VOA慢速英语 200707090041
时间：2019-01-11 作者：英语课 分类：VOA慢速英语2007年（七）月
英语课
This is the VOA Special English Development Report.
Soon, more of us will be living in cities than in rural areas. Population experts at the United Nations had thought that would happen by this year. Lately their estimate is that in two thousand eight, for the first time in history, more than half of the world population will be in urban areas.
United Nations report on world population
The United Nations Population Fund just released its yearly State of World Population report. Researchers say three-and-a-third billion people will be living in urban areas next year. By two thousand thirty, the estimate is almost five billion. The fastest growth will be in Asia and Africa.
Poor people will make up most of the urban growth. And natural increase will be the main cause of that growth, not migration 1 from rural areas. The report says mega-cities of more than ten million people have not grown to the sizes once expected. Most growth is expected instead in smaller towns and cities.
The experts urge governments to improve social services and city planning policies. For example, the report calls for better land use so poor people do not have to live in slums 2. Today, an estimated one billion live in these often polluted and dangerous environments. Ninety percent of the people are in developing countries.
The report says the possible good of urbanization far outweighs 3 the bad. The task is to learn how to make the best use of the possibilities. For example, cities can have a lot of poverty, yet they also represent the best hope for poor people to escape poverty, it says. Cities create environmental problems, but they can also create solutions.
The United Nations report says climate change will affect poor countries, cities and individuals more severely 4. Yet many fast-growing cities are more concerned with economic growth than with protecting themselves against climate change.
On a separate issue, China last week denied a newspaper story about a World Bank report on the cost of pollution in that country. The Financial Times reported that Chinese officials persuaded the bank to remove information they thought could cause social unrest.
The information reportedly said air and water pollution caused about seven hundred fifty thousand early deaths in China each year.
A Foreign Ministry 5 spokeswoman said there was no issue involving a request from China. She said the report has not been completed yet. The World Bank said the final version will be released as a series of papers.
And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss 6. I'm Shep O'Neal.
Soon, more of us will be living in cities than in rural areas. Population experts at the United Nations had thought that would happen by this year. Lately their estimate is that in two thousand eight, for the first time in history, more than half of the world population will be in urban areas.
United Nations report on world population
The United Nations Population Fund just released its yearly State of World Population report. Researchers say three-and-a-third billion people will be living in urban areas next year. By two thousand thirty, the estimate is almost five billion. The fastest growth will be in Asia and Africa.
Poor people will make up most of the urban growth. And natural increase will be the main cause of that growth, not migration 1 from rural areas. The report says mega-cities of more than ten million people have not grown to the sizes once expected. Most growth is expected instead in smaller towns and cities.
The experts urge governments to improve social services and city planning policies. For example, the report calls for better land use so poor people do not have to live in slums 2. Today, an estimated one billion live in these often polluted and dangerous environments. Ninety percent of the people are in developing countries.
The report says the possible good of urbanization far outweighs 3 the bad. The task is to learn how to make the best use of the possibilities. For example, cities can have a lot of poverty, yet they also represent the best hope for poor people to escape poverty, it says. Cities create environmental problems, but they can also create solutions.
The United Nations report says climate change will affect poor countries, cities and individuals more severely 4. Yet many fast-growing cities are more concerned with economic growth than with protecting themselves against climate change.
On a separate issue, China last week denied a newspaper story about a World Bank report on the cost of pollution in that country. The Financial Times reported that Chinese officials persuaded the bank to remove information they thought could cause social unrest.
The information reportedly said air and water pollution caused about seven hundred fifty thousand early deaths in China each year.
A Foreign Ministry 5 spokeswoman said there was no issue involving a request from China. She said the report has not been completed yet. The World Bank said the final version will be released as a series of papers.
And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss 6. I'm Shep O'Neal.
n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙
- Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
- He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。
n.贫民窟，贫民区( slum的名词复数 )
- These slums are an epitaph to the housing policy of the 1960s. 这些贫民窟是20世纪60年代住房政策的遗迹。
- the poverty and squalor of the slums 贫民窟的贫穷和肮脏
v.在重量上超过( outweigh的第三人称单数 )；在重要性或价值方面超过
- Her need to save money outweighs her desire to spend it on fun. 她省钱的需要比她花钱娱乐的愿望更重要。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Its clarity in algebraic and analytical operations far outweighs any drawbacks. 文化代数和解析运算中的清晰性远远胜过任何缺点。 来自辞典例句
adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地
- He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
- He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。
n.(政府的)部；牧师
- They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
- We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。