Anti-Fascist War in the 1930s and 1940s
The anti Fascist war between the 1930s and 1940s was the first just war of a global scale in human history. It ended in the Axis' unconditional surrender in 1945, 60 years ago. Over 2 billion people in Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania (exceeding four-fifths of the world population at that time) were involved in the war. People who had experienced that unheard-of calamity will never forget those days when flames of battle raged everywhere.
China was the first country to fight the Fascist aggressor, experiencing the longest period of struggle, and suffering great sacrifices and heavy losses. (The death toll of Chinese people is more than 3.5 million and directly economic loss is US $ 100 billion.) An important part of the international anti Fascist war, the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japan was closely bound up with it.
People will never forget August 15, 1945, the date on which the Japanese government issued a note to the Allied Countries, announcing its unconditional surrender. Japanese militarism, the No. 2 war criminal in World War Ⅱ, collapsed. The Chinese people won the final victory in the anti-Japanese national liberation war through their bitter struggles.
China's War of Resistance Against Japan was a righteous struggle against a war of aggression provoked by Japanese militarists against the will of the Japanese people. As for the Chinese, it was an anti-aggression war to defend state sovereignty and vindicate national honor.
The War of Resistance Against Japan was a turning point in modern Chinese history. It ended the divided situation in which China found itself since the Opium War of 1840. It aroused the Chinese people, filled them with a common hatred against the enemy, and enhanced their traditional national spirit as never before.
The War of Resistance Against Japan was not merely a struggle between the Chinese people and the Japanese militarists or merely a local war between China and Japan. Viewed from the general situation of the international anti-Fascist struggle, China's War of Resistance Against Japan was an important part of the war against aggression Waged by people throughout the world, and the China theater was a major theater of decisive importance to World War Ⅱ. China's War of Resistance strongly supported the anti-Fascist struggle in the European and Pacific theaters, disrupted the overall plan of the Japanese imperialists who attempted to dominate the world, thwarted Japan's "northern march" plot to invade the Soviet Union, and delayed its "southern march" schedule for unleashing the Pacific War. More important still, the Chinese people through great sacrifices pinned down Japan's million troops on the Chinese battlefront so that it could not enhance its military forces in the Far East and the Pacific Ocean. As a result, it greatly reduced the pressure on the Allied forces. When the Pacific War broke out, Japan's military strength totaled 2. 1 million soldiers, of which 1. 4 million were sent to the Chinese theater. At this time less than 400,000 Japanese soldiers were fighting on the several million-square-kilometer Pacific battlefield. Thus, 67 percent of the total Japanese military strength was tied up in China during the most dangerous period of the Pacific War. In other words, the Japanese military force that China (one nation) resisted trebled what more than 10 nations headed by the United States resisted. The leaders of the Allies knew this well. Franklin D. Roosevelt, then US President, once commented that without China, or if China had been defeated, many more Japanese divisions would have been deployed to other areas and they would have been able to occupy Australia and India immediately without any trouble, and then push to the Middle East.
In the spring of 1942, the United States proposed to establish a China War Zone, and invit
A. Y
B. N
C. NG
Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D.
听力原文: Researchers have discovered a link between drinking and thinking. A moderate amount of alcohol may help us keep our mental abilities as we age. Brain scans show alcohol abuse kill brain cells. But little is known about the effects of life-long drinking. So moderate drinkers may want to toast new findings from researchers at Duke, and Indiana Universities. Dr. Joe, Christian of Indiana Universities says men who have one or two drinks each day retain slightly stronger comprehension skills than the non-drinker or the heavy drinker. The doctor and his colleagues gave mental tests to nearly 4,000 male twins between the age of 66 and 76.The moderate drinkers had slightly better reasoning ability than their brothers who drink more or less. Other studies have found that alcohol in moderation can help the heart. Bat alcohol abuse can cause bone loss and other health problems. This study was presented at an alcoholism meeting in San Antonio.
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Alcohol helps develop people's intelligence.
B. Heavy drinking is not necessarily harmful to one's health.
Controlled drinking helps people keep their wits as they age.
Drinking, even moderately, may harm one's health.