gre作文——社会类之1--problems(编辑修改稿)

gre作文——社会类之1--problems(编辑修改稿)内容摘要：

al, a small town in upstate New York near Niagara Falls, was destroyed by waste from chemical plants. Beginning in 1947, chemical panies could legally dump their waste products into the canal. In the 1950s, families began to settle in the area without being told about the waste and the health problems it might cause. The area developed a foul smell, trees lost their bark, and leaves fell throughout the year. In the 1970s, scientists found that the drinking water contained excessive levels of 82 industrial chemicals, 7 of which were thought to cause cancer. The people of Love Canal had an unusually high rate of cancer and birth defects. Eventually, many of the houses had to be abandoned. By the 1990s, the town had been cleaned up enough for families to begin moving back to the area. Three Mile Island 1979, Pennsylvania, . On March 28, 1979, the worst accident in . nuclearreactor history occurred at the Three Mile Island power station, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. No one was killed, and very little radioactivity was released into the air when coolant (the fluid that keeps a machine cool) escaped from the reactor core due to a bination of mechanical failure and human error. Bhopal chemical leak December 1984, Bhopal, India An explosion in the Union Carbide chemical plant in Bhopal, India, released a deadly gas called methyl isocyanate, which is used to make pesticides. The gas formed a cloud that killed 2,500 people。 another 50,000100,000 people became ill. Trees and plants in the area became yellow and brittle. The explosion was caused by a mechanical failure that was not noticed in time to stop it. Chernobyl April 1986, Ukraine, former Soviet Union At 1:23 . on Saturday, April 26, 1986, the reactor blew at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, ripping open the core, blowing the roof off the building, starting more than 30 fires, and allowing radioactive material to leak into the air. Some 31 people were killed and nearly 300 people were treated for radiation poisoning. Glaring violations of safety rules were at the bottom of this tragic event. Exxon Valdez oil spill March 1989, Alaska, . On March 24, 1989, million gallons of crude oil spilled into Prince William Sound from the tanker Exxon Valdez when its hull hit a reef and tore open. The spill, which cost billions of dollars to clean up and killed millions of birds, fish, and other wildlife, was caused by human error and could have been avoided. Energy and the Earth Energy is the power that we use for transportation, for heat and light in our homes and other places, and for the manufacture of all kinds of products. It has many other uses, too. The development of science and civilization has been closely linked to the availability of energy in useful forms. Energy is closely related to the condition of the environment for several reasons. One is that most of the energy we use es from fossil fuels, including coal, petroleum, and natural gas, which are found in the earth. These natural resources are not renewable— that is, once they are used up, they are gone forever. The process of gathering fossil fuels and other natural resources can be devastating to the sensitive wildlands (such as the tropical rainforests, the Arctic tundra, and coastal marshes) from which they e. Another way that energy is linked to the environment is that its production and its use can cause environmental damage. Fossil fuels are put through a burning process called bustion in order to produce energy. Combustion causes the release of various pollutants, such as carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide, which pose health risks and may contribute to acid rain and global warming. The environmental impact of fossil fuels has led many people to turn to other sources of energy when possible. There are a growing number of ways in which renewable energy from the sun, the wind, and water, can be used for daytoday needs, and these alternatives are being increasingly cheaper and easier to use. Some people have bought solar panels that can be connected to their homes to convert sunlight into electricity. Some have abandoned their gaspowered cars in favor of ones that are solarpowered. Many people heat their homes with woodburning stoves instead of gas or electricity. Another kind of energy is nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is created at power plants through a scientific process that involves splitting atoms. When an atom39。 s nucleus is split, energy is released. This kind of energy is currently used to create electricity by boiling water to create steam that turns turbines. While nuclear power is a useful source of energy, the radiation that it produces can be harmful to people if they are exposed to high levels of it. Nuclear plants must adhere to very strict safety practices in the production of nuclear energy and the disposal of nuclear waste. ——————————————————————————————————— The Opposition to Human Cloning: How Morality and Ethics Factor in This idea of human cloning has fueled debate not just in the United States, but also with countries all over the world. I believe that it is not morally and ethically right to clone humans. Even though technology is constantly advancing, it is not reasonable to believe that human cloning is morally and ethically correct, due to the killing of human embryos, the unsafe process of cloning, and the resulting consequences of having deformed clones. An ethical issue of great importance on cloning is what will be the consequences of it if it was actually successful. I believe that such individuals would be wronged in morally significant ways. Many of these wrongs would involve the denial to give the human clones the right of an open future. For example, a child might be constantly pared to the adult from whom he was cloned, and thereby could then be b。