浙江省高考英语二轮复习 科普知识阅读理解(3)

科普知识阅读理解（3）

科普知识（阅读理解）由 (2012四川,E)改编

Plants are flowering faster than scientists predicted (预测)in reaction to climate change,which could have long damaging effects on food chains and ecosystems.

Global warming is having a great effect on hundreds of plant and animal species around the world,changing some living patterns,scientists say.

Increased carbon dioxide(CO2) in the air from burning coal and oil can have an effect on how plants produce oxygen,while higher temperatures and changeable rainfall patterns can change their patterns of growth.

“Predicting species’reaction to climate change is a major challenge in ecology,”said the researchers of several U.S.universities.They said plants had been the key object of study because their reaction to climate change could have an effect on food chains and ecosystem services.

The study,published on the Nature website,uses the findings from plant life cycle studies and experiments across four continents and 1,634 species.It found that some experiments had underestimated (低估) the speed of flowering by 8.5 times and leafing by 4 times.

“Across all species,the experiments under-predicted the speed of the advance—for both leafing and flowering—that results from temperature increases,”the study said.

The design of future experiments may need to be improved to better predict how plants will react to climate change,it said.

Plants are necessary for life on the Earth.They are the base of the food chain,using photosynthesis (光合作用)to produce sugar from carbon dioxide and water.They let out oxygen which is needed by nearly every organism on the planet.

Scientists believe the world’s average temperature has risen by about 0.8℃ since 1900,and nearly 0.2℃ every ten years since 1979.

So far,efforts to cut emissions (排放) of planet-warming greenhouse gases are not seen as enough to prevent the Earth heating up beyond 2℃ this century—a point

scientists say will bring the danger of a changeable climate in which weather extremes are common,leading to drought,floods,crop failures and rising sea levels.

1.What is the key information the author wants to give in Paragraph 1?( )

A.Plants’ reaction to weather could have damaging effects on ecosystems.

B.The increasing speed of flowering is beyond scientists’expectation.

C.Climate change leads to the change of food production patterns.

D.Food chains have been seriously damaged because of weather.

2.We can learn from the study published on the Nature website that .

A.plants’ flowering is 8.5 times faster than leafing

B.there are 1,634 plant species on the four continents

C.scientists should improve the design of the experiments

D.the experiments failed to predict how plants react to climate change

3.Scientists pay special attention to the study of plants because .

A.they can prove the climate change clearly

B.they are very important in the food chains

C.they play a leading role in reducing global warming

D.they are growing and flowering much faster than before

4.What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs about the world’s temperature?( )

A.It has risen nearly 0.2℃ since 1979.

B.Its change will lead to weather extremes.

C.It is 0.8℃ higher in 1979 than that of 1900.

D.It needs to be controlled within 2℃ in this century.

语篇解读:本文为说明文,题材为科普知识类。温室效应已经影响了植物的生长类型,由于植物在食物链和生态系统中有着重要影响,科学家们正致力于研究其生长变化。

答案及剖析:1.B主旨大意题。根据第一段Plants are flowering faster than scientists predicted(预测)in reaction to climate change...可知本题应选择B项。

2.C 事实细节题。根据文章第五段最后一句话It found that some experiments had underestimated(低估)the speed of flowering...以及第七段The design of future experiments may need to be improved to better predict...可知本题应选择C项。