考博英语写作素材

Parliament session begins amid global crisis

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Thursday called on the nation to strengthen conviction for victory while he envisaged "arduous and formidable" tasks in 2009 as the country tried to keep economic growth amid a global downturn.

Wen acknowledged that 2009 will "be the most difficult year for China's economic development" since the new millennium, but he said the growth rate was proposed based on China's needs and ability.

"In China, a developing country with a population of 1.3 billion, maintaining a certain growth rate for the economy is essential for expanding employment for both urban and rural residents, increasing people's incomes and ensuring social

stability," Wen told nearly 3,000 NPC deputies gathering at the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing.

"As long as we adopt the right policies and appropriate measures and implement them efficiently, we will be able to achieve this target," he said.

Other key economic and social targets included creating more than 9 million jobs in cities, keeping urban registered unemployment rate under 4.6 percent and keeping the rise of Consumer Price Index (CPI) at about 4 percent.

Global warming skepticism on rise in U.S.

DALLAS/KANSAS CITY (Reuters) - Sharon Byers is unconvinced that human activities such as the burning of coal and other fossil fuels are behind climate change.

"There have been times in the past when there was global warming in the absence of man. It is all part of a natural cycle. I think it is a little vain to think man could destroy this great planet," said Byers, a former nurse who lives in Lee's Summit, Missouri.

In the U.S. heartland, global warming talk is often seen as hot air and opinion polls show skepticism on the rise, fueling conservative opposition to a climate change bill