Question

Industrial emissions (排放) of carbon dioxide and other planet-warming greenhouse gases have raised the global average temperature by about 0.8°C since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. But studies have disagreed about what impact the rise is having on the world’s species, says Mark Urban, an ecologist at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. Some have estimated that as many as 54% of species could eventually become extinct as a result of the climate change, but others have suggested no significant impact.①

Such disparate result might originate from the limited nature of some individual studies, possibly because they focused only on a few species or a relatively small geographical region, says Urban.② To address these limits, Urban used statistical methods to help blend the results of previous studies into an apples-to-apples comparison that estimates the risk of extinction of species worldwide.

③He chose to analyze only the results of studies that had assessed extinction risks of more than one species. Then he researched into the details, such as the regions in which species considered, whether those species were limited to one small region or were widely spread, and whether the species were free to move as climate changed or were blocked by barriers such as mountain ranges or urban development.④

Effects of climate change aren’t always immediate, Urban says, and the risks of extinction he’s estimated are the long-term results of species not being able to find a suitable habitat. Maybe the habitat will merely shrink to a size that can’t support the species, or maybe it will disappear entirely. In some cases, he notes, a species might not be able to outpace the shift in its range, dying out before it can reach a new homeland. For over the generations that rapid warming might kill them off before they can spread to a suitable new habitat.

1.What is the passage aimed to tell us?

A. It is the Industrial Revolution that raised the global average temperature.

B. Mark Urban is an ecologist at the University of Connecticut, Storrs.

C. The climate change contributes to almost all the species dying out.

D. Global warming is not a main factor accounting for species extinction.

2.The sentence “And different teams have often used different methods to come up with their predictions.” can be placed in ________.

A. ①    B. ②    C. ③    D. ④

3.According to Mark Urban in Paragraph 4, some species died out mainly because of ________.

A. the rising temperatures    B. human activities

C. their low birth rates    D. the loss of their habitats

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.D

【解析】本文为议论文。对于什么会影响地球上的物种的增长的研究意见不一致。有人认为气候变化导致物种最终灭绝的主要原因，这可能是因为研究的局限性造成的。而Urban认为气候变化影响并不总是即时发生的，物种的灭绝有可能是因为找不到合适的栖息地或栖息地缩小或完全消失，在某些时候可能在有新的栖息地之前就灭绝了。

1.推理判断题。本文第一段最后说现在的研究对于影响地球上的物种的增长意见不一致。有的人估计气候变化导致54%的物种最终灭绝，但对其他物种却没有显著的影响。第二段说这可能是因为研究的局限性造成的。最后一段说气候变化影响并不总是即时发生的。物种的灭绝有可能是找不到合适的栖息地或栖息地缩小或完全消失。在某些时候可能在有新的栖息地之前就灭绝了。由此可推断出全球变暖不是影响物种灭绝的主要因素。分析选项可知D项符合题意。

2.推理判断题。第二段前半部分内容（②前的内容），对于什么影响了物种有不同的看法是因为这些个体研究的局限性导致的猜测。②后说为解决这个局限性，Urban采用了数据统计法。而The sentence “And different teams have often used different methods to come up with their predictions.”意为“不同的团队经常使用不同的方法来预测他们的预测。”正是与②前的内容“这些个体研究使用不同的方法就是他们研究的局限性”符合。故本句应放在②的位置，故选B项。

3.推理判断题。第四段Urban估计的灭绝风险是物种无法找到合适栖息地的长期结果。也许栖息地只会缩小到不能支持物种的大小，或者可能会完全消失。由此可推断出D项栖息地的丧失是一些物种灭绝的主要原因。故选D项。