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 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 fertilization from the added carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But with data from NASA satellites, scientists realized that humans are also contributing, which was all against our expectations.”

Nemani sees a positive message in the new findings. “Once people realize there is a problem, they tend to fix it,” he said. “In the 1970sand 1980s in India and China, the situation around vegetation loss was not good. In the 1990s, people realized 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.suitable for analyzing data

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 analyzing 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】

这是一篇说明文。根据美国国家航空航天局最近的数据显示，由于中国雄心勃勃的植树计划和中印两国的集约化农业，中国和印度的人类活动主导了地球的绿化。文章就中国和印度对地球的绿化列举了具体的数字，指出人类具有难以置信的复原力，还建议人类应该好好利用耕地。

1.主旨大意题。根据第二段中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%.可知中国的贡献在很大程度上来自于其保护和扩大森林的计划，约占绿化的42%。中国农田的绿化率约为32%，而印度约为82%。由此可知，第二段主要说明了中国对全球绿化的突出贡献，故选B。

2.细节理解题。根据第三段中But with data from NASA satellites, scientists realized that humans are also contributing, which was all against our expectations.可知但是通过NASA卫星的数据，科学家们意识到人类也在做出贡献，这完全出乎我们的意料。由此可知，人类活动也会有助于全球绿化，这出乎科学家们的意料。故选A。

3.词义猜测题。根据上文“Once people realize there is a problem, they tend to fix it,” he said. “In the 1970sand 1980s in India and China, the situation around vegetation loss was not good. In the 1990s, people realized it, and today things have improved. 可知“一旦人们意识到有问题，他们就会去解决它，”他说。“在20世纪70年代和80年代，印度和中国的植被损失情况并不好。在20世纪90年代，人们意识到了这一点，今天情况有所改善。”由此可知，人类具有难以置信的纠正自我错误，复原的能力，划线单词意思为“能够改正错误”。故选C。

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.可知然而，研究人员也敲响了警钟。他们说，全球绿化的增加并不一定能弥补巴西和印度尼西亚等地区自然植被的损失。由此可推知，要实现全球绿色，还有很多工作要做。故选B。