1 . A study suggests that the Arctic may be essentially ice-free during summer within 15 years.
The study used statistical models to predict the future amount of the Arctic ice, which suggested that the Arctic could be ice-free in the summer during the decade of the 2030s — most likely in the year 2034.
Sea ice is frozen ocean water that melts each summer, and then refreezes each winter. The amount of summer sea ice in the Arctic has been steadily decreasing over the past few decades because of global warming. It reached its second-smallest level on record in 2019, the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said.
Sea ice affects Arctic communities and wildlife such as polar bears and walruses, and it helps regulate (控制) the planet’s temperature by influencing the circulation of the atmosphere and ocean.
“The extent of the Arctic ice is important to Arctic peoples, whose lands are being affected by increased coastal erosion (侵蚀), “NOAA said. Conversely, the disappearance of ice creates economic opportunities, including the opening of oil fields and new shipping routes.” It also affects global weather patterns.
The study was conducted by scientists at NOAA, the University of Washington, and the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies.
What scientists refer to as the first “ice-free” Arctic summer year will occur when the Arctic has less than 1 million square kilometers of sea ice. (The thick ice sheets surrounding Canada’s Arctic islands are likely to remain for much longer, even in summer.) As the climate changes, the Arctic is warming more than twice as fast as the rest of the planet. Arctic air temperatures were about 1.9 degrees Celsius above average in 2019, and were the second-warmest since records began in 1900. Scientists also said the results of the study indicate that there is room for improvement in sea-ice models and that the ice may disappear even more quickly than current models suggest. “Climate models may be collectively underestimating (低估) the rate of change,” the authors write in the study.
1. What can we learn about the Arctic ice?| A．It reached its smallest level in 2019. |
| B．Its amount will increase during winter. |
| C．It is especially important to polar bears in summer. |
| D．It affects the planet’s temperature to some degree. |
| A．Oil fields will become fewer and fewer on lands. |
| B．More and more ships might visit the Arctic in the future. |
| C．Coastal erosion won’t influence Arctic peoples’ lands any more. |
| D．There will be a decline in the land’s economic development. |
| A．They cannot be improved in a short time. |
| B．They can show climate changes clearly. |
| C．They may not indicate the exact rate of change. |
| D．They cannot measure the thickness of ice sheets. |
| A．A geography magazine. | B．A travel guidebook. |
| C．A physics textbook. | D．A survey report. |
2 . In 2018, the state of California was on fire. Alexandria Villasenor, who was 13 at the time, witnessed the destruction of Northern California’s Camp Fire, which would go on to burn more than 150,000 acres of land. Villasenor was scared. “That’s when I found out how important climate education was,” she reflected. “And just how much we lacked climate education these past couple of years.”
Villasenor, now 15, is determined to have a bigger conversation. She quickly realized the fight requires international, government-level changes. For her, what started as local concern turned into a year-long protest in front of the United Nations’ New York City headquarters and a global campaign for more compulsory climate education. She sat on a bench in front of the headquarters, pleading for the world’s leaders to take climate change seriously.
Her action received national attention, with millions of other students around the world joining in the movement. “It’s completely unacceptable to not learn anything about our planet and our environment in school, after all the young people would ‘inherit’ the Earth.” Villasenor said, “That’s why I think that climate education is so important, and that’s why I focus a lot on it now.”
Right now, Villasenor is working with the Biden-Harris administration on its climate plan, which has promised to center the needs of young people and communities most impacted by climate change. She even spoke at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. “That was definitely a huge moment when I realized that people were listening to the voices of me and youth climate activists,” Villasenor said.
When she isn’t connecting with her fellow youth activists or holding elected officials accountable to the climate concerns of their young voters, Villasenor is like most other teens. “My favorite thing to do, of course, is sleep.” she said. “I like to read a lot. I like fantasy books, normally. I also like to write.”
1. What made Villasenor realize the lack of climate education?| A．The state of California. | B．The fire disasters in America. |
| C．150, 000 acres of land scaring her. | D．The severe Camp fire in California. |
| A．To talk with more local people to change their mind. |
| B．To convey her belief loudly to more global students. |
| C．To protest to leaders at home and abroad to make changes. |
| D．To call on local people to fight with the leaders. |
| A．That she is working with the Biden-Harris administration on its climate plan. |
| B．That her and other youth climate activists’ opinions caught people’s attention. |
| C．That she can sleep and read in her spare time. |
| D．That more schools have set up climate courses. |
| A．The 15-year-old activist fighting for better climate education. |
| B．Climate education deserves everyone’s attention around the world. |
| C．How to prevent camp fire. |
| D．Young activists make their voices heard. |
3 . The moment you open your eyes in the morning, you can feel sweat running down your body, even if you’re barely moving at all. That’s what most people in China felt like this summer. In fact, the entire northern hemisphere(半球)saw high temperatures in July.
The Arctic Circle was no exception. Temperatures in the city of Norilsk, which is in the Arctic Circle, reached a record high of 32℃, the Atlantic reported. Temperatures there are usually just 10℃ at this time of the year.
The heat wave in the Arctic is mainly a long-term result of global warming, according to the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences. Actually, while the whole world is getting warmer, the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet. This is called the polar amplification effect(极地放大效应).
The most direct impact of Arctic warming is the melting of Arctic ice. According to NASA, Arctic sea ice is now disappearing at a rate of 13.2 percent every 10 years. NASA said that if this continues, the Arctic will have no ice by the year 2040. This has put some Arctic animals, like polar bears, in danger. The ice that the bears live on has shrunk, the Toronto Star reported. Melting ice can also cause sea levels to rise in the long term. Since 1993, sea levels have risen at a rate of 3.2cm every 10 years, the Guardian reported. Some countries, such as Tuvalu(图瓦卢)in the South Pacific Ocean and Maldives(马尔代夫)in the Indian Ocean, are at risk of disappearing into the sea.
1. What does the underlined word “This” in the third paragraph refer to?| A．The heat wave in the Arctic. | B．The result of global warming. |
| C．Getting warmer in the world. | D．The Arctic getting warm faster. |
| A．Sea levels rise in the long term. | B．The polar will become dangerous. |
| C．There will be an end of water shortage. | D．There will be no ice in the world by 2040. |
| A．Some countries in the ocean will disappear in 10 years. |
| B．China is the hottest in the northern hemisphere this summer. |
| C．The temperatures in Norilsk used to be lower than this summer. |
| D．The world gets warmer because of the heat wave in the Arctic. |
| A．Some countries may disappear into the sea. | B．Heat is hitting the Arctic. |
| C．The world is getting warmer than before. | D．Arctic animals are in danger. |
4 . Weather reports often mention high or low pressure systems headed toward a city or town. If you’re in the path of one of these systems, expect a change in weather conditions. High and low pressure systems operate using similar principles, but the effects they produce differ significantly.
View a weather map, and you may see distinct regions that represent different air masses. An air mass is a region of air that has about the same humidity(湿度)and temperature throughout. When an air mass remains over a location for a while, it decides the characteristics of the region. Air masses can be cold or warm and they may contain wet or dry air. All air masses have the ability to move away from their source region into other locations.
Meteorologists(气象学家)call the boundary between two air masses a front. A cold front’s motion through a warm front is a low-pressure system. If a cold air mass replaces a warm air mass, you have a cold front. Air in the cold air mass is often drier than air in front of it. As the air masses meet, the wind u- sually changes direction and rain or thunderstorms often occur.
A warm front is associated with a high-pressure system and occurs when a warm air mass replaces a colder air mass. A high-pressure system often brings clear, calm weather. Warm fronts travel slowly and are weaker than cold fronts.
Cold fronts move faster than warm fronts because a cold front contains denser air. Cold fronts also of- ten travel from west to east while warm fronts move from north to south. As a warm front approaches, temperatures may rise as warmer air flows in from a warm air mass. However, when the cold front hits, temperatures can drop precipitously within a short time.
1. How is the temperature of a region under a certain air mass?| A．Unusual. |
| B．Stable. |
| C．Diverse. |
| D．Changeable. |
| A．A clear sky appears. |
| B．A heavy snow is formed. |
| C．The air becomes drier. |
| D．The wind changes directions. |
| A．Sharply. |
| B．Slowly. |
| C．Hardly. |
| D．Smoothly. |
| A．The Formation of Air Masses |
| B．The New Findings of Meteorologists |
| C．The Effects of Air Mass and Fronts on Weather |
| D．The Methods for Accurate Weather Forecasts |
| A．Hot. | B．Clear. | C．Rainy. |
6 . A study published on May 24 offers an explanation for a mysterious (神秘的) and sometimes deadly weather pattern in which the jet stream (急流), the global air currents that circle the Earth, wanders over a region. “Much like highways. The jet stream has a limit,” researchers said, “and when it was beyond its limit, blockages (拥堵)form that are remarkably similar to traffic jams—and climate forecasters can use the same math to model them both.”
The deadly 2003 European heat wave, California’s 2014 drought and the swing of Superstorm Sandy in 2012 that surprised forecasters—all of these were caused by a weather phenomenon known as “blocking”, in which the jet stream wanders, stopping weather systems from moving eastward. Scientists have known about it for decades, almost as long as they’ve known about the jet stream—first discovered by pioneering University of Chicago meteorologist (气象学家)Carl-Gustaf Rossby, in fact—but no one had a good explanation for why it happens.
“Blocking is very difficult to forecast, in large part because there was no clear theory about when it forms and why,” said study coauthor Noboru Nakamura, a professor in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences.
Nakamura and then-graduate student Clare S. Y. Huang were studying the jet stream, trying to determine a clear set of measurements for blocking in order to better analyze the phenomenon. One of their new metrics (度量)was a term that measured the routine of the jet stream. Looking over the math. Nakamura realized that the result was nearly the same to one designed decades ago by transportation engineers trying to describe traffic jams.
Much like car traffic, movement slows when multiple highways come together and the speed of the jet stream is reduced due to mountains or coasts.
1. What is the similarity between jet stream and traffic jams?| A．Both of them are mysterious. |
| B．Both of them can be predicted. |
| C．Blockages can be solved in the same way. |
| D．Blockages form when they are beyond a certain limit. |
| A．Nakamura helped explain the blocking phenomenon of jet stream. |
| B．Carl-Gustaf Rossby discovered the cause of the jet stream. |
| C．Scientists have known the swing of Superstorm Sandy in 2012 before it happened. |
| D．Blocking phenomenon of jet stream happened when multiple highways come together. |
| A．Some Great Scientists in a Study |
| B．A New Explanation for Traffic Jam |
| C．Some New Discoveries for Traffic Jam |
| D．A New Theory Finds “Traffic Jams” in Jet Stream |
| A．A science magazine. | B．A guidebook. |
| C．A science fiction. | D．An advertisement |
1. Who doesn’t worry about global warming?
| A．The man. | B．The woman. | C．Many scientists. |
| A．Things will be normal. |
| B．Temperatures will stay the same. |
| C．Things will be just like 15 years ago. |
| A．Snowy. | B．Rainy. | C．Sunny. |
9 . Brownrigg is a London tour guide and leads walks through the capital all summer long, whatever the weather. His dozen or so routes range in topics from Harry Potter to the London Underground, but all have something in common. “I often end up talking about the weather,” he says. “It’s a national obsession (痴迷). I realised how much it has shaped London’s existence and history.”
Brownrigg’s Discovering Britain walk takes in several of the city’s famous landmarks, from the Tower of London lo the Shard, each stop exploring some of London’s extraordinary weather events.
We begin at the Monument Christopher Wren’s elegy to the Great Fire of London. With its pale stone column topped by a golden orb. the Monument was designed to look like a giant candle. It stands 202ft high, exactly 202ft away from where the lire began in Pudding Lane. Despite its size, the structure is dwarfed by (相形见绌) today’s surrounding tower blocks. Similarly, the causes behind the fire are sometimes overlooked. The Great Fire was a significant event in the City of London’s history, one that was shaped by the capitals geography. The spark was the weather.
As we enjoy some autumn sun beside the Monument, Brownrigg explains: “The summer of 1666 was unusually warm. At that time London was crammed (塞满) with wooden buildings, many only a few feet apart. A long, hot summer left them bone dry. Add stores of flammable materials including gunpowder left over from the Civil War and the city was a giant tinderbox.” It caught a light on 2 September when a bakery oven wasn’t cleaned properly. The inferno (特大火) lasted three days thanks to a strong breeze. Besides fanning the flames, the wind caused more mess by changing direction.
1. What does “it” refer to in paragraph 1?| A．Introducing the celebrities in London. | B．Talking about the weather. |
| C．Explaining the public transport. | D．Exploring the culture of Britain. |
| A．Admiring the special architecture. |
| B．Warning tourists of the public safety. |
| C．Paying a visit to the famous museums. |
| D．Probing some historical matters with weather. |
| A．By making a comparison. | B．By analyzing the important figures. |
| C．By offering some examples. | D．By describing the features of the buildings. |
| A．Showing the materials of the buildings. | B．Expressing the cause of the Great Fire. |
| C．Predicting the change of the weather. | D．Describing the surroundings of the bakery. |
1. What is the weather like now?
| A．Warm. | B．Snowy. | C．Windy. |
| A．Go skiing. | B．Go skating. | C．Go shopping. |
