综合写作17
Reading
In the past century, the steady growth of the human population and the corresponding increase in agriculture and pesticide use have caused much harm to wildlife in the United States—birds in particular. Unfortunately for birds, these trends are likely to continue, with the result that the number of birds in the United States will necessarily decline.
First, as human populations and settlements continue to expand, birds' natural habitats will continue to disappear. Forests, wetlands, and grasslands will give way to ever more homes, malls, and offices. As the traditional areas suitable for birds keep decreasing, so will the size of the bird populations that depend on those vanishing habitats.
Second, agricultural activities must increase to keep pace with the growing human population. The growth of agriculture will also result in the further destruction of bird habitats as more and more wilderness areas are converted to agricultural use. As a result, bird populations in rural areas will continue to decline.
Third, as human settlements expand and agriculture increases, the use of chemical pesticides will also increase. Pesticides are poisons designed to kill agricultural and home garden pests, such as insects, but inevitably, pesticides get into the water and into the food chain for birds where they can harm birds. Birds that eat the poisoned insects or drink contaminated water can die as a result, and even if pesticides do not kill birds outright, they can prevent them from reproducing successfully. So pesticides have significantly contributed to declines in bird population, and because there will continue to be a need to control agricultural pests in the future, this decline will continue.
Listening
The passage clams that there will be fewer and fewer birds, but the arguments used to support this claim are unconvincing.
First, it’s true that urban growth has been bad for some types of birds, but urban development actually provides better and larger habitats for other types, so much so that city and suburban dwellers often complain about increased birds populations—seagulls at landfills, pigeons on the streets and so on. Even birds like hawks and falcons can now be found in cities, where they prey on the increasing populations of pigeons and rodents. So it’s not going to be a story of uniform decline of bird populations in the future. Some populations may shrink, but others will grow.
As for agriculture, it’s true that it too will increase in the future, but not in the way assumed by the reading passage. The truth is, in the United States, less and less land is being used for agriculture every year. Increasing in agricultural production have resulted from and will continue to result from the introduction of new, more productive varieties of crops. These new crops produce more food per unit of land, and as a result, there’s no need to destroy wilderness areas.
And third, while it’s certainly true that traditional pesticides have been destructive to birds, it’s incorrect to project this history into the future. Now that people are aware of the possible consequences of traditional pesticides, two changes have occurred. First, new and much less toxic pesticides have been developed, and that’s important. Second, and perhaps more importantly there is a growing trend to develop more pest resistant crops, crops that are genetically designed to be unattractive to pests. Pest resistant crops greatly reduce the need for chemical pesticides. And best of all, pest resistant crops don’t harm birds at all.
一、阅读听力要点概括
Reading Passage
Main points: Birds number will decline in result of human growth.
Sub point 1: Birds’ habits disappear since human expand.
Sub point 2: Birds’ habitats decrease since further agricultural activities.
Sub point 3: Use of chemical pesticides will increase and kill agricultural then kill birds.
Lecture
Attitude: Unconvincing.
Sub Point 1: Not a uniform decline for all birds. (Bad for some, Good for some, Seagulls, Pigeons, Hawks.)
Sub Point 2: Less land is used for agriculture. (Productive Crops.)
Sub Point 3: New pesticides don't harm birds. (Less toxic, Pest resistant crops.)
.
Answers
二、范文逐段赏析
Paragraph 1
The reading passage claims that the number of birds in the US will definitely decline. Yet the professor argues that bird populations will not shrink due to increases in human population, agriculture, and pesticide use as is suggested by the reading passage’s author.
此段功能：
(Listening passage后文提到用L代替)
(Reading passage后文用R代替)
以L的观点为主要观点。先复述R的观点：US的鸟群数量会降低。再确定L的反对逻辑关系。然后说鸟群数量不会随着人类增长而减少。
此段结构：
开头段非常简练干净，先复述R的观点，然后说L反对R，再列出L的观点。为引出充分的辩论做出了准备。
Paragraph 2
First, the professor points out that urban growth, while harmful to some types of birds, can provide habitats for many other types. As a matter of fact, urban and suburban dwellers complain frequently about having too many birds. This, however, contradicts the statement in the reading passage that urban development causes birds to disappear.
此段功能：
引出第一个分论点(人类引起的城市扩张对鸟类影响)，L中说，虽然扩张影响了一部分鸟类，但是能为其他很多鸟类提供住所。甚至城市人会投诉鸟数量太多了，反对了R中的声明。
此段结构：
此段为总分结构，先写出L的结论，随后列举证据，最后达到反对R观点的效果。
Paragraph 3
Second, the professor explains that agricultural development won’t affect bird population as the reading illustrates. Newly-introduced and highly productive crops continuously contribute to production enhancement and more efficient land use, making it unnecessary for humans to destroy more wilderness areas.
此段功能：
引出第二个分论点，L中教授继续发表观点：农业发展不会影响鸟群数量。然后解释说新型高产作物使得人们不需要更多耕种用地。
此段结构：
此段还是总分结构。L发表了新观点后，列举证据，最后一句和R中所得结论相反。
Paragraph 4
Third, while convinced of the harmful nature of pesticide use to birds, the professor does not think it will be a problem in the future, in that people are increasingly aware of this problem and are developing less toxic pesticides and pest-resistant crops as solutions.
此段功能：
在第三个论点讨论中。L先表达了反对意见：教授认为在农药使用对鸟类危害的问题上根本不需要担心，未来也没有问题，证据是人们开始用毒性较小的农药和抗虫害的谷物了。
此段结构：
此段还是总分结构，虽然开头是总结了要讨论的问题，紧跟着的插入语L就表达了观点，随后做出解释和反驳了R的观点。
三、范文全篇总评
1、 逻辑结构
全文遵从总分结构，开头段总结了L和R的观点，利于展开全文反驳基调。随后三段依照3个分论点依次展开。
在分论点的论证中，由于R的观点比较绝对，L用了很多反例，很容易的就把R的观点击倒。
2、语言表达
全文语句过渡平滑，用词准确而不难，其中可以借鉴的词句有：
1. ……(某观点B。).This, however, contradicts the statement…(某观点A)….
2. Shrink： 收缩，缩水
/Compress/Contract/
There has been some shrink in our export trade.