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
109
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
allocationoffinanceincome
解决13亿人的问题,不能靠别人,只能靠自己。中华人民共和国成立以来,我们的建设取得了很大成就,同时也走了一些弯路,失去了一些机遇。从1978年开始改革开放,我们终于找到了一条发展自己的正确道路。这就是:中国人民独立自主地建设中国特色的社会主义。这
socialmedia
当我们从全球的角度来看环境问题时,首先注意的是环境问题所引起的人们的各种担心。发达国家担心的是大气和水的污染,能源的紧张,城市对农村面积的不断蚕食。发展中国家最担心的是营养不良,人口增长,水源不足,缺少教育和就业机会。
knowledgeindustry
社会保障制度
Pricesandwagesarefellow-travelersonthesameupwardescalator.
ACrimeWaveFestersinCyberspaceThenumberofsuccessful,andverifiableworldwidehackerincidentsthismonthislikelytos
我国刑法规定的完全刑事责任年龄是()。
随机试题
隔振系统的干扰力频率(f)与固有频率(f0)之比必须满足多大,才能取得有效的隔振效果?[2005年第12题]
饮白开水不仅能满足儿童对水的生理需要,还能为他们提供一部分()。
管理的首要职能是
对期末存货采用成本与可变现净值孰低计价,其所体现的会计信息质量要求是()。
在精装装订工艺流程中,书壳加工的主要环节不包括()。
张某离开自己的住所下落不明满4年,其妻李某()。
关于氨气,众所周知它是一种无色有刺激性臭味的气体,这使得人们对之退避三舍。但鲜为人知的是,氨气确实是一种清洁的可燃气体,氨气在完全燃烧后只会产生水和氮气两种化学物质,这两种都不是污染性物质,不会危及人和其他生物的健康。因此,科学家相信,氨气有望取代氢气,成
Aleadingchemistbelievesthatmanyscientistshavedifficultywithstereochemistrybecausemuchoftherelevantnomenclaturei
Therecanbe【D1】______anyonewhohasnotheardofyoga,and,whetheryouare16or60,youcanreapthe【D2】______oftakingitup
A、Heworksinthispartofthecountry.B、Hegetsalongwellwithhisneighbours.C、Theplaceiswarmer.D、Theclimateisideal.
最新回复
(
0
)