Since the emergence of the first humans in Africa over 2 million years ago, the world’s population has ballooned. The global population will reach 8 billion by Nov 15, and is likely to increase at a slower pace in the next few decades. Let’s take a look at the main chapters in the growth of humanity.

First humans

The oldest fossils from the earliest known humans date back 2.8 million years and were found in east Africa. But estimates of the number of people that populated the Earth remained highly unreliable until the 19th century. What we do know is that our ancestors were hunter-gatherers, and they had few children compared to later settled populations in order to maintain their nomadic lifestyle. The globe’s population did increase over time but very, very slowly.

First baby boom

The introduction of agriculture in the Neolithic era brought the first known major population leap. With the development of agriculture, people’s lives became better, which caused birth rates to increase. However, the domestication(驯养) of animals caused humans to contract new diseases. Child mortality(死亡率) rates were particularly high, with a third of all children dying before their first birthday, and another third before they turned 18. There was huge mortality but also a permanent baby boom.

Black Death

The Black Death brought the population to a sudden halt(停止) in the Middle Ages. In just eight years, it wiped(消灭) out up to 60 percent of the populations of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. As a result of the Black Death, the human population dropped between 1300 and 1400, from 429 to 374 million.

Eight billion, and counting

From the 19th century on, the population began to explode, due largely to the development of modern medicine and the industrialization of agriculture, which boosted global food supplies. Since 1800, the world’s population has jumped eight-fold, from an estimated 1 billion to 8 billion.

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1.Why did the global population increase very slowly before the 19th century?

A Africa was not habitable then.

B The estimates were unreliable.

C People never settled at that time.

D People lived an unhealthy life.

解析：选C。C推理判断题。根据第二段倒数第二句“What we do know is that our ancestors were hunter-gatherers, and they had few children compared to later settled populations in order to maintain their nomadic lifestyle.”可知，那时的人们是采集狩猎者，他们因为生活方式的不同，和后来的定居人口相比很少有孩子，说明他们的生活方式是没有定居在一个地方。故选C。

2.What most probably caused the high child mortality rates in the Neolithic era?

A Lack of food.

B The ongoing war.

C Poor medical care.

D Attempts to limit family size.

解析：选C。C推理判断题。根据第三段内容，特别是第三句“However, the domestication of animals caused humans to contract new diseases.”可知，到了新石器时代，随着农业的发展，人们的生活越来越好，出生率也提高了，但动物的驯养使人类感染了新的疾病。结合选项可推知，最有可能是因为当时的医疗水平低，使得很多人得病之后就直接去世了。故选C。

3.What does the data in Paragraph 4 show?

A The European population was not affected by the Black Death.

B Black Death greatly affected the world’s population.

C A man who has a settled purpose will surely succeed.

D Diseases increased the world population in a way.

解析：选B。B推理判断题。根据第四段的数据可知，中世纪爆发的黑死病，在仅仅8年的时间里就让欧洲、中东和北非人口数量锐减60%。从全世界范围来看，人类人口从1300年的4.29亿，下降到1400年的3.74亿，这说明黑死病对人口数量影响极大。故选B。

4.In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?

A Humans.

B Economy.

C Entertainment.

D Business.

解析：选A。A推理判断题。通读全文可知，本文作者首先告诉了我们世界人口即将突破80亿这一新闻，接着带我们回顾了世界人口发展的历程，故我们可以在“人类”版块读到。故选A。