时文拓展阅读│气候变化下的澳大利亚森林火灾
数千年来，澳大利亚的原住民利用野火为自己创造了很多便利，比如清理植被来开辟土地。与此同时，特定的澳大利亚本土植物群也依赖着丛林大火繁殖，比如大火可以使一些桉树的种子开裂，从而得以生根发芽。这成为了澳大利亚生态的重要组成部分。可是，自2019年9月初澳大利亚发生森林火灾以来，这场持续了四个多月的大火给当地的人民和生态带来更多的，却是痛苦和灾难。
阅读短文并回答问题 This season, the bushfires in Australia have burned more than 12.35 million acres of land. At least 25 people have been killed and 2000 homes destroyed. According to the BBC, this is the most casualties（伤亡）from wildfires in the country since 2009. The University of Sydney estimates that 480 million animals have died in South Wales alone. Zeke Hausfather, an energy systems analyst and climate researcher at Berkeley Earth, said warmer temperatures and extreme weather have made Australia more susceptible to fires and increased the length of the fire season. “The drier conditions combined with record high temperatures in 2019 created main conditions for the disastrous fires. Australia’s fires were worsened by the combination of those two. 2019 was the perfect storm for being the warmest year on record for Australia and the driest year on record for Australia,” Hausfather added on Friday. Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research, said warmer ocean temperatures are also contributed to more variable weather around the world. Trenberth believes that global warming contributed to energy imbalances and hot spots in the oceans, which can create a wave in the atmosphere that locks weather patterns in places, causing longer rain events in Indonesia, for example, and at the same time contributing to drought in Australia. He said that once an area experiences drought conditions for two months or more, it increases the risk of fires catching and spreading. Those changing weather patterns due to global warming make drought events longer. 1. What are the numbers about in paragraph 1? A. The causes of Australian fires. B. The results of Australian fires. C. The damaged areas of Australian fires.
D. The property destruction of Australian fires.
2. Which of the following best explains “susceptible to” in the second paragraph? A. Very quickly to adapt to.
B. Very seriously to focus on.
C. Very likely to be influenced by.
D. Very easily to be protected against.
3. What can we infer from Trenberth’s research? A. Global warming is the root cause of the bushfires. B. Longer dry weather contributes to global warming. D. Warmer ocean temperatures promote fires spreading. C. The imbalanced energy leads to the temperature rising. 4. What does the author intend to do in the last paragraph? A. To stress the effects of Australia fires. B. To show the methods for controlling burns. C. To predict the seriousness of Australia fires. D. To provide some advice about reducing damage. 【参考答案】BCAD
单词学习
1. estimate v. 估计
We estimate that 20 per cent of the harvest has been lost. 我们估计损失了20%的收成。 2. susceptible adj. 易受影响的
Young people are the most susceptible to advertisements. 年轻人最容易受广告的影响。 3. disastrous adj. 灾难性的 a disastrous fire 严重火灾 4. contribute to sth. 是……的原因之一
The report says design faults in both the vessels contributed to the tragedy. 报道称这两艘船在设计上的缺陷是造成悲剧的原因。 5. dispatch v. 派遣；调遣
The goods are dispatched from a warehouse. 商品从仓库派送。
长难句分析
Trenberth believes that global warming contributed to energy imbalances and hot spots in the oceans, which can create a wave in the atmosphere that locks weather patterns in places, causing longer rain events in Indonesia, for example, and at the same time contributing to drought in Australia.
【分析】宾语从句的主干为“global warming contributed to energy imbalances and hot spots”。“which can create a wave…in Australia”为定语从句，修饰前面的“global warming…in the oceans”。“that locks weather patterns in places”为定语从句，修饰先行词“a wave”。“causing longer rain events in Indonesia, for example, and at the same time contributing to drought in Australia”为非谓语动词作结果状语。
【翻译】Trenberth认为由全球变暖导致的大气能量不平衡和海洋中炎热的地区可以在大气中形成一股浪，从而锁定某些地方的天气模式，比如在印度尼西亚造成更长时间的降雨，同时又导致澳大利亚的干旱。
知识拓展
1. Berkeley Earth: 伯克利地球组织，是由理查德和伊丽莎白·穆勒在2010年初构想的。他们组织了一个科学家团队分析地球表面的温度记录，并在2012年发表了他们的初步研究结果。伯克利地球组织在2013年2月成为了一个独立的非盈利组织。
2. National Center for Atmospheric Research: 美国国家大气研究中心，简称NCAR，是美国大气科学的国家研究机构，下设计算和信息系统实验室、对地观测实验室、地球系统实验室和研究应用实验室四个研究实体。
声明
原文选自ABC NEWS，试题与内容讲解由天学网教学研究中心编写。
时文拓展阅读气候变化下的澳大利亚森林火灾 - 图文
