091 “Government should establish regulations to reduce or eliminate any suspected health hazards in the environment, even when the scientific studies of these health hazards are incomplete or contradictory.”
Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.
“政府应该制订规则减少或消除环境中可疑的健康危害， 即便关于这些健康危害的科学研究还不健全或者处于矛盾中。”
1 举例说明健康危害的不确定性程度很重要
段落大意： 用咖啡因对心脏病的危害来说明健康危害的不确定性程度很重要。
The greatest uncertainty arises from contradictory evidence. Consider an analogy taken from medical research, where one study links caffeine to increased risk of heart disease, while another claims there is no correlation between the two. Provided that both studies used sufficiently large and random samples, and the results were statistically significant in each case, it is difficult to decide whether to give up coffee. If the effect in question were a little sleep disturbance, then it might be reasonable to sustain moderate intake of caffeine. But with a risk as serious as cancer, it would be reasonable to abstain, pending more conclusive evidence.
2 政府应该制订法规来规定健康指标， 保护人民
段落大意： 当健康危害很大时， 即使存在不确定因素， 政府也应当立即制定法规。
Where uncertainty is the greatest, and risks are relatively small, it would be wise to wait for more scientific evidence. But when the risks are great, government should regulate against environmental health hazards, even in the face of uncertainty.
141 Although most people wish to live long lives, attempting to significantly extend the average human life span would be a mistake. If achieved, this would place an enormous burden on resources, lowering the quality of life for everyone.
Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.
“虽然大多数人都希望长命百岁， 但试图延长人类的平均寿命是错误的。如果(这个愿望)实现了， 这将对资源造成很大的负担， 从而会降低每个人的生活质量。”
1 人类寿命延长的消极影响
段落大意： 人口寿命延长会给这个星球带来负担， 为人类自己种下苦果。
What if, by the end of this century, we could more than double average life-span to between 160 and 180 years? Given that possibility, these are the issues that should be thoroughly discussed and debated. At some point, the number of people may become so large that it exceeds the carrying capacity of the planet, making life miserable for the vast majority of humans (and impossible for many other species), even sowing the seeds for our own destruction.
2 人类寿命延长的另外一些消极影响
段落大意： 对老年人来说， 寿命的延长会给身体器官带来负担， 生命质量大大下降。
The quality of life for very old people may be severely diminished if changing the boundaries of aging is not accompanied by reasonably good health. Certain tissues and organs may deteriorate even as life-span is markedly prolonged, so people may live 140 years with ever-worsening sight, hearing, mental function, and musculoskeletal function. Meanwhile, we might be expected to work, support ourselves, and pay taxes until age 80, 90, 110, or older. Some of us will outlive our resources and spend our extended years living in poverty. This would likely create intense adversarial relations between younger and older persons as they compete for limited jobs and resources.