Step 1: Intensive reading.
Try to answer the question below while you’re reading:
Question: What does the writer describe as an ‘amusing old-fashioned source of
noise’?
Vocabulary:
pollution n .污染
burglar n .窃贼
overpopulated adj .人口多的
burgle v .入室偷窃
over-industrialized adj .过度工业化的
scream v .尖叫
profound adj .极度的
sheer adj .纯粹的，不掺杂的
irritation n .烦躁
worldwide adv .在全世界
incessantly adv .连续不断地
overwhelm v .制服，使不知所措
whine v .发呜呜声
pollute v.污染
helicopter n .直升飞机
pesticide n .杀虫剂
maximum adj .最大的
fertilizer n .肥料
technology n .技术
salmonella n .沙门氏菌
contribution n .贡献
listeria n .利斯特杆菌
mobile adj .可移动的
vegetarian n .吃素的人
snore v .打鼾
organically-grown adj .有机培植的（不施化肥和其他化学品培植）
offender n .冒犯者
staggering adj .令人惊愕的
insidious adj .暗中为害的
trumpet v .吹号
urban adj .城市的
partner n.伙伴
Passage:
Pollution is the price we pay for an overpopulated, overindustrialized planet. When
you come to think about it, there are only four ways you can deal with rubbish: dump
it, burn it, turn it into something you can use again, attempt to produce less of it. We
keep trying all four methods, but the sheer volume of rubbish we produce worldwide
threatens to overwhelm us.
污染就是我们为这个人口过密、过度工业化的星球所付出的代价。当我们开始考
虑垃圾问题时，我们只有 4 种对付垃圾的方法：倾倒、焚烧、把垃圾变成再生材
料或试图少产生一些垃圾。我们一直在试这 4 种方式，但是，我们在世界范围内
仅产生的垃圾的量就有把我们覆盖的危险。
Rubbish, however, is only part of the problem of polluting our planet. The need to
produce ever increasing quantities of cheap food leads to a different kind of pollution.
Industrialized farming methods produce cheap meat products: beef, pork and chicken.
The use of pesticides and fertilizers produces cheap grain and vegetables. The price
we pay for cheap food may be already too high: Mad Cow Disease (BSE) in cattle,
salmonella in chicken and eggs, and listeria in dairy products. And if you think you'll
abandon meat and become a vegetarian, you have the choice of very expensive
organically-grown vegetables or a steady diet of pesticides every time you think
you're eating fresh salads and vegetables, or just having an innocent glass of water!
然而，垃圾只是我们这个星球的污染问题的一个方面。日益增长的对廉价食物的
需求导致了另一种形式的污染。工业化的农作方式生产出了廉价的肉类制品——
牛肉、猪肉和鸡肉。使用杀虫剂和化肥生产出了廉价的谷物和蔬菜。为了廉价食
物我们付出的代价已经太高了：牛肉中的疯牛病，鸡肉和鸡蛋中的沙门氏菌，奶
制品中的利斯特杆菌。如果你想放弃肉类而变成一位素食者，那么你可以两者择
一：或是选用价格昂贵、有机培植的蔬菜，或是当你认为在享用新鲜色拉和新鲜
蔬菜或饮用一杯无害的水的时候，实际上每次都不断吃进杀虫剂。
Notes:
1 pay for, 付出代价，得到报应。
2 Mad Cow Disease (BSE), 疯牛病。
这是牛得的一种病的医学名称的缩写，全称为牛海绵状组织病。这种病的首例在
80 年代末发生在英国，很难彻底治愈。此病俗称“疯牛病” 。因为患病的动物无
法控制自身的行为。
3 you have the choice of very expensive organically-grown vegetables or a steady diet
of pesticides every time you think you're eating fresh salads and vegetables…你可以
两者择一：或是选用价格昂贵、有机培植的蔬菜，或是当你认为在享用新鲜色拉
和新鲜蔬菜的时候，实际上每次都不断地吃进杀虫剂。
the choice of… or…, 在……和……之间选择。
However, there is an even more insidious kind of pollution that particularly affects
urban areas and invades our daily lives, and that is noise. Burglar alarms going off at
any time of the day or night serve only to annoy passers-by and actually assist
burglars to burgle. Car alarms constantly scream at us in the street and are a source of
profound irritation. A recent survey of the effects of noise revealed (surprisingly? )
that dogs barking incessantly in the night rated the highest form of noise pollution on
a scale ranging from 1 to 7. The survey revealed a large number of sources of noise
that we really dislike. Lawn mowers whining on a summer's day, late-night parties in
apartment blocks, noisy neighbours, vehicles of all kinds, especially large container
trucks thundering through quiet villages, planes and helicopters flying overhead, large
radios carried round in public places and played at maximum volume. New
technology has also made its own contribution to noise. A lot of people object to
mobile phones, especially when they are used in public places like restaurants or on
public transport. Loud conversations on mobile phones invade our thoughts or
interrupt the pleasure of meeting friends for a quiet chat. The noise pollution survey
revealed a rather surprising and possibly amusing old fashioned source of noise. It
turned out to be snoring! Men were found to be the worst offenders. It was revealed
that 20％ of men in their mid-thirties snore. This figure rises to a staggering 60％ of
men in their sixties. Against these figures, it was found that only 5％ of women snore
regularly, while the rest are constantly woken or kept awake by their trumpeting
partners. Whatever the source of noise, one thing is certain: silence, it seems, has
become a golden memory.
但是，还有一种更加隐蔽有害的污染，它专门影响城镇地区，侵袭我们的日常生
活，那就是噪音。防盗警报器在白天和黑夜的任何时候都会响起来，它的作用只
是骚扰过路行人，而实际上却帮助窃贼入室行窃。在街上，汽车的防盗警报不断
对我们吼叫，这是人们极度烦躁的一个原因。最近一个有关噪音的作用的调查（令
人吃惊地）指出，夜间连续不断的狗叫声，在一个从 1 级至 7 级的刻度表上应列
为最严重的噪音污染。这个调查揭示了我们所不喜欢的大量的噪音的来源：夏天
呜呜作响的割草机，公寓楼里深夜聚会的喧哗声，大声吵闹的邻居，各式各样的
车辆，特别是穿越寂静的村庄的集装箱卡车，从头顶飞过的飞机和直升机，被带
到公共场所、音量开到最大的大功率收音机。新技术也为噪音作出了它的贡献。
许多人都反对移动式电话，特别是在如饭店、公共交通车等公共场所使用移动电
话。用移动电话大声交谈干扰我们的思路，破坏我们和朋友在一起轻声聊天所得
到的乐趣。这个有关噪声污染的调查还揭示了一种出人意外而同时可能会引人发
笑的老式噪音源。它竟然是鼾声。人类是这方面的罪魁祸首。调查指出，20％的
35 岁左右的男人打鼾；而到 60 岁这个年龄段，这个数字上升到令人惊愕的 60％。
与这些数字相比，只有 5％的女性经常打鼾，而其余的则经常被与她们同睡、像
吹号似地打着呼噜的男人吵醒或弄得睡不着。不管噪声来自何方，有一点是肯定
的：看来寂静已变成一种珍贵的回忆。
Notes:
4 burglar alarm, 防盗警报器；go off, 响起。
5 car alarm, 汽车防盗警报器。
6 large container truck, 运输大型集装箱的卡车。
7 mobile phone, 移动式电话，俗称“大哥大”。
8 against these figures, 与这些数字相比。
47.2【阅读理解】Too high a price?
Step 2: Comprehension questions.
1 What price do we pay for an overpopulated, over-industrialized planet? (Pollution.)
2 What are the four ways you can deal with rubbish? (Dump it, burn it, turn it into
something you can use again, or attempt to produce less.)
3 What threatens to overwhelm us? (The volume of rubbish we produce worldwide.)
4 Do we need to produce larger quantities of cheap food? (Yes, we do.)
5 But what does this lead to? (A different kind of pollution.)
6 What farming methods produce cheap meat —beef, pork and chicken?
(Industrialized farming methods.)
7 And what produces cheap grain and vegetables? (The use of pesticides and
fertilizers.)
8 What have Mad Cow Disease, salmonella and listeria got in common? (They are all
the result of producing cheap food.)
9 What is the more insidious kind of pollution that the writer mentions and which
particularly affects towns? (Noise.)
10 When burglar alarms go off in the day or night, who do they annoy? (Passers-by.)
11 Which other alarms are a source of irritation? (Car alarms.)
12 In a recent survey, which noise was rated the highest form of noise pollution?
(Dogs barking incessantly in the night.)
13 What other sources of noise did the survey reveal? (Lawn mowers, late-night
parties, noisy neighbours, vehicles [especially large container trucks], planes,
helicopters and large radios.)
14 How has new technology made its own contribution to noise? (In the form of
mobile phones.)
15 When do a lot of people object to mobile phones? (When they are used in
restaurants or on public transport.)
16 What was a rather old-fashioned source of noise that the survey revealed?
(Snoring.)
17 Who are the worst offenders? (Men.)
18 What percentage of men snore? (20% of men in their mid-thirties and 60% of men
in their sixties.)
19 And according to the survey, what percentage of women snore regularly? (5%. or 5
per cent.)
47.3【拓展写作】Too high a price?
Step 3: Composition
Write a composition in about 300 words on one of the following:
• ‘You are what you eat.’ What do you think this means and how does it apply to
you or the people you know?
Key to composition
Plan and ideas for composition
Title: ‘You are what you eat’
Introduction: Meaning of expression — applies to some — not to others
Development: Plenty of fruit and vegetables — lean meat — keep healthy ...
Fatty foods and ‘junk foods' (beefburgers, etc.,)
Problem — physical health not simply result of diet —also metabolism,
exercise and way of life/lifestyle—sit at desk all day—watch TV—can't
expect to be healthy
Conclusion: I eat well and sensibly — take exercise — still 150 pounds —too much
for my age and height
Composition
It has often been said that ‘you are what you eat’. But what does that mean? It
certainly does not mean that if you eat enough carrots, you will begin to look like one!
It means that you will be healthy if you eat healthy food, and your health will not be
so good if you eat junk food'. And obviously it applies to some people, but not to
others. A friend of mine is mainly a vegetarian, she eats mostly fruit and vegetables,
with some fish, and she is extremely healthy. She even has a meal occasionally with
fried eggs, fried bacon and chips, but it doesn't seem to do her any harm. Basically she
eats a diet which is 90% healthy. So, I suppose, she is what she eats.
There is a problem, however, and it is this. Your physical health is not simply the
result of what you eat and drink: it is also partly a result of your own metabolism, the
amount of exercise you take and the general way you live (your lifestyle, if you like).
If you eat healthy food, but sit at a desk all day and then sit all evening watching
television, then of course you can't expect to be really healthy.
I eat well, I think. I eat fresh meat, fruit and vegetables when I can. I do not eat
much fatty food, I do not eat much prepared food (frozen meals) and very rarely have
a fried meal. I take regular exercise, particularly walking and cycling, and I don't
drink much alcohol. But I still weigh 150 pounds, which is too much for my age and
height.
(276 words)
课外练习：
1-the sheer volume of rubbish we produce worldwide .
(a) is heaped up like a great mountain
(b) is spread over the world like a blanket
(c) is already beyond our control
(d) is like a tide that will rise and drown us
2 The root cause of pollution in agriculture is .
(a) the intensive use of pesticides and fertilizers
(b) the twin pressures to produce more food and at lower cost
(c) the conflict between good hygiene and cheap meat production
(d) the unrealistic price of organically-grown vegetables
3 For most people, the most distressing form of noise pollution is .
(a) dogs barking all night
(b) people using mobile phones
(c) heavy trucks in quiet villages
(d) noisy neighbours having parties
4 Snoring causes a severe noise problem for .
(a) young males in particular
(b) a majority of middle-aged men
(c) women of all ages
(d) young women especially
5 -there are only four ways rubbish.
(a) of dealing with
(b) which to deal with
(c) can be dealt with
(d) to be dealing with
6 We keep trying methods.
(a) these all four
(b) of these all four
(c) all of these four
(d) all these of four
7 Burglar alarms at any time of the day or night serve only to annoy...
(a) that on off
(b) that are going off
(c) go off
(d) which going off
8 A recent survey revealed that dogs barking incessantly in the night that
we dislike most.
(a) it is
(b) is
(c) there be
(d) there are
9 New technology has also in noise pollution.
(a) done its bit
(b) done a share
(c) played a role
(d) given its all
10 A lot of people to mobile phones, especially in public places.
(a) except
(b) offend
(c) take exception
(d) take offence
11 The noise pollution survey a rather surprising source of noise.
(a) brought to light
(b) gave birth to
(c) came to be
(d) took the lid off
12 these figures, it was found that only 5% of women snore.
(a) Comparing with
(b) By comparison with
(c) In comparing
(d) In comparing with
答案：1c 2b 3a 4c 5a 6c 7a 8a 9c 10c 11a 12b