Death Control
A very important world problem—in fact, I am inclined to say it is the most important of all the great world problems which face us at the present time—is the rapidly increasing pressure of population on land and on land resources.
_____ (1) _____. By 2000 A.D., unless something desperate happens, there will be as many as 7, 000, 000, 000 people on the surface of the earth! So this is a problem which you are going to see in your lifetime.
Why is this enormous increase in population taking place? _____ (2) _____. You have heard of Birth Control? _____ (3) _____. Death Control recognizes the work of the doctors and the nurses and the hospitals and the health services in keeping alive people who, a few years ago, would have died of some of the incredibly serious killing diseases, as they used to do. Squalid conditions, which we can remedy by an improved standard of living, caused a lot of disease and dirt. Medical examinations at school catch diseases early and ensure healthier school children. Scientists are at work stamping out malaria and other more deadly diseases. If you are seriously ill there is an ambulance to take you to a modern hospital. _____ (4) _____. We used to think seventy was a good age; now eighty, ninety, it may be, are coming to be recognized as a normal age for human beings. _____ (5) _____.
A. People are living longer because of this Death Control, and fewer children are dying, so the population of the world is shooting up.
B. Death Control is something rather different.
C. It is really due to the spread of the knowledge and the practice of what is coming to be called Death Control.
D. This enormous increase of population will create immense problems.
E. The standard of living may be improved through death control.
F. Medical care helps to keep people alive longer.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven, a major composer of the nineteenth century, overcame many personal problems to achieve artistic greatness.
Born in Bonn, Germany, in 1770, he first studied music with the court organist, Gilles van der Eeden. His father was excessively strict and given to heavy drinking. _____ (1) _____. Appointed deputy court organist to Christian Gottlob Neefe at a surprisingly early age in 1782, Beethoven also played the harpsichord and the viola. In 1792 he was sent to Vienna by his patron, Count Ferdinand Waldstein, to study music under Haydn.
Beethoven remained unmarried. _____ (2) _____. Continually plagued by ill health, he developed an ear infection which led to his tragic deafness in 1819.
_____ (3) _____. He completed mature masterpieces of great musical depth: three piano sonatas, four string quartets, the Missa Solemnis, and the 9th Symphony. He died in 1827. _____ (4) _____.
Noting that Beethoven often flew into fits of rage, Goethe once said of him, “I am astonished by his talent, but he is unfortunately an altogether untamed personality.”_____ (5) _____.
A. In spite of this handicap, however, he continued to write music.
B. Because of irregular payments from his publishers and erratic support from his patrons, he was troubled by financial worries throughout his adult life.
C. His life was marked by a passionate dedication to independence.
D. When his mother died, Beethoven, then a young man, was named guardian of his two younger brothers.
E. Although Beethoven’s personality may have been untamed, his music shows great discipline and control, and this is how we remember him best.
F. Today his music is still being played all over the world.
咨询QQ：526150442