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Change in climate may have caused______.A.dinosaurs to dieB.dark spots to form. on the sun
Change in climate may have caused______.
A.dinosaurs to die
B.dark spots to form. on the sun
C.volcanic eruption
D.air pollution
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Change in climate may have caused______.
A.dinosaurs to die
B.dark spots to form. on the sun
C.volcanic eruption
D.air pollution
A.Although
B.While
C.If
D.Until
A.obliged
B.dedicated
C.vulnerable
D.adjusted
To help readers understand how climate can change, the writer uses______.
A.examples
B.a story about the seashore
C.order of importance
D.a strong argument
2020年“世界水日”的主题是()。
A.“Wastewater”(废水)
B.“Water and Climate Change”(水与气候变化)
C.“Leaving no one behind”(不让任何一个人掉队)
D.“Water and Sustainable Development”(水与可持续发展)
Many things in nature, such as sunshine, temperature, and precipitation, affect climate. Nearness to mountain, oceans, and large lakes affects it loo. Another factor is altitude, or height above sea level. Air cools as altitude increases. So a city at a higher altitude may be colder than one at a lower altitude. Finally, winds affect climate. They move heat and moisture between the oceans and continents. Winds keep the tropics from overheating. They keep the polar regions from getting overly cold.
Climate changes over long periods of time. Some scientists think, for example, that the earth' s climate changed at the time of the dinosaurs. They think the dinosaurs died because of the change. What causes a climate to change? One possible cause may be changes in the sun. Sunspots, for example, are cool, dark spots that form. on the sun. Sunspots may decrease precipitation on the earth and cause unusually dry periods. Changes in the atmosphere may change climate too. Volcanic eruptions, for instance, release solid particles into the air. These particles may form. a cloud that blocks out the sun ' s heat. Human activity is another cause of climate change. Air pollution and the reduction of forest cover may have long-term effects on climate.
This passage is concerned with things that affect______.
A.precipitation
B.climate
C.altitude
D.sunspots
As environmentalists convene in Rio de Janeiro this week to ponder the global climate of the future, earth scientists are in the midst of a revolution in understanding how climate has changed in the past-and how those changes have transformed human existence. Researchers have begun to piece together an illuminating picture of the powerful geological and astronomical forces that have combined to change the planet&39;s environment from hot to cold, wet to dry and back again over a time period stretching back hundreds of millions of years.
Most important. scientists are beginning to realize that the climatic changes have bad a major impact on the evolution of the human species. New research now suggests that climate shifts have played a key role in nearly every significant turning point in human evolution: from the dawn of primates(灵长目动物) some 65 million years ago to human ancestors rising up to walk on two legs. from the huge expansion of the human brain to the rise of agriculture. Indeed, the human history has not been merely touched by global climate change, some scientists argue, it has in some instances been driven by it.
The new research has profound implications for the environment summit in Rio. Among other things, the findings demonstrate that dramatic climate change is nothing new for planet Earth. The benign(宜人的) global environment that has existed over the past 10,000 years-during which agriculture. writing, cities and most other features of civilization appeared-is a mere bright spot in a much larger pattern of widely varying climate over the ages. In fact, the pattern of climate change in the past reveals that Earth&39;s climate will almost certainly go through dramatic changes in the future-even without the influence of human activity.
测试题
Farming emerged as a survival strategy because man had been obliged__________.
A.to give up his former way of life
B.to leave the coastal areas
C.to follow the ever-shifting vegetation
D.to abandon his original settlement
Climate change may be real, but it’s still not easy being green
How do we convince our inner caveman to be greener?We ask some outstanding social scientists.
A) The road to climate hell is paved with our good intentions. Politicians may tackle polluters while scientists do battle with carbon emissions. But the most pervasive problem is less obvious: our own behaviour. We get distracted before we can turn down the heating. We break our promise not to fly after hearing about a neighbor’s rip to India. Ultimately, we can’t be bothered to change our attitude. Fortunately for the planet, social science and behavioral economics may be able to do that for us.
B) Despite mournful polar bears and carts showing carbon emissions soaring, mot people find it hard to believe that global warming will affect them personally. Recent polls by the Pew Research Centre in Washington, DC, found that 75-80 per cent of participants regarded climate change as an important issue. But respondents ranked it last on a list of priorities.
C) This inconsistency largely stems from a feeling of powerlessness. “When we can’t actually remove the source of our fear, we tend to adapt psychologically by adopting a range of defense mechanisms,” says Tom Crompton, change strategist for the environmental organization World Wide Fund for Nature.
D) Part of the fault lies with our inner caveman. Evolution has programmed humans to pay most attention to issues that will have an immediate impact. “We worry most about now because if we don’t survive for the next minute, we’re not going to be around in ten years’ time,” says Professor Elke Weber of the Centre for Research on Environmental Decisions at Columbia University in New York. If the Thames were lapping around Big Ben, Londoners would face up to the problem of emissions pretty quickly. But in practice, our brain discounts the risks—and benefits—associated with issues that lie some way ahead.
E) Matthew Rushworth, of the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, sees this in his lab every day. “One of the ways in which all agents seem to make decisions is that they assign a lower weighting to outcomes that are going to be further away in the future,” he says. “This is a very sensible way for an animal to make decisions in the wild and would have been very helpful for humans for thousands of years.”
F) Not any longer. By the time we wake up to the threat posed by climate change, it could well be too late. And if we’re not going to make national decisions about the future, others may have to help us to do so.
G) Few political libraries are without a copy of Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein. They argue that governments should persuade us into making better decisions—such as saving more in our pension plans—by changing the default options. Professor Weber believes that environmental policy can make use of similar tactics. If, for example, building codes included green construction guidelines, most developers would be too lazy to challenge them.
H) Defaults are certainly part of the solution. But social scientists are most concerned about crafting messages that exploit our group mentality(心态). ”We need to understand what motivates people, what it is that allows them to make change,” says Professor Neil Adger, of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in Norwich. ”It is actually about what their peers think of them, what their social norms are, what is seen as desirable in society.” In other words, our inner caveman is continually looking over his shoulder to see what the rest of the tribe are up to.
I) The passive attitude we have to climate change as individuals can be altered by counting us in—and measuring us against—our peer group. “Social norms are primitive and elemental,” says Dr. Robert Cialdini, author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. “Birds flock together, fish school together, cattle herd together … just perceiving norms is enough to cause people to adjust their behavior. in the direction of the crowd.”
J) These norms can take us beyond good intentions. Cialdini conducted a study in San Diego in which coat hangers bearing messages about saving energy were hung on people’s doors. Some of the messages mentioned the environment, some financial savings, others social responsibility. But it was the one that mentioned the actions of neighbours that drove down power use.
K) Other studies show that simply providing the facility for people to compare their energy use with the local average is enough to cause them to modify their behaviour. The Conservatives plan to adopt this strategy by making utility companies print the average local electricity and gas usage on people’s bills.
L) Social science can also teach politicians how to avoid our collective capacity for self-destructive behaviour. Environmental campaigns that tell us how many people drive SUVs unwittingly (不经意地) imply that this behaviour is widespread and thus permissible. Cialdini recommends some careful framing of the message. “Instead of normalising the undesirable behaviour, the message needs to marginalise it, for example, by stating that if even one person buys yet another SUV, it reduces our ability to be energy-independent.”
M) Tapping into how we already see ourselves is crucial. The most successful environmental strategy will marry the green message to our own sense of identity. Take your average trade union member, chances are they will be politically motivated and be used to collective action—much like Erica Gregory. A retired member of the Public and Commercial Services Union, she is setting up one of 1,100 action groups with the support of Climate Solidarity, a two-year environmental campaign aimed at trade unionists.
N) Erica is proof that a great-grandmother can help to lead the revolution if your get the psychology right—in this case, by matching her enthusiasm for the environment with a fondness for organising groups. “I think there must be something in it.” She is expecting up to 20 people at the first meeting she has called, at her local pub in the Cornish village of Polperro.
O) Nick Perks, project director for Climate Solidarity, believes this sort of activity is where the future of environmental action lies. “Using existing civil society structures or networks is a more effective way of creating change … and obviously trade unions are one of the biggest civil society networks in the UK,” he says. The “Love Food, Haste Waste” campaign entered into a collaboration last year with another such network—the Women’s Institute. Londoner Rachel Talor joined the campaign with the aim of making new friends. A year on, the meetings have made lasting changes to what she throws away in her kitchen. “It’s always more of an incentive if you’re doing it with other people,” she says. “It motivates you more if you know that you’ve got to provide feedback to a group.”
P) The power of such simple psychology in fighting climate change is attracting attention across the political establishment. In the US, the House of Representatives Science Committee has approved a bill allocating $10 million a year to studying energy-related behaviour. In the UK, new studies are in development and social scientists are regularly spotted in British government offices. With the help of psychologists, there is fresh hope that we might go green after all.
46. When people find they are powerless to change a situation, they tend to live with it.
47. To be effective, environmental messages should be carefully framed.
48. It is the government’s responsibility to persuade people into making environment-friendly decisions.
49. Politicians are beginning to realize the importance of enlisting psychologists’ help in fighting climate change.
50. To find effective solutions to climate change, it is necessary to understand what motivates people to make change.
51. In their evolution, humans have learned to pay attention to the most urgent issues instead of long-term concerns.
52. One study shows that our neighbors’ actions are influential unchanging our behavior.
53. Despite clear signs of global warming, it is not easy for most people to believe climate change will affect their own lives.
54.We would take our future into consideration in making decisions concerning climate change before it is too late.
55. Existing social networks can be more effective in creating change in people’s behaviour.
阅读理解:阅读下面的对话,选择合适的内容将对话补充完整。
SUN LI:Nice to meet you. I'm Sun Li.
HENRY:_____Are you a student of this university, too?
SUN LI:Yeah, this is my second year. I study Architecture. And what’s your major?
HENRY:_____ So, what subjects do you study this term?
SUN LI:_____
HENRY:Oh, I see. I have English classes too. I have Air Pollution Control, Pollution Analysis, and Climate Change Control Technology.
SUN LI:Oh, really?! What do you think of your major?
HENRY:It's wonderful. _____but Pollution Analysis isn't my best subject. I like Climate Change Control Technology better. _____
SUN LI:I like Building Materials best.
A.This semester we study English, Engineering Drawing, Construction Technology, and Building Materials.
B.I think the classes are really interesting,
C.Nice to meet you too.
D.Oh, My major is Energy and Environment.
E.How about you?
It is understood that in a favorable climate______.
A.tree rings grow close together
B.tree rings grow far apart
C.trees in New Mexico will grow big and tall
D.people can cut down most of the trees in New Mexico