"Nobody really knows" was Donald Trump's assessment of man-made global warming, in an interview on December 11th. 【F1】
As far as the atmosphere is concerned, that puts him at odds with most scientists who have studied the matter
. They do know that the atmosphere is warming, and they also know by how much. But turn to the sea and Mr. Trump has a point. Though the oceans are warming too, climatologists readily admit that they have only a rough idea how much heat is going into them, and how much is already there.
Many suspect that the heat capacity of seawater explains the climate pause of recent years, in which the rate of atmospheric warning has slowed. 【F2】
But without decent data, it is hard to be sure to what extent the oceans are acting as a heat sink that damps the temperature rise humanity is visiting upon the planet—and, equally important, how long they can keep that up.
This state of affairs will change, though, if a project described by Robert Tyler and Terence Sabaka to a meeting of the American Geophysical Union, held in San Francisco this week, is successful. Dr Tyler and Dr Sabaka, who work at the Goddard Space Flight Centre, observe that satellites can detect small changes in Earth's magnetic field induced by the movement of water. They also observe that the magnitude of such changes depends on the water's temperature all the way down to the ocean floor. That, they think, opens a window into the oceans which has, until now, been lacking. To measure things in the deep sea almost always requires placing instruments there. 【F3】
The supply of oceanographic research vessels, though, is limited, and even the addition in recent years of several thousand "Argo" probes (floating robots that roam the oceans and are capable of diving to a depth of 2,000 metres) still leaves ocean temperatures severely under-sampled.
Satellites, however, can look at the whole ocean—and, if they are properly equipped, can plot ways in which Earth's magnetic field is deflected by seawater. This deflection happens because seawater is both electrically conductive and always on the move. Crucially, saltwater's conductivity increases with its temperature. This means the deflection increases, too. 【F4】
And since the magnetic field originates from within Earth, it penetrates the whole ocean, from bottom to top.
So any heat contributes to the deflection.
【F5】
All this means that, if you know where and how ocean water is displaced, the changes in the magnetic field, as seen from a satellite, will tell you the heat content of that water.
Dr Tyler and Dr Sabaka therefore built a computer model which tried this approach on one reasonably well-understood form of oceanic displacement, the twice-daily tidal movement caused by the gravitational attraction of the moon.
问答题
【F1】
【正确答案】正确答案：就当前的全球气候而言，此言论让特朗普站在了大多数气象专家的对立面。
【答案解析】解析：这是一个复合句。该句主干为that puts him，at odds为宾补，who引导的为定语从句，修饰先行词scientists。As引导的为状语从句，其主干为the atmosphere is concerned。at odds with…为固定搭配，意为“与……不和，与……争吵”。例如，This approach，he says without rancour，has put him at odds with conventional Joyce scholars：“No one hates a populariser more than an intellectual.”他的这种方法使得他同那些正统的乔伊斯学者分道扬镳，不过关于这一点他毫不在意地说道：“相对我们这样的普及者，人们更讨厌那些学者。”
【答案解析】解析：本句为复合句。without decent data是介词短语，主干句的句型为it is hard to do sth., 主语为it, is为系动词，表语为hard to be sure…，其中sure引导了两个宾语从句，由and连接。第一个为省略了that的宾语从句，其主语为the oceans，谓语为are acting…as…(作为……发挥作用)，as的宾语为a heat sink，that引导的定语从句修饰其先行词sink。该定语从句的谓语为damps，宾语为the temperature rise；sure的第二个宾语从句由how引导，其主语为they谓语为damps，宾语为that。其中equally important为插入语。
【答案解析】解析：该句为and引导的并列句。第一个并列句的主语为The supply of oceanographic research vessels，is为系动词，表语为limited；第二个并列句的主语为the addition of several thousand“Argo”probes，谓语为leaves，宾语为ocean temperatures，宾语补足语为under-sampled。其中括号内容为同位语，对“Argo”probes作补充说明。同位语是解释说明名词或代词的，在句中起修饰、限定或说明的作用，可以去掉，但是句子意思上会有语义的残缺。但是插入语就不同，去掉之后完全不影响句子的意思，没有任何影响。
问答题
【F4】
【正确答案】正确答案：因为磁场始于地球内部，所以磁场从海底到海洋表面穿过整个海洋。
【答案解析】解析：本句为复合句。该句主干为it penetrates the whole ocean，from…to，为介词短语作状语。since引导的为原因状语从句，该从句的主干为the magnetic field originates。英语造句常用各种形式手段连接词、短语、分句或从句，注重显性接应(overt cohesion)，注重句子形式，注重结构完整，注重以形显义。英语句中的连接手段和形式(cohesive ties)不仅数量大，种类多，而且用得十分频繁：1)关系词和连接词。关系词包括关系代词、关系副词、连接代词和连接副词，如who, whom，whose，that，which，what，when，where，why，how 等，用来连接主句和定语从句、同位语从句、主语从句、宾语从句或表语从句。连接词包括并列连词和从属连词，如and，or，but，yet，so，however，as well as，(n)either，(n)or，及when，while，as，since，until，so，that, unless, lest等，用来连接词、词组、分句或状语从句。英语造句几乎离不开这些关系词和连接词，汉语则少用甚至不用这类词，例：All was cleared up some time later when news came from a distant place that an earthquake was felt the very day the little copper ball fell. 过了一些时候，从远方传来了消息：在小钢球坠落的当天，确实发生了地震。这一切终于得到了澄清。故在本句中，since根据汉语意合的特点，省略翻译。
【答案解析】解析：本句为复合句。该句主干为All this means that…that引导的为宾语从句，该宾语从句的主干为the changes in the magnetic field…will tell you the heat content of that water。该从句中的if引导的为条件状语从句，其主干为you know…,where and how为其宾语从句；as引导的为方式状语从句。