49 查看材料A.Tegmark fears he may hold the record for t

48 查看材料

A.Tegmark fears he may hold the record for the longest time taken to read one book.

B.In a more positive vein， this is a wonderful collection of essays to dip in and out of if you already have a good overview （概述） of current cosmic understanding.

C.Levy is an active astronomer and an accomplished writer， so you"d expect him to provide a broad and accurate picture of our current understanding of the cosmos.

D.Scientific American has attempted to cater to this need by bringing together essays that have appeared in the magazine.

E.To some extent， these could have been plugged with a glossary （词表）. of terms.

F.Also included are contributions on the world of subatomic particles， the origin of life on the Earth and the possibility of its existence elsewhere.

47 查看材料

A.Tegmark fears he may hold the record for the longest time taken to read one book.

B.In a more positive vein， this is a wonderful collection of essays to dip in and out of if you already have a good overview （概述） of current cosmic understanding.

C.Levy is an active astronomer and an accomplished writer， so you"d expect him to provide a broad and accurate picture of our current understanding of the cosmos.

D.Scientific American has attempted to cater to this need by bringing together essays that have appeared in the magazine.

E.To some extent， these could have been plugged with a glossary （词表）. of terms.

F.Also included are contributions on the world of subatomic particles， the origin of life on the Earth and the possibility of its existence elsewhere.

以恢复文章原貌。

Stars in Their Eyes

The Scientific American Book of the Cosmos edited by David Levy， Macmillan， ￡20， ISBN 0333782933

Previous generations of seientists would have killed to know what we know. For the first time in history， we have a pretty good idea of the material content of the Universe， our position within it and how the whole thing came into being.

In these times of exploding knowledge there is a definite need to take stock and assemble what we know in a palatable （受欢迎的） form_________（46）

The essays in The Scientific American Book of the Cosmos have been selected by David Levy，co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9， which in 1994 struck Jupiter with the violenee of several full-scale nuclear wars. _________（47） This is certainly a great collection of essays， but it is not， as the book promises， a seamless （完美的，无缝隙的） synthesis of our current knowledge.

Nobody can fault the range of articles Levy has included. There are essays on the planets，moons and assorted debris （碎片） in the Solar System， and on our Galaxy， the Milky Way. _________（48）

The contributors， too， are stars in their own fields. Not many books can boast eha"pters written by such giants as Erwin Sehrodinger and Francis Crick. My personal favorites are a piercingly clear essay by Albert Einstein on general relativity and an article by Alan Guth and Paul Stein- hardt on the inflationary （膨胀的） Universe.

So much for the book"s content. But Levy has not succeeded in providing an accurate synthe-sis of our current knowledge of the eosmos， which the book jacket promises. Gathering together previously published articles inevitably leaves subject gaps， missing explanations and so on._________ （49） But there isn"t one. In fact， surprisingly for a book so densely packed with infor-mation， there is no index.

Collecting essays in this way is clearly a good publishing wheeze （巧妙的注意）. But this approach shortchanges the public， who would be better served by an account moulded into a seamless whole._________（50） However， for the next edition， please， please can we have an index?

46 查看材料

A.Tegmark fears he may hold the record for the longest time taken to read one book.

B.In a more positive vein， this is a wonderful collection of essays to dip in and out of if you already have a good overview （概述） of current cosmic understanding.

C.Levy is an active astronomer and an accomplished writer， so you"d expect him to provide a broad and accurate picture of our current understanding of the cosmos.

D.Scientific American has attempted to cater to this need by bringing together essays that have appeared in the magazine.

E.To some extent， these could have been plugged with a glossary （词表）. of terms.

F.Also included are contributions on the world of subatomic particles， the origin of life on the Earth and the possibility of its existence elsewhere.

查看材料

A.in an early stage

B.together with other diseases

C.during check-ups

D.in elderly people

材料

A.is not concerned about the status of women

B.has tried to industrialize the country rapidly

C.does not allow women to work outside the home

D.has tried to improve the condition of women

查看材料

A.the most important factor influencing birth rate is the economy

B.factors other than the economy influence birth rate

C.women who have a high income usually have few children

D.the birth rate depends on per capita income

查看材料

A.agricultural country with a high birth rate

B.agricultural country with a low birth rate

C.industrialized country with a low birth rate

D.industrialized country with a high birth rate

材料

A.families often become larger

B.the birth rate generally goes down

C.women usually decide not have a family

D.the population generally grows rapidly

Why So Many Children

In many of the developing countries in Africa and Asia， the population is growing fast. The reason for this is simple : Women in these countries have a high birth rate——from 3.0 to 7.0 children per woman. The majority of these women are poor， without the food or resources to care for their families. Why do they have so many children? Why don"t they limit the size of their fami-lies? The answer may be that they often have no choice. There are several reasons for this.

One reason is economic. In a traditional agricultural economy， large families are helpful. Having more children means having more workers in the fields and someone to take care of the parents in old age. In an industrial economy， the situation is different. Many children do not help a family; instead， they are an expense. Thus， industrialization has generally brought down the birth rate. This was the case in Italy， which was industrialized quite recently and rapidly. In the early part of the twentieth century， Italy was a poor， largely agricultural country with a high birth rate. After World War Ⅱ， Italy"s economy was rapidly modernized and industrialized. By the end of the century. the birth rate had dropped to 1.3 children per woman， the world"s lowest.

However， the economy is not the only important factor that influences birth rate. Saudi Ara-bia， for example， does not have an agriculture-based economy， and it has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. Nevertheless， it also has a very high birth rate （7.0）. Mexico and Indonesia， on the other hand， are poor countries， with largely agricultural economies， but they have recently reduced their population growth.

Clearly， other factors are involved. The most important of these is the condition of women. A high birth rate almost always goes together with lack of education and low status for women. This would explain the high birth rate of Saudi Arabia. There， the traditional culture gives women little education or independence and few possibilities outside the home. On the other hand， the improyed condition of women in Mexico， Thailand， and Indonesia explains the decline in birth rates in these countries. Their governments have taken measures to provide more education and oppor-tunities for women.

Another key factor in the birth rate is birth control. Women may want to limit their families but have no way to do so. In countries where governments have made birth control easily available and inexpensive， birth rates have gone down. This is the case in Singapore， Sri Lanka， and India， as well as in Indonesia， Thailand， Mexico， and Brazil. In these countries， women have also been provided with health care and help in planning their families.

These trends show that an effective program to reduce population growth does not have to depend on better economic conditions. It can be effective if it aims to help women and meet their needs. Only then， in fact， does it have any real chance of success.

In a traditional agricultural economy， a large family __________. 查看材料

A.can be an advantage

B.may limit income

C.isn"t necessary

D.is expensive

材料

A.Talking with your mouth full.

B.Putting bones on your plate.

C.Putting your elbows on the table.

D.Chewing with your month open.