佛蒙特州洪水因气候变化而加剧

顾芳

佛蒙特州蒙彼利埃市及其周邊社区的街道变成了湍急的河流，由气候变化引发的强降雨会更频繁地发生。

主题语境：自然环境篇幅：346词建议用时：7分钟

1 Streets in Montpelier， Vermont and surrounding communities turned into rushingrivers recently， a dramatic display of what could happen more often as climate change fuelsheavier rainfall events. While flooding at the scale seen in Vermont remains rare in individualcommunities， extreme rainfall events happenmore often in the Northeast and much of easternAmerica and are expected to occur even morefrequently in the decades， several experts said.

2 Heavy rainfall events could increase in theNortheast by an additional 52% by the end of thecentury， a study warned. “The number of wetdays that experience extreme rainfall—the top 1% of wet days—is increasing quite significantly，”said the studys lead author Christopher Picard.

3“ These big increases in rainfall events arent just happening in the Northeast，”said Ken Kunkel， an atomospheric sciences professor. “Theyre happening in much ofthe eastern half of the US and in other parts of the world. Globally， more places haveseen increases in rainfall， and the evidence is pretty strong that its due to global warming.”

4 The weather service reported 9.2 inches of rain fell in Calais， Vermont， with rainfallamounts over five inches widespread in the region. The Winooski River in Montpelier rose15 feet in a day and nearly 100 road closures were reported.

5“ While its difficult to decisively say anything about one event， this is completelyconsistent with increasing rainfall in the Northeast and part of that being driven by climatechange，” said Jonathan Winter， associate professor of geography at Dartmouth.

6“ Warmer temperatures affect the movement of the jet stream and moisture （湿气）flow from the Gulf of Mexico and other large water bodies. Hotter oceans put morewarmth and more moisture into the atmosphere，” Kunkel said. Record heat is occurring inthe North Atlantic this summer. Marine heat waves covered 40% of the worlds oceans inJune， and that number was expected to increase to 50% by the end of summer.

ReadingCheck

1. Which of the following can describe future extreme rainfall？

A. Severe but local.

B. Slight and average.

C. Common and wide.

D. Frequent but regional.

2. What was the direct result after the flood of the Winooski River？

A. Most roads were ruined.

B. Transportation was delayed.

C. Goods price went up instantly.

D. The weather service broke down.

3. What did Kunkel try to express in paragraph 6？

A. More water is found in the air.

B. Record heat makes the air drier.

C. Heat waves in Marine come to a stop.

D. Rising temperatures make oceans hotter.

4. What is the purpose of the text？

A. To show that climate change worsens Vermont flooding.

B. To show that record heat occurs in the North Atlantic.

C. To prove that streets in Vermont desire for repair.

D. To prove that its time to control global warming.

 LanguageStudy

Ⅰ. 日積月累

dramaticadj. 引人注目的

displayn. 表现

fuelv. 给……提供燃料；加强；刺激

significantlyadv. 显著地

evidencen. 证据

decisivelyadv. 果断地

consistentadj. 与……一致的；连贯的

due to 因为；由于

have an opportunity for 有机会……

Ⅱ. 单句填空

1. We know well the pattern of _____could happen when we suffer from floods.

2. House prices have gone up_____10% in the past three years.

3. There is enough evidence_____global warming is changing the world.

4. The results are entirely consistent_____our earlier research.

5. More frequent climate changes are bringing_____ （heavy） rainfall events.

6. Most of this explosive growth_____ （occur） in developing countries now.