West Antarctica is melting.Is the east in danger，too

河南濮阳县第三中学 李少华

体裁 说明文 文章词数 2 8 7难度指数★★★题材 环境建议用时5′

Recently，evidence shows that some of the East Antarctic glaciers（冰川）have also started on a slow，backward march that could eventuallylead tothe loss of even more ice than exists in all of West Antarctica.

In a study published in July，scientists found that the Totten and Moscow University glaciers of East Antarctica—directly south of Australia—lost about 18 billion tons of ice each year between 2002 and 2016.

That's only about a third of what the West Antarctic glaciers are losing each year.Butlocked upin the Totten and the smaller neighboring Moscow University glaciers of East Antarctica is enough ice to raise sea levels over 16 feet.If melted fully，the complete melting of the West Antarctic glaciers，would cause more damage.

Scientists have long worried about the West Antarctic glaciers.Not only is warm water gnawing（侵蚀）at their edges.The biggest issuelies inthe very shape of the land upon which they sit.Much of the rock floor underneath（在……底下）the glaciers lies far below sea level.The glaciers above are fat with ice，tucked into（塞进）the basin（海盆）like a giant（巨大的）ice cube frozen into a bowl.

The edges of the ice sheet spill（溢出）over the edges of the bowl and poke out（涌出）into the ocean like a mushroom cap，floating on top of the sea that surrounds the continent.That cap provides a key service，which blocks the ocean from reaching the lip of the giant rock bowl in which the ice sheet sits.But if those edges decrease too fast，ocean watersrun outof the bowl and start rushing inunder the bottom ofthe ice sheet.And water—even very cold Antarctic water melts ice.

Reading check

Read the text and find the right answers.

1.How does the author organize the paragraph 2？

A.By listing figures.

B.By giving examples.

C.By making a comparison.

D.By analyzing the process.

2.What do the scientists worry about West Antarctic glaciers？

A.The sea level becomes higher and higher.

B.The sea water become warmer and warmer.

C.The edges of the ice sheet become sharper and sharper.

D.The shape of the land where they lie is like a bowl.

3.What's the function of the“mushroom cap”？

A.Stop the sea water warming too fast.

B.Keep the glaciers from moving to the east.

C.Prevent the ocean arriving in the edges of the“bowl”.

D.Protect the glaciers being damaged by

human being.

4.What is the purpose of this text？

A.To introduce a natural phenomenon.

B.To encourage people to visit the East Antarctic glaciers.

C.To urge the government to save the East Antarctic glaciers.

D.To warn people that the East Antarctic glaciers are in danger.

Language study

Vocabulary

1.lead to导致

2.lock up关起来

3.cause damage造成破坏

4.lie in在于

5.run out跑出去

6.under the bottom of在……的底部

Difficult sentence

过去分词作条件状语

If_______（melt） fully，the complete melting of the West Antarctic glaciers，would cause more damage.

翻译：______________________________________________________________

【点石成金】句中所缺的部分应该是非谓语部分，且非谓语动词与其逻辑主语the complete melting of the West Antarctic glaciers是被动关系，所以应用过去分词形式。