（考试时间3小时，满分150分，全部写在答题纸上，答在试题页上无效）
The dangers of a population explosion have been all over the newspapers lately and indeed the world population could reach seven billion in just two years and eight billion perhaps in the next two decades. But that’s not the only story. Dramatic declines in fertility rates in some countries and high rates in others pose a critical challenge. One must be reminded that the growth of world population — which now stands at an estimated 6.8 billion human inhabitants — has greatly impacted all life forms and the overall natural environment of the planet.
Although the population of the world continues to grow substantially — 79 million per year — the rate of growth has declined by nearly half over the last 40 years – from 2 percent to 1.2 percent a year. The cause for the slowdown is declining fertility rates. However, while the average global fertility has dropped from about 5 to 2.6 births per woman during the past 50 years, considerable uncertainty exists about the future. Insofar as fertility is the engine driving the future size of world population, this uncertainty about the path of fertility in the coming years is one of the central and challenging questions of this century. (199 words)
President Obama’s recent trip toChinareflects a symbiotic relationship at the heart of the global economy: China uses American spending power to enlarge its private sector, while America uses Chinese lending power to expand its public sector. Yet this arrangement may unravel in a dangerous way, and if it does, the most likely culprit will be Chinese economic overcapacity.
Several hundred million Chinese farmers have moved from the countryside to the cities over the last 30 years, in one of the largest, most rapid migrations in history. To help make this work, the Chinese government has subsidized its exporters by pegging the renminbi at an unnaturally low rate tothe dollar. This has supported relatively high-paying export jobs; additional subsidies have included direct credit allocation and preferential treatment for coastal enterprises.
These aren’t the recommended policies you would find in a basic economics text, but it’s hard to argue with success. Most important, it has given many more Chinese a stake in the future of their society. Those same subsidies, however, have spurred excess capacity and created a dangerous political dynamic in which these investments have to be propped up at all cost.
China has been building factories and production capacity in virtually every sector of its economy, but it’s not clear that the latest round of investments will be profitable anytime soon. Automobiles, steel, semiconductors, cement, aluminum and real estate all show signs of too much capacity. In Shanghai, the central business district appears to have high vacancy rates, yet building continues.
Chinese planners now talk of the need to restrict investment in sectors that are overflowing with unsold products. The global market is no longer strong, and domestic demand was never enough in the first place. Regional officials have an incentive to prop up local enterprises and production statistics, even if that means supporting projects or accounting practices that are not sustainable. (315 words)
由于国际金融危机的严重冲击，我国外部需求大幅萎缩，产能过剩矛盾突出，企业生产经营困难，失业人员增多，经济增速明显下滑。中国政府迅速出台扩大内需、促进经济平稳较快发展的十项措施，实施应对国际金融危机的一揽子计划，短时间内扭转了经济下滑趋势。我们还积极发展与世界各国的经贸合作与交流，扩大商品进口、对外投资和对外援助，加强同有关国家宏观经济政策协调，推动国际经贸和金融体系改革，为世界经济复苏作出了积极努力。（203字）
1949年以后，一个真正的妇女解放过程开始了。男女平等被定为国策，所有妇女都参加生产劳动。这件事太伟大了，因为就算是在西方，妇女对工作权、选举权的争取也要经过100多年，但是中国女性直接就获得了这些权利。而且女性参加社会生产劳动的比例一下就超过了很多西方国家，几乎是100%的适龄并适合劳动的妇女都出来工作，这应该说是一个非常关键的进步。
然而，那个年代有时是比较极端的。过于强调男女都一样，男性能做到的，女性也能做到，男女之间没什么区别，大家穿同样的衣服，女孩儿也都不化妆，好像没有性别的区分了。但造成这种现象的原因是过去女性的地位太低，转到这个阶段，女性被抑制的各种方面爆发了。此时，女性的地位得到极大提高，但性别差异也被忽略。（307字）
