The contemporary environmental movement is often said to have begun with the publication of Silent
Spring by the zoologist and biologist Rachel Carson (1907－1964). This landmark work, which took
Carson 4 years to complete, diligently detailed the relationship between animal death and the use-now
understood as the abuse of manmade chemicals used as pesticides, especially DDT. One of the claims of
the book that she tried to demonstrate was that DDT had the effect of softening the eggshells of birds as
well as interfering with their reproduction, and that such effects would lead to their extinction if the use of
DDT were to continue. It would eventually create a springtime of silence when the songs of birds would
not be heard. Her studies also found DDT to be a cause of human cancers.
Born in Springdale, Pennsylvania, Carson graduated from the Pennsylvania College for Women in
Pittsburgh (now Chatham College), where she majored in English until her junior year, when a course in
biology inspired her to switch to zoology as her field of concentration. She earned a master’s degree in
this area from Johns Hopkins University and became a biologist at the Bureau of Fisheries in 1936.
During this time, she wrote for various national magazines, and her first book, Under the SeaWind, was
published. Carson had concerns as early as 1945 about pesticides being used more and more by the
government. But her cautionary claims in Silent Spring were met with anger by the pesticide and chemical
industries. Her authority as a scientist was challenged, and it was held that her findings were just the roars
of a hysterical(歇斯底里的) woman. She was even accused of being a member of the Communist Party.
Some go so far as to say that she told a lie.
But she is often celebrated as the founder of the contemporary U. S. environmental movement. Yet her work in Silent Spring, warning about the misuse of pesticides and other chemicals, has not as yet taken
firm hold. Americans likely use twice as much the volume of pesticides that they did at the time she
published her seminal work, and globally, their use is ever increasing. Powerful pesticides are sold over the
counter, and their use is so widespread that many environmentalists are fearful that chemical runoff into
streams and rivers is still polluting the animals that humans eat and the water that they drink. In short, while
the main purpose of Silent Spring was to warn the public of the dangers of the overuse of pesticides and
chemicals, nonetheless the public haven"t refused such use. Isn"t it time that we firmly said no to pesticides? | Title: The ____1____ of Environmentalism | | | The ____ 2____: the publication of Silent Spring | | | The contents | One of the claims of the book was that DDT had the
effect on softening the eggshells of birds, interfering with
their reproduction and ____3____
| | The author | | | Name: ____4____ | | | Her formal major: English | | | Her latter major: ____5____ | | | Her first published book: ____6____ | | | The present situation | | Pesticides are still ____7____, the volume of
which is twice as much as it was | | | Pesticides are ____8____ to homeowners | | Chemical is still polluting the animals and
____9____ | | | Conclusion | We should ___10_____ pesticides |
答案
1. History 2. origin/ beginning 3. human cancers 4. Rachel Carson 5. Zoology
6. Under the SeaWind 7. overused 8. available 9. (the)water 10. say no to |
举一反三
A. One Kind of Building Material
B. Factors That Influenced Modern Architecture
C. More Kinds of Buildings as a Result of Modern Life
D. The Achievements in Arc hitecture as an Art
E. Restoration (复兴) of Ancient Civilization
F. Stone and Marble Are Good Building Materials | | 阅读理解。 | 
The people who built Stonehenge in southern England thousands of years ago had wild parties,
eating barbecued pigs and breaking pottery.This is according to recent work by archaeologists-history
experts who investigate how human beings lived in the past.
Archaeologists"digging near Stonehenge last year discovered the remains of a large prehistoric
village where they think the builders of the mysterious stone circle used to live.The village is about
4,600 years old,the same age as Stonehenge and as old as the pyramids in Egypt.It is less than two
miles from the famous ancient landmark and lies inside a massive man-made circular dirt wall,or
"henge",known as the Durrington Walls.
Remains found at the site included jewellery,stone arrowheads,tools made of deer antlers,wooden
spears and huge amounts of animal bones and broken pottery."These finds su ggest Stone Age people
went to the village at special times of the year to feast and party," says Mike Parker－Pearson from
Sheffield University in England.
He said many of the pig bones they found had been thrown away half－eaten.He also said the
partygoers appeared to have shot some of the farm pigs with arrows,possibly as a kind of sport before
barbecuing them.
An ancient road which led from the village to the River Avon was also found.Here,the experts think,
people came after their parties to throw dead relatives in the water so the bodies would be washed
downstream to Stonehenge.
Parker－Pearson believes Stonehenge was like a cemetery where ancient Britons buried the dead
and remembered their ancestors."The theory is that Stonehenge is a kind of spirit home to the ancestors."
The recent discovery of the village within the Durrington Walls shows that Stonehenge didn"t stand
alone but was part of a much bigger religious site,according to Parker－Pearson.
People still come to worship and celebrate at Stonehenge today.They meet there when the sun sets
on the shortest day of winter and when it rises on the longest day of summer.But the days of barbecuing
whole pigs there and throwing family members into the river are a thing of the past. | | 1. What was Stonehenge according to the text? | A．A village where hundreds of people once lived.
B．A place that regularly hosted large parties.
C．A church where local villagers would get married.
D．A site where dead people were placed or remembered. | | 2．The underlined word"It" ( Paragraph 2) refers to________. | A．the villag e
B．Stonehenge
C．the pyramid
D．the dirt wall | | 3．From the text we can infer that the people who came to the village________. | A．liked to drink wine
B．knew how to hunt
C．were from Egypt
D．lived by the River Avon | | 4．What do experts think people did after the village parties? | A．Returned to live at Stonehenge.
B．Prayed for good luck in the new year.
C．Hunted farm pigs as a sport.
D．Put their dead relatives in the river. | | 5．When do people most often go to Stonehenge today? | A．When a new discovery is made.
B．At the beginning of summer and winter.
C．On the longest and shortest days of the year.
D．When they want to have a barbecue. | A. The Development of an Early Union
B. Support from the Public
C. The Decline of an Early Union
D. A Brief Comparison  between the Union and the Medieval Craft Guilds
E. Management"s Reaction to the Labour Movement
F. Reasons for starting a Union | A. When should you go there?
B. The main transportation there
C. Who usually goes there?
D. Getting around and enjoying more
E. Why do young people go there?
F. Where is it on earth in the world? | | 阅读理解 | The Parthenon in Athens is a building with a long and complex history.Built nearly 2,500 years ago
as a temple celebrating the Greek goddess Athena, it was for thousands of years the church of the
Virgin Mary of the Athenians, then a mosque (清真寺), and finally a ruin.The building was changed
and the sculptures were much damaged over the centuries.By 1800 only about half of the original
sculptural decoration remained.
Between 1801 and 1805, Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, which
controlled Athens, acting with the full knowledge and permission of the Ottoman authorities, removed
about half of the remaining sculptures from the fallen ruins and from the building itself.Lord Elgin loved
Greek history and transported the sculptures back to Britain.The arrival of the sculptures in London
had a huge effect on the European public, greatly increasing interest in ancient Greek culture and
influencing contemporary artistic trends.These sculptures were acquired from Lord Elgin by the British
Museum in 1816 and since then they have all been on display to the public, free of charge.
Since the early 1980s, however, the Greek government has argued for the permanent removal to
Athens of all the Parthenon sculptures in the British Museum.They have also challenged the British
Museum Board of Trustees" legal title to the sculptures.
The British Museum, however, insists that it exists to tell the story of cultural achievement throughout
the world, from the dawn of human history over two million years ago until the present day.The museum
considers itself an important resource for the world: the breadth and depth of its collection allows the
world public to reexamine cultural identities and explore the complex network of interconnected world
cultures.
It also says that, within the context of this unparalleled collection, the Parthenon sculptures are an
important representation of ancient Athenian civilization.Each year millions of visitors admire the artistry
of the sculptures and gain insights on how ancient Greece influenced-and was influenced by the other
civilizations that it encountered(遭遇). | | 1. For most of its history people went to the Parthenon to________. | A. admire the goddess Athena
B. pray to their god
C. search for sculptures
D. learn about its complex history | | 2. The underlined "it" (in Paragraph 4) refers to "________". | A. the British Museum
B. the Greek government
C. the Parthenon
D. the British Museum Board of Trustees | | 3. What can we learn about Lord Elgin from the passage? | A. He is greatly admired in Greece.
B. He worked for the Ottoman Empire.
C. He saved the Parthenon sculptures from being destroyed.
D. He had a deep interest in Greek culture. | | 4. The author"s main intention in writing this passage is to tell________. | A. the history of the Parthenon and its sculptures
B. what people can see in the British Museum
C. why the British Museum refuses to return the sculptures
D. the influence of Greece on British culture | 最新试题
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