A new report says sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is melting more quickly than expected. American scientists say the ice is melting even faster than computer programs had estimated.
Scientists know that climate change has a major effect on the Arctic Ocean partly because sea ice is disappearing. They also know that areas of open seawater are expanding. Such areas are known to take in sunlight and increase temperatures. Scientists say this has helped to cause the loss of the Arctic’s ice cover.
For the study, the American scientists compared eighteen computer programs with observations made by satellites and other instruments. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change used the computer programs to prepare its 2007 estimates of climate change.
The computer programs gave estimates of the amount of ice in the Arctic Ocean in the month of September. September is when the Arctic has the least ice, after the warm, summer months. The computer estimates suggested an ice loss of two and a half percent for every ten-year period between 1953 and 2006.
Newer studies of the Arctic have used information gathered by aircraft, satellites and ships. This information showed a loss of September ice cover of almost eight percent for every ten-year period between 1953 and last year. This means the ice is disappearing about thirty years faster than the computer programs estimated.
The scientists say the programs might not have recognized the full effect of increased carbon dioxide and other gases in Earth’s atmosphere. They say their study suggests the gases may have more of an effect than had been thought.
1.It is reported that sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is melting more quickly than expected mainly because _________.
A. climate change B. sea ice’s disappearance
C. seawater’s expansion D. the loss of the Arctic’s ice cover
2. How did the scientists draw the conclusion that sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is melting more quickly than expected?
A. The scientists have been observing the Arctic Ocean for many years.
B. The scientists have compared the computer programs with observation made by satellites and other instruments.
C. The scientists have figured out many numbers with the help of computer.
D. The scientists have found that the seawater take in sunlight and increase temperatures.
3.If the ice melts at the present speed, by the end of this century the ice loss in the Arctic Ocean will be _________ according to newer studies.
A. 22.5% B. 35% C.72% D. 100%
4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The figures of the computer estimates are wrong.
B. Scientists study climate change through studying sea level.
C. Newer studies show gases may have more effect on sea ice in the Arctic Ocean.
D. The ice is melting even faster than satellites have estimated.
5.This report mainly warns human to _________.
A. prevent the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean from melting any more
B. pay more attention to the loss of the Arctic’s ice cover
C. take necessary steps to protect the environment of our earth
D. stop summer sea ice in the Arctic from disappearing so fast
高二英语阅读理解简单题
A new report says sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is melting more quickly than expected. American scientists say the ice is melting even faster than computer programs had estimated.
Scientists know that climate change has a major effect on the Arctic Ocean partly because sea ice is disappearing. They also know that areas of open seawater are expanding. Such areas are known to take in sunlight and increase temperatures. Scientists say this has helped to cause the loss of the Arctic’s ice cover.
For the study, the American scientists compared eighteen computer programs with observations made by satellites and other instruments. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change used the computer programs to prepare its 2007 estimates of climate change.
The computer programs gave estimates of the amount of ice in the Arctic Ocean in the month of September. September is when the Arctic has the least ice, after the warm, summer months. The computer estimates suggested an ice loss of two and a half percent for every ten-year period between 1953 and 2006.
Newer studies of the Arctic have used information gathered by aircraft, satellites and ships. This information showed a loss of September ice cover of almost eight percent for every ten-year period between 1953 and last year. This means the ice is disappearing about thirty years faster than the computer programs estimated.
The scientists say the programs might not have recognized the full effect of increased carbon dioxide and other gases in Earth’s atmosphere. They say their study suggests the gases may have more of an effect than had been thought.
1.It is reported that sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is melting more quickly than expected mainly because _________.
A. climate change B. sea ice’s disappearance
C. seawater’s expansion D. the loss of the Arctic’s ice cover
2. How did the scientists draw the conclusion that sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is melting more quickly than expected?
A. The scientists have been observing the Arctic Ocean for many years.
B. The scientists have compared the computer programs with observation made by satellites and other instruments.
C. The scientists have figured out many numbers with the help of computer.
D. The scientists have found that the seawater take in sunlight and increase temperatures.
3.If the ice melts at the present speed, by the end of this century the ice loss in the Arctic Ocean will be _________ according to newer studies.
A. 22.5% B. 35% C.72% D. 100%
4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The figures of the computer estimates are wrong.
B. Scientists study climate change through studying sea level.
C. Newer studies show gases may have more effect on sea ice in the Arctic Ocean.
D. The ice is melting even faster than satellites have estimated.
5.This report mainly warns human to _________.
A. prevent the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean from melting any more
B. pay more attention to the loss of the Arctic’s ice cover
C. take necessary steps to protect the environment of our earth
D. stop summer sea ice in the Arctic from disappearing so fast
高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
In the past decades, sea ice ______ in the Arctic as a result of global warming.
A. had melted B. has been melting C. melted D. is melting
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Over the past decades, sea ice _____ in the Arctic as a result of global warming.
A. had decreased B. decreased C. has been decreasing D. is decreasing
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
The Arctic will soon be free from ice, experts say. The change is bound to take place, but the global warming and climate change are changing the earth’s landscape (地形) rapidly,causing panic worldwide.
Experts say that the Arctic sea ice is melting (融化) quite faster than expected and it can affect not just the region, but Earth in general. A scientist even says that next year, or maybe the year after that, the Arctic will be free of ice.
Peter Wadhams, a scientist, said that the melting trend led to his statement. “Most people expect this year will see a record low in the Arctic’s summer sea-ice cover. Next year or the year after that, I think it will be free of ice in summer and by that I mean the central Arctic will be ice-free,” Peter Wadhams, director of the Scott Polar Institute in Cambridge, said in an interview with the Guardian. “You will be able to cross over the North Pole by ship,” Peter Wadhams added. He strongly believes that although some pieces of ice will remain, the Arctic basin may be free of sea ice in the next two years starting in the summer of 2017.
Wadhams’ study says that melting sea ice will have a great influence on the planet since the sea ice is more capable of reflecting (反射) sunlight compared to water that can only reflect 10% of the sunlight. Once the sea ice melts, the water can only reflect a small amount of sunlight. This means that the Earth will receive and absorb more sunlight, making the planet even hotter.
The year 2016 has already broken records of the hottest temperature ever recorded and the trend doesn’t seem to show any decrease in global warming. “It doesn’t look like the ice is healing and growing back,” Tom Wagner, NASA’s manager for cryosphere (冰冻圈) research said in a statement.
Like Wadhams, scientists and researchers all over the world are lecturing around to educate people to help lighten global warming that has already changed the planet’s landscape.
1.What does the author think of global warming and climate change?
A. Indifferent. B. Anxious. C. Unbelievable. D. Misunderstood.
2.What can we learn from the second paragraph?
A. What experts say has caused worldwide fear and great anxiety.
B. The speed of the Arctic sea ice being melted is beyond expectation.
C. The melting of the Arctic sea ice only has a great effect on this region.
D. It’s impossible that the Arctic will be free from ice in one or two years.
3.Why would the Earth become even hotter if the sea ice melted? Because ________.
A. more water will cover the earth
B. there are more hours of daylight
C. the water will reflect more sunlight
D. more heat would be taken in by the earth
4.What is the passage mainly about?
A. According to some experts, the Arctic may be free from ice soon because of global warming and climate change.
B. The Arctic melting sea ice will affect the planet greatly.
C. The Arctic will be free from ice in two years.
D. Global warming are changing the earth’s landscape quickly.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
阅读下面短文,在空白处填入 1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
Almost all the ice covering the Bering Sea has melted(融化), scientists have confirmed, 1.(throw) communities living around 2.(it) shores into disorder. The region’s ice cover 3.(normal) lasts for at least another month, and this year it has disappeared earlier than any other year except 2017.
Living in 4. northern Pacific Ocean between Alaska and Russia, the Bering Sea is experiencing the climate change and has drawn attention this year for record-breaking levels of winter melting. In February, rising Arctic temperatures 5.(lead) to around half the region’s disappearing in the space of two weeks.
A report 6.(send) by the International Arctic Research Centre at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has outlined the real-world effects of these surprising environmental 7.(change) on the many communities 8. live in the Bering Sea region.
In their report, the International Arctic Research Centre scientists wrote that while not every year will be as bad as this one, ice 9.(form) is likely to remain low if the Bering Sea’s waters remain warm. They also warn that communities will need to “prepare for more winters 10. low sea ice and stormy conditions”.
高二英语语法填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Due to climate change, Arctic ice is breaking up earlier in the spring, and its area is decreasing. This is creating problems for polar bears that make their homes off northern Alaska and in Hudson Bay.
Polar bears off Alaska normally hunt and raise their young on ice sheets that float on the ocean. But as the ice has melted, the polar bears have been forced to spend more time on land. There, they have begun to frequent beaches, feeding on the remains of whales caught by native hunters. For polar bears, this food is less nutritious than seals that they normally catch on ice sheets. The shrinking(减少) ice has also forced more polar bears into the ocean. In the past, they only had to swim short distances between ice sheets. But as the ice has shrunk, polar bears have been forced to swim longer and longer distances in the open ocean. This poses a severe danger during rough weather, and an increasing number of drowned polar bears have been observed.
In Hudson Bay, the ice breaks up three weeks earlier in the spring now than it did 20 years ago. Polar bears on Hudson Bay fast(绝食) during the summer, waiting for ice to form in the fall to hunt. Every year, the summer gets longer, and the bears get skinnier. Over the past 25 years, the average weight of the female bears has dropped 68 kg. This loss affects their ability to reproduce, and already the number of births has dropped 15 percent. Unless the bears can learn to survive these climate changes, these giants of the ice may one day disappear.
1.What is Arctic ice doing earlier each year?
A.It’s freezing. | B.It’s hardening. |
C.It’s melting. | D.It’s expanding. |
2.What is true of polar bears that are spending more time on land in Alaska?
A.Their young are dying. |
B.Their diet is changing. |
C.Their health is improving. |
D.Their families are growing. |
3.What do polar bears in Hudson Bay do during the summer?
A.They claim territory(地域). | B.They protect mates. |
C.They hunt animals. | D.They stop feeding |
4.In which publication would you most likely find this passage?
A.Medical News | B.Society Today | C.Wildlife Journal | D.Design Magazine |
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
When an ice cube melts, it creates a puddle (水坑). When an ice sheet (冰盖)melts, it raises sea levels. It sounds simple, but scientists have debated for decades whether both the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets actually were shrinking, and how much that melting contributed to rising sea levels.
Now, a new study has provided the best evidence of how the polar ice sheets are responding to our warming world. In the study, an international team of scientists looked at 20 years of' data in the ice sheets collected by 10 satellite missions. The team's conclusion: The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets both are losing ice overall. The researchers also found that between 1992 and 2011, melt water from those shrinking ice sheets caused sea levels to rise by about 11 millimeters.
Over the 19 years studied, the Greenland ice sheet lost 2.7 trillion metric tons of ice. The Antarctic ice sheet also shrank by about l.3 trillion metric tons. Previously, some scientists disagreed whether the Antarctic sheet, the largest mass of ice in the world, was shrinking or growing or neither.
While the Earth is warming overall, the effect of climate change varies from region to region. Over the last 15 years, for example, scientists have something disagreed over how climate change has affected the polar ice sheets. Many studies found that the sheets lost a lot of ice and that not enough snow fell on the sheets to compensate for the loss. But other studies found that the loss of ice was balanced by the gain in snowfall.
Richard Alley, a glacier scientist at Penn State University, said that many of those studies looked at different areas, and over different time periods. In addition, the studies didn't all use the satellite data in the same way. Those differences made, it difficult to compare the results.
The data in the new study matched time periods and areas. The study also combined measurements from kinds of satellites.
1.Why does the author use a common-sense phenomenon as the beginning?
A.To present the reason for ice sheet melting.
B.To show us the result of a scientific experiment.
C.To give a simple example to introduce the topic.
D.To present a common daily finding obvious to the readers.
2.The researchers reached their conclusion by_____.
A.analyzing the findings of former studies
B.observing the Antarctic and Greenland
C.referring to the data from satellites
D.making measurements in the Antarctic and Greenland
3.What does the underlined phrase "compensate for" in paragraph 4 refer to?
A.Cut down.
B.Lead to.
C.Bring about.
D.Make up for.
4.Which of the following might be the best conclusion for the passage?
A.Ice sheets are shrinking due to global warming.
B.People are suffering from climate change.
C.Rising sea levels makes people live in danger.
D.Shrinking ice has nothing to do with sea levels.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Antarctica(南极洲)’s melting ice, which has caused global sea levels to rise by at least 13.8 millimeters over the past 40 years, was thought to primarily come from the unstable West Antarctic Ice Sheet(WAIS). Now, scientists have found that the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS)—considered largely unaffected by climate change—may also be melting at an unexpectedly rapid speed.
The WAIS, whose base is below sea level, has long been considered the most likely to break down. Besides gravity, a deep current of warm water slips beneath the sheet, melting it from below until it becomes a floating shelf at risk of breaking away. In contrast, extreme cold and a base mostly above sea level are thought to keep the EAIS relatively safe from warm waters.
But as greenhouse gases warm much of the planet, driving stronger polar winds, some scientists think warm water carried by a circular current will start to invade East Antarctica’s once unassailable ice. A cooperation of more than 60 scientists last year, published in Nature, estimated that the EAIS actually added about 5 billion tons of ice each year from 1992 to 2017.
Eric Rignot of the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues combined 40 years of satellite imagery and climate modeling and found that overall Antarctica now sends six times more ice into the sea each year than it did in 1979, with the majority coming from West Antarctica. But East Antarctica was responsible for more than 30% of Antarctica’s contribution to the 13.8-millimeter sea level rise over the past 40 years. “The more we look at this system the more we realize this is fragile,” Rignot says. “Once these glaciers become unstable there is no red button to press to stop it.”
Rignot hopes the study brings greater attention to a part of Antarctica that has traditionally been understudied. Helen Fricker, a glaciologist (冰川学家) in California, agrees. “We need to monitor the entire Antarctica and we just can’t do that without international cooperation.”
1.What is the new finding of scientists?
A.The east Antarctica is losing ice at an increasing rate.
B.The west Antarctica is melting six times faster than in 1979.
C.5 billion tons of ice is added to Antarctica each year.
D.The sea level has risen by 13.8 mm over the past 40 years.
2.Which factor leads to the EAIS’s melting fast?
A.A base mostly over sea level. B.The force of gravity.
C.The invasion of a warm current. D.Extremely low temperature.
3.Which of the following best explains “unassailable” underlined in Para. 3 ?
A.Fragile. B.Unattackable.
C.Mild. D.Unstable.
4.Which way does Helen Fricker specially advocate?
A.Satellite imagery. B.Global monitoring.
C.Worldwide climate modeling. D.Worldwide combined efforts.
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
Antarctica(南极洲)’s melting ice, which has caused global sea levels to rise by at least 13.8 millimeters over the past 40 years, was thought to primarily come from the unstable West Antarctic Ice Sheet(WAIS). Now, scientists have found that the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS)—considered largely unaffected by climate change—may also be melting at an unexpectedly rapid speed.
The WAIS, whose base is below sea level, has long been considered the most likely to break down. Besides gravity, a deep current of warm water slips beneath the sheet, melting it from below until it becomes a floating shelf at risk of breaking away. In contrast, extreme cold and a base mostly above sea level are thought to keep the EAIS relatively safe from warm waters.
But as greenhouse gases warm much of the planet, driving stronger polar winds, some scientists think warm water carried by a circular current will start to invade East Antarctica’s once unassailable ice. A cooperation of more than 60 scientists last year, published in Nature, estimated that the EAIS actually added about 5 billion tons of ice each year from 1992 to 2017.
Eric Rignot of the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues combined 40 years of satellite imagery and climate modeling and found that overall Antarctica now sends six times more ice into the sea each year than it did in 1979, with the majority coming from West Antarctica. But East Antarctica was responsible for more than 30% of Antarctica’s contribution to the 13.8-millimeter sea level rise over the past 40 years. “The more we look at this system the more we realize this is fragile,” Rignot says. “Once these glaciers become unstable there is no red button to press to stop it.”
Rignot hopes the study brings greater attention to a part of Antarctica that has traditionally been understudied. Helen Fricker, a glaciologist (冰川学家) in California, agrees. “We need to monitor the entire Antarctica and we just can’t do that without international cooperation.”
1.What is the new finding of scientists?
A. The east Antarctica is losing ice at an increasing rate.
B. The west Antarctica is melting six times faster than in 1979.
C. 5 billion tons of ice is added to Antarctica each year.
D. The sea level has risen by 13.8 mm over the past 40 years.
2.Which factor leads to the EAIS’s melting fast?
A. A base mostly over sea level. B. The force of gravity.
C. The invasion of a warm current. D. Extremely low temperature.
3.Which of the following best explains “unassailable” underlined in Para. 3 ?
A. Fragile. B. Unattackable.
C. Mild. D. Unstable.
4.Which way does Helen Fricker specially advocate?
A. Satellite imagery. B. Global monitoring.
C. Worldwide climate modeling. D. Worldwide combined efforts.
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
Millions of people all over the world use the word OK. In fact, some people say the word is used more often than any other word in the world. OK means all right or acceptable. It expresses agreement or approval.
1. Some people say it came from the Native American Indian tribe known as the Choctaw(乔克托语). The Choctaw word “okeh” means the same as the American word okay. Experts say early explorers in the American West spoke the Choctaw language in the nineteenth century.
But many people doubt this. Language expert Allen Walker Read wrote about the word “OK” in reports published in the 1960s. He said the word began being used in the 1830s. 2. Some foreign-born people wrote “all correct” as “o-l-l-k-o-r-r-e-c-t”, and used the letters OK. Other people say a railroad worker named Obadiah Kelly invented the word long ago. They said he put the first letters of his name--O and K--on each object people gave him to send on the train.
3. The organization supported Martin Van Buren for president in 1840. They called their group the OK club. The letters were taken from the name of the town where Martin was born--Old Kinderhook, New York.
Then there is the expression A-OK. It is a space-age expression. It was used in 1961 during the flight of astronaut Alan Shepard. He was the first American to be launched into space. His flight ended when his spacecraft landed in the ocean, as planned. Shepard reported, “Everything is A-OK.” 4. One story says it was first used during the early days of the telephone to tell an operator that a message had been received.
There are also funny ways to say okay. 5. These expressions were first used in the 1930s. Today, a character on the American television series “The Simpsons” says it another way. He says okely-doke.
A. Some people say okey-dokey or okey-doke.
B. Still others say a political organization invented the word.
C. Therefore, it has become popular in that area from then on.
D. But many experts don’t agree on what the expression means.
E. Still, language experts do not agree about where the word came from.
F. It was a short way of writing a different spelling of the word “all correct”.
G. However, some experts say the expression did not begin with the space age.
高二英语信息匹配中等难度题查看答案及解析