The temperature is rising again in the Arctic. The sea ice area has dropped to one of the lowest levels on record, climate scientists reported last week.

“The new Arctic Report Card tells a story of widespread and continued effects of a warming Arctic,” said Jackie Richter-Menge of the US’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory.

“This isn’t just a climatological (气候学的) effect. It impacts the people that live there,” she added.

Scientists concerned about global warming focus on the Arctic because that is a region where the effects are expected to be felt first, and that has been the case in recent years.

There was a slowdown in Arctic warming in 2009, but in the first half of 2010 warming was near a record pace. The monthly readings were over 4 degrees Celsius above normal in northern Canada, according to the report card. The report card was prepared by 69 researchers in eight countries.

Researchers said last winter’s big snow storms that struck some Northern countries were tied to higher Arctic temperatures.

“Normally the cold air is bottled up in the Arctic,” said Jim Overland of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “But last December and February, winds that normally blow west to east across the Arctic were instead bringing the colder air south,” he said.

“As we lose more sea ice... warming in the atmosphere can create more of these winter storms,” Overland said.

There is a powerful connection between ice cover and air temperatures, Richter-Menge explained. When temperatures warm, ice melts. When ice melts it shows darker surfaces underneath , which absorb  more heat. “That, in turn, causes more melting and on the cycle goes,” she said.

In September the Arctic sea ice extent was the third smallest in the last 30 years, added Don Perovich of the US Army Laboratory. He said the three smallest ice covers have occurred in the last four years.

Scientists care so much about the warming in the Arctic region because     .

A .the climate in the Arctic doesn’t change much

B. global warming effects are most serious in the Arctic region

C .there has been a major decrease of Arctic warming in recent years

D. by studying the region they can make predictions about the future impact of global warming

. Which of the following shows that the Arctic is getting warmer? 

A. The surface of the sea ice in Arctic is getting darker and darker.

B. The Arctic sea ice extent has disappeared over the last 30 years.

C. The sea ice extent has increased to one of the highest levels on record.

What does the underlined word “cycle” refer to?  

A .Ice giving off heat when it melts.

B. Higher temperatures bringing more storms.

C .The cause and the result of the melting.

D. The life of the people living in the Arctic getting worse.

According to researchers what led to big snow storms attacking some Northern countries last winter?                 

A. Higher Arctic temperatures.

B. The melting ice.

C. The cold wind blowing west to east.

D. Cold air bottled up in the Arctic.

What is the main point of the article?         

A. Last winter’s big snow-storms.

B. Winds in the Arctic region.

C. Arctic warming and its possible effects.

D. Changes to the life of people living in the Arctic.

Mars Was Not Always Bitterly Cold

Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have reported evidence that Mars was warmer and wetter long ago than it is today.  The Caltech scientists say they have directly established the temperature of Mars four billion years ago. At least, they established the surface temperature on part of the planet at that time. The researchers say it is the first such evidence to be discovered and presented.

The Caltech scientists say carbonate(碳酸盐) minerals formed on Mars at about eighteen degrees Celsius. They reached the finding after studying a meteorite(陨石) that had its beginnings near the Martian surface.

Today, the average temperature on Mars is sixty-three degrees below zero Celsius.

The finding was reported on the website of the National Academy of Sciences. Caltech Assistant Professor Woody Fischer helped to prepare the report. He says eighteen degrees Celsius is not especially cold or hot. He says this makes the finding extremely interesting. Knowing the temperature can give scientists an idea of the climate on Mars long ago. It can also help them decide whether the planet had liquid water. Spacecraft orbiting Mars have shown what appear to be rivers, lakebeds and mineral deposits. These pictures suggest that, at one time, water did flow there. Mars Rover vehicles and other spacecraft have confirmed the information.

Caltech Geology Professor John Eiler was another writer of the report. He says knowing the temperature of Mars from long ago provides valuable information. It shows that early in the planet's history, at least part of Mars could support a climate like that of Earth.

The meteorite the scientists examined is one of the oldest known rocks in the world. It is called the Allan Hills meteorite. Its name came from the place in Antarctica where it was found in 1984. The meteorite is believed to have blown loose from the Mars' surface when another space rock struck its "home."

1. The underlined word “establish” in Paragraph 1 probably means “___________”.

A.to set up

B.to make people accept a belief

C.to discover or prove

D.to start having a relationship with others

2.How did the scientists reach the finding?

A.By studying Allan Hills meteorite.

B.By using spacecraft orbiting Mars.

C.By studying minerals gathered on Mars

D.By studying a meteorite on the Martian surface.

3.According to the fourth paragraph, what have spacecraft orbiting Mars done?

A.Measuring the temperature of Mars.

B.Taking photos of the surface of Mars.

C.Confirming that there is water flowing on Mars.

D.Finding where human beings will probably land on Mars.

4.How did Allan Hills meteorite get its name?

A.From its original place on Mars.

B.From where it was found on the earth.

C.From the name of the scientist who found it.

D.From the name of the aircraft that discovered it

5. Where can we most probably read this passage?

A.In a biography of scientists.

B.In a geography magazine.

C.In an environment report.

D.In a science report.

 

Starving polar bears are eating one another in the Arctic. Flowers are blooming too soon and die. The ice caps are melting so fast that rising water levels will threaten coastal towns along Florida within several decades. These are just a few examples of the terrible consequences of climate change supported by a new analysis in Nature.

In the past three decades, average global temperatures have risen about 0. 6°C and are projected to jump by about 1. 7°C by the end of the century, says Cynthia Rosenzweig, who leads the Climate Impacts Group at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies at Columbia University in New York. “We’ve already seen that a relatively low amount of warming,” she says, “can lead to a broad range of changes. ”

The unnatural warming caused by man-made greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide produced by cars and coal-powered plants, brings trouble for entire ecosystems. In North America alone, scientists have identified 89 species of plants, such as the American holly that have flowered earlier in the spring. In Spain, apple trees bloom 35 days ahead of schedule in response to the higher temperatures. Other wildlife, like the insects that use certain plants for food and the birds that feed on the insects, must then move forward their seasonal stirrings(萌动) and mating(交配) patterns to survive.

To try to follow this time shift, some birds such as robins, the classic symbol of winter’s thaw(解冻时期), are returning to Colorado from their migrations some two weeks earlier than in years past. All these changes can throw a food chain in disorder. Some bird species that arrive before the insects reappear may starve to death.

“Around the world, plants and animals are waking up to an earlier alarm clock than they used to,” says Terry Root, a biologist from Stanford University.  

1.The underlined word “projected”(in Paragraph 2) probably means “____”.

A.forced

B.presented

C.indicated

D.predicted

2.According to the third paragraph, as a result of climate change ____ .

A.the warm weather wakes animals up earlier

B.certain trees bloom a season ahead of time

C.the birds need to change patterns of living

D.the American holly will flower in late spring

3.What can we know about robins according to the passage?

A.Farmers depend on them to tell the time.

B.They used to come back when spring came.

C.They used to predict the change of weather.

D.They usually migrate when seasons change.

4.What would be the best title for the passage?

A.Man is to blame for global warming

B.Great changes take place on Earth

C.Bird migration and climate change

D.Global warming changing nature’s clock

 

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