Can storms in Africa cause asthma(哮喘) in the Caribbean(加勒比)? Islanders point to the desert insects that land on beaches after a 5,000-kilometer flight across the Atlantic. If they can use winds to get from one continent to another, so can clouds of dust that carry disease.
Scientists think that as Africa becomes drier, dust from expanding deserts is being blown away into Caribbean islands. A study in Barbados shows that asthma has increased 17 times since Africa’s drought(干旱) began in 1973.
Other forms of life are suffering, too. Among them are the Caribbean’s famous coral reefs( 珊瑚礁), which began dying in large numbers in the 1900s. Eugene Shinn of the U.S. Geiological Sudrvey(USGS) in Florida went to the virgin Islands to study the reefs. The tests he and his colleagues carried out showed that the coral was dying of disease caused by Africa microbes(微生物) from across the ocean.
William Sprigg of the University of Arizona is studying the problem as part of a major UN project. He says that dust is causing problems in the U.S., too.
“We are just beginning to collect the evidence of airborne(空气传播的) dust influences on human health,” he told The Washington Post.
【小题1】Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?

A．Dangerous Dust	B．Dangerous Disease
C．Changing Weather	D．Developing Technology

【小题2】 Where does the dust talked about in this passage come from?

A．America.

B．Africa.

C．The Atlantic.

D．The Pacific.

【小题3】 The increase of asthma in the Caribean is probably related to _____ according to scientists.

A．desert insects

B．strong winds

C．airborne dust

D．dry weather

【小题4】Which of the following is NOT true about the Caribbean coral reefs?

A．They are in Florida.

B．They used to be very beautiful.

C．They began dying in the past decades.

D．The African microbes have bad effect on them.

【小题5】 Which of the following is TRUE about William Sprigg?

A．He is a member of UN.

B．He thinks African dust also affects the US.

C．He has collected enough evidence about dust influences.

D．He is a reporter from The Washington Post.

Can storms in Africa cause asthma(哮喘) in the Caribbean(加勒比)? Islanders point to the desert insects that land on beaches after a 5,000-kilometer flight across the Atlantic. If they can use winds to get from one continent to another, so can clouds of dust that carry disease.

Scientists think that as Africa becomes drier, dust from expanding deserts is being blown away into Caribbean islands. A study in Barbados shows that asthma has increased 17 times since Africa’s drought(干旱) began in 1973.

Other forms of life are suffering, too. Among them are the Caribbean’s famous coral reefs( 珊瑚礁), which began dying in large numbers in the 1900s. Eugene Shinn of the U.S. Geiological Sudrvey(USGS) in Florida went to the virgin Islands to study the reefs. The tests he and his colleagues carried out showed that the coral was dying of disease caused by Africa microbes(微生物) from across the ocean.

William Sprigg of the University of Arizona is studying the problem as part of a major UN project. He says that dust is causing problems in the U.S., too.

“We are just beginning to collect the evidence of airborne(空气传播的) dust influences on human health,” he told The Washington Post.

1.Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?

A．Dangerous Dust	B．Dangerous Disease
C．Changing Weather	D．Developing Technology

2. Where does the dust talked about in this passage come from?

A．America.

B．Africa.

C．The Atlantic.

D．The Pacific.

3. The increase of asthma in the Caribean is probably related to _____ according to scientists.

A．desert insects

B．strong winds

C．airborne dust

D．dry weather

4.Which of the following is NOT true about the Caribbean coral reefs?

A．They are in Florida.

B．They used to be very beautiful.

C．They began dying in the past decades.

D．The African microbes have bad effect on them.

5. Which of the following is TRUE about William Sprigg?

A．He is a member of UN.

B．He thinks African dust also affects the US.

C．He has collected enough evidence about dust influences.

D．He is a reporter from The Washington Post.

 

“People should have one meat-free day a week if they want to make a personal and effective sacrifice that would help deal with climate change,” the world’s leading authority on global warming has told The Observer.
Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said that people should then go on to reduce their meat consumption even further.
Pachauri, who was re-elected the panel’s chairman for a second six-year term last week, said diet change was important because of the huge greenhouse gas emissions (排放) and other environmental problems associated with raising cattle and other animals. “It was relatively easy to change eating habits compared to changing means of transport,” he said.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation has estimated that meat production accounts for nearly a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. These are produced during the production. For example, ruminants (反刍动物), particularly cows, give off a gas called methane, which is 23 times more effective as a global warming agent than CO₂.
Pachauri can expect some opposite responses from the food industry to his advice, though last night he was given unexpected support by Masterchef presenter and restaurateur John Torode. “I have a little bit and enjoy it,” said Torode. “Too much for any person is bad. But there’s a bigger issue here: where the meat comes from. If we all bought British and stopped buying imported food, we’d save a huge amount of carbon emissions.”
Professor Robert Watson, the chief scientific adviser for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, said government could help educate people about the benefits of eating less meat, but it should not regulate. “Eating less meat would help, there’s no question about that,” Watson said.
However, Chris Lamb, head of marketing for pig industry group BPEX, said the meat industry had been unfairly targeted and was working hard to find out which activities had the biggest environmental impact and reduce them. “Some ideas were contradictory,” he said. “For example, one solution to emissions from cattle and other animals was to keep them indoors, but this would damage animal welfare. Climate change is a very young science and our view is there are a lot of simple solutions being proposed.”
【小题1】What is directly related to global warming?

A．Consumption of meat.	B．Growth of cattle.
C．Methane from ruminants.	D．Processing of meat.

【小题2】Who holds a view opposite to the others’ in the passage?

A．Rajendra Pachauri.

B．John Torode.

C．Robert Watson.

D．Chris Lamb.

【小题3】It is implied in the passage that _____.

A．we should try to keep away from cattle	B．ruminants should not be left outdoors
C．the meat industry will soon close down	D．we must do our duty to save the earth

【小题4】 Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A．Less meat, slower global warming

B．More animals, more greenhouse gas

C．Less imported food, better our environment

D．Greater diet change, smaller climate change

“People should have one meat-free day a week if they want to make a personal and effective sacrifice that would help deal with climate change,” the world’s leading authority on global warming has told The Observer.

Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said that people should then go on to reduce their meat consumption even further.

Pachauri, who was re-elected the panel’s chairman for a second six-year term last week, said diet change was important because of the huge greenhouse gas emissions (排放) and other environmental problems associated with raising cattle and other animals. “It was relatively easy to change eating habits compared to changing means of transport,” he said.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation has estimated that meat production accounts for nearly a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. These are produced during the production. For example, ruminants (反刍动物), particularly cows, give off a gas called methane, which is 23 times more effective as a global warming agent than CO₂.

Pachauri can expect some opposite responses from the food industry to his advice, though last night he was given unexpected support by Masterchef presenter and restaurateur John Torode. “I have a little bit and enjoy it,” said Torode. “Too much for any person is bad. But there’s a bigger issue here: where the meat comes from. If we all bought British and stopped buying imported food, we’d save a huge amount of carbon emissions.”

Professor Robert Watson, the chief scientific adviser for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, said government could help educate people about the benefits of eating less meat, but it should not regulate. “Eating less meat would help, there’s no question about that,” Watson said.

However, Chris Lamb, head of marketing for pig industry group BPEX, said the meat industry had been unfairly targeted and was working hard to find out which activities had the biggest environmental impact and reduce them. “Some ideas were contradictory,” he said. “For example, one solution to emissions from cattle and other animals was to keep them indoors, but this would damage animal welfare. Climate change is a very young science and our view is there are a lot of simple solutions being proposed.”

1.What is directly related to global warming?

A．Consumption of meat.	B．Growth of cattle.
C．Methane from ruminants.	D．Processing of meat.

2.Who holds a view opposite to the others’ in the passage?

A．Rajendra Pachauri.

B．John Torode.

C．Robert Watson.

D．Chris Lamb.

3.It is implied in the passage that _____.

A．we should try to keep away from cattle	B．ruminants should not be left outdoors
C．the meat industry will soon close down	D．we must do our duty to save the earth

4. Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A．Less meat, slower global warming

B．More animals, more greenhouse gas

C．Less imported food, better our environment

D．Greater diet change, smaller climate change

 

E

Support for renewable energy technology to figllt global warming is weakening in the face of

worldwide economic problems and the true scale of the carbon reductions required，a survey pub-

lished today has suggested．

Figures presented at the UN climate talks in Poznan，Poland，show that climate experts have

less faitll in alternative energy than they did 12 months ago．

The survey shows less support for wind energy，solar power，biofuels，biomass and hydrogen

energy as technologies with“high potential”to reduce carbon levels in the atmosphere over the next

25 years．

Eric Whan of Globesean，which carried out t}le survey of“climate decision makers”．said．

“As the climate crisis deepens they could be becoming less optimistic that individual technologies

may be able to solve the problem．’’

The survey，supported by groups including the World Bank，the United Nations Environment

Programme and the Pew Center for Global Climate Change，questioned l，000 senior figures across

governments，pressure groups and companies in 1 15 countries over the last few weeks．

Almost three—quarters of the experts agreed in the survey that“equitable(公平的，平等的)e—

eonomic growth and development and significant progress in combating(与…斗争)climate change

Call be achieved at the salne time．’’

Asked to rate the likely Success of low—carbon technologies in the mid—term，they showed

less confidence than a similar survey 12 months ago．Support for offshore wind farms，was down

61％from 65％last year.Solar electricity generation was rated as having high—potential by 66％of  respondents，down from 74％．Support for hydrogen power was 32％，down form 36％in 2007．

The respondents also warned that a deep recession(衰退)would make a new global deal on climate harder to achieve．Some 44％agreed that the current economic crisis will significantly delay orcompromise the“achievement of effective climate change agreements．’’

72．Which of the following is NOT the alternative energy?    ·

A．Wind energy．    B．Solar power．    C．Hydrogen energy．D．Conventional energy．

73．Which of the following altemative energy sees the most remarkable reduction in support'?

A．Offshore wind farms．    B．Solar electricity．

C．Hydrogen power．       D．Natural gas．

Why is support for renewable energy technology to fight dobal warming weakening?

A．The technology has no use at  all．

B．People don’t want to use the technology．

C．Nothing can be done to reduce carbon levels in the atmosphere．

D．The current economic crisis iS to blame．

75．What’S the best title of the passage?

A．Experts Lost Faith in Renewable Technology  B．Global Environment Is Worsening

C．Who Is to Blame f．0r tIle Environment  D．What Can Be Done to Save the Earth