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, 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? |
2 . Tropical(热带的)birds deep in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest are shrinking as the world’s climate changes. Researchers studied data for 77 tropical bird species over the past 40 years and found that all of them had lost body mass, with some species losing nearly 2% of their weight per decade.
A 2019 study of birds that had crashed into buildings in Chicago, Illinois, found that they’d lost mass over a 40—year period, but those species were migratory(迁徙的). However, why the birds changed in that way was unknown. Therefore, researchers decided to examine the records of 15, 000 non-migratory birds living in a rainforest within a few hours’ drive from Manaus in Brazil.
The average temperature of the birds’ habitat is 1℃ warmer in the wet season and 1. 65℃ warmer in the dry season compared with that in 40 years ago. What’s more, 13% more rain falls in the wet season and 15% less in the dry season. The birds have lost mass more sharply following extremely dry or wet seasons. This could be a short-term response to changes in their environment, such as a lack of rainfall causing a decline in the number of insects that the birds feed on.
“Mass is a generally good indication of body condition in birds, says Vitek Jirinec at the Integral Ecology Research Center in California, who led the study. "If they’re simply not getting enough to eat, you’d expect them to lose weight.”
Birds of the same species are generally larger at higher latitudes. The leading theory is that their smaller surface — area — to — volume ratio（表面积和体积比）allows them to better conserve heat. The opposite would help smaller species in hot climates to cool and could explain why birds are getting smaller as the climate warms, says Jirinec.
The marked physical change during just four decades show why stopping destroying trees alone won’t prevent the ongoing extinctions of animal species across the world, says Camila Gomez, a scientist who studies evolutionary changes in birds. "This study also shows how human-caused changes in climate are contributing to observed population declines in tropical birds," says Gomez.
1. Why did the researchers study the non-migratory birds?| A．To make the conclusion of the 2019 study. |
| B．To prepare them for their future migration. |
| C．To find the reason for their physical change. |
| D．To seek a way to save the Amazon rainforest. |
| A．High temperatures are rarely seen. | B．It seems much drier in wet seasons. |
| C．Weather patterns get more extreme. | D．Rainfall is increased in dry seasons, |
| A．It enables them to hide easily. | B．It makes them feel less cold. |
| C．It keeps them in good shape. | D．It helps them lose extra heat. |
| A．Global Warming Leads to Population Declines in Birds |
| B．Climate Change Is Causing Some Birds to Lose Weight |
| C．Tropical Birds Are Struggling to Survive Dry Climates |
| D．Migratory Birds Are Experiencing Big Physical Changes |
3 . A Russian natural gas tanker has completed an experimental round trip along the Northern Sea Route (NSR)— the first time the path across the Arctic has been made at this time of year. It returned to the Russian gas station at Sabetta on February 19. The voyage by the Christophe de Margerie tanker through the ice is the latest visual indicator of climate change in the cold region.
The tanker set out from a Chinese port on January 27 after delivering its cargo. It entered the Northern Sea Route, which traverses(横越) Russia's north coast. A few days later near Cape Dezhnev, it was met by the Russian nuclear icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy (50 Years of Victory). Together they completed the 2, 500-nautical-mile voyage through the ice in l I days and 10 hours.
The ship managed-to complete the first leg of the trip from Russia to China without an icebreaker. Both of the journeys broke records for winter navigation(航行) due to the changing climate in the Arctic allowing passage through thinner ice. Using the Northern Sea Route lets shippers in Russia and other countries avoid a much longer southern journey around Europe, the Middle East and all of southern Asia, saving millions of dollars.
The ships encountered no multi-year buildup of old ice on the route, and the deepest ice was about 5 feet thick. However, meteorologist and journalist Eric Holthaus called that a clear indicator of "a climate emergency".
Last May, Christophe de Margerie became the first large-capacity cargo ship to complete an eastbound transit of the Northern Sea Route, two months earlier in the year than the journey traditionally made.
"As a result of the early Northern Sea Route voyage completed by Christophe de Margerie in May 2020, as well as the current NSR voyage, the navigation in the Eastern part of the Arctic was practically doubled," Eric Holthaus said. He noted that for decades the transit route along that part of the NSR had typically remained closed by ice from November until July.
1. Which factor contributed most to Christophe de Margerie's successful trip?| A．The ideal equipment. | B．The ocean current. |
| C．The nuclear power. | D．The climate change. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Concerned. | C．Critical. | D．Tolerant. |
| A．Picked up. | B．Prepared for. | C．Came across. | D．Depended on. |
| A．2 months. | B．3 months. | C．4 months. | D．6 months. |
