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satmospherebythefactoriesandvehicleshavebeenspeedinguptheprocessofglobalwarmingandaffectingourclimate.Lookingahead,scientistsbelievethatglobalwarmingcouldbeoneofthebiggestenvironmentalproblemsfacingthe21stcentury.Butwhatexactlyisglobalwarming,whyisitseenasadanger,andhowisitrelevanttoourlives

GlobalwarmingreferstoanaverageincreaseintheEarth'

stemperaturethat,inturn,leadstoclimatechange.ScientistsfoundthatthetemperatureoftheEarthiscontrolledbygreenhousegasessuchascarbondioxidewhichtrapheatfromthesunintheEarth'

satmosphere.Withoutthesenaturallyoccurringgases,thesun'

srayswouldbouncebackintospaceleavingtheEarthcoldandimpossibletoliveon.Whenthepresenceofthesegasesintheatmosphereincrease,however,moreheatistrappedandtheEarth'

stemperaturerises.

Overthelast100years,theglobalaveragetemperaturehasincreasedby1°

Fandmanyexpertsinsistthattheblameforthisglobalwarmingcanmostlybepinnedonhumanactivities.Asaresultofincreasedindustry,agriculture,thecuttingdownofforests,theincreaseintransportandtheburningoffuels,nearly6tonnesofcarbondioxidegoesintotheatmosphereeveryyearforeveryoneoftheEarth'

s6billionpeople.Theamountofcarbondioxideintheatmospherehasrisenbymorethan30%inthelast250yearswithhalfofthisincreaseoccurringsince1960.Giventhisdata,itseemsthatthelinkbetweenhumanactivitiesandrisingglobaltemperaturesisnotmerelyacoincidence.

Atemperatureincreaseof1ЎFmaynotsoundlikealot,butifwecontinuetoproducecarbondioxideandothergasesinsuchhugequantities,wearecondemninglifeonEarthandshouldexpectsevereconsequences.Recentreportswarnedthatglobalwarmingwillcauseterribleclimatechangesincludingmorefrequentflooding,heatwavesanddroughts.Seriousdiseaseswillspreadandindustriesthatrelyonnaturesuchasfishingwillbebadlyaffected.Increasedtemperatureswillalsocausethepolaricetomelt,raisingsealevelsandfloodingmanyislandsandcities.Howcanwestopthesedisastersfromhappening

Governmentsallovertheworldhavearesponsibilitytoreducetheamountofcarbondioxidewhichtheircountriesareproducing.Iflesscarbondioxidegoesintotheatmosphere,globalwarmingwillslowdown.Thisisnoeasytask,however,andsomegovernments,forexample,theUSA'

sfederalgovernment,expressreservationsaboutwhetherglobalwarmingisreallycausedbyhumanactivities.

ManypeoplebelievethattheyaresimplynotpreparedtosacrificetheamountofmoneytheymakefromindustrytosavetheEarth.ButwhywaitaroundforgovernmentstotakeactionExpertsadvocatethateachpersonplaytheirpart.Theysuggestmakingsmallchangesliketakingpublictransport,recycling,usinglow-flowshowerheads,andbuyinglightbulbsthatuselessenergy.Evensimplethingslikeusingrecycledpaperorswitchingoffthelightswhenyouleavearoomcanhelp.Ifweaddupallthesesmallchangesmadebyeveryoneworldwide,theywon'

tbesuchsmallchanges.Theycouldbethechangesthatsaveourfuture.Afterall,there'

snosubstituteforourEarth.It'

sallwe'

vegottoliveon.

Unit22Lesson3NaturalDisasters

Natureisturningonus

Thelastfewyearshaveseenenvironmentaldisastersonagrandscale,andexpertsarepredictingfarworsetocome.JinLireportsonourEarth'

schangeableweatherpatterns.

Inthelastdecade,thunderstorms,floods,earthquakes,typhoons,volcaniceruptions,tsunamisandforestfireshavebecomeincreasinglyhasbeenterriblefloodinginAsia,Africa,AmericaandOceania.

（1）__________Stormshavebeengettingworseeverywheretoo,withagrowingnumberofhurricaneshittingtheUS,andCentralAmerica.ReducedrainfallhasaffectedlargeareasofAfricaforyearsleavingirrigationcanalsdryandmanyotherzonesarebecomingdrier.

（2）__________Anumberofnationshavealreadybeeninarmedconflictoverwater,andreducedrainfallinthewestoftheUShasresultedinhugeforestfires.

Volcaniceruptionsandearthquakeshavealwaysbeenathreatincertainpartsoftheworld.AvolcaniceruptionnearlywipedoutthesmallislandofMontserratin1997,andtherehavebeenseriousearthquakesinmanypartsofAsia,EuropeandSouthAmerica.Inthelastthreeyears,Indonesiahashadaroughtime,sufferingseveralkillerquakesanditisstillrecoveringfromtheAsiantsunamicausedbyanoffshoreearthquakeonDecember26th,tsunamikilled132,000Indonesiansandanother100,000peopleofothercatastropheisstillveryfreshinthemindsofpeopleworldwidewhohavenotyetgotovertheirseparationfromlovedoneslostinthetsunami.

Sowhyisnaturebeginningtoturnonus（3）__________Thepopulationoftheworldisgrowingatthedisturbingrateof10,000peopleanhour,nearly90millionayear,withmostofthegrowthinthedevelopingworld.Peopleinagriculturalareas,withoutanymeanstoearntheirliving,movetothecities,andthenconstructshabbyhomesfromwhatevermaterialstheycanfindonpoorclayhomes,seldommadeofbricks,caneasilyfalldowninearthquakesorslipandslidedownhillinlandslides,especiallyinmountainousareas.（4）__________Thishasmainlybeencausedbythehugeamountsofcarbondioxideproducedbyfactoriesandvehicles,andthedestructionoftheworld'

sforests.Asaresult,ahotteroceancausesmorepowerfulwinds.Atlantichurricanes–theirhowlingwindswithspeedsofover300kilometresanhour–are40%strongernowthantheywere30yearsago.

Volcanoesandearthquakesareevenmoredangerousthaninthepastasaroundhalftheworld'

spopulationnowlivesinaremorethan300activevolcanoes,aboutfiftyofwhicherupteachyear,andmorethan500millionpeoplenowlivewithintherangeofavolcaniceruption.Becausethesenaturaldisastersoccuratrandomtimes,itisdifficulttowarnpeopleinadvance.InMay2006,thousandsofIndonesianslivingnearMtMerapi（whichmeansmountainoffire）hadtofleeastheythoughtitwasabouttoerupt.Anevengreaternumberofpeopleliveatrisk,tosomedegree,fromearthquakeswhichhaveclaimedmorethanmillionlivesinthelasthundredyears.

Mostdisasterexpertsbelievethereisthepotentialthatthingscouldgetalotworse.ProfessorHouMing,ofBeijingUniversitystudiesvolcanoesandhewarnsthattheworldhasnotseentheworstnaturecanworsteruptioninhumanhistorywasprobablyMtTamborain1815,inIndonesia.DustfromthevolcanorolledacrosstheEarth'

sskiesandprettymuchcancelledthefollowingsummerinEuropeandAmerica.（5）__________“Itreducedtemperaturesbymaybe6ЎCinsomeplacesandthewholeplanetwassentintowinterforyears.Andthereareabouttwooftheseeventsevery100,000years...”

Unit23Lesson1LivinginaCommunity

Drummerhitstheroad

YangMing,drummerfortherockband“Storm”,haspackedhisbags.He'

sbidhisfurnishedapartmentgoodbyeaftercomplaintsfromhisneighboursaboutlossofsleep.Beingabachelor,YangMingheldpartieseverynightbutthebiggestproblemwashislatenightdrumming.

Seldomhasdrummingcausedsuchconflict.YangMing'

sneighbourssaytheywerebeingdrivenmadbeingexposedtosuchnoise.Hadtheyknowntheirneighbourwasadrummer,theywouldn'

thavemovedintothebuilding.Nosoonerhadtheymovedinthanthenoisebeganandrarelydidtheygetafullnight'

ssleep.Neithercouldtheyrelaxorreadabookwithoutpluggingtheirears.OneneighbouralsoclaimsthatYangMingisanalcoholicandwasabadinfluenceonhisadolescentson.

Intheend,thelocalcounciltookaction.“ItwasonlyaftercarefulconsiderationthatwegaveYangMingawarning,”acouncilmembersaid.“Gettingenoughsleepisimportantforpeople'

shealthandaftersuchachorusofcomplaints,wehadtotakeaction.”YangMing'

sdeparturehaspleasedhisneighbours.“Lifewillgobacktonormalnow,”theysay.

ForYangMing'

sversionofthestory,wefoundhimintheloungeofhissuiteatShanghai'

sHolidayInnHotel.YangMingfeelsthathisrightshavebeenignored.YangMinghatesbeingcalledanalcoholic,butitisthefactthatpeoplehaveclassifiedhismusicas“noise”thatupsetshimmost.Otherwisehedoesn'

treallymindhavingtoleavehisapartment.“LivinginahotelmeansamaidmakesmybedeverydayandIdon'

thavetodomyownlaundry!

”ButhowlongwillthehoteltoleratehimWewonder.

Grandpajailedafteroneshowertoomany

Eighty-year-oldretiredtailor,JamesMcKay,spentSaturdaynightinjailafterhittingthirty-year-oldKeithSmithovertheheadwithhiswalkingstick.McKay'

swife,LaurenetoldusthatwhileMcKayisusuallyapeacefulperson,hehadbeendriventothisactofviolencebygettingwetjustoncetoooften.

SmithlivesabovetheMcKaysanditappearsthatnotonlyisheakeengardener,heisalsoafishcollector.Unfortunatelyforhim,thewaterhesentoverhisbalconyeverydayendedupontheMcKay'

s,ortoooften,ontheMcKaysthemselves.

“Forthelastfortnight,sinceSmithmovedintotheflataboveus,wehavehardlydaredgoontoourbalcony,”saidLaurene.Sheaddedthatitwasn'

tsomuchthewaterfallingontotheirbalconyfromSmithwateringhisplantsthatbotheredthem,itwasmorethewayhecleanedhisfishtanks.“We'

dbesittingtherehappilyreadingournewspapers,whensuddenlysomuchwaterwouldcomefromab