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Most of these megacities are in developing countries that are struggling to cope with both the speed and the scale of human migration. Estimates of the future spread of urbanization are based on the observation that in Europe, and in North and South America, the urban share of the total population has stabilized at 75%- 85%. If the rest of the world follows this path it is expected that in the next decade an extra 100 million people will join the cities of Africa, and 340 million the cities of Asia: the equivalent of a new Bangkok every two months. By 2030 nearly two-thirds of the world's population will be urban.
In the long run, that is good news. If countries now industrializing follow the pattern of those that have already done so, their city-dwellers will be both more prosperous and healthier. Man is gregarious species, and the words" urbane" and" civilized" both derive from the advantages of living in large settlements.
History also shows, though, that the transition can be uncomfortable. The slums of Manchester were, in their time, just as awful as those of Nairobi today. But people moved there for exactly the same reason: however nasty conditions seemed, the opportunities of urban life outstripped those of the countryside. The question is how best to handle the change.
If there is one thing that everybody agrees on, it is that urbanization is unstoppable. Migrants attempting to escape poverty, and refugees escaping conflict, are piling into cities in what the executive director of UN HABITAT, Anna, Tibailjuka, describes as" premature urbanization."
Dr Tibaijuka believes it might be possible to slow the pace of migration from the countryside with policies that enhance security and rural livelihoods. There is room for debate, though, over whether better rural development in any form. can seriously slow the pace of urbanization-- or even whether such a slowdown would be a good thing.
Michael Mutter, an urban planning adviser at the British government's Department for International Development (DFID), says that the relevant indicators suggest that in many countries the effective" carrying capacity" of rural areas has been reached. As happened in Europe in the 18th century, population growth and technological improvements to agriculture are creating a surplus population. That surplus has to go some where to earn its living.
Indeed, some people go so far so to argue that governments, international donors and aid agencies spend too much on rural development and neglect the cities. Most countries have a rural development policy, but only a few have urban ones. DFID, for example, spends only 5% of its budget directly on urban develop ment. Moreover, these critics point out that, although rural areas often have worse sanitation, illiteracy and homelessness than cities, such figures are deceptive. Being illiterate, homeless or without access to a flush toilet are far more serious problems in a crowded city than in the countryside.
Of the many lessons being learnt from past urban-development failures, one of the most important is that improvements must involve local people in a meaningful way. Even when it comes to the poorest slum dwellers, some governments and city authorities are realizing that people are their own greatest assets. Slumdwellers International is a collection of "grassroots" federations of people living in slums. Its idea is simple. Slum-dwellers in a particular place get together and form. a federation to strengthen local savings and credit schemes, and to lobby for greater co-operation with the authorities. Such federations are having a big impact on slum-upgrading schemes around the world.
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I cry easily. I once burst into tears when the curtain came down on the Kirov Ballet's "Swan Lake". I still choke up every time I see a film of Roger Bannister breaking the "impossible" four-minute mark for the mile. I figure I am moved by witnessing men and women at their best. But they need not be great men and women, doing great things.
Take the night, some years ago, when my wife and I were going to dinner at a friend's house in New York city. It was sleeting. As we hurried toward the house, with its welcoming light, I noticed a car pulling out from the curb. Just ahead, another car was waiting to back into the parking space—a rare commodity in crowded Manhattan. But before he could do so another car came up from behind, and sneaked into the spot. "That's dirty pool." I thought.
While my wife went ahead into our friend's house. I stepped into the street to give the guilty driver a piece of my mind. A man in work clothes rolled down the window.
"Hey," I said, "this parking space belongs to that guy," I gestured toward the man ahead, who was looking back angrily. I thought I was being a good Samaritan, I guess—and I remember that the moment I was feeling pretty manly in my new trench coat.
"Mind your own business!" the driver told me.
"No," I said. "You don't understand. That fellow was waiting to back into this space."
Things quickly heated up, until finally he leaped out of the car. My God, he was colossal. He grabbed me and bent me back over the hood of his car as if I was a rag doll. The sleet stung my face. I glanced at the other driver, looking for help, but he gunned his engine and hightailed it out of there.
The huge man shook his rock of a fist of me, brushing my lip and cutting the inside of my mouth against my teeth. I tasted blood. I was terrified. He snarled and threatened, and then told me to beat it.
Almost in a panic, I scrambled to my friend's front door. As a former Marine, as a man, I felt utterly humiliated. Seeing that I was shaken, my wife and friends asked me what had happened. All I could bring myself to say was that I had had an argument about a parking space. They had the sensitivity to let it go at that.
I sat stunned. Perhaps haft an hour later, the doorbell rang. My blood ran cold. For some reason I was sure that the bruiser had returned for me. My hostess got up to answer it, but I stopped her. I felt morally bound to answer it myself.
I walked down the hallway with dread. Yet I knew I had to face up to my fear. I opened the door. There he stood, towering. Behind him, the sleet came down harder than ever.
"I came back to apologize," he said in a low voice. "When I got home, I said to myself, 'what right I have to do that？' I'm ashamed of myself. All I can tell you is that the Brooklyn Navy Yard is closing. I've worked there for years. And today I got laid off. I'm not myself. I hope you'll accept my apology."
I often remember that big man. I think of the effort and courage it took for him to come back to apologize. He was man at last.
And I remember that after I closed the door, my eyes blurred, as I stood in the hallway for a few moments alone.
From the passage, we can infer that the author is what kind of person？
It is true that American capitalism should be【C10】______with the achievements of its economy, the question【C11】______immediately comes to our mind is what are the essential【C12】______and construct their significance in the【C13】______of American economy, we shall then be able to make a good【C14】______of the key factors that have【C15】______to the phenomenal growth of American economy in the past two centuries.
First and【C16】______, American capitalism is organized as a private enterprise system for private profit,【C17】______the resulting rewards protected by the state as private【C18】______. This, in fact, is the general【C19】______of American economic institutions, underlining the social structure【C20】______which American society has been built.
【C1】
SECTION B INTERVIEW
Directions: In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions.
Now listen to the interview.
听力原文：Z: As China is going to join the WTO, the legal profession is facing a real challenge. A more global-minded type of lawyer has emerged and will grow in number. Here in the studio we have Phil Thomas with us. He'll talk about the legal profession in the context of globalization. Welcome to the studio. People talk about economic globalization a lot but what challenges does this process present to the legal profession？
P: Within the UK, it has offered a huge challenge and opportunity for existing and forthcoming lawyers. Traditionally, lawyers have spent their time in court, dealing with efficacy matters or that they have dealt with individuals in terms of properties or houses, that sort of work. But suddenly, this huge international corporations come along and become your clients, and the legal service they demand from you involves, say, the law in China rather than the law in England. That means we have to rethink what we do in legal practice in order to serve effectively and efficiently these global investors.
Z: China and Britain have rather different legal systems. Phil, maybe you could explain a bit more on that.
P: The British legal system is based entirely on what we call Common Law, which was originally case development out of the judges. So a case occurs and principle emerges from that. We now have more legislation. But nevertheless, it is a process whereby cases come to court and then the lawyers develop out of the judicial decisions thereby. The major difference is that our law is and has been entirely based upon principles of capitalism and that produces very different sets of tenants. For example, the individual becomes the principal person in terms of how the law perceives a relationship and the state has a different sort of role from the position in Chino. But Chinese start lawmaking activities by the legislatures, and judges tend to follow the interpretation of the lawmaking body, either the National People's Congress or a particular government minis try. The other aspect of our law, which is different from either British law or Common Law, is that we are gradually developing the system of law based on the concept of socialist market economy.
Z: What particular skills should a global lawyer have？
P: Being clever in difficult situations, and thinking fast on your feet. Being able to negotiate, able to work long hours. Basically being clever; but not necessarily knowing lots and lots of law. You need to have advocacy skills, persuasive skills; you need to have the ability to advise your client during a very short period of time. But what is important to be a lawyer who can assist client across national boarders is that you must be able to communicate concepts and ideas very well and help to facilitate such communication between the clients directly.
Z: And they need to be bilingual or trilingual？
P: Absolutely. Now we see more and more multilingual students operating in the UK, sons and daughters of immigrants who speak Italian or Chinese at home. Talking about Chinese lawyers, I would say there are two skills they would need to have. One is that they need to be fluent in English. Another thing is that they need to be culturally comfortable with people from the West because many of their clients are likely to come from North America or from Europe. This cultural awareness is very important and one of the very best ways of achieving it is to go over and spend time in that culture so that you become immersed in it and learn to appreciate the values of that other culture.
Z: While economic globalization is happening, do you think the legal practice will
听力原文： China on Tuesday expressed its regret over the EU's recent failure to foot its pledge of lifting its arms sales ban to China. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao made the remarks at a routine press conference when commenting on the EU's decision at a summit in Brussels earlier this month. The European Union (EU) summit pledged to develop a strategic partnership with China. "It reiterates its resolve to develop a strategic partnership with China by intensifying dialogue in all areas, whether of an economic or political nature, and by working towards a rapid solution to its trade dispute," said a conclusion document issued by the summit. Liu said China still hopes that the EU will materialize its pledge to lift the ban as soon as possible. Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn pledged last week it would make more efforts for the early lifting of the arms embargo against China. Luxembourg, which is to hand over the presidency of the European Union (EU) to Britain, urged Britain to continue the efforts aiming to strike a deal on the EU code of conduct on arms exports at an EU summit in September, so as to lay down a solid road for the lifting, Asselborn told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.
Which one was not mentioned in the conclusion document issued by the summit？
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