Question

The Earth Is Getting Greener

NASA has got some good news for us. The world is a greener place today than it was 20 years ago. How does this happen? Well, it appears China and India are leading the change.

NASA researchers compared satellite data(卫星数据) from the mid-1990s to today. They found that the whole world’s green leaf area had increased by 5% since the early 2000s. That’s about the same area as the whole Amazon rain forest. At first, the researchers were unsure what caused the large increase in greening around the planet. After further study, they found that greening was mostly in China and India.

China and India have the world’s biggest population. In the past, they were considered to have harmed the environment seriously. But the two countries have made the largest greening of the planet exist in the past twenty years.

The tree-planting programmes in both countries have made huge contributions to the whole world’s greening trend(趋势). China has carried out the programmes to protect forests and make them larger. These programmes were developed to keep soil in place to reduce air pollution and so on. India continues to break world records in tree planting. It was reported that 800,000 Indians planted 50 million trees in one day in 2016.

The greening trend has also caused by intensive(集中的) agriculture in both countries. Both countries have greatly increased food pollution in order to feed their large populations.

However, the researchers warned that we should not be happy with the situation. Some of the natural green leaf areas in the earth are getting smaller at the same time. The gain in global greenness does not offset(抵消) the losses.

1.How much had the whole world’s green leaf area increased since the early 2000s?

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2.According to the passage, what has made the whole world’s greening trend happen?

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3.Do you think the environment in Suzhou will get better? Why or why not?

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Answer

1.The whole world’s green leaf area had increased by 5% since the early 2000s.

2.The tree-planting programmes in China and India.

3.Yes, because both the government and we citizens in Suzhou will pay more attention to the environment.

【解析】

本文是一篇新闻报道，介绍了NASA的一个新发现：世界变得越来越绿了，其中最大的功臣是中国和印度。

1.

题意：自21世纪初以来，全世界的绿化面积增加了多少？

根据原文They found that the whole world’s green leaf area had increased by 5% since the early 2000s可知，自21世纪初以来，全世界的绿化面积增加了5%。故答案为The whole world’s green leaf area had increased by 5% since the early 2000s.

2.

题意：根据本文内容，是什么让整个世界发生了绿化趋势？

根据原文The tree-planting programmes in both countries have made huge contributions to the whole world’s greening trend可知，中国和印度的植树计划对整个世界的绿化趋势贡献颇多。故答案为The tree-planting programmes in China and India.

3.

题意：你认为苏州的环境会变得更好吗？理由是？

本题为主观题，无标准答案，言之有理即可。故参考答案为Yes, because both the government and we citizens in Suzhou will pay more attention to the environment.