首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
考研
The Shape of Things to Come When the world was a simpler place, the rich were fat, the poor were thin, and right-thinking people
The Shape of Things to Come When the world was a simpler place, the rich were fat, the poor were thin, and right-thinking people
admin
2019-07-30
54
问题
The Shape of Things to Come
When the world was a simpler place, the rich were fat, the poor were thin, and right-thinking people worried about how to feed the hungry. Now, in much of the world, the rich are thin, the poor are fat, and right-thinking people are worrying about obesity.
Evolution is mostly to blame. It has designed mankind to cope with deprivation, not plenty.
People are perfectly tuned to store energy in good years to see them through lean ones. But when bad times never come, they are stuck with that energy stored around their expanding bellies.
Thanks to rising agricultural productivity, lean years are rarer all over the globe. Modern-day Malthusians, who used to draw graphs proving that the world was shortly going to run out of food, have gone rather quiet lately. According to the UN, the number of people short of food fell from 920m in 1980 to 799m 20 years later, even though the world’ s population increased by 1. 6 billion over the period. This is mostly a cause for celebration. Mankind has won what was, for most of his time on this planet, his biggest battle; to ensure that he and his offspring had had enough to eat. But every silver lining has a cloud, and the consequence of prosperity is a new plague that brings with it a host of interesting policy dilemmas.
As a scourge of the modern world, obesity has an image problem. It is easier to associate with Father Christmas than with the four horses of the apocalypse. But it has a good claim to lumber a-long beside them, for it is the world’ s biggest public-health issue today—the main cause of heart disease and diabetes. Since the World Health Organization labeled obesity an "epidemic" in 2000, reports on its fearful consequences have come thick and fast.
选项
答案
未来的身段 世界原本没有这么复杂。那时,富人胖,穷人瘦,头脑正常的人在发愁:怎样才能让挨饿的人吃上饭。而现在,在这个世界上的很多地方,富人瘦,穷人胖。头脑正常的人在为肥胖发愁。 这罪魁祸首就是进化。进化已将人类设定好了,它使人能对付匮乏,却不会应对富足。经过进化的完美调教,人们可以在丰年储存能量,靠它捱过荒年。但是如果坏年景总也不来,他们不断增长的肚皮上囤积的能量,就甩不掉了。 由于农业生产力不断提高,荒年在世界各地都更为罕见。当代的马尔萨斯论者曾画出各种图表,证明全世界的粮食马上就会吃完,而他们最近却不怎么吱声了。根据联合国的数据,粮食短缺的人口从1 980年的9.2亿下降到了20年后的7.99亿,尽管世界人口同期增长了16亿。这总该是件可喜可贺的事情。人类打了个大胜仗,他们在这个星球上的绝大部分时间里,都在为赢得这场最大的战役而奋斗,那就是保证他们自己和子孙后代都能吃得饱。但是,凡是好事,都有可能向坏的方面转化,现在富足带来了一种新的烦恼,搞得人们在一大堆问题的决策上进退两难,这种近况令人关注。 肥胖这个当今世界的灾难,首先带来的是一个形象问题。它更容易让人联想到圣诞老人,而不是《圣经?启示录》中(给人类带来战争、饥荒、瘟疫和死亡的)那四匹马。但肥胖完全有理由和这四匹马并驾齐驱,因为它是当今世界公众健康最大的问题,是引起心脏病和糖尿病的主要原因。自从世界卫生组织2000年把肥胖列为“流行病”,对其可怕后果的报道一时间连篇累牍,铺天盖地。
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/GI5a777K
本试题收录于:
翻译硕士(英语翻译基础)题库专业硕士分类
0
翻译硕士(英语翻译基础)
专业硕士
相关试题推荐
Economistshavelongbeenanaturalconstituencyinfavorofgrowth.Sinceeventherichestcountryhaslimitedresources,thec
theMinistryofIndustryandInformationTechnology
structuralandimportedinflation
Sometimesyou’drathernotknowthebadnews.Anestimated500,000piecesofspacejunk—oldsatellites,rocketparts,debrisfr
Panelhearing
新中国成立后特别是改革开放以来,中国政府高度重视旅游工作,旅游业持续快速发展,已经成为一个富有蓬勃活力和巨大潜力的新兴产业。目前,中国入境旅游人数和旅游外汇收入跃居世界前列,出境旅游人数迅速增加,已经成为旅游大国。中国是一个历史悠久的文明古国,也
大连的李先生有13000多名粉丝,几乎每天都会在微博上发言。李先生近来有些苦恼,因为他的账号发不健康的内容和图片。最让李先生烦恼的是,他还得为这些内容承担责任,此外微博里面的所有私信也无隐私可言。李先生说:“我有一万多个粉丝的话,每天发
科学家发现在故宫建筑中古代工匠广泛使用了榫卯结构。请解释“故宫”和“榫卯结构”。
引力波是哪位科学家的预言?()
Sheansweredwithan______"No"totherequestthatsheattendthepublichearing.
随机试题
不符合血栓对机体影响的描述是
遗传的物质基础是()。
男,56岁的心房颤动患者,突然发生命名物困难。两周来共发生过5次,每次持续2~15秒。查体无神经系统异常。脑CT无异常。最适宜的预防治疗是
儿童注意力缺陷多动障碍的特征不包括
票据和结算凭证金额可以使用中文大写或阿拉伯数字记载。()
下列各项涉税犯罪中,被《刑法修正案(八)》取消死刑的是()。
供求机制的最终目标是( )。
19世纪的西方建筑师大多满足于把钢铁作为一种___________手段应用于当时流行的古典式或哥特式建筑。很久以后,建筑师才___________了古典和哥特模式,充分发挥了钢铁构架结构的各种潜能。填入划横线部分最恰当的一项是:
新古典宏观经济学与新凯恩斯主义的政策主张有什么不同?为什么?(2008年山东财经大学801经济学)
(1)Governmentscientistslistedformaldehyde(甲醛)asaCarcinogen,substancethatproducescancer,andsaiditisfoundinworriso
最新回复
(
0
)