Global warming may or may not be the great environmental crisis of the 21st century, but—regardless of whether it is or isn’t—we won’t do much about it. We will argue over it and may even, as a nation, make some fairly solemn-sounding commitments to avoid it. But the more dramatic and meaningful these commitments seem, the less likely they are to be observed. Al Gore calls global warming an “inconvenient truth,” as if merely recognizing it could put us on a path to a solution. But the real truth is that we don’t know enough to relieve global warming, and—without major technological breakthroughs—we can’t do much about it. From 2003 to 2050, the world’s population is projected to grow from 6.4 billion to 9.1 billion, a 42% increase. If energy use per person and technology remain the same, total energy use and greenhouse gas emissions (mainly, CO2) will be 42% higher in 2050. But that’s too low, because societies that grow richer use more energy. We need economic growth unless we condemn the world’s poor to their present poverty and freeze everyone else’s living standards. With modest growth, energy use and greenhouse emissions more than double by 2050. No government will adopt rigid restrictions on economic growth and personal freedom (limits on electricity usage, driving and travel) that might cut back global warming. Still, politicians want to show they’re “doing something.” Consider the Kyoto Protocol(京都议定书). It allowed countries that joined to punish those that didn’t. But it hasn’t reduced CO2 emissions (up about 25% since 1990), and many signatories (签字国)didn’t adopt tough enough policies to hit their 2008-2012 targets. The practical conclusion is that if global warming is a potential disaster, the only solution is new technology. Only an aggressive research and development program might find ways of breaking our dependence on fossil fuels or dealing with it. The trouble with the global warming debate is that it has become a moral problem when it’s really an engineering one. The inconvenient truth is that if we don’t solve the engineering problem, we’re helpless.
Greenhouse emissions will more than double by 2050 because of _________ . A. economic growth. B. wasteful use of energy C. the widening gap between the rich and poor D. the rapid advances of science and technology
ID：9121-13205 Passage 2 A teenage girl from the state of Connecticut has won the top prize in the Intel Science Talent Search. The competition was known as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search until 1998. It is the oldest program in the United States that honors the science projects of high school students. The Intel Science Talent Search celebrated its sixtieth anniversary last year. The winners received money for a college education and a new computer. More than 1,500 students entered projects for the competition. The students were from 36 states and the District of Columbia. 49 percent were female and 51 percent were male. Their research projects involved every area of science, including chemistry, physics, mathematics, engineering, social science and biology. Forty students were invited to Washington, D.C. for the final judging by well-known scientists. They judged the students on their research ability and creative thinking. They also questioned the students about scientific problems before deciding on the top ten winners. The first place winner was Mariangela Lisanti of Westport, Connecticut. She received 100,000 dollars for her college education. Her physics project involved the use of single atoms or molecules to create electronic devices. She developed a new way to measure electron movement in tiny structures. The second place winner was Nathaniel Jay Craig of Sacramento, California. He received 75,000 dollars for his college education for a physics project. He developed a method for expressing the strength of specially prepared glass by describing the super cooled liquid from which it was formed. The third place winner was Gabriel Drew Carroll of Oakland, California. He received 50,000 dollars for his college education. His mathematics project involved the partial order of numbers. The president of Intel, Craig Barrett, praised all the finalists as future leaders. He said their understanding of science and mathematics is important for making sense of the technological world today. And it is important for making the best decisions in the future.
ID：9121-13202 Directions: There are 20 blanks in the following passage. For each blank there are four choices marked A. B. C and D. You should choose the one that best fits into the passage.
Did you ever have someone’s name on the tip of your tongue and yet you were unable to recall it? 1 this happens again, do not 2 to recall it. Do something 3 for a couple of minutes, 4 the name may come into your head. The name is there since you have met 5 person and learned his name. It 6 has to be dug out. The initial effort to recall 7 the mind for operation, but it is the subconscious 8 that go to work to dig up a 9 memory. Forcing yourself to recall 10 never helps because it doesn’t 11 your memory; it only tightens it. Students find the preparatory method helpful 12 examinations. They read over the questions 13 trying to answer any of them. 14 they answer first the ones 15 which they are most confident. Meanwhile, deeper mental activities in the subconscious mind are taking 16 ; work is being done on the 17 difficult question. By the time the easier questions are answered, answers 18 the more difficult ones will usually begin to 19 into consciousness. It is often 20 a question of waiting for recall to come to the memory.
