阅读理解
Humans are having a hard enough time coping with the natural variability in our environment, which causes disasters such as heat waves, wildfires and floods. Waiting without actions makes all three of those problems—and many more—worse.
That was the serious warning from the world's scientific community last week, in the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The U.N.-chartered body produced its first comprehensive report since 2007 on the climate changes.
There are some things the scientists are very confident will happen in a warming world over the next century. Sea levels will rise, threatening coastal cities and low-lying nations. Island states could get hit very hard. There are probably going to be relatively more extremely hot days than extremely cold ones, and food-borne illnesses will probably increase.
But part of the risk of climate change is that scientists don't have a crystal ball to foretell how, exactly, the environment will respond to rising temperatures, and they are trying to predict effects over the course of decades. The experts anticipate that forests could die off and that wetland and rain forest ecosystems could crumble. They anticipate effects on water systems just about everywhere: more flooding in many places, less water in dry areas, more humidity inhibiting human labor in wetter climes.
There could also be some positive effects for some, the experts note. They predict fewer deaths due to cold, but more due to heat. Some areas of the planet, particularly in higher latitudes, might become more fertile. But lower crop yields elsewhere will outweigh those benefits. Indeed, the planet's green lands along the equator might be much worse off. The scientists, for example, predict that fish and other aquatic life will flee elsewhere as ocean temperatures change. And, of course, there could be effects, good and bad, that the experts aren't anticipating. That shouldn't be comforting.
The experts leave little doubt about the right response: Cut pollution to head off the worst possible consequences and prepare for the risks the world is unlikely to avoid, given its inability to slash emissions quickly. Delaying action, they note, reduces the world's options and affords vulnerable people less time to cope. Isn't it time we did something?
That was the serious warning from the world's scientific community last week, in the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The U.N.-chartered body produced its first comprehensive report since 2007 on the climate changes.
There are some things the scientists are very confident will happen in a warming world over the next century. Sea levels will rise, threatening coastal cities and low-lying nations. Island states could get hit very hard. There are probably going to be relatively more extremely hot days than extremely cold ones, and food-borne illnesses will probably increase.
But part of the risk of climate change is that scientists don't have a crystal ball to foretell how, exactly, the environment will respond to rising temperatures, and they are trying to predict effects over the course of decades. The experts anticipate that forests could die off and that wetland and rain forest ecosystems could crumble. They anticipate effects on water systems just about everywhere: more flooding in many places, less water in dry areas, more humidity inhibiting human labor in wetter climes.
There could also be some positive effects for some, the experts note. They predict fewer deaths due to cold, but more due to heat. Some areas of the planet, particularly in higher latitudes, might become more fertile. But lower crop yields elsewhere will outweigh those benefits. Indeed, the planet's green lands along the equator might be much worse off. The scientists, for example, predict that fish and other aquatic life will flee elsewhere as ocean temperatures change. And, of course, there could be effects, good and bad, that the experts aren't anticipating. That shouldn't be comforting.
The experts leave little doubt about the right response: Cut pollution to head off the worst possible consequences and prepare for the risks the world is unlikely to avoid, given its inability to slash emissions quickly. Delaying action, they note, reduces the world's options and affords vulnerable people less time to cope. Isn't it time we did something?
单选题
6.It can be learned from the first paragraph that______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】细节题。根据题干关键词定位到第一段。由Humans are having a hard enough time coping with the natural variability in our environment(人类正在艰难地应对环境中的自然变化)可知，人类在应对环境变化方面是很艰难的，故C项“人类解决气候问题的能力有限”为正确答案。其中的limited是对hard的改写。
单选题
7.Climate change may cause the following disasters EXCEPT that______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】细节题。根据第二段中的Sea levels will rise，threatening coastal cities and low-lying nations．及第五段中的Some areas of the planet，particularly in higher latitudes，might become more fertile可知，洪水并没有对地势高的地区造成危害，故A项描述错误，为题目要求的答案。
单选题
8.What positive result will climate change cause?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】细节题。根据题干关键词定位到第五段。由Some areas of the planet，particularly in higher latitudes，might become more fertile可知，B项“高纬度地区将更适宜植物的生长”为正确答案。
单选题
9.What does the last paragraph imply?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】推断题。根据题干关键词定位到最后一段。根据…the right response：Cut pollution to head off the worst possible consequences可知，减少污染可以阻止最坏结果的发生，故可推断D项“污染可能是气候变化的主因”为正确答案。
单选题
10.What can be inferred from the text?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】推断题。通读全文后可知：文章前两段在讲人类正艰难地应对环境变化带来的问题；第三、四、五段介绍了气候变化将会带来的各种灾难；最后一段，引用专家的观点表明，减少污染可阻止可能出现的最坏后果，并指出，延迟行动会减少世界的选择及人类应对灾难的时间，并号召人类采取行动，应对气候变化。因此，文章的主题是要号召人类共同抵制气候变化。由此判断，C项“人类采取行动阻止气候变化已迫在眉睫”符合题意。