{{B}}PassageFour{{/B}}Globalclimatechang
Global climate change, often seen as a process stretching over thousands of years, could in fact occur abruptly and unexpectedly-quickly pushing up temperatures by as much as 18 degrees Fahrenheit and wreaking havoc(大破坏,浩劫) on human society, scientists warned on Wednesday. "Climate change is not always smooth. Sometimes it is abrupt," said RichardAlley, a climate expert at Pennsylvania State University and lead author of a new NationalAcademy of Sciences report on the threat of rapid climatic shifts. "If you have a very large, abrupt change, a lot of people and a lot of ecosystems are going to notice," he saiD、"The bigger and faster it is, the harder it will be to deal with." The new NationalAcademy of Sciences report, released this week, warns that gradual global warming coupled with other human impacts on the environment could "trip the switch" for sudden climate change. At theAmerican Geophysical Union meeting on Wednesday,Alley and other environmental scientists said the geological evidence indicated that such rapid climate shifts had occurred frequently in the past—moving temperatures drastically in the space of just a few decades. "This can happen in less than a human generation, and then it will persist for thousands of years," saidDavidBattisti, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Washington. The most immediate dangers posed by abrupt climate change range are devastating droughts and floods which could seriously affect both water supply and agriculture across vast stretches of the planet. Longer term impacts could include changes in the basic systems which determine regional global temperatures. Scientists believe that the Gulf Stream, a current (水流) of warmAtlantic water which now keeps much of NorthernEurope temperate, could theoretically reverse direction if enough cool fresh water runs into the northAtlantic from melting ice, a change that would quickly impactEuropean weather. |
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{{B}}PassageOne{{/B}}Withthepossibleexce
With the possible exception of equal rights, perhaps the most controversial issue across the United States today is the death penalty. Many argue that it is an effective deterrent (威慑) to murder, while others maintain there is no convincing evidence that the death penalty reduces the number of murders. The principal argument advanced by those opposed to the death penalty, basically, is that it is cruel and inhuman punishment, that it is the mark of a brutal society, and finally that it is of questionable effectiveness as a deterrent to crime anyway. In our opinion, the death penalty is a necessary evil. Throughout recorded history there have always been those extreme individuals in every society who were capable of terribly violent crimes such as murder.But some are more extreme than others. For example, it is one thing to take the life of another in a fit of blind rage, but quite another to coldly plot and carry out the murder of one or more people in the style of a butcher. Thus, murder, like all other crimes, is a matter of relative degree. While it could be argued with some conviction that the criminal in the first instance should be merely isolated from society, such should not be the fate of the latter type murderer. The value of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime may be open to debate.But the overwhelming majority of citizens believe that the death penalty protects them. Their belief is reinforced by evidence which shows that the death penalty deters murder. For example, from 1954 to 1963, when the death penalty was consistently imposed inCalifornia, the murder rate remained between three and four murders for each 100 000 population. Since 1964 the death penalty has been imposed only once, and the murder rate has risen to 10.4 murders for each 100 000 population. The sharp climb in the state’s murder rate, which began when executions stopped, is no coincidence (巧合). It is convincing evidence that the death penalty does deter many murderers. If the bill reestablishing the death penalty is vetoed (否决), innocent people will be murdered—some whose lives may have been saved if the death penalty were in effect. This is literally a life or death matter. The lives of thousands of innocent people must be protecteD、 |
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{{B}}PassageOne{{/B}}WhotobelieveNokiaor
Who to believe Nokia orEricsson IBM or Sun Microsystems Microsoft or Siebel Rarely have the fortunes of technology companies appeared to differ so widely. Nokia, the world’s largest maker of mobile phones, this week reported better-than-expected sales for the latest quarter, holding out the prospect that its market share would soon reach new highs.By contrast,Ericsson, a rival, was full of gloom.’ Reporting bigger losses than expected, the company said that sales of its mobile phones were likely to tumble by 20%this year. Motorola, another maker of mobile phones, is in a similar boat. On October 15th, the company reported a return to profit in its most recent period after a run of losses, but lowered its forecasts for the rest of the year and for 2003.Demand in wireless, broadband and semiconductors continued to slow, said the company. Unimpressed, investors marked down Motorola’s shares to a ten-year low. The pattern of haves and have-nots is repeated in software too. While Microsoft was in chipper mood this week—revelling in a 26%crease in sales and a doubling of its profits after tax for the quarter to the end of September—Siebel Systems and PeopleSoft, two ofAmerica’s leading suppliers of business software, were down in the dumps. While PeopleSoft managed a modest profit, Siebel reported a loss for the last quarter and said it expected the present quarter to be equally tough.Despite (or because of) their contrasting fortunes, Microsoft and Siebel announced a joint marketing deal on October 21st: Microsoft is to sell Siebel’s customer management software through. NET, its web-services product. Why are some companies doing better than others One reason is that, now more than ever, those that are competitive seem to be punishing those that are not. Nokia has stretched its lead overEricsson which, in addition to lower sales of mobile phones, has suffered from the severe fall in demand for telecoms infrastructure, its biggest business. There was, however, some good news forEricsson’s shares on October 18th , when the company said that the infrastructure unit came close to breaking even in the most recent quarter. Cost-cutting has also helped SAP,Europe’s largest developer of business software, has reduced its expenses by 8%.As a result, its margins have improved a lot compared with those of its competitors. Microsoft has employed different tactics. It has capitalized on customers’ fears that the cost of upgrading their software, such as the company’s Windows XP operating system, could climB、Many have rushed to buy now in case prices rise. In tune with the times, Microsoft is also keen to demonstrate how its products can save its customers money. Understandably, this is winning its sales. |
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