We now must address two questions:

　　Firstly，where on Earth is the population problem the worst?

　　It is my opinion that the world's worst population problem is right here in the United States. This is because of our high per capita resource consumption. It has been estimated that a person added to the population of the United States will have 30 or more times the impact on world resources as will a person added to the population of an underdeveloped nation. Indeed, resource consumption in North America is roughly the same as resource consumption in the entire rest of the world.

　　Secondly，where should we apply our efforts to have the most beneficial effect in helping to solve the population problem?

　　The answer is, right here in the U.S..

　　For many people, the population problem is a problem of "those people" in distant undeveloped countries. In early 1997, many people successfully lobbied Congress to restore family planning assistance in the U.S. foreign aid programs. This was a great victory, but it treats "those people" as though they were the big problem.

　　Unchecked population growth in the Third World means depletion of water resources. It means famine. It means suffering. It pushes populations to clear rainforests. It pushes populations to go out and graze on land that cannot sustain cattle, and that leads to expansion of deserts worldwide. We all have a stake in the global environment.

　　It is so easy to blame the problem on others and to identify what other people should do to solve the problem, while we ignore our own responsibilities and avoid doing anything to reduce the population problem in the U.S.. We need to work to stop population growth in the U.S..

　　There are two sources that contribute approximately equally to population growth in the U.S.: the excess of births over deaths, and immigration. Both of these must be addressed.

　　Let's compare three aspects of efforts to stop population growth in other countries with efforts to stop population growth in the United States.

　　1) When we give family planning assistance to other countries, we are dealing with countries over which we have no legal jurisdiction and where we have little or no immediate political responsibility.

　　When we confront population growth in the United States, we are dealing with a country where we as citizens have full and complete jurisdiction, and where we have political and family responsibilities. It should be much easier to solve our problem than it is to solve other peoples' problems.

　　2) The negative effects of runaway population growth in an underdeveloped country are generally felt only in that country and in its immediate neighbors.

　　The negative effects of population growth in the U.S. are felt throughout the entire world, because of our enormous per capita consumption of resources. Indeed, one of the aims of the many free-trade agreements about which we currently hear so much, is to open up the world's resources for consumption by consumers in the U.S..

　　3) In countries receiving family planning assistance from the U.S. there will always be individuals who will claim that this assistance is a form of "genocide." They will be strengthened in this belief if we in the U.S. fail to take steps to halt our own population growth. As Tim Wirth of the U.S. Department of State has said, the best thing that we in the U.S. can do to help other countries stop their population growth, is to set an example and stop our own population growth.

　　As you think about addressing the problem of population growth in the U.S., please ponder this challenge:

　　Can you think of any problem, on any scale, from microscopic to global, whose long-term solution is in any demonstrable way, aided, assisted, or advanced, by having continued population growth at the local level, the state level, the national level, or globally?

　　So we can see that Pogo was right:

　　"We've met the enemy, and they're us!"

　　1.What did the author mainly talk about?

　　[A] The population problem in the world.

　　[B] The population condition in the western world.

　　[C] The population problem in Europe.

　　[D] The population problem in the U.S.

　　2. According to the author， which place should solve the population proplem?

　　[A] The US

　　[B] Europe

　　[C] Underdeveloped countries

　　[D] The Third World

　　3. What did the Congressman think about the population problem?

　　[A] He thought that the problem was worst in America.

　　[B] He thought that the problem caused many other problems in the world.

　　[C] He thought that the problem cannot be solved easily.

　　[D] He thought that the problem in the Third World was to be blamed.

　　4. Why are the negative effects of population growth in the U.S. felt throughout the entire world?

　　[A] Because people around the world are all concerned about it.

　　[B] Because per capita consumption of resources in America is enormous.

　　[C] Because the U.S. is the most powerful country in the world.

　　[D] Because the U.S .has great influence on other countries.

　　5. Which is one of the reasons for the Americans to pay attention to their population problem?

　　[A] Because some people always claim that the American assistance for family planning in other countries is a form of "genocide".

　　[B] Because there are too many migrants nowadays.

　　[C] Because once the population is too large, the American government will adopt unfavorable policies to limit migrants' coming to it.

　　[D] Because America is now facing a lot of problems.

　　[疑難長(zhǎng)句翻譯與注解]

　　1.where should we apply our …effect in helping to solve the population problem?

　　[譯文]我們應(yīng)當(dāng)從哪方面入手下功夫去尋求最有效的方法來解決人口問題?

　　[注解]該句是倒裝句，譯成漢語時(shí)要把語序調(diào)整過來。

　　2.For many people， the of those people in distant undeveloped countries.

　　[譯文]對(duì)于許多人來說，人口問題只是那些遙遠(yuǎn)的不發(fā)達(dá)國家才會(huì)面臨的問題。

　　[注解]這句話是一個(gè)引子，作者的目的是用它表明錯(cuò)誤的觀念，用以引出自己的見解�！癷n distant undeveloped countries”是用來修飾“those people”的。

　　3.In early 1997， many people successfully …as though they were the big problem.

　　[譯文] 在 1997 年早期，很多人成功地說服國會(huì)恢復(fù)了對(duì)外計(jì)劃生育援助計(jì)劃，這是一個(gè)巨大的勝利，但這使得“那些人”(的問題)好像已經(jīng)是大問題了似的。

　　[注解]“family planning”是計(jì)劃生育的意思。

　　4.It is so easy to blame the problem on others… and avoid doing anything to reduce the population problem in the U.S.

　　[譯文]解決問題時(shí)只是把問題歸罪給他人，考慮別人應(yīng)該怎樣做這很容易，但與此同時(shí)，我們忽視了我們自己的責(zé)任，沒有自己做出行動(dòng)來減少美國的人口問題。

　　[ 注 解] “ blame the problem on others ” 這 個(gè) 短 語 在 文 中 是 指 把 問 題 歸 罪 于 別 人 .“ ignore our own responsibilities”是指忽視我們自己的責(zé)任。

　　5.The negative effects of …per capita consumption of resources.

　　[譯文]全世界都感受到了美國人口增長(zhǎng)所帶來的負(fù)面影響，因?yàn)槲覀兊馁Y源要按人口品均消費(fèi)量來計(jì)算。

　　[注解]該句話言外之意是說美國如果人口增長(zhǎng)，那么這批增長(zhǎng)了的人口將會(huì)消耗新的自然資源。而世界自然資源則是有限的。

　　參考答案：

　　1. [D]文章開篇就提出了問題：全世界什么地方人口問題最為嚴(yán)峻?然后作者陳述了自己的觀點(diǎn)，在他看來，美國是人口問題最嚴(yán)重的國家，因?yàn)樵谌珖�范圍�?nèi)出生率與高于死亡率，并且近幾十年來大量移民涌入美國。后文通篇都在論述作者的這一觀點(diǎn)，因此選 D 項(xiàng)。

　　2. [A]仔細(xì)閱讀文章第四、第五段，就能理解題意，找出正確答案。

　　3. [D]文章中的第六段和第七段都在講大多數(shù)人在提到人口問題是都將其歸究于發(fā)展中和不發(fā)達(dá)的第三世界國家，就如同一位有代表性的國會(huì)議員講的話那樣，第三世界國家的人口問題導(dǎo)致了水資源的過度消耗，饑荒，災(zāi)難等等問題。因此 D 項(xiàng)為正確選項(xiàng)。

　　4. [B]此題是細(xì)節(jié)題，根據(jù)文中第六段所體現(xiàn)的相關(guān)信息，就不難作出正確判斷了。

　　5. [A]文章倒數(shù)第五段指出，美國在幫助其他一些國家搞人口控制、計(jì)劃生育時(shí)，總有人會(huì)說這是美國的一種“有計(jì)劃的滅絕和屠殺”政策。因此，如果美國自己不在控制人口增長(zhǎng)的問題上做出榜樣的話，那些認(rèn)為美國有屠殺他國人的動(dòng)機(jī)的觀點(diǎn)就會(huì)得到證實(shí)。這是美國需要注意其人口問題的原因之一。因此選 A 項(xiàng)。

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