Some nations think they must have more and more babies, more and more people, if they are to remain strong and free.
Actually, this is not so. Very often in history, small nations have conquered large ones. It’s not so much the size of the army as its organization and the technical level of its weapons. Thus, Greece took over Persia in the 300s B.C., Great Britain took over India in the 1700s, even though Persia and India had far bigger population than Greece and Great Britain.
If a nation wishes to avoid being dominated by its neighbors, its best chance is to raise its standard of living and its level of technology.This can be done best by not allowing its population to grow to such a point that it is sunk in misery and poverty. In fact, the worst way in which a nation can try to avoid being dominated by its neighbor is to increase its population to the point of misery and poverty.
If every nation tries to pete with its neighbors by raising its population, then the whole world will be sunk in misery and poverty. The nations will bee weak in a disaster that will leave nothing behind that is worth dominating. No one will have gained anything. Everyone will have lost everything.
Once all this is understood, and people generally agree that population growth must not be allowed to continue, they must also e to understand how that growth can be stopped. Population grows because more people are being born than are dying. There are two ways, then, in which the growth can be stopped. You can increase the number of people who die until it matches the number of people who are being born. Or else you can decrease the number of people who are born until it matches the number of people who are dying.
The first method—increasing the death rate—is the usual way in which population is controlled in all species of living things other than ourselves, but we don’t want that, for disaster lies that way. The intelligent way is to reduce the birth rate. But how can the birth rate be reduced?
【小题1】 In paragraph 3, the word “This” refers to .A．avoidance of povertyB．improvement of life and technologyC．growth of population D．enhancement of living standard and petition【小题2】 It can be inferred from the passage that if a country had fewer people, .A．it could still remain strongB．it would be defeated by a strong neighbourC．its standard of living could be highD．its people would live misery【小题3】 What might the author be further discussing after the passage? A．Needs to balance population.B．Problems involved in birth control.C．Methods of decreasing population.D．Opposition from some nations.【小题4】 The passage mainly focuses on .A．why we must control populationB．where we can find a solutionC．how to stop population growthD．how to bee a strong nationB
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(答案→)B
解析：本文叙述了为什么一个国家要控制人口的增长，一是为了自己国家的安全，如果人口太多，容易遭到邻国的侵略，最终会沦落为贫穷和落后；二是本文提出了控制人口的方法。
【小题1】词义猜测题。根据its best chance is to raise its standard of living and its level of technology.它指的是生活水平和技术的提高，故选B。
【小题2】推理判断题。根据In fact, the worst way in which a nation can try to avoid being dominated by its neighbor is to increase its population to the point of misery and poverty.可以推出如果人少了可以使国家更强大，故选A。
【小题3】推理判断题。根据The intelligent way is to reduce the birth rate. But how can the birth rate be reduced?减少人口的方法，故选C。
【小题4】主旨大意题。根据为什么要控制人口的增长。故选A。