在現代，城市的發展可謂是日新月異。對於城市的發展你怎麼看?下面，我們一起走進這篇英語聽力的世界。
More and more of the world's population are living in towns or cities. The speed at which cities are growing in the less developed countries is alarming. Between 1920 and 1960, big cities in developed countries increased two and a half times in size, but in other parts of the world the growth was eight times their size.
世界上越來越多的人居住在城鎮或都市裏。在次發達國家中，城市的擴張速度是值得關注的。在1920至1960年間，發達國家大城市的規模增加了兩倍半，但是在世界其他地方，城市的規模相當於原來的8倍。
The sheer size of growth is bad enough, but there are now also very disturbing signs of trouble in the comparison of percentages of people living in towns and percentages of people working in industry. During the 19th century, cities grew as a result of the growth of industry. In Europe, the proportion of people living in cities was always smaller than that of the workforce working in factories. Now, however, the reverse is almost always true in the newly industrialized world; The percentage of people living in cities is much higher than the percentage woking in industry.
僅僅就城市增長的規模而言已經夠糟的了，但是倘若把居住在城鎮和都市的人口的比例和從事工業人口的比例進行比較的話，現在也出現了非常讓人不安的跡象。在19世紀，作爲工業發展的產物，城市也隨之擴張。在歐洲，居住在城市人口的比例總是比在工廠中工作的勞動力的比例要小。然而，在新興的工業化地區，情況幾乎總是相反的——在城市居住的人口比例要遠遠高於工廠中勞動人口的比例。
Without a base of people working in industry, these cities cannot pay for their growth. There is not enough money to build adequate houses for the people that live there, let alone the new arrivals. There has been little opportunity to build water supplies or other facilities. So the figures for the growth of towns and cities represent proportional growth of unemployment and underemployment, a growth in the number of hopeless and despairing parents ans starving children.
沒有從事工業的勞動力基礎，這些城市就無法償付它們的擴張。它們將缺乏爲在那兒生活的居民建造足夠住所的資金，更不必說滿足後來者的居住了。它們將很難有機會修建供水系統和其他設施。城鎮和都市擴張的數字代表着失業和未充分就業增加的`比例，代表着越來越多的失望的、沮喪的父母和飢腸轆轆的兒童。
1. sheer adj. 純粹的，全然的，陡峭的 adv. 完全地
eg: His music is sheer delight.
短語：
sheer nonsense 一派胡言
triple sheer 半透明薄綢
2. disturbing adj. 煩擾的，擔心的，令人不安的
eg: There was something about him she found disturbing.
她發現他身上有些東西讓她覺得不安。
短語：
disturbing force 擾動力;干擾力
disturbing sleep 擾人清夢
3. comparison n. 比較
eg: It is demonstrably an unfair comparison.
這顯然是一種不公平的相似對比。
短語：
comparison with 與......相比
in comparison 相比之下;與.....比較
in comparison with 與.....比較，同.....比較起來
by comparison 相比之下，比較起來
