1 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What is the percentage of persons aged 60 and over now in industrialized nations?

A．4%—8%.

B．13%—20%.

C．10%—20%.

2. What should we do for old people?

A．We give them more money.

B．We let them live alone.

C．We take good care of them.

3. Why do old people benefit us?

A．Because they are rich in knowledge and experience.

B．Because they don’t need any care.

C．Because they don’t cause any trouble.

4. What does society gain from old people?

A．Fame.

B．Money.

C．A deep sense of history.

2 . Falling birth rates are a major concern for some of Asia’s biggest economies. Government s in the region are spending hundreds of billions of dollars trying to reverse the trend. Will it work?

Japan began introducing policies to encourage couples to have more children in the 1990s. South Korea started doing the same in the 2000s, while Singapore’s first fertility (生育) policy dates back to 1987. China, which has seen its population fall for the first time in 60 years, recently joined the growing club.

While it is difficult to quantify exactly how much these policies have cost, South Korean President YoonSuk-yeol recently said his country had spent more than $200bn (£160bn) over the past 16 years on trying to boost the population. Yet last year South Korea broke its own record for the world’s lowest fertility rate, with the average number of babies expected per woman falling to 0.78. In neighbouring Japan, which had record low births of fewer than 800,000 last year, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has promised to double the budget for child-related policies from 10tn yen ($74.7bn; £59.2bn).

Having a bigger population who can work and produce more goods and services leads to higher economic growth. And while a larger population can mean higher costs for governments, it can also result in bigger tax revenues (税收). Also, many Asian countries are ageing rapidly. Japan leads the pack with nearly 30% of its population now over the age of 65 and some other nations in the region are not far behind. Compare that with India, which has just overtaken China as the world’s most populous nation. More than a quarter of its people are between the age of 10 and 20, which gives its economy huge potential for growth. And when the share of the working age population gets smaller, the cost and burden of looking after the non-working population grow. “Negative population growth has an impact on the economy, and together with an ageing population, they won’t be able to afford to support the elderly,” said Xiujian Peng of Victoria University.

1. Which Asian country first took measures to increase population in this passage?

A．Japan.

B．South Korea.

C．Singapore.

D．China.

2. What can we learn about the population of Asian countries from the passage?

A．Japan hit the lowest record of new-born babies last year.

B．India has the largest and youngest population in the world.

C．China’s population has been decreasing in the recent 60 years.

D．South Korea had the lowest population record last year in the world.

3. What can we infer from paragraph 4?

A．The economy of India will overtake that of Japan.

B．Negative population growth leads to an ageing population.

C．The larger the population is, the better the economy will be.

D．A bigger share of working age population helps support the elderly.

4. What’s the main idea of this passage?

A．Low birth rate is a negative factor for economy.

B．China is joining the countries of low birth rate.

C．Many Asian countries came to negative population growth.

D．Many Asian countries are trying all out to battle low birth rate.

3 . On November 15 in 2022, the United Nations (UN) reported that the number of people on Earth had grown to eight billion (8,000,000,000). That came just 11 years after the world reached seven billion people. The world faces challenges ahead as the population continues to grow.

The world’s population – the number of people on the planet – has grown rapidly over the last 200 years. In 1805, for the first time ever, the Earth had a billion people on it. It took over 100 years for that number to double to two billion. In less than 50 years, it had doubled again to four billion. Now, again in less than 50 years, the number has doubled once more to eight billion.

How fast local populations are growing depends a lot on where you are in the world. Typically, as countries become richer, their population growth slows. In some countries, like Japan, the number of people is actually shrinking. The greatest population growth these days is found in Asia and Africa.

Currently, China, with a population of 1.4 billion, is the country with the most people. That’s expected to change in the next year, when experts say India will pass China as the country with the world’s largest population. Other countries where rapid growth is expected through 2050 are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Tanzania.

1. When did the world’s population reach 7 billion?

A．In 2022.

B．In 2011.

C．In 1905.

D．In 1805.

2. Which statement agrees with the UN’s report?

A．Japan’s population is increasing sharply.

B．Pakistan’s population keeps dropping slowly.

C．A country’s population completely relies on its richness.

D．The world’s population is growing more rapidly since 1950.

3. Which country will probably have the largest population in 2023?

A．China.

B．Nigeria.

C．India.

D．Egypt.

4 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

World Population Day was founded by the United Nations, and this holiday is    1    (annual) observed on July 11th.

The idea of World Population Day started in the late 1960s,    2    world leaders openly declared that adults have the right    3    (choose) whether they wanted children or not. This idea was also viewed as a human right. During this era, leaders were more open about    4    (discuss)child-bearing and the right women had to time their children    5    they wished. While this was just one of the    6    (sign) to the feminist movement in the US, this idea was new to many developing nations at the time.

In 1989, the world population quickly increased to five billion. During this same year, the United Nations founded World Population Day. Both events    7    (occur) on July 11th of that year.

World Population Day is celebrated in many ways‒‒much of this depends on the region. For participants who live in countries where gender    8    (equal) is a law, the holiday is meant to be     9    reflection and celebration of significant moments in history that helped society achieve this basic human right.

Every July 11th, the United Nations also has central celebrations in which all nations    10    (permit) to participate. In addition, the UN holds an annual theme.

5 . According to the recent (最近的) report, five of the ten most populous (人口众多的) countries are in Asia, three in the Americas, and one each in Europe and Africa. With over 1.4 billion people, China has the largest population in the world. India comes in second with 1.355 billion, and the United States comes in third with around 328 million. Indonesia comes in fourth and Pakistan comes in fifth of the world’s most populous countries.

However, China is facing a serious aging population problem now. To solve the problem, China began relaxing its family planning policy (生育政策) in 2012. It said that if either one of the couples was the only child of their parents, they could have two children in 2013. And in 2016, China further relaxed the two-child policy (二胎政策) to all couples. In 2021, China allowed all couples to have three children.

However, a good family planning policy alone is not enough. The government should find ways to lower the cost of raising children and improve the elderly care services. Also, a friendly social and cultural environment should be provided for couples who want to have three children.

1. Half of the ten most populous countries are in         .

A．The Americas

B．Asia

C．Africa

2. Which countries have a population of over 1 billion?

A．China and the US.

B．Indonesia and China.

C．India and China.

3. When did China relax the two-child policy to all couples?

A．In 2012.

B．In 2013.

C．In 2016.

4. What does the second paragraph mainly talk about?

A．The changes of China’s family planning policy.

B．The influence of China’s family planning policy.

C．The problem of China’s family planning policy.

5. To solve China’s population problem, the government         .

A．need more people’s help

B．need to do more work

C．should take care of elderly people

6 . COVID-19 shutdowns forced people out of work and pushed tens of millions into poverty worldwide. Governments tried hard to provide aid. It was easy in a small country, but difficult for a country with large population and vast rural areas.     1     Doing a detailed, nationwide, house-to-house survey takes people time and money. Luckily, satellites can see poverty from space.

Researchers have been finding ways to identify areas of wealth and poverty in satellite images. Through some satellite data and aerial images of one town or another, you can sort of tell whether it’s wealthy or not. Wealthier homes tend to have metal roofs while poor homes tend to have thatched roofs. Wealthier neighborhoods have paved roads and bigger plots of lands, more spaced out.     2     The researchers trained artificial intelligence (AI) to recognize these patterns.

    3     The researchers put AI to work studying patterns of mobile phone use in those regions. Rich people will make just more phone calls than poor people. They also might make more expensive international calls. They might use more mobile data because they have smartphones.     4    

The researchers use the system to identify about 60,000 people to receive benefits. The advantage of the satellite imagery and phone data approach is that it’s extremely fast and very convenient.     5     In shocks like climate disasters where there’s no time or way to get detailed information on the ground, satellites mobile phones and AI could help deliver aid quickly to people in need.

A．It was opposite in a big country.

B．How do they locate the neediest people?

C．So there’s a lot of information in the images.

D．Most importantly, it’s very cheap to carry out.

E．Worse still, it’s not so economical as a house-to-house survey.

F．However, in general, poorer people will just have feature phones.

G．What the researchers did next was to target the neediest people in those regions.

7 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

The global population is expected to have reached 8 billion by the end of 2022, and India is predicted to surpass (超越) China as the country     1     the largest population in 2023, according to the United Nations.

“This is an occasion to celebrate our     2     (diverse) and recognize our common humanity,” said UN Secretary Antonio. “At the same time, it is     3     reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our planet and a moment to reflect on     4     we can do to one another,” he added.

The world population     5     (grow) at its slowest rate at the present time and it is forecast to reach a peak of around 10. 4 billion people during the 2080s and to remain at that level until 2100. Rapid population growth makes     6     (defeat) hunger and expanding the coverage of health and education systems increasingly difficult.

Countries with aging populations should take steps     7     (adapt) public programs to the growing numbers of older persons,     8     includes establishing universal health care and long-term care systems. Further actions by governments     9     (aim) at reducing birth rate would have little impact on the pace of population growth between now and mid-century, because of the youthful age structure of today’s     10     (globe) population.

8 . New York, 11 July — The global population is projected to reach 8 billion on 15 November 2022, and India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country in 2023, according to World Population Prospects 2022, released on World Population Day.

“This year’s World Population Day falls during a milestone year, when we expect the birth of the Earth’s eight billionth inhabitant. This is an occasion to celebrate our diversity, recognize our common humanity, and get amazed at advancements in health that have extended lifespans and dramatically reduced maternal and child mortality rates (孕妇及儿童死亡率),” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. At the same time, it is a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our planet and a moment to reflect on where we still fall short of our commitments to one another,” he added.

World Population Prospects 2022 states that fertility (生育能力) has fallen markedly in recent decades for many countries. Today, two-thirds of the global population lives in a country or area where lifetime fertility is below 2.1 births per woman, roughly the level required for zero growth in the long run for a population with low mortality. The populations of 61 countries or areas are projected to decrease by 1 percent or more between 2022 and 2050, due to sustained low levels of fertility and, in some cases, increasing rates of emigration.

“The relationship between population growth and sustainable development is complex and multidimensional,” said Liu Zhenmin, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs. “Rapid population growth makes removing poverty, combating hunger and malnutrition (营养不良), and increasing the coverage of health and education systems more difficult. On the contrary, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, especially those related to health, education and gender equality, will contribute to reducing fertility levels and slowing global population growth.”

1. The underlined word “surpass” can be replaced by ______.

A．overtake

B．overlook

C．overcome

D．overwhelm

2. What can we learn from this passage?

A．The concern for global problems is a shared responsibility.

B．The only factor that affects those 61 countries’ populations is fertility.

C．The fertility has been decreasing in recent decades around the world.

D．The annual World Population Day is a milestone for global inhabitants.

3. How can we describe the relationship between population growth and sustainable development?

A．Critical and direct.	B．Difficult and apparent.
C．Urgent and ambiguous.	D．Significant and complicated.

4. What’s the passage mainly about?

A．The sharp decline of fertility.

B．The current world population situation.

C．The ways to achieve sustainable development goals.

D．The celebration of the birth of the Earth’s eight billionth inhabitant.

9 . Many economists argue that Canada could have developed economically with little facilitation of the settlers. But in my opinion the settlers were vital in the country’s development of economy.

Settlers in Canadian history provided labour force that was apparently lacking in the country. Due to the thriving timber (木材) industry that led to the arrival of foreigners, the local population could barely satisfy the international demand for the demand. Emery and Kenneth claimed that the settlers who came to Canada as mere loggers had an impact in the development of the economy. Indeed, the settlers helped the production of more volumes of timber leading to increase in incomes for the government.

Settlers created considerable storage facilities for fishing. It is through these preservation technologies that the country was able to exploit its rich fish industry and increase its exports. Fishing technology improved greatly with many technologies of deep sea fishing. The technologies that came with the settlers increased the trading potential of the country, which in turn increase the incomes for government.

The success of settlers who ventured in agriculture ended into increased urge by locals and the government to invest in agriculture. In Ontario, settlers began planting such plants as corn, vegetables and reared dairy cattle. In the Prairies, the settlers also invested in grain growing with wheat being the most profitable crop.

Canadian settlers also led to changes in social and economic policies of the land. Due to increased immigration, land became a debatable issue where many people did not access land in a fair manner. The Canadian authorities came up with a wise land policy. Settlers could buy large amount of land cheaply and later resell the lands at a proper profit. This increased the ability of the country to increase its agricultural profits by having a superior land system.

1. Which contribution of the settlers in Canada is not covered in the passage?

A．Timber industry	B．Fishing industry.
C．Agriculture.	D．Tourism.

2. Why is Emery and Kenneth’s claim mentioned in the text?

A．To give evidence of the lack of local population in history.

B．To tell readers that the settlers were only common loggers.

C．To prove what an important role settlers played in Canadian economy.

D．To state that the thriving timber industry led to the arrival of foreigners.

3. What can we know from the underlined sentence?

A．Canadian government urged settlers’ more invest in agriculture.

B．Settlers’ success made the people and the government angry.

C．Canadian government got inspiration from settler’s success in agriculture.

D．To succeed in agricultural venture, settler had to cooperate with government.

4. The last paragraph centers on settlers’ contribution to ________.

A．the reform of land policies

B．the increase of immigration

C．increasing amount of land

D．their creation of a superior land system

10 . Towns across Italy have been racing to launch clever plans aimed at attracting new residents to revive (复兴)their fortunes in recent years. From abandoned homes selling for little more than a euro, to ready- to-occupy houses at knockdown prices, there has been a rush of competition.

The picturesque town of Presicce in the sunny region of Puglia is the latest to enter the game with a very tempting offer. Officials say they will pay people up to 30,000 euros to buy an empty house and take up residency. Even better, the houses up fbr sale as part of the deal are priced from around 25,000 euros.

Authorities in Presicce hope the cash motivation will breathe new life into their depopulating town, where newborns are fewer each year.

Presicce dates back to the middle Ages, flourishing during the Renaissance as a prosperous place known for its fine wine, cheeses and cattle trade. It gains a reputation as Puglia’s “town of green gold” for green olive trees and olive oil. Its location is incredible, surrounded by the nature of the Salento area and close to beautiful beaches and clear waters of Santa Maria di Leuca.

“There are many empty homes in the historical center built before 1991 which we would like to see alive again with new residents,” says local councilor Alfredo Palese. It is a pity witnessing how our old districts full of history, wonderful architecture and art are slowly emptying. The details of the deal are currently being finalized, Palese adds, and authorities are ready to launch applications in upcoming weeks when information will be available on the town hall website.

According to Palese, a 2019 merger (合并)with the nearby town Acquarica to create the larger town Presicce-Acquarica has provided them with extra money to ensure the project can continue for years to come. “After the merger, as per Italian law, our wider territory will be blessed with more public funds, roughly 1,000,000 euros per year for several years forward, which we intend to invest to revitalize (振兴) the old district, ” says Palese.

Together, Presicce and Acquarica now have some 9,000 inhabitants, but only half of the population live in the older part of the community.

The town hall has already launched other plans to attract more residents, including tax benefits to set up new business activities and baby bonuses for families with kids.

1. What problem do many Italian towns face according to the text?

A．Population decline.

B．Financial crisis.

C．Falling tourism.

D．High living cost.

2. What does the underlined word “tempting” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Risky.

B．Informal.

C．Attractive.

D．Conditional.

3. What is the purpose of paragraph 4?

A．To show Presicce’s past glory.

B．To recommend a travel destination.

C．To point out the economy of Presicce.

D．To stress the importance of reviving Presicce.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．An Italian town’s welfare system.

B．An Italian town’s recovery strategy.

C．An Italian town’s long-term plan.

D．An Italian town’s current situation.