Question

    The world is a greener place than it was 20 years ago. Recent NASA satellites data(2000—2017) have shown that human activities in China and India dominate this greening of the planet, thanks to ambitious tree-planting programmes in China and intensive agriculture(集约农业) in both countries.

The researchers from Boston University found that global green leaf area has increased by 5 percent in the new century, an area equal to all of the Amazon rainforest. China alone accounts for 25% of the global net increase in leaf area with only 6.6% of global vegetated area. China's contribution comes in large part from its programmes to conserve and expand forests, taking up about 42 percent of the greening. The greening from farmlands in China is about 32%, but that in India is about 82%.

Rama Nemani, a research scientist at NASA's Ames Research Centre and a co-author of the study said, ''When the greening of the Earth was first observed, we thought it was due to a warmer, wetter climate and fertilisation from the added carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But with data from NASA satellites, scientists realised that humans are also contributing, which was all against our expectations. ''

Nemani sees a positive message in the new findings. ''Once people realise there is a problem, they tend to fix it, '' he said. ''In the 1970s and 1980s in India and China, the situation around vegetation loss was not good. In the 1990s, people realised it, and today things have improved. Humans are incredibly resilient. That is what we see in the satellite data. ''

However, the researchers rang bells as well. They said that the gain in global greenness did not necessarily make up for the loss of natural vegetation in regions like Brazil and Indonesia.

1.What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A.The decreasing size of the Amazon rainforest.

B.China's bigger contribution to global greening.

C.Total global green leaf area in the new century.

D.China's programmes to conserve and expand forests.

2.What surprised scientists regarding global greening?

A.Human activities. B.The level of fertilisation.

C.A warmer and wetter climate. D.Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

3.What does the underlined word ''resilient'' probably mean?

A.Good at making programmes. B.Suitable for analysing data.

C.Able to make corrections. D.Active in planting trees.

4.What does the last paragraph imply?

A.It is urgent to protect global natural resources.

B.Much remains to be done for global greenness.

C.Brazil and Indonesia lose most of their vegetation.

D.Global greenness needs all countries to work together.

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.C

4.B

【解析】

这是一篇新闻报道。据研究报道，印度和中国正在引领全球的绿色行动，让地球变绿。作者建议人类应该好好利用耕地，保护环境。

1.主旨大意题。根据本段的主要内容，尤其是China alone accounts for 25% of the global net increase in leaf area with only 6.6% of global vegetated area. China's contribution comes in large part from its programmes to conserve and expand forests, taking up about 42 percent of the greening. The greening from farmlands in China is about 32%,(仅中国就占全球叶绿面积净增长的25%，，占全球植被面积的6.6%。中国的主要贡献来自于起保护和扩大森林的计划，约占绿化的42%。中国的农田绿化率约为32%)可知，第二段主要说明了中国对全球绿化的突出贡献。B. China's bigger contribution to global greening.(中国对去求绿化的巨大贡献)符合以上说法，故选B项。

2.细节理解题。根据第三段中的But with data from NASA satellites, scientists realised that humans are also contributing, which was all against our expectations.可知，通过NASA卫星的数据，科学家意识到人类活动也会有助于全球绿化，这出乎科学家们的意料。即让科学家家惊讶的是人类活动也有助于全球绿化。A. Human activities.(人类活动)符合以上说法，故选A项。

3.词义猜测题。根据最后一段的''Once people realise there is a problem, they tend to fix it, '' he said. ''In the 1970s and 1980s in India and China, the situation around vegetation loss was not good.In the 1990s, people realised it, and today things have improved. Humans are incredibly resilient. ''可知，一旦人们意识到问题，他们往往会去解决它。在20世纪70年代和80年代中国和印度的植被情况不太好。在20世纪90年代人们意识到了这个问题，而现在情况有了好转，人类是非常resilient。结合句意可知，当人们意识到问题时，会迅速做出了调整来解决问题，故推测划线部分的意思是“做出调整/纠正问题”。C. Able to make corrections.(能够改正错误)符合以上猜测，故选C项。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段However, the researchers rang bells as well. They said that the gain in global greenness did not necessarily make up for the loss of natural vegetation in regions like Brazil and Indonesia.(但是，科学家也敲响了警钟。他们说，全球绿化面积的增加并没有弥补巴西和印度尼西亚减少的自然植被)可推测，对于全球绿化，人类做得还远远不够。B. Much remains to be done for global greenness.(全球绿化还有很多工作要做)符合以上推测，故选B项。