英语六级阅读理解练习附详解：气候环境

　　As environmentalists convene in Rio de Janeiro this week to ponder the global climate of thefuture, earth scientists are in the midst of a revolution in understanding how climate haschanged in the past-and how those changes have transformed human existence. Researchershave begun to piece together an illuminating picture of the powerful geological andastronomical forces that have combined to change the planet's environment from hot tocold, wet to dry and back again over a time period stretching back hundreds of millions of years.

　　Most important. scientists are beginning to realize that the climatic changes have bad a majorimpact on the evolution of the human species. New research now suggests that climate shiftshave played a key role in nearly every significant turning point in human evolution: from thedawn of primates(灵长目动物) some 65 million years ago to human ancestors rising up to walkon two legs. from the huge expansion of the human brain to the rise of agriculture. Indeed,the human history has not been merely touched by global climate change, some scientistsargue, it has in some instances been driven by it.

　　The new research has profound implications for the environment summit in Rio. Amongother things, the findings demonstrate that dramatic climate change is nothing new forplanet Earth. The benign(宜人的) global environment that has existed over the past 10,000years-during which agriculture. writing, cities and most other features of civilization appeared-isa mere bright spot in a much larger pattern of widely varying climate over the ages. In fact, thepattern of climate change in the past reveals that Earth's climate will almost certainly gothrough dramatic changes in the future-even without the influence of human activity.

　　当全球变暖终于变成现实的时候，一切都显得异乎寻常。在一些地区，气温在不到一百年的时间里上升了好几度。海平面上升了近400英尺，海水淹没了住在海边的人家，并迫使人们搬往内地。因为北美、欧洲扣亚洲植被急剧变化，所以沙漠在全球肆虐。[1]人类在将其周围的许多种动物通向濒临灭绝的境地之后，也被迫放弃他们已导致饥荒、疾病的旧有生活方式而选择全新的求生策略。这种策略就是农业：造成这种求生策略的改变的全球变暖现象在10000年前就发生过。

　　正当本周环境保护主义者在里约热内卢召开会议思考全球气候前景之际，地球科学家们在对过去气候的变化以及这些变化怎样改变了人类存在等问题的认识上正经历着革命性转变。[2]研究者已经开始拼凑出一幅富有启发意义的演示地质和天体巨大力量的图画：在已往的数亿年期间，这两种力量结合起来改变了地球环境，使之从热到冷，从湿到干，然后在一段时间之后又如此反复，循环不止。

　　[3]最重要的是，科学家开始意识到气候对人类进化曾产生重要影响。新的研究表明气候变化几乎在人类进化的每个重要转折点都起到关键作用：从6500万年前的初期灵长目动物到用双腿直立走路的人类始祖，从人类脑容量的急剧扩充到农业的兴起。的确，一些科学家争论说，人类历史不仅受到全球气候变化的影响，人类历史在某种程度上说也是全球气候变化所推动的结果。

　　新研究对于里约热内卢的环境峰会具有深刻的启示。研究成果之一就是它表明巨大的气候变化对于地球这颗行星来说并不是新鲜事。在过去的1万年里气候宜人的全球环境——在此期间，农业、城市以及其他文明的标志纷纷出现——只不过是在漫长岁月中千差万别的种种气候模式里的一小块亮点而已。[4]/[5]事实上，以往的气候变化模式显示地球气候几乎注定要在将来发生巨大的变化——哪怕它并没有受到人类活动的影响。

　　1.Farming emerged as a survival strategy because man had been obliged__________.

　　A) to give up his former way of life

　　B) to leave the coastal areas

　　C) to follow the ever-shifting vegetation

　　D) to abandon his original settlement

　　2. Earth scientists have come to understand that climate____________.

　　A)is going through a fundamental change

　　B)has been getting warmer for 10,000 years

　　C) will eventually change from hot to cold

　　D) has gone through periodical changes

　　3.Scientists believe that human evolution________.

　　A) has seldom been accompanied by climatic changes

　　B) has exerted little influence on climatic changes

　　C) has largely been affected by climatic changes

　　D) has had a major impact on climatic changes

　　4.Evidence of past climatic changes indicates that__________.

　　A) human activities have accelerated changes of Earth's environment

　　B) Earth’s environment will remain mild despite human interference

　　C) Earth's climate is bound to change significantly in the future

　　D) Earth's climate is unlikely to undergo substantial changes in the future

　　5.The message the author wishes to convey in the passage is that______________.

　　A) human civilization remains glorious though it is affected by climatic changes

　　B) mankind is virtually helpless in the face of the dramatic changes of climate

　　C) man bas to limit his activities to slow down the global warming process

　　D) human civilization will continue io develop in spite of the changes of nature