world economy will bring about many new problems. With fewer trees, the paper industry is producing more paper from recycled materials but, unfortunately, damages the planet. The paper-making process uses large amounts of water, burns fossil fuels and produces much chemical waste.

Automobile production is down; bicycle production is up. Crowded highways, high gasoline costs, and ease of bicycling are three reasons for this change.

Health

Three major health trends exist as we begin the new century. Health care is better than ever. Medical research breakthroughs include finding tumors early, and saving lives through CAT scans and surgery. Surviving cancer is a new trend. HIV/AIDS, however, is spreading quickly all over the world.

The third major trend is toward an attitude of indifference. People seem to have forgotten ways to keep diseases under control. Although medical science had achieved control over several dangerous diseases, some are returning. For instance, tuberculosis, once a dangerous killer, was cured. Now the disease is appearing again.

Nature

Pollution continues to affect our forests and water. The bird population is decreasing because of oil spills and spreading cities. Seas and oceans are changing. Trees are cut down, more soil washes away, and water quality is affected. Many of these trees are in our rain forests where thick areas of plants and trees, home for many birds and animals, are disappearing.

Conclusion

Our challenges for this new century are clear. The problems of numerous inhabitants on this small planet will continue to be important to each of us. These challenges show that all of us need to be involved in solving the problems. May we find new ways to accomplish the task.