Native people in the Amazon may have been creating fertile soil for farming for thousands of years. And what they learned could offer lessons for people concerned about climate change today.
The Amazon River basin covers much of central South America, across which are archaeological sites where ancient people left their mark on the land. And patches(小块) of strangely fertile soil dot the landscape at many of these sites. It’s darker in color than surrounding soils and richer in carbon.
The industrial world has long viewed the Amazon as a vast wilderness — one that was mostly untouched before Europeans showed up. One reason for this idea was that the soil there is nutrient-poor. But a large number of ancient finds in recent decades has been turning that idea on its head. Plenty of evidence now shows that people were shaping the Amazon for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. Ancient city centers have been found in modern-day Bolivia, for instance.
To find out more, Perron, an Earth scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, became part of a team that reviewed interviews with Kuikuro people, who reported making dark Earth using ash, food scraps and controlled burns. They call the product eegepe.
The researchers also collected soil samples and found that there were “striking similarities” between dark Earth samples from ancient and modern sites. Both were far less acidic than the soils around them and also contained more plant-friendly nutrients.
The soil samples also revealed that on average, dark Earth holds twice as much carbon as the soil around it. Infrared(红外线的) scans in one Brazil region suggest the area holds many pockets of this dark Earth, which may store up to about 9 million tons of carbon that scientists have overlooked, Perron’s team says. That’s about as much carbon as a small, developed country emits per year.
‘Figuring out the true amount will require more data,’ says Antoinette Winkler Prins, a geographer working at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. Still, ‘the new research could offer insights into the Amazon’s past and future.’
1. What was previously believed about the Amazon River basin?| A．It was a vast wilderness untouched by humans. |
| B．It was a highly developed region with large cities. |
| C．It was an uninhabitable region with nutrient-rich soil. |
| D．It was a moderately fertile region occasionally farmed by natives. |
| A．It was made using advanced agricultural techniques. |
| B．It was fertile and contained more carbon than surrounding soils. |
| C．It was highly acidic and nutrient-poor. |
| D．It was only found at ancient archaeological sites. |
| A．It offers insight into ancient agricultural practices in the Amazon. |
| B．It is evidence of a highly advanced civilization that lived in the Amazon. |
| C．It can be used to grow crops in the nutrient-poor soil of the Amazon. |
| D．It has the potential to reduce carbon emissions from the region. |
| A．Ancient Amazonians created fertile soil for farming using advanced techniques. |
| B．The Amazon River basin was inhabited and cultivated by ancient people. |
| C．The discovery of dark Earth in the Amazon could have significant implications for climate change. |
| D．The Kuikuro people have developed sustainable farming practices. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】The effect of climate change extends beyond ruining Earth’s environment and our physical safety. A report published this week suggests that climate change has a negative effect on our mental health, too.
The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States(PNAS), links an increase in monthly temperatures to a rise in mental health issues. The experimental evidence stems from meteorological (气象的) data paired with information collected from nearly 2 million randomly sampled residents in the United States. The data was collected over the span (跨度) of a decade.
“We find that experiences with hotter temperatures and added rainfall each worsen mental health, that long-lasting warming associates with an increased popularity of mental health issues, and that exposure to tropical cyclones(热带气旋), likely to increase in frequency in the future, is linked to worsened mental health,” authors of the study stated. “These results provide added large-scale evidence to the growing link between climate change and mental health.”
The report specifically focused on mental health outcomes due to the effects of environmental stress - such as temperature, rainfall, and tropical cyclones - but other climate change-related issues are likely to affect mental health as well - specifically, the stress and anxiety of knowing natural disasters could be more frequent as temperatures rise.
1. From the newly-published report, we learn that the climate change may _________.| A．save a lot of people’s lives |
| B．cause unbelievable disasters |
| C．influence people’s mental health |
| D．greatly change people’s life styles |
| A．To stress the importance of the study. |
| B．To show that the study cost too much money. |
| C．To explain the difficulties and hardships of the study. |
| D．to indicate that the study is objective and believable. |
| A．In Paragraph 1 | B．In Paragraph 2 |
| C．In Paragraph 3 | D．In Paragraph 4 |
| A．The study has its limits. |
| B．The results of the study aren’t satisfactory. |
| C．The environmental problems can’t be solved. |
| D．Mental health is determined by climate change. |
【推荐2】Leaders in the aviation (航空) industry plan to launch a campaign (发起运动) that they hope will work against what they call a “Flight Shaming Movement” (FSM). They say FSM has weakened people’s demand for air travel in Europe. Some travelers there are increasingly concerned about the effects of flying on the environment. Activists have been calling for greater action against climate change. That includes avoiding air travel.
FSM has affected air travel demand in many European countries, including Britain, France and Germany. The campaign will try to explain to the public how the industry is reducing its effect on the environment. Juniac, head of IATA, said FSM gave off “misleading information”.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is organizing the plan through the Air Transport Action Group, a group of aviation industry organizations and companies. Juniac didn’t say when the campaign would start, but noted that details would be available to airports and airlines.
Commercial flying is estimated to cause about 2.5% of worldwide carbon emissions (释放). However, that number could rise as worldwide air travel increases.
The aviation industry says it has already cut carbon emissions by one-half since 1990. The improvements are mainly the result of aircraft that use fuel more effectively. The industry plans to cut emissions further by 2050. It has a goal of stopping the growth of carbon emissions by 2020.
Airlines also have warned of the harmful effects of FSM. Some have criticized the industry for failing to explain itself. Tim Clark, president of the Airline Emirates, said that improvements in technology have reduced the environmental effects of passenger airplanes.
1. What is FSM about?| A．Weakening people’s demand to travel abroad. |
| B．Calling on all to fight against global warming. |
| C．Announcing the environmental harm of flying. |
| D．Scaring people from approaching the airport. |
| A．Airlines will charge the movement for their loss. |
| B．It ignores the efforts of airlines to reduce pollution. |
| C．Airlines are to blame for the cause of it. |
| D．It has positive effects in urging airlines to be green. |
| A．The effective use of fuel has made air travel greener. |
| B．FSM has caused great loss for aviation industry. |
| C．With more passengers, carbon emissions by planes may rise. |
| D．The aviation industry aims to stop carbon emission by 2020. |
| A．Improvement of air quality since FSM. |
| B．Measures by aviation industry to reduce pollution. |
| C．Travelers’ inconvenience caused by FSM. |
| D．Disapproval of aviation industry against FSM. |
【推荐3】At first glance, the snow that’s changed from white to bright pink in the Italian Alps seems like a stunning feat of nature. But scientists say it may actually be a warning sign of environmental trouble.
Algae (藻类) are to thank or blame for the pink layer that coats the Presena Glacier in northern Italy. Scientists say it’s not an uncommon phenomenon in the spring and summer, but they warn that it could become a problem if it starts occurring more frequently.
Biagio Di Mauro, director of the Institute of Polar Sciences (ISP) at Italy’s National Research Council, traveled to the glacier to investigate the mysterious algae. While the phenomenon is well-documented, “there is relatively little scientific literature on this phenomenon, which has the direct effect of accelerating the melting of snow and ice,” the institute said.
Photos from the trek show a massive algae bloom, turning large swaths of the glacier from white to pink. Di Mauro said on Twitter that the algae was likely Chlamydomonas nivalis (极地雪藻). According to a study published in the journal Nature, snow algae has influence on carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The algae is not dangerous; it is a natural phenomenon that occurs during the spring and summer periods in the middle latitudes but also at the Poles, Di Mauro said in a press release.
The algae could accelerate melting in the already fragile region. Climate change, contributing to 2020’s unseasonably warm temperatures and lack of snow, is exacerbating the issue. Typically ice reflects the majority of the sun’s radiation, but algae darken the ice, causing a decrease in reflectivity. This causes the snow to absorb more heat and melt more quickly. “Everything that darkens the snow causes it to melt because it accelerates the absorption of radiation,” said Di Mauro, In order to flourish, the organisms need an available supply of water. So, as the ice melt even more algae will appear.
In May, Antarctica saw green snow, also caused by microscopic algae. At the time, scientists said that as the planet warms and more of Antarctica’s snow melts, the algae will only continue to spread.
1. What can we learn about snow’s changing from white to bright pink?| A．It is proved a masterpiece of nature. |
| B．It occurs mainly because of the algae. |
| C．It is a common phenomenon in the winter. |
| D．It has led to serious environmental problems. |
| A．Preventing. | B．Lessening. |
| C．Worsening. | D．Delaying. |
| A．Speeding up the melt of snow and glacier. |
| B．Reflecting more radiation of the sun. |
| C．Causing unreasonable warm temperatures. |
| D．Causing lack of snow in the fragile region. |
| A．Sports. | B．Environment. |
| C．Economics. | D．Entertainment. |
【推荐1】Ice hockey’s beginning is a little uncertain. It has been tracked back to an Irish game known as hurley by some experts. Others consider ice hockey as having come from lacrosse and field games that were played by Micmac Indians. Still others say that hockey evolved in Northern Europe. At any rate, it is quite likely that ice hockey came into being from different early games played with a stick and a ball.
In the 1850s, the first recorded games of ice hockey were played, and in the 1870s, the first set of ice hockey rules were written by a group of students at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. These rules set up the use of a puck (冰球) replacing a ball and decided the number of players to be nine per team. The year 1880 brought the organization of the first amateur hockey league. Over the next several years, ice hockey’s popularity spread across Canada. It was around 1893 that ice hockey was first played in the United States. There have been several ice hockey leagues. The best known is the National Hockey League, which came into being in 1917 in Canada.
Ice hockey has the oldest sports trophy (奖杯) in North America. It had become so widespread in Canada that a trophy was presented by the Governor General of Canada to be awarded to the top hockey team. Lord Stanley of Preston was the name of the Governor General, and the trophy became Known as the Stanley Cup.
Not many changes have been made to the initial rules set forth in the 1870s. The main ones have been the decrease from nine players to six and the progression of new and better equipment. In 1910 — 11, the game changed from two 30-minute periods to three 20-minute periods. In 1943 — 44, the red line at center ice was introduced to speed up the game. In 2005 — 06, goalkeeper equipment was downsized.
1. What does the second paragraph intend to tell?| A．The rules of ice hockey. |
| B．The development of ice hockey. |
| C．The popularity of ice hockey. |
| D．The players of ice hockey. |
| A．The rules of the ice hockey sport. |
| B．The great changes of the ice hockey sport. |
| C．The history of the ice hockey sport. |
| D．The development of the National Hockey League. |
【推荐2】The Maginot Line was one of the largest military structures (军事建筑) ever built, second only to the Great Wall of China. It was named after the man, French Minister of War André Maginot, who argued for its construction. André Maginot had fought with the French against the Germans in the First World War. Much of this conflict took place along the Western Front, which was a line of trenches (堑壕) across which the two sides faced one another. Both sides dug in deep and each lost many men over little ground.
Maginot never forgot these bad conditions. Thus he wanted to build a line of defences that would give the French an advantage in a similar conflict. He was concerned that the Germans would attack France again. Germany's population nearly doubled France's. The line of defences that Maginot pictured would allow a smaller French army to hold off a larger German force. In1929, Maginot persuaded the French Parliament to agree with his idea.
Though calling it a line makes it seem thin, the Maginot Line was in fact quite deep. It was fifteen miles wide at some points. There were outposts (前哨) guarded by troops, antitank rails planted in the ground, storage rooms armed with machine guns, and large and small fortresses (碉堡) along the line. Each had halls, lots of supplies, and air conditioning. The Maginot Line would give the French a supreme advantage in the case of a head-on (正面的) attack by the Germans.
Unfortunately for the French, the Germans did not attack head-on. They arranged for a small army in front of the line to attract the French. While the French were waiting, the Germans sent a larger force through Belgium, which is France's northeastern neighbor. The French did have some defences along their border with Belgium, but this part of the Maginot Line had not been strengthened. The Germans quickly attacked these defences. Within five days of their initial attack, they were well into France. Once they were in France, the Germans attempted to capture the main fortresses along the Maginot Line. Soon, Paris was taken and the Maginot Line turned into a failed project.
1. What did André Maginot learn from World War I?| A．The importance of setting up a defense line. |
| B．The ways of getting France out of conflicts. |
| C．The secrets of defeating Germany totally. |
| D．The urgency of strengthening armed forces. |
| A．The French troops. | B．The guns and fortresses. |
| C．The features of the line. | D．The military supplies. |
| A．It was of poor quality. | B．Part of it looked strange. |
| C．It was too long. | D．Part of it was weak. |
| A．They bought off some of the French officers. |
| B．They attacked the French army from another side. |
| C．They fought with the French army head-on. |
| D．They convinced the French army to give up. |
【推荐3】The Art of Healing
If no further evidence available of the sophistication of China in the Tang Dynasty, then a look at Chinese medicine would be sufficient. At the western end of the Eurasian continent, the Roman empire disappeared, and there was nowhere new to claim the important position of the cultural and political centre of the world. In fact, for a few centuries, the centre happened to be the capital of the Tang Empire, which boasted its national health service, and Chinese medicine under the Tang was far ahead of European medicine. The organizational context of health and healing was structured to a degree that had never happened in China before and found a similar one nowhere else.
An Imperial Medical Office had been inherited from previous dynasties: it was immediately restructured and staffed with directors, chief and assistant medical directors, pharmacists and managers of medicinal herb gardens. Within the first two decades after enforcing its rule, the Tang administration set up one central and several provincial medical colleges to train students in one or all of the departments of medicine, acupuncture (针灸) and physical therapy. Physicians were given positions in governmental medical service only after passing qualifying exams. They were paid according to the number of cures they had effected during the past year.
In 723, Emperor Xuanzong personally composed a formulary of prescriptions（方剂集）recommended to him by an imperial pharmacist and sent it to all the provincial medical schools. An Arabic traveller, who visited China in 851, noted with surprise that prescriptions from the emperor’s formulary were posted on notice boards at crossroads to enhance the welfare of the population.
The government protected people from potentially harmful medical practice. The Tang legal code was the first in China to include laws concerned with harmful medical practice. For example, to treat patients for money without following standard procedures was defined as deceiving combined with theft and had to be tried as theft. If such therapies resulted in death of a patient, the healer was to be sent to a remote place for years. In case a physician purposely failed to practice according to the standards, he was to be tried as murdering. Even if no harm resulted, he was to be punished.
1. In the 1st paragraph, the writer draws particular attention to ________.| A．the lack of medical knowledge in China prior to the Tang Dynasty |
| B．the Western interest in Chinese medicine during the Tang Dynasty |
| C．the systematic approach taken to medical issues during the Tang Dynasty |
| D．the differences between Chinese and Western cultures during the Tang Dynasty |
| A．the effectiveness of his treatment | B．the wealth of his medical experience |
| C．the number of physicians he had trained | D．the width of his medical knowledge |
| A．A qualified doctor’s refusal to practise. |
| B．The use of unapproved medical practice. |
| C．The death of a patient under medical treatment. |
| D．The receipt of money for medical treatment. |
| A．The differences existed between ancient Chinese and European medicine. |
| B．The government of the Tang Dynasty set up medical colleges to train students. |
| C．Emperor Xuanzong published a formulary of prescriptions. |
| D．The national medical system in Tang Dynasty put Europe’s in the shade. |
【推荐1】The world will to have to start thinking seriously to save its coral reefs. Corals are comeback creatures. As the sea levels rose and fell over 30,000 years, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, roughly the size of Italy, died and revived five times. But now, thanks to human activity, corals face the most complex conditions they have yet had to deal with.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a rise in global temperature of 1.5℃ above pre-industrial level could cause coral reefs to decline by 70-90%. The planet is about 1℃ hotter than in the 19th century and its seas are becoming warmer, stormier and more acidic. This is already affecting relations between corals and the single-celled algae (海藻) with which they live together, and which give them their colour. When waters become unusually warm, corals push the algae out, leaving reefs a ghostly white, which is happening five times as often as it did in the 1970s. Meanwhile the changing chemistry of the oceans lowers the abundance of carbonate ions (碳酸盐离子), making it harder for corals to form their skeletons (骨骼).
If corals go, divers and ocean biologists are not the only people who will miss them. Reefs take up only one percent of the sea floor, but support a quarter of the planet’s fish diversity. The fish that reefs shelter are especially valuable to their poorest human neighbours, many of whom depend on them as a source of protein. In the Coral Triangle, an area of water stretching across South-East Asia and into the Pacific which is home to three-quarters of known coral species, more than 130 million people rely on reefs for food and for their livelihoods in fishing and tourism.
1. What causes corals to decline?| A．Pollution. | B．Tourism. | C．Fishing. | D．Temperature rise. |
| A．The single-celled algae. | B．The abundance of carbonate ions. |
| C．The planet’s fish diversities. | D．The changing chemistry of the oceans. |
| A．A travel brochure. | B．A Literature website. |
| C．A science journal. | D．A geography fiction. |
| A．Advantages of corals. | B．Measures to save corals. |
| C．Effects of coral decline. | D．Reasons why corals decline. |
【推荐2】A tent can be one of the more costly items on your camping equipment shopping list. It is definitely something that you need to consider carefully.
By seeing a tent for real you will be able to get a better impression of its size and construction in the traditional shop. However, the downside is that, unless you are experienced, you may miss out some of the details that the manufacturer’s promotional material makes clear. Cheap tents often look similar to the quality models they are mimicking(模仿), but you can be sure that they use inferior(次的) materials and probably have lower design standards.
Shop staff are often campers themselves. That means they usually can give lots of advice. If a shop assistant agreed with your own conclusions, that will be great; if they try to change your decision with a clear and reasonable argument, then that will be worth considering; if they just try to bamboozle(欺骗), or even bully, you then walk away.
The Internet is a wonderful tool, and so long as you know how to make the most of search engines and put in a little effort, you really have the perfect answer waiting to be found. That answer will be different for every camper as each of us has different needs. Don’t be surprised to see your favourite criticized somewhere, but if you see too much criticism, then you had better start thinking again. No problem. You won’t have spent anything yet, so think of it positively as a large expense saved.
Probably the best approach, if you have the time, is to research tents online and make a short list Then try to inspect those tents at nearby shops. Then you can make a final decision on where to buy your chosen model based purely on total cost.
1. When you go camping, what you should consider most is ______.| A．the shopping list | B．the costly item |
| C．the tent | D．the equipment |
| A．disadvantage | B．instruction |
| C．argument | D．principle |
| A．it is impolite for you to trouble shop assistants |
| B．shop assistants usually enjoy going camping |
| C．shop assistants usually have practical advice |
| D．you should consider your idea repeatedly |
| A．find the answer for every camper | B．meet your different needs |
| C．help you out of trouble | D．find your favourite tent |
| A．It is good to buy your tent in the traditional shop. |
| B．Going camping is really beneficial to your health. |
| C．You’d better buy a tent with the help of the Internet. |
| D．Better buy a tent combining seeing tents for real in shops and researching them online. |
【推荐3】Close your eyes for a minute and imagine what life would be like if you had a hundred dollars less. Also imagine what it would be like spending the rest of your life with your eyes closed. Imagine having to read this page, not with your eyes but with your finger-tips.
With existing medical knowledge and skills, two-thirds of the world's 42 million, blind should not have to suffer. Unfortunately, rich countries possess most of this knowledge, while developing countries do not.
ORBIS is an international non-profit organization which operates the world's only flying teaching eye hospital. ORBIS intends to help fight blindness worldwide. Inside a DC-8 aircraft, there is a fully-equipped teaching hospital with television studio and classroom. Doctors are taught the latest techniques of bringing sight back to people there. Project ORBIS also aims at promoting peaceful cooperation among countries.
ORBIS tries to help developing countries by providing training during three-week medical programs. ORBIS has taught sight-saving techniques to over 3,000 doctors and nurses, who continue to cure tens of thousands of blind people every year. ORBIS has conducted 17 plan programs in China so far. For the seven to ten million blind in China ORBIS is planning to do more for them. At the moment an ORBIS is working on a long-term plan to develop a training center and to provide eye care service to Shanxi Province. ORBIS needs your help to continue their work and free people from blindness.
For just US$38, you can help one person see; for $380 you can bring sight to 10 people; $1,300 helps teach a doctor new skills; and for $13,000 you can provide a training program for a group of doctors who can make thousands of blind people see again. Your money can open their eyes to the world. Please help ORBIS improve the quality of life for so many people less fortunate than ourselves.
1. The first paragraph is intended to ________.| A．direct the public's attention to the blind |
| B．advise the public to lead a simple life |
| C．introduce a new way of reading |
| D．encourage the public to use imagination |
| A．They are adequate. |
| B．They have not been updated. |
| C．They are not equally distributed. |
| D．They have benefited most of the blind. |
| A．teaching medical students |
| B．training doctors and nurses |
| C．running flying hospitals globally |
| D．setting up non-profit organization |
| A．ORBIS Flying Hospital | B．Fighting Blindness |
| C．ORBIS in China | D．Sight-seeing Techniques |
