英语四级晨读100篇精华版041城市化 (中英)_大学英语听力

英语四级晨读100篇精华版041城市化 (中英)

　　英语四级晨读100篇精华版041：Urbanization城市化

　　41.Urbanization城市化

　　Over half the worlds people now live in cities. The latest Global Report on Human Settlements says a significant change took place last year. The report came this week from U.N. Habitat, a United Nations agency.

　　现在，全世界超过半数的人口居住在城市。最新的《全球人类居住报告)称，去年发生了显著的变化。这份报告于本周由一个联合的机构联合国人粪住处规划署发布。

　　A century ago, less than five percent of all people lived in cities. by the middle of this century it could be seventy percent, or almost six and a half billion people.

　　一个世纪以前，只有不到5%的人居住在城市。到本世纪中期，这一比例将达到70%，大约为65亿人口。

　　Already three-fourths of people in developed countries live in cities. Now most urban population rowth is in the developing world.

　　发达国家已经有四分之三的人口居住在城市里。现在，城市人口的增长主要在发展中国家。

　　Urbanization can lead to social and economic progress, but also put pressure on cities to provide housing and services . The new report says almost two hundred thousand people move into cities and towns each day. It says worsening inequalities, driven by social divisions and differences in wealth , could result in violence and crime cities plan better.

　　城市化进程可以促进社会发展和经济进步，但是也会给城市在住房和服务方面增加压力。新发布的报告表明，每天大约有20万人搬进城市。报告还指出，除非城市能够进行更好地规划，番则社会分化和社会财富不均状况带来的越来越严重的不公平将会导致暴力和犯罪行为的发生。

　　Another issue is urban sprawl . This is where cities expand quickly into rural areas, sometimes at a much faster rate than urban population growth.

　　另一个问题就是城市的无序扩张，也就是许多城市迅速扩张到乡村地区。有时候城市的扩张速度甚至超过了城市人口的增长速度。

　　Sprawl is common in the United States. Americans move a lot. In a recent study, Art Hall at the University of Kansas found that people are moving away from the major cities to smaller ones. He sees a trend toward de-urbanization across the nation.