2023 年 06 月大学英语四级考试真题（第 1 套）

You probably haven't taken the time to think of all the work that went into creating the shirt on your back. I mean, how hard it could be to create fabric and __26__ it into a shirt shape. Don't machines do all that? Well, creating fabric from cotton, which is the most __27__ clothing material, is actually a process that involves a lot of water, 2,700 liters per shirt to be __28__. Take a look at the video below from National Geographic for some more mind-blowing __29__ about cotton clothing production.

Clean water is __30__ becoming one of the most sought-after resources in the world. Given how large the __31__ and cotton industries are, they take up a lot of our fresh water demands across the world, according to The Huffington Post. The video from National Geographic was created to spread __32__ of how environmentally harmful cotton is. But the situation can be made better. Through better water management and farming practices, water usage in cotton production can be cut down by __33__ 40 percent.

Called "Better Cotton", this environmentally conscious product will save millions of liters of water a year simply from __34__ the demands of cotton production. Cotton doesn't have to go, since it is, after all, one of the most useful cash crops across the globe. However, as water supplies __35__, farmers and consumers need to be more conscious of the effect that these products have on the environment as a whole.

The United States is facing a housing crisis: Affordable housing is inadequate, while luxury homes abound (充裕), and homelessness remains a persistent problem. Despite this, popular culture and the housing industry market happiness as living with both more space and more amenities (便利设施). Big houses are advertized as a reward for hard work and diligence, turning housing from a basic necessity into a luxury.

This is reflected in our homes. The average single-family home built in the United States before 1970was less than 1,500 square feet in size. By 2016, the average size of a new, single-family home was 2,422 square feet. What's more, homes built in the 2000s were more likely than earlier models to have more of all types of spaces; bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms, dining rooms, recreation rooms and garages.

There are consequences of living big. As middle-class houses have grown larger, two things have happened. First, large houses take time to maintain, so cleaners and other low-wage service workers are required to keep these houses in order. Second, once-public spaces, where people from diverse backgrounds used to come together, have increasingly become privatized, leading to a reduction in the number of public facilities available to all, and a reduced quality of life for many. Take swimming pools. While in 1950, only 2,500 U.S. families owned pools, by 1999 this number was 4 million. At the same time, public municipal pools were often closed, leaving low-income people nowhere to swim.

The trend for bigger housing thus poses ethical questions. Should Americans accept a system in which the middle and upper classes enjoy a luxurious lifestyle, using the low-wage labor of others? Are we willing to accept a system in which an increase in amenities purchased by the affluent means a reduction in amenities for the poor?

I believe neither is acceptable. We must change the way we think: living well does not need to mean having more private spaces; instead, it could mean having more public spaces. A better goal than building bigger houses for some is to create more publicly accessible spaces and amenities for all.

Most of us in the entrepreneurial community are blessed—or cursed—with higher-than-average ambition. Ambitious people strongly desire accomplishments and are willing to take more risks and spend more effort to get them.

Overall, this is a positive quality, especially for people trying to build their own businesses. Apparently, if you're more naturally driven to set goals, you are more likely to succeed.

Actually, this isn't always the case. In fact, in some cases, extreme ambition may end up doing more harm than good.

One major side effect of excessive ambition is the tendency to focus too determinedly on one particular vision or end goal. This is problematic because it hinders your ability to adapt to new circumstances, which is vital if you want to be a successful entrepreneur. If a new competitor emerges to threaten your business, you may need to change direction, even if that means straying from your original vision. If you have too much ambition, you'll find this hard, if not impossible.

Few people are successful when they try to build their first brand. Unfortunately, for the most ambitious entrepreneurs, a failure is seen as disastrous, and impossible to recover from.

It's a clear departure from the intended plan toward the intended goal. For people with limited ambition, however, failure is viewed as something closer to reality. Remember, failure is inevitable, and every failure you survive is a learning experience.

Ambitious people tend to be more materialistically successful than their non-ambitious counterparts. However, they're only slightly happier than their less-ambitious counterparts, and tend to live significantly shorter lives. This implies that even though ambitious people are more likely to achieve conventional "success," such success means nothing for their health and happiness-and if you don't have health and happiness, what else could possibly matter?

Clearly, some amount of ambition is good for your motivation. Without any ambition, you wouldn't start your own business, set or achieve goals and get far in life. But an excess of ambition can also be dangerous, putting you at risk of burnout, stubbornness and even a shorter life.