刚好最新考研英语答案：《英语二》阅读理解文章原文

考研英语答案：

《英语二》阅读理解文章原文

Would you pay to run around the park?

By CaitlinWebb | Posted: April 13, 2016

FREE OF CHARGE: Runners from parkrun in Priory Park

Every Saturday morning runners tie their laces to run 5km around their local park

with national organisation, parkrun.

In Reigate Priory Park there are on average about 140 runners who turn up at 9am

every week and at Banstead Woods, 147 people join in.

Stoke Gifford Parish Council, near Bristol, became the first in the world to charge

parkrun a fee to use Little Stoke Park paths.

The council voted last night to enforce charges to the running group, that organises

850 5km runs in 12 countries.

Chief

operating

officer

for

parkrun

Tom

Williams

said:

“We

are

extremely

disappointed that Stoke Gifford Parish Council has voted to impose a charge at Little

Stoke parkrun.

“parkrun

has

had

unprecedented

success

in

engaging

the

least

active

and

encouraging

them

to

exercise

regularly.

Providing

free

weekly

access

has

been

fundamental to this and we are disappointed that this opportunity is to be removed for

the residents of Little Stoke.

“Our

aim

is

to

break

down

barriers

to

participation

in,

and

delivery

of,

physical

activity and this is consistent across 850 parkruns worldwide, which are all delivered

by volunteers and are free to take part in. Imposing a charge at one event is something

that contradicts our founding principles and would set a precedent that threatens our

future.

“As a nation we must make a decision about wheth

er we want to be healthier or

not. The costs to all of us of inactivity and poor health are immense. parkrun has had

enormous success at bringing communities together and promoting physical activity in

safe and welcoming social environments.

“The

past

six

months

have

been

an

uncertain

and

difficult

time

for

everyone

involved with Little Stoke parkrun and our entire global community of more than two

million parkrunners is behind them as we discuss our next steps.”

There

are

no

plans

for

the

Reigate

and

Banstead

Borough

Council

to

charge

parkrun for their weekly events.

Changing attitudes on fire

选取部分：

Though

often

viewed

as

a

problem

for

western

states,

the

growing

frequency

of

wildfires is a national concern because of its impact on federal tax dollars, Professor

Moritz and others say.

In 2015, the US Forest Service for the first time spent more than half of its $$5.5

billion

annual

budget

fighting

fires

–

nearly

double

the

percentage

it

spent

on

such

efforts

20

years

ago.

In

effect,

fewer

federal

funds

today

are

going

towards

the

agency

’

s other work

–

such as forest conservation, watershed and cultural resources

management, and infrastructure upkeep

–

that affect the lives of all Americans.

Another nationwide concern is whether public funds from other agencies, such as

the

Department

of

Housing

and

Urban

Development,

are

going

into

construction

in

fire-prone districts. As Moritz puts it, how often are federal dollars building homes that

are likely to be lost to a wildfire?

“It

’

s already a huge problem from a public expenditure perspective for the whole

country,” he says. “We need to take a magnifying glass to that. Like,

‘

Wait a minute,

is

this

OK?

’

Do

we

want

instead

to

redirect

those

funds

to

concentrate

on

lower-hazard parts of th

e landscape?”

Such

a

pivot

would

require

a

corresponding

shift

in

the

way

US

society

today

views fire, researchers say.

For one thing, conversations about wildfires need to be more inclusive. Over the

past

decade,

the

focus

has

been

on

climate

change

–

how

the

warming

of

the

Earth

from

greenhouse

gases

(including

human

carbon

emissions)

is

leading

to

conditions

that exacerbate fires.

While climate is a key element, Moritz says, it shouldn

’

t come at the expense of

the rest of the equation.

“T

he human systems and the landscapes we live on are linked, and the interactions

go

both

ways,”

he

says.

Failing

to

recognize

that,

he

notes,

leads

to

“an

overly

simplified

view

of

what

the

solutions

might

be.

Our

perception

of

the

problem

and

perception of

what the solution is [becomes] very limited.”

At the same time, people continue to treat fire as an event that needs to be wholly

controlled and unleashed only out of necessity, says Professor Balch at the University

of Colorado. But acknowledging fire

’

s inevitable presence in human life is an attitude

crucial to developing the laws, policies, and practices that make it as safe as possible,

she says.

“We

’

ve

disconnected

ourselves

from

living

with

fire,”

Balch

says.

“It

is

really

important to understand and try and tease out what is the human connection [with fire]

today.”