C
The world’s hottest rainforest is located not in the Amazon or anywhere else you might expect, but inside Biosphere (生物圈) 2, the experimental scientific research facility in the desert outside Tucson, Arizona. A recent study of tropical trees planted there in the early 1990s reported a surprising result: They have withstood temperatures higher than any likely to be experienced by tropical forests this century.
The study adds to a growing number of findings that are giving forest scientists something that’s been in short supply lately : hope. Plants may have unexpected resources that could help them survive — and perhaps even prosper — in a hotter, more carbon-rich future. And while tropical forests still face both human and natural threats, some researchers believe terrible reports of their approaching decline due to climate change may have been overstated.
“Biology is clever, ”says Scott Saleska, an ecologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson and co-leader of the Biosphere 2 study. “It’s a lot smarter than our models yet represent.”
The last few years have seen a flood of alarming reports about forests and climate change’s effects on them. Scientists have announced that the Amazon forest is no longer a reliable carbon sink; the Amazon rainforest may be nearing a tipping point; tropical forests globally are already close to the hottest temperatures they can tolerate and climate change is killing off old trees.
One thing is certainly true: Our fossil fuel emissions are creating a climate that humans have never seen and trees haven’t experienced in a very long time.“We’re pushing tropical forests into temperatures they’ve never seen since the Cretaceous — since there were dinosaurs,” says Abigail Swann, an ecologist and climate scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle.
8. Where is the hottest rainforest located according to the article?
A. In the Amazon tropical forest. B. In a research facility in Arizona.
C. In the rainforest in Brazil. D. At the University of Arizona.
9. What can we conclude from the second paragraph?
A. Forest scientists still lack numbers of findings about rainforest.
B. Plants may not survive in hot and carbon rich future than expected.
C. Plants may survive in hotter and more carbon-rich environment.
D. People may overstate the climate change in the future.
10. How will the fossil fuel emissions change the climate?
A. We have never seen the climate change due to greenhouse.
B. The fossil fuel emissions may destroy the whole ecosystem.
C. The temperatures may reach as high as those in dinosaur period.
D. The fossil fuel emissions may create a climate plants can’t bear.
11. What may be the best title of the article?
A. The world’s hottest rainforest in the wild
B. Plants may die of fossil fuel emissions due to mankind
C. The Amazon forest is declining quickly in the future
D. Plants may stand hotter temperature than expected
【答案】8. B 9. C 10. C 11. D
【解析】
【分析】本文是一篇说明文。文章介绍研究发现，植物可以忍受超过预期的高温。
【8题详解】
细节理解题。根据文章第一段“The world’s hottest rainforest is located not in the Amazon or anywhere else you might expect, but inside Biosphere (生物圈) 2, the experimental scientific research facility in the desert outside Tucson, Arizona.(世界上最热的雨林并不在亚马逊或其他你可能想到的地方，而是在生物圈2号，亚利桑那州图森市外沙漠中的实验科学研究设施)” 可知，最热的雨林位于亚利桑那州的一个研究机构。故选B。
【9题详解】
细节理解题。根据文章第二段“Plants may have unexpected resources that could help them survive — and perhaps even prosper—in a hotter, more carbon-rich future.(植物可能拥有意想不到的资源，这些资源可以帮助它们在更热、更富碳的未来生存——甚至繁荣)”可知，植物可以在更热、更富碳的环境中生存。故选C。
【10题详解】
细节理解题。根据文章最后一段“Our fossil fuel emissions are creating a climate that humans have never seen and trees haven’t experienced in a very long time. “We’re pushing tropical forests into temperatures they’ve never seen since the Cretaceous—since there were dinosaurs,” says Abigail Swann, an ecologist and climate scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle.(我们的化石燃料排放正在创造一种人类从未见过、树木很久都没有经历过的气候。“我们把热带雨林到温度他们从未见过自白垩纪以来一有恐龙,” 阿比盖尔斯万说,生态学家和西雅图华盛顿大学的气候科学家)”可知，化石燃料排放使得温度可能会达到恐龙时期的温度。故选C。
【11题详解】
主旨大意题。根据文章第一段“A recent study of tropical trees planted there in the early 1990s reported a surprising result: They have withstood temperatures higher than any likely to be experienced by tropical forests this century.(最近一项对20世纪90年代初在那里种植的热带树木的研究报告了一个令人惊讶的结果：它们经受的温度比本世纪热带森林可能经受的任何温度都要高)”及全文内容可知，文章主要介绍植物可以忍受超过预期的高温。故选D。
The world’s hottest rainforest is located not in the Amazon or anywhere else you might expect, but inside Biosphere (生物圈) 2, the experimental scientific research facility in the desert outside Tucson, Arizona. A recent study of tropical trees planted there in the early 1990s reported a surprising result: They have withstood temperatures higher than any likely to be experienced by tropical forests this century.
The study adds to a growing number of findings that are giving forest scientists something that’s been in short supply lately : hope. Plants may have unexpected resources that could help them survive — and perhaps even prosper — in a hotter, more carbon-rich future. And while tropical forests still face both human and natural threats, some researchers believe terrible reports of their approaching decline due to climate change may have been overstated.
“Biology is clever, ”says Scott Saleska, an ecologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson and co-leader of the Biosphere 2 study. “It’s a lot smarter than our models yet represent.”
The last few years have seen a flood of alarming reports about forests and climate change’s effects on them. Scientists have announced that the Amazon forest is no longer a reliable carbon sink; the Amazon rainforest may be nearing a tipping point; tropical forests globally are already close to the hottest temperatures they can tolerate and climate change is killing off old trees.
One thing is certainly true: Our fossil fuel emissions are creating a climate that humans have never seen and trees haven’t experienced in a very long time.“We’re pushing tropical forests into temperatures they’ve never seen since the Cretaceous — since there were dinosaurs,” says Abigail Swann, an ecologist and climate scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle.
8. Where is the hottest rainforest located according to the article?
A. In the Amazon tropical forest. B. In a research facility in Arizona.
C. In the rainforest in Brazil. D. At the University of Arizona.
9. What can we conclude from the second paragraph?
A. Forest scientists still lack numbers of findings about rainforest.
B. Plants may not survive in hot and carbon rich future than expected.
C. Plants may survive in hotter and more carbon-rich environment.
D. People may overstate the climate change in the future.
10. How will the fossil fuel emissions change the climate?
A. We have never seen the climate change due to greenhouse.
B. The fossil fuel emissions may destroy the whole ecosystem.
C. The temperatures may reach as high as those in dinosaur period.
D. The fossil fuel emissions may create a climate plants can’t bear.
11. What may be the best title of the article?
A. The world’s hottest rainforest in the wild
B. Plants may die of fossil fuel emissions due to mankind
C. The Amazon forest is declining quickly in the future
D. Plants may stand hotter temperature than expected
【答案】8. B 9. C 10. C 11. D
【解析】
【分析】本文是一篇说明文。文章介绍研究发现，植物可以忍受超过预期的高温。
【8题详解】
细节理解题。根据文章第一段“The world’s hottest rainforest is located not in the Amazon or anywhere else you might expect, but inside Biosphere (生物圈) 2, the experimental scientific research facility in the desert outside Tucson, Arizona.(世界上最热的雨林并不在亚马逊或其他你可能想到的地方，而是在生物圈2号，亚利桑那州图森市外沙漠中的实验科学研究设施)” 可知，最热的雨林位于亚利桑那州的一个研究机构。故选B。
【9题详解】
细节理解题。根据文章第二段“Plants may have unexpected resources that could help them survive — and perhaps even prosper—in a hotter, more carbon-rich future.(植物可能拥有意想不到的资源，这些资源可以帮助它们在更热、更富碳的未来生存——甚至繁荣)”可知，植物可以在更热、更富碳的环境中生存。故选C。
【10题详解】
细节理解题。根据文章最后一段“Our fossil fuel emissions are creating a climate that humans have never seen and trees haven’t experienced in a very long time. “We’re pushing tropical forests into temperatures they’ve never seen since the Cretaceous—since there were dinosaurs,” says Abigail Swann, an ecologist and climate scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle.(我们的化石燃料排放正在创造一种人类从未见过、树木很久都没有经历过的气候。“我们把热带雨林到温度他们从未见过自白垩纪以来一有恐龙,” 阿比盖尔斯万说,生态学家和西雅图华盛顿大学的气候科学家)”可知，化石燃料排放使得温度可能会达到恐龙时期的温度。故选C。
【11题详解】
主旨大意题。根据文章第一段“A recent study of tropical trees planted there in the early 1990s reported a surprising result: They have withstood temperatures higher than any likely to be experienced by tropical forests this century.(最近一项对20世纪90年代初在那里种植的热带树木的研究报告了一个令人惊讶的结果：它们经受的温度比本世纪热带森林可能经受的任何温度都要高)”及全文内容可知，文章主要介绍植物可以忍受超过预期的高温。故选D。
