Climate change makes the author feel selfish when he is more concerned about the present b

According to Paragraph 1, we know that______.

A．climate change can cause only three types of disasters

B．we can wait until the climate become what it used to be

C．human beings have very limited power to deal with climate problems

D．climate change makes people feel that they must learn to meet challenges

r the past century are similar in size and timing to those【1】by models that take into account: the combined influences of human factors and solar variability.

To【2】the question of attribution requires the【3】of more powerful and complex methods, beyond the use of global averages alone. New studies have focused on【4】maps or patterns of temperature change in【5】and in models. Pattern analysis is the cli-matologically equivalent of the more comprehensive tests in the medical analogy mentioned【6】, and makes it possible to achieve more definitive【7】of observed climate changes to a particular cause or causes.

The expected influence of human activities is thought to be much more complex than uniform. warming over the entire surface of the Earth and over the whole【8】cycle. Patterns of change over space and time therefore provide a more powerful【9】technique.

The basic idea【10】pattern-based approaches is that different【11】causes of climate change have different characteristic patterns of climate response or fingerprints. Attribution studies seek to 【12】a fingerprint match between the patterns of climate change【13】by models and those actually observed.

The most recent assessment of the science suggests that human activities have led to a discernible【14】on global climate and that these activities will have an increasing influence on future climate. The burning of coal, oil and natural gas, as well as various agricultural and industrial practices, are【15】the composition of the atmosphere and contributing to climate change. These human activities have led to increased atmospheric【16】of a number of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane and so on in the lower atmosphere.

Human activities, such as the burning of fossil, have also increased the【17】of small particles in the atmosphere. These particles can change the【18】of energy that is absorbed and reflected by the atmosphere. They are also believed to modify the【19】of air and clouds, changing the amount of energy that they absorb and reflect. Intensive studies of the climatic effects of these particles began only recently and the overall【20】is uncertain. It is likely that the net effect of these small particles is to cool the climate and to partially offset the warming of increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases.

(1)

A．incensed

B．personify

C．interact

D．predicted

SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST

Directions: In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. At the end of each news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the questions.

听力原文： Last week, a United Nations report said humans are "very likely" the cause of most of the temperature increases in the last fifty years. It said global warming is undeniable, and that the world can expect to feel the effects for centuries to come.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released the report in Paris at a conference of climate experts. Representatives of more than one hundred governments agreed on the findings. This is the most detailed scientific report to date on global warming and the influence of fossil-fuel burning and other human activities.

The scientists say there is greater than a ninety percent chance that greenhouse gases are the main cause of rising temperatures and sea levels. The report also links global warming to other changes, including increased dryness in some areas and violent storm patterns.

The U.N. panel released its last climate change report six years ago. The scientists say the new report is based on studies done since then, and stronger agreement on global warming.

The new report makes no policy proposals. But the aim is to press governments and industries to cut the release of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for trapping heat.

Which of the following is the main cause of global warming？

A．Fossil fuel.

B．Greenhouse gases.

C．Increased dryness.

D．Violent storm patterns.

ts climate. In places located at low latitudes, or near the equator, like Ecuador and northern Brazil, the amount of sunshine changes the least during the year. At mid-latitudes, in places like Japan or Argentina, there is more sunshine in the summer than in the winter. (29) The greatest change occurs at the highest latitudes, in places like northern Canada or Alaska. In these places, the nights are very long for half the year and the days are very long during the other half. At the North or South Pole, sunlight lasts the longest during the summer. But light and heat are the most intense at the equator.

Latitude and distance from the sea also affect climate. The thin air in high mountain areas absorbs less of the sun's heat than the thicker air at sea level.

The daily change in temperature also increases with distance from the sea.

(30) Snow and rain are very important to climate. Snow reflects as much as eighty or ninety percent of the heat from the sun, and makes the weather even colder. But a large forest area can reflect as little as five percent of the sun's heat. This makes the weather warmer.

Of course, the general effects of climate do not explain everything about the weather. For example, (31) both the driest place in the world and the place with the most rainy days are located in Chile. Calama, in the Atacama Desert. has had no rain for over 400 years. But during the year 1916, it rained in Bahia, Felix, Chile for 348 days.

(30)

A．At low latitudes.

B．At mid-latitudes.

C．At high latitudes.

D．At any latitude.

Low-carbon Future：We Can Afford to Go Green

Tackling climate change will cost consumers the earth．Those who campaign for a green revolution are out to destroy our western lifestyles．Such are the cries of opponents of emissions cuts，and their message has political impact：a number of surveys have found that the enthusiasm of voters for policies to reduce climate change falls off as the price tag increases．

However，a new modelling(模型化)exercise suggests that these fears are largely unfounded．It projects that radical cuts to the UK's emissions will cause barely noticeable increases in the price of food，drink and most other goods by 2050．Electricity and petrol costs will rise significantly，but with the right policies in place，say the modellers，this need not lead to big changes in our lifestyle．

"these results show that the global project to fight climate change is feasible，"says Alex Bowen，a climate policy expert at the London School of Economics．"It's not such a big ask as people are making out．"

Although it is impossible to precisely predict prices four decades from now．the exercise is one of the most detailed examinations yet of the impact of climate change policies on UK consumers．It provides a useful rough guide to our economic future．

Though its results speak directly to the UK consumer，previous research has come to similar conclusions for the US．In June，one study found that if the US were to cut emissions by 50 per cent by 2050，prices of most consumer goods would increase by less than 5 per cent．The findings are also consistent with analyses by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change in Washington DC．"Even cutting emissions by 80 per cent over four decades has a very small effect on consumers in most areas，”says Manik Roy of the Pew Center．"The challenge is now to convince consumers and policy-makers that this is the case．"

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends that wealthy nations cut their emissions to between 80 and 95 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050 in order to avoid the worst effects of climate change．The UK government aims to reduce its contribution by 80 per cent and leaders of the other G8 nations have discussed following suit．To meet this goal，industries will have to cut down fossil fuel consumption，and low-carbon power sources will have to massively expand. Companies will have to pay increasingly higher prices for the right to emit greenhouse gases.

How will this affect the average citizen's wallet？ To measure the impact of the 80 per cent target on the UK population, New Scientist approached Cambridge Econometrics, a firm known for its modelling of the European economy. The firm used historic economic data to predict the impact of emissions reductions on prices in over 40 categories of goods and services. It compared the impact of the 80 per cent cut with a baseline situation in which the government takes no action other than the limited emissions restrictions already in place as a result of the Ky-oto protocol (京都议定书).

Most of the price increases are a consequence of rising energy costs, in part because coal and gas are re-placed by more expensive low-carbon sources. The price of electricity is projected to be 15 per cent higher in 2050 compared with the baseline. In today's prices, that would add around ￡5 onto typical monthly household electricity bills. It will also result in higher prices elsewhere, as every industrial sector uses electricity.

But electricity and other forms of energy make up only a small part of the price of most goods. Other factors-raw materials, labour and taxes-are far more important. The energy that goes into producing food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco, for example, makes up just 2 per cent of the consumer price. For motor vehicle purchases and hotel stays, the figure is 1 per cent. Only for energy-intensive industries does the

A．Economic recession is widely spread.

B．Western lifestyles are destroyed.

C．The cost of a green revolution rises.

D．The environment is improved.

听力原文： A country's latitude, or distance from the equator, has an important effect on its climate. In places located at low latitudes, or near the equator, like Ecuador and northern Brazil, the amount of sun shine changes the least during the year. At mid-latitudes, in places like Japan or Argentina, there is more sunshine in the summer than in the winter. The greatest change occurs at the highest latitudes, in places like northern Canada or Alaska. In these places, the nights are very long for half the year, and the days are long during the other half. At the North or South Pole, sunlight lasts the longest during the summer. But light and heat are the most intense at the equator.

Altitude and distance from the sea also affect climate. The thin air in high mountain areas absorbs less of the sun's heat than the thicker air at sea level. The daily changes in temperature also increase with distance from the sea.

Snow and rain are- very important to climate. Snow reflects as much as eighty or ninety percent of the heat from the sun, and makes the weather even colder, but a large forest area can reflect as little as five percent of the sun's heat. This makes the weather warmer.

Of course, the general effects of climate do not explain every thing about the weather. For example, both the driest places in the world and the place with the most rainy days are located in Chile. Calama, in the Atacama Desert, had no rain for over 400 years. But during the year 1916, it rained in Bahia Felix, Chile for 348 days.

(30)

A．At low latitudes.

B．At mid-latitudes.

C．At high latitudes.

D．At high altitudes.

ious General Electric auditorium in Crotonville, N. Y. , to meet with GE CEO Jeffrey R. Immelt and his team. The day was overcast and cold, but the discussion was about the warming climate. At one point in the meeting, David J. Slump, GE Energy's chief marketing executive, asked for an informal vote. How many of the 30 or so utility and GE business executives thought that, once President George W. Bush was no longer in office, the U. S. would impose mandatory curbs on the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to global warming？ Four out of five of them agreed. "Forget the science debate," says Cinergy Corp. CEO James E. Rogers, who was at the meeting. "The regulations will change someday. And if we're not ready, we're in trouble."

The world is changing faster than anyone expected. Not only is the earth warming, bringing more intense storms and causing Arctic ice to vanish, but the political and policy landscape is being transformed even more dramatically. Already, certain industries are facing mandatory limits emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in some of the 129 countries that have signed the Kyoto Protocol. This month representatives of those nations are gathering in Montreal to develop post-Kyoto plans. Meanwhile, U. S. cities and states are rushing to impose their own regulations.

A surprising number of companies in old industries such as oil and materials as well as high tech are preparing for this profoundly altered world. They are moving swiftly to measure and slash their greenhouse gas emissions. And they are doing it despite the Bush Administration's opposition to mandatory curbs.

This change isn't being driven by any sudden boardroom conversion to environmentalism. It's all about hard-nosed business calculations. "If we stonewall this thing to five years out, all of a sudden the cost to us and ultimately to our consumers can be gigantic," warns Rogers, who will manage 20 coal-fired power plants if Cinergy's pending merger with Duke Energy is completed next year.

One new twist in the whole discussion of global warming is the arrival of a corps of sharp penciled financiers. Bankers, insurers, and institutional investors have begun to tally the trillions of dollars in financial risks that climate change poses. They are now demanding that companies in which they hold stakes (or insure) add up risks related to climate change and alter their business plans accordingly. For utilities like Cinergy that could mean switching billions in planned investments from the usual coal-fired power plants to new, cleaner facilities.

The pressure is forcing more players to wrestle with environmental risks, even if the coming regulations aren't right around the corner. As the debate over climate change shifts from scientific data t6 business-speak such as "efficiency investment" and "material risk," CEOs are suddenly understanding why climate change is important. "It doesn't matter whether carbon emission reductions are mandated or not," explains David Struhs, vice-president of environmental affairs at International Paper Co. "Everything we' re doing makes sense to our shareholders and to our board, regardless of what direction the government takes." The nation's biggest paper company, with $25.5 billion in sales, IP has upped its use of wood waste to 20% of its fuel mix, from 13% in 2002. That's cut both net CO2 output and energy costs.

What was the conclusion of the meeting of power company executives on Nov. 21？

Global climate change was the dominant theme of the conference.

A．notion

B．module

C．subject

D．norm