1 . Several years ago, Jason Box, a scientist from Ohio, flew 31 giant rolls of white plastic to a glacier (冰川) in Greenland. He and his team spread them across 10,000 feet of ice, and then left. His idea was that the white blanket would reflect back the rays of the sun, keeping the ice cool below. When he came back to check the results, he found it worked. Exposed ice had melted faster than covered ice. He had not only saved two feet of glacier in a short time. No coal plants (煤炭工厂) were shut down, no jobs were lost, and nobody was taxed or fired. Just the sort of fix we’re looking for.
“Thank you, but no thank you.” says Ralph King, a climate scientist. He told Grey Childs, author and commentator, that people think technology can save the planet, “but there are other things we need to deal with, like consumption (消费). They burned $50,000 just for the helicopter to bring the plastic to the glacier. ”This experiment gives people false hope that climate change can be fixed (解决，处理) without changing human behavior. . It can’t. Technology won’t give us a free ride (搭便车).
Individuals respond to climate change differently. Climatologist Kelly Smith is hardly alone in her prediction that someday soon we won’t be climate victims; we will be climate choosers. More scientists agree with her that if the human race survives, the engineers will get smarter, the tools will get better, and one day we will control the climate. But what then? "Just the mention of us controlling the climate sent a small shiver (颤抖) down my back”, Grey Childs writes, “Something sounds wrong about it.”
Me? I like it better when the earth takes care of itself. I guess one day we will have to run the place, but for the moment, sitting at my desk. looking out at the trees bending wildly and the wind howling. I’m happy not to be in charge.
1. What does Ralph King think of Jason Box’s experiment?| A．It’s a possible solution to climate change. |
| B．It’s a misleading attempt to fix the climate. |
| C．It’s a successful experiment on saving the glacier. |
| D．It arouses people’s attention to the problem of global warming. |
| A．The fight against climate change will not succeed. |
| B．Humans will succeed in controlling climate in the future. |
| C．Technology is not the final solution, let alone its high cost. |
| D．Jason’s experiment plays a significant role in fixing climate change. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Tolerant (容忍的). |
| C．Sceptical (怀疑的). | D．Unclear. |
| A．Should we fix the climate with technology? | B．Is climate change a threatening problem? |
| C．Why is the earth climate getting worse? | D．What if all the glaciers disappeared? |
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
A big storm destroyed two villages in South Africa on last Friday, causing 4 death. Over 200 people became homeless as a result of the storm. A farmer said the storm began early in the morning and last one hour. He said, “I was cooking in the kitchen with my wife and children while we heard a loud noise. A few minutes late, our house fell down. I managed to climb out, but much to my shocking, one of my boys were missing. I quickly went back inside and found them safe but frightened.” Soldiers came to rescue those burying under the ruins, and the government provided food, clothes, and shelters for homeless.
3 . When it comes to sharks, many people think of their pointy fins and violent nature. But there is more to sharks than their sharp teeth: The creature appeared on earth 410 million years ago, before dinosaurs.
However, sharks are now at the edge of extinction. Numbers of sharks have decreased by 71% over the past 50 years, according to the research published in Nature. “Such sharp decreases are shocking even to experts, especially when compared to land animal statistics,” Sonja Fordham at Shark Advocates International told New Scientist magazine. “This data(数据) may be an underestimate(低估) of reality because of unreported fish catches,” noted Nathan Pacoureau, a researcher of the study team.
The study included 31 species; 24 now risk extinction, and 3 shark species are now classified as highly endangered. The study found the decrease hit the largest species first before influencing smaller ones over time, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It also said that shark finning and fishing worldwide have driven the decrease. “The Indian Ocean is the worst. There is almost no fishery management at all,” said Pacoureau.
“Overfishing of sharks destroys the health of entire ocean ecosystems as well as food safety for some countries,” said Nicholas Dulvy, a professor of Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. “The researchers are calling on immediate action to ensure a brighter future for these animals,” according to the BBC.
Although the situation looks depressing, the future of sharks is not doomed(注定)yet. 25 species have recovered because of long-term protection campaigns in the past decades. A couple of shark species have started to recover through science-based fishing limits. These examples provide living evidence that the world can set and meet biodiversity goals.
1. What can we know about sharks from the text?| A．They are faced with a bad situation. |
| B．They began to exist later than dinosaurs. |
| C．They are well preserved in the Indian Ocean. |
| D．They became an extinct species 5 decades ago. |
| A．They just focus on the largest species. |
| B．They may leave out unreported situations. |
| C．They disagree with some experts’ judgements. |
| D．They are only compared with those of land animals. |
| A．Overfishing. | B．Natural disasters. |
| C．The ocean pollution. | D．Food source shortage. |
| A．Hopeless. | B．Bright. | C．Dark. | D．Unclear. |
How much do you know about the Amazon rainforest? It is without doubt one of the true
The Amazon rainforest is in South America,
5 . Not all natural disasters can be prevented. However, the impacts can be lessened with proper planning systems. Only by managing land and water resources can cause higher costs in property damage. Planning requires the cooperation of a network of state and local officials working with federal agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assess risks and implement changes where necessary.
According to FEMA, floods are the most common natural disaster. Effects of floods are complicated by weather patterns such as drought, which hardens soils and increases the possibility of flash flooding. The amount of impervious (不受影响的) surfaces (like roads and parking lots) in developed areas can contribute to floodwater.
One way to reduce the impacts of flooding is to restore and maintain river flood plains and wetlands. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that restoration of the Upper Mississippi’s 100-year flood zone could have contained the estimated 39-million-square acre-feet of floodwater that caused the Great Flood of 1993 in this area.
A reduction in impervious surfaces is another measure to prevent a natural disaster. The EPA estimates that a single acre of wetlands can store up to 1.5 million gallons of floodwater. Replacing wetlands with impervious surfaces sets the stage for a flood event. By reducing the amount of impervious surface through city and local planning, flash flooding can be prevented or at least lessen impacts.
Natural disaster prevention also relies on the individual. The American Red Cross provides training for individuals to prepare for natural disasters. Having an emergency preparedness kit in your home is important, since some natural disasters can occur without warning. A well-stocked kit will include a complete first aid kit, a few days’ supply of drinking water and canned goods, and other necessities such as batteries, matches and flashlights. While having the kit will not prevent the disaster, it will give you the peace of mind of being prepared.
1. What may cause flash flooding?| A．Long droughts. | B．Hardened soils. |
| C．Enlarged parks. | D．Developed fields. |
| A．Preserving plains and wetlands. | B．Building dams to restore water. |
| C．Getting rid of impervious surfaces. | D．Trying to change weather patterns. |
| A．To help you make good planning systems. | B．To help you prepare for natural disasters. |
| C．To help you prevent some natural disasters. | D．To help you share the national responsibility. |
| A．The functions of FEMA. | B．The impacts of national disasters. |
| C．Ways to prevent severe natural disasters. | D．Disaster prevention and individual preparation. |
