20xx新东方考研英语值得背诵的阅读真题整理(编辑修改稿)

20xx新东方考研英语值得背诵的阅读真题整理(编辑修改稿)内容摘要：

ican slogan. If it ain39。 t broke, don39。 t fix it. The BBC ain39。 t broke, they say, by which they mean it is not broken (as distinct from the word broke, meaning having no money), so why bother to change it? Yet the BBC will have to change, because the broadcasting world around it is changing. The mercial TV channels — ITV and Channel 4 — were required by the Thatcher Government39。 s Broadcasting Act to bee more mercial, peting with each other for advertisers, and cutting costs and jobs. But it is the arrival of new satellite channels — funded partly by advertising and partly by viewers39。 subscriptions — which will bring about the biggest changes in the long term. @9605 Rumor has it that more than 20 books on creationism/evolution are in the publisher39。 s pipelines. A few have already appeared. The goal of all will be to try to explain to a confused and often unenlightened citizenry that there are not two equally valid scientific theories for the origin and evolution of universe and life. Cosmology, geology, and biology have provided a consistent, unified, and constantly improving account of what happened. Scientific creationism, which is being pushed by some for equal time in the classrooms whenever the scientific accounts of evolution are given, is based on religion, not science. Virtually all scientists and the majority of nonfundamentalist religious leaders have e to regard scientific creationism as bad science and bad religion. The first four chapters of Kitcher39。 s book give a very brief introduction to evolution. At appropriate places, he introduces the criticisms of the creationists and provides answers. In the last three chapters, he takes off his gloves and gives the creationists a good beating. He describes their programmes and tactics, and, for those unfamiliar with the ways of creationists, the extent of their deception and distortion may e as an unpleasant surprise. When their basic motivation is religious, one might have expected more Christian behavior. Kitcher is philosopher, and this may account, in part, for the clarity and effectiveness of his arguments. The nonspecialist will be able to obtain at least a notion of the sorts of data and argument that support evolutionary theory. The final chapter on the creationists will be extremely clear to all. On the dust jacket of this fine book, Stephen Jay Gould says: This book stands for reason itself. And so it does — and all would be well were reason the only judge in the creationism/evolution debate. @9701 It was 3:45 in the morning when the vote was finally taken. After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates, Australia39。 s Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. The measure passed by the convincing vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Inter and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, executive director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on via the group39。 s online service, Death NET. Says Hofsess: We posted bulletins all day long, because of course this isn39。 t just something that happened in Australia. It39。 s world history. The full import may take a while to sink in. The NT Rights of the Terminally Ill law has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with its moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief, others, including churches, righttolife groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia — where an aging population, lifeextending technology and changing munity attitudes have all played their part — other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia. In the US and Canada, where the righttodie movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling. Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death — probably by a deadly injection or pill— to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as terminally ill by two doctors. After a cooling off period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54yearold Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally Ill law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. I39。 m not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I39。 d go, because I39。 ve watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks, he says. @9702 A report consistently brought back by visitors to the US is how friendly, courteous, and helpful most Americans were to them. To be fair, this observation is also frequently made of Canada and Canadians, and should best be considered North American. There are, of course, exceptions. Smallminded officials, rude waiters, and illmannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the US. Yet it is an observation made so frequently that it deserves ment. For a long period of time and in many parts of the country, a traveler was a wele break in an otherwise dull existence. Dullness and loneliness were mon problems of the families who generally lived distant from one another. Strangers and travelers were wele sources of diversion, and brought news of the outside world. The harsh realities of the frontier also shaped this tradition of hospitality. Someone traveling alone, if hungry, injured, or ill, often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest cabin or settlement. It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or merely a charitable impulse on the part of the settlers. It reflected th。