【推荐1】Until 13, Parker Liautaud was an ordinary kid. That changed after he met polar explorer Robert Swan. They began an email correspondence which turned into a friendship that eventually saw the then 14-year-old invited to join a trip to the Antarctic. He said yes almost instantly. Friends and family, to whom he’d so far shown he had no particular interest in outdoor pursuits, particularly polar ones, were thrown into total confusion, to say the least. He ate lots of chicken, spent a long time in the gym, and proved them wrong.

The following year, Liautaud cooked up a more ambitious plan: to become the youngest-ever person to go to the North Pole. He found a new partner, Doug Stoup, and through a mixture of charm and luck raised the roughly $150, 000 needed for the record attempt. Then disaster struck. The early months of the year, when the two set out, were among the warmest on record. The North Pole, which is essentially a GPS location on a constantly-drifting collection of ice sheets, became virtually inaccessible, surrounded by pieces of uncovered ocean.

A trip which had intended to raise awareness of melting ice caps had been obstructed by melting ice caps. "We would get up, battle through these difficult conditions for 150 hours, then wake up the next morning and find that we were further away from the Pole than we’d started the previous morning, he said. After 14 days’ trying, they admitted defeat.

Liautaud came home and decided to try again the next spring. Conditions were cold but perfect, and he and Stoup reached the Pole in no time. While it might not have made him the youngest North-Poler, the success did give Liautaud a platform to continue advocacy against climate change, through his campaigning website. His view is that it’s his generation that must push hardest for cuts in carbon emissions. He has already contributed to research projects carried out by the International Atomic Energy Agency and will soon set up two stations to record weather data.

1. How did Liautaud’s family react to his decision to go to the Antarctic?

A．They made fun of it.	B．They were puzzled about it.
C．They turned a deaf ear to it.	D．They tried to talk him out of it.

2. What prevented Liautaud and Stoup from reaching the North Pole?

A．The lack of funds.	B．A natural disaster.
C．The movement of the ice.	D．The failure of the equipment.

3. Why was Liautaud determined to go to the North Pole?

A．To push his physical limits.	B．To support environmental protection.
C．To become an experienced North-Poler.	D．To finish a research project for his website.

4. Which of the following words can best describe Liautaud as a young man?

A．Demanding.

B．Generous.

C．Responsible.

D．Cooperative.

【推荐2】A new study shows that increases in extreme winter weather in parts of the US are linked to quickened warming of the Arctic.

Over the past four decades, warming in the Arctic has been far more definite than that in the rest of the world and has caused a rapid decrease of summer sea ice. Heating in the Arctic has ultimately disturbed the circular pattern of winds known as the polar vortex (旋涡). As a result, it got stretched out of shape and slid southward off the pole. Scientists believe this vortex stretching process led to the deadly Texas cold wave in February this year.

“The polar vortex over the Arctic usually locks in cold air at the poles and does not easily move south. The stronger the winds, the more the air inside is kept, and the colder it gets,” explained lead researcher Dr. Judah Cohen, who’s a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Melting ice in the Arctic and rising temperatures can disturb the Arctic vortex, making cold air no longer locked in the Arctic, but move some farther south.” The researchers say that their findings are based on both observations and modelling and they show a physical link between climate change in the Arctic, the stretching of the polar vortex and the impacts on ground.

The researchers believe their work could improve predictions about the beginning of extreme cold winter events. The research team also believes that their findings will help people understand that global warming is complex and perhaps let go of the idea that colder winters mean climate change isn’t happening. “In the past, these cold extremes over the US and Russia have been used to justify not reducing carbon, but there’s no longer any excuse not to start reducing emissions right away,” said Dr. Cohen.

1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．The explanation given by scientists.	B．The formation of Texas cold wave.
C．The decrease of summer sea ice.	D．The polar vortex’s being disturbed.

2. What is the function of polar vortex?

A．Preventing cold air from escaping.	B．Helping cold air move freely.
C．Accelerating the melting of ice.	D．Making the wind stronger.

3. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．Global warming merely causes unnecessary fear.

B．Weather-gone-wild pattern is a fantasy.

C．Reducing emissions is a pressing matter.

D．There’s no longer any excuse not to start reducing emissions.

4. In which column of a website can the text probably be found?

A．Entertainment.

B．Tourism.

C．Education.

D．Environment.