1 . The Amazon rainforest is as undisturbed a place as most people can imagine, but even there, the effects of a changing climate are playing out. Now, research suggests that many of the region’s most sensitive bird species are starting to evolve in response to warming.
Birds are often considered sentinel (哨兵) species — meaning that they indicate the overall health of an ecosystem — so scientists are particularly interested in how they’re responding to climate change. In general, the news has not been good. For instance, a 2019 report by the National Audubon Society found that more than two-thirds of North America’s bird species will be in danger of extinction by 2100 if warming trends continue on their current course.
For the new study, researchers collected the biggest database so far on the Amazon’s resident birds, representing 77 non-migratory species and lasting the 40 years from 1979 to 2019. During the study period, the average temperature in the region rose, while the amount of rainfall declined, making for a hotter, dryer climate overall. According to the report on November 12 in the journal Science Advances, 36 species have lost substantial weight, as much as 2 percent of their body weight per decade since 1980. Meanwhile, all the species showed some decrease in average body mass, while a third grew longer wings.
Because of the study’s long time series and large sample sizes, the authors were able to show the morphological (形态学的) effects of climate change on resident birds. However, the researchers themselves are unsure and wonder what advantage the wing length changes give the birds, but suppose smaller birds may have an easier time keeping cool. In general, smaller animals have a larger rate of surface area to body size, so they dissipate more heat faster than a bigger animal. Less available food, such as fruit or insects, in dryer weather might lead to smaller body size.
1. Why are scientists fond of doing research on birds?| A．They have small body sizes. | B．They are sensitive to hot weather. |
| C．They are ecological balance indicators. | D．They live in an undisturbed rainforest. |
| A．Two-thirds of species showed a considerable decrease in weight. |
| B．About 26 species responded to climate change with longer wings. |
| C．36 species lost 2% of their body weight every year from 1979 to 2019. |
| D．A third of species have been extinct for a decade due to the hotter climate. |
| A．Put off. | B．Give off. | C．Put away. | D．Give away. |
| A．Why it is easier for smaller animals to keep cool. |
| B．Why the Amazonian birds have lost substantial weight. |
| C．Whether bird species in Amazon will be extinct in 2100. |
| D．What effects the wing length changes have on birds. |
2 . As the climate crisis speeds up, Europe is warming faster than any other region, according to a new State of the Climate in Europe report from the World Meteorological Organization.
The WMO report comes ahead of the UN’s international climate summit in Egypt, and is one in a series of reports over the past several weeks that show how the world is off-track on its climate goals. Not only are countries missing the mark on their efforts to reduce planet-warming fossil fuel emissions (排放物), but measurements show temperatures are already skyrocketing.
Some continents are feeling that rise more than others. Wednesday’s report shows temperatures in Europe have increased at more than twice the global average over the past 30 years — at a rate of about 0.5 degrees Celsius per decade.
Recent reports show how the region’s temperature rise is fueling extreme weather.
Year-to-date through July, the number of wildfires in the EU was four times the 15-year average. A deadly, record-breaking heatwave in the UK harmed public health and bent infrastructure (基础设施). Exceptional drought troubled the continent this summer, drying up some of the world’s most economically important rivers. And that drought that came on the heels of some of the most destructive floods Europe has ever seen.
“Europe presents a live picture of a warming world and reminds us that even well-prepared societies are not safe from impacts of extreme weather events,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas in a forward on the report.
“European society is vulnerable (易受伤害的) to climate variability and change, but Europe is also at the forefront of the international effort to address climate change and to develop innovative solutions to adapt to the new climate Europeans will have to live with,” Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said in a statement.
Taalas said in his forward that although Europe’s pace on cutting planet-warming emissions has been “good,” their ambition on this front “should be further increased.”
1. What can we learn about the world’s climate goals from the WMO report?| A．They are unrealistic. | B．They are easy to reach. |
| C．They are taken seriously. | D．They are far from being achieved. |
| A．The economic losses in Europe. |
| B．The causes of the climate crisis in Europe. |
| C．The increase of extreme weather in Europe. |
| D．The most destructive natural disaster in Europe. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Favorable. |
| C．Unclear. | D．Intolerant. |
| A．Take the lead. | B．Set a higher goal. |
| C．Make better preparations. | D．Carry on their good work. |
1. What is the speaker doing?
| A．Reporting the weather. |
| B．Recommending outdoor activities. |
| C．Arranging for the summer holiday. |
| A．Cool. | B．Warm. | C．Hot. |
| A．It’ll be sunny and comfortable. |
| B．Its transport is convenient. |
| C．It has great air-conditioning systems. |
| A．Prepare for storms. | B．Replan their outing. | C．Enjoy the clear skies. |
4 . Few animals appear more affectionate than the black-browed albatross (信天翁). These large seabirds are socially monogamous (一夫一妻制的) and often mate for life, staying with the same partner with trust. But “divorce” is not unheard of. As is the case with other monogamous animals, a female albatross will leave a partnership that lacks breeding (繁殖) success.
Although “divorce” is natural among these birds, Ventura recently began noticing that its rates seemed to vary from year to year for the roughly 15,500 pairs of black-browed albatrosses breeding on New Island. “There were clearly years in which more pairs split up, compared with the previous years,” says Ventura, whose team combed through about 15 years of breeding data.
To investigate, the group focused on two environmental variables (变数) vital to the albatross: wind speed and sea-surface temperature. Each affects the birds in different ways. Higher winds make it easier for them to soar for greater distances to gather food. Increasing sea-surface temperatures, on the other hand, limit the nutrients available to the albatross by curbing the production of phytoplankton (浮游植物), which has huge effects on the rest of the marine food web. As a result, albatrosses must travel farther and struggle more to find enough food. This throws breeding schedules into disarray and increases stress levels among partnerships — both factors that can decrease breeding success.
And digging deeper, the team found that in warmer years female albatrosses were more likely to leave their mate even after successful breeding attempts. “Previous successful females are the ones that are most affected by this.” Ventura says. Ventura assumes that similar patterns may appear in other seabird populations and possibly among some monogamous mammals, highlighting a potentially overlooked consequence of climate change. “If you have a situation where increasing sea-surface temperature is leading to higher divorce rates, which reduces breeding success for the populations as a whole,” she says. “Ultimately you’re sending fewer albatrosses out into the world, and that’s going to impact the population more widely.”
1. What can we know about the albatross?| A．They maintain a steady annual divorce rate. |
| B．Their relationship is dominated by the female. |
| C．They generally have strong loyalty to their mate. |
| D．Their breeding has decreased due to fading affection. |
| A．Previous researches. | B．Food varieties. |
| C．Environmental effects. | D．Sex differences. |
| A．Disagreement. | B．Chaos. | C．Adaptation. | D．Routine. |
| A．Species of different seabirds are in danger of extinction. |
| B．Climate change influences more species other than albatrosses. |
| C．Breeding success guarantees a stable partnership of albatrosses. |
| D．Other seabirds and mammals affect the population of albatrosses |
5 . 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, 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 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. They burned $50,000 just for the helicopter” to bring the plastic to the glacier. This experiment, quote-unquote, gives people false hope that climate change can be fixed without changing human behavior. It can’t. Technology won’t give us a free ride.
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 that then? “Just the mention of us controlling the climate sent a small shiver down my back, Grey writes.” “Something sounded wrong about stopping ice by our own will,” he says.
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. Why does the author mention Jason Box’s experiment in the first paragraph?| A．To introduce a possible solution to climate change. |
| B．To describe a misleading attempt to fix the climate. |
| C．To report on a successful experiment on saving the glacier. |
| D．To arouse people’s attention to the problem of global warming. |
| A．The fight against climate change will not succeed. |
| B．Technology is not the final solution, let alone its high cost. |
| C．It’s best to deal with climate change without changing our behavior. |
| D．Jason’s experiment plays a significant role in fixing climate change. |
| A．Favorable | B．Tolerant | C．Doubtful. | D．Unclear. |
| A．But should we fix the climate? |
| B．Is climate change a real problem? |
| C．How can we take care of the earth? |
| D．What if all the glaciers disappeared? |
6 . I was always complaining about wind or rain. Although it was nothing unusual for the arrival of wind or rain, it caused inconvenience for me to go out, and sometimes it even created an awful atmosphere, so I
On a rainy day a meteorologist (气象学家) I met was very
He asked, “Have you ever seen typhoon? Do you know what would happen to the world if there were no typhoon?” I shook my head. I had no experience of how overwhelming it was when it
“Well, let me tell you,” the meteorologist said. “Without it the
Ignorance made me
| A．blamed | B．refused | C．fought | D．punished |
| A．excited | B．puzzled | C．delighted | D．encouraged |
| A．frightened | B．washed | C．swept | D．swung |
| A．supply | B．shortage | C．waste | D．amount |
| A．power | B．resource | C．source | D．strength |
| A．time | B．wealth | C．energy | D．warmth |
| A．moves | B．relies | C．keeps | D．holds |
| A．better | B．cooler | C．hotter | D．warmer |
| A．remove | B．escape | C．move | D．disappear |
| A．shortsighted | B．anxious | C．frightened | D．worried |
| A．frightening | B．appealing | C．disturbing | D．exciting |
| A．success | B．advantage | C．lead | D．must |
| A．As | B．Since | C．While | D．When |
| A．What about | B．How come | C．Even if | D．What if |
| A．answers | B．theories | C．complaints | D．phenomena |
7 . Every four or five years, vast quantities of warm water build up along the west coast of South America. This phenomenon, El Niño (厄尔尼诺), creates storms that cause devastating floods. The result is costly. In 2017, for instance, El Niño shut down northern Peru’s sugar-cane business.
Modern farmers view El Niño stoically (坚忍地). They use money saved in good years to rebuild in bad ones. But history suggests it need not be like that. In a paper published recently, Ari Caramanica, an archaeologist at University of the Pacific, in Lima, shows how it used to be done. And the answer seems to be, “better”.
Dr Caramanica and her colleagues have been studying the Pampa de Mocan, a coastal desert plain in northern Peru. Pampa de Mocan is not ideal for farming. Its soil contains little organic matter and the annual rainfall in non-Niño years is usually less than two centimetres. Today’s farmers therefore depend on canals to carry water from local rivers to their fields.
It had been assumed that ancient farmers had a similar arrangement — and so they did. But Dr Caramanica also found eight canals that could carry water far beyond the range of modern farms. Since the climate was similar to the present day’s when these canals were dug, and the river no higher, she supposed that they were intended to guide the floodwater arriving during Niño years. Around a quarter of the ancient agricultural infrastructure (基础设施) of this area seems to have been built only for managing Niño-generated floodwater.
Evidence reveals that Pampa de Mocan produced lots of crops in some years. Dr Caramanica’s team also discovered two cisterns (蓄水池) in the area. These, possibly, were used to store floodwater.
These findings suggest that, rather than resisting El Niño, early farmers in Pampa de Mocan were ready to make use of it when it arrived. Precisely how they managed their fields in Niño years remains to be discovered. But modern farmers might do well to learn from them.
1. What do we know about El Niño from the text?| A．It can be used in farming. | B．It is usually caused by floods. |
| C．It has little influence on business. | D．It is always resisted as a disaster. |
| A．Rich soil. | B．Agreeable climate. |
| C．Abundant rainfall. | D．Agricultural constructions. |
| A．Approving. | B．Indifferent. | C．Critical. | D．Negative. |
| A．Surviving El Niño | B．Living with El Niño |
| C．Farming in Different Times | D．Learning from History |
Impacts from climate change are happening now. These impacts extend well beyond the rise in temperature,
Changes to water resources can have a big impact
Our food supply depends on climate
Human health is also affected by climate change. The changing environment
注意：1. 词数80左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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10 . Jeremy from America cannot understand why a lady he met outside the Hyde Park in London said, “Ooh, isn’t it cold?”, and he thinks of this behaviour as a distinctively English concern about the weather. In fact, the female was just trying to strike up a conversation with Jeremy. Not necessarily a long conversation — just an exchange of greetings. It is not always quite that obvious, but all English weather conversations have a distinctive structure conducted according to unwritten but accepted rules.
The unpredictable nature of our weather ensures that there is always something new to comment on, or perhaps most importantly, agree about. We have already established that weather-speak greetings like “Cold, isn’t it?” require the response expressing agreement, as in “Yes, isn’t it?” .It would be very rude to respond with “No, actually it’s quite mild.” or “It’s pretty hot to me.” If you deliberately break the rule, you will find that the atmosphere becomes rather tense and awkward. There may be an uncomfortable silence. Most likely, they will either change the subject or continue talking about the weather among themselves politely, if coldly, ignoring your faux pas.
There is, however, one situation in which English weather-speakers are not required to observe the agreement rule at all and that is the male-bonding argument, particularly the pub-argument. In the special environment of the pub, constant disagreement not just on the weather, but on everything else as well is a means of expressing friendship.
While we may spend much of our time complaining about our weather, foreigners are not allowed to criticize it. Indeed, this brings us to the weather as family rule. In this respect, we treat the English weather like a member of our family: one can complain about the behavior of one’s own children or parents, but any blame from an outsider is unacceptable. The weather may be one of the few things about which the English are still unconsciously and unashamedly patriotic （爱国的）.
1. Why did the lady comment on the weather to Jeremy?| A．To build up friendship. |
| B．To begin a casual chat. |
| C．To send seasonal greetings. |
| D．To express dissatisfaction. |
| A．Improper response. |
| B．Careless attitude. |
| C．Rude interruption. |
| D．Frequent complaint. |
| A．Male bonding in pubs. |
| B．Argument about weather. |
| C．Exception to the agreement rule. |
| D．Making friends by disagreement. |
| A．Politeness Tips for Foreigners |
| B．Accepted Rules in Social Life |
| C．English Politeness in Weather Conversation |
| D．Hidden Rules of English Weather Conversation |
