职称英语备考资料阅读理解例题精解(3)

　　例三： 　　Older Volcanic Eruptions 　　1. Volcanoes were more destructive in ancient history, not because they were bigger, but because the carbon dioxide they released wiped out life greater ease. 　　2. Paul Wignall from the University of Leeds was investigating the link between volcanic eruptions and mass extinctions. Not all volcanic eruptions killed off large numbers of animals, but all the mass extinctions over the past 300 million years coincided with huge formations of volcanic rock. To his surprise, the older the massive volcanic eruptions were, the more more damage they seemed to do . He calculated the killing efficiency for these volcanoes by comparing the proportion of life they killed off with the volume of lava that they produced. He found that size for size, older eruptions were at least 10 times as effective at wiping out life as their more recent rivals. 　　3. The Permian extinction, for example, which happened 250 million years ago, is marked by floods of volcanic rock in Siberia that cover an area roughly the size of western Europe. Those volcanoes are thought to have pumped out about 10 gigatonnes of carbon as carbon dioxide. The global warming that followed wiped out 80 per cent of all marine genera at the time, and it took 5 million years for the planet to recover. Yet 60 million years ago, there was another huge amount of volcanic activity and global warming but no mass extinction. Some animals did disappear but things returned to normal within ten thousands of years. The most recent ones hardly have an effect at all, Wignall says. He ignored the extinction which wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, because many scientists believe it was primarily caused by the impact of an asteroid. He thinks that older volcanoes had more killing power because more recent life forms were better adapted to dealing with increased levels of CO2. 　　4. Vincent Courtillot, director of the paris Geophysical Institute in France, says that Wignalls idea is provocative. But he says it is incredibly hard to do these sorts of calculations. He points out that the killing power of volcanic eruptions depends on how long they lasted. And it is impossible to tell whether the huge blasts lasted for thousands or millions of years. He also adds that it is difficult to estimate how much lava prehistoric volcanoes produced, and that lava volume may not necessarily correspond to carbon dioxide emissions. 　　1. Why did older volcanic eruptions do more damage than more recent ones? 　　A. Because they killed off life more easily. 　　B. Because they were brighter. 　　C. Because they were larger. 　　D. Because they were hotter. 　　2. How did Wignall calculate the killing power of those older volcanic eruptions? 　　A. By estimating how long they lasted. 　　B. By counting the dinosaurs they killed. 　　C. By studying the chemical composition of lava. 　　D. By comparing the proportion of life wiped out with the volume of lava produced. 　　3. When did dinosaurs become extinct? 　　A) 300 million years ago. 　　B) 250 million years ago. 　　C) 60 million years ago. 　　D) 65 million years ago 　　4.What can be inferred from paragraph 3 concerning dinosaurs? 　　A) They were killed off by an asteroid. 　　B) They died of drastic climate change. 　　C) They were wiped off by a volcanic eruption. 　　D) The cause of their extinction has remained a controversial issue. 　　5. What is the main thesis of the article? 　　A) Volcanic eruptions are not always deadly. 　　B) Older volcanic eruptions were more destructive. 　　C) Carbon dioxide emissions often give rise to global warming. 　　D) It is not easy to calculate the killing power of a volcanic eruption. 　　解标题：Older Volcanic（火山的） Eruptions（喷发） 　　本文讲的是远古火山喷发,所以older volcanic eruptions应是核心词。 　　1. Why did older volcanic eruptions do more damage than more recent ones?（为什么远古火山喷发比近期喷发损害更大？） 　　A. Because they killed off life more easily. 　　B. Because they were brighter. 　　C. Because they were larger. 　　D. Because they were hotter. 　　分析：细节题。第一题，一般在开头段落寻找答案。 　　Volcanoes were more destructive（更具有破坏性的）in ancient history（在古代的劳历史中）, not because （不是因为）they were bigger, but because （而是因为）the carbon dioxide（二氧化碳）they released（他们所释放的，定语修饰前面的the carbon dioxide） wipedout擦去、抹去 life生命 greater ease（更容易）. 　　句子是说：古代的火山更具杀伤力，不是因为它们更大，而是因为它们释放出来的二氧化碳更容易把人杀死。所以答案A表述的内容同本段相符。 　　2. How（如何，询问方式） did Wignall calculate （计算）the killing power （杀伤力）of those older volcanic eruptions? 　　A. By estimating how long they lasted.通过估计他们持续多长时间。 　　B. By counting the dinosaurs they killed.通过数死去的恐龙的的数量 　　C. By studying the chemical composition of lava.通过研究熔岩的化学构成。 　　D. By comparing the proportion of life wiped out with the volume of lava produced.通过比较火山释放出的熔岩的体积与杀死生命的比例。 　　分析：毫无疑问这是细节题，核心词就是人名：Wignall。 　　Paul Wignall（核心词出现了，接下来的内容请大家注意了！！！）from the University of Leeds was investigating the link between volcanic eruptions and mass extinctions. Not all volcanic eruptions killed off large numbers of animals, but all the mass extinctions over the past 300 million years coincided with huge formations of volcanic rock. To his surprise, the older the massive volcanic eruptions were, the more damage they seemed to do . He（代指Wignall ） calculated the killing efficiency（功效） for these volcanoes by comparing（比较）the proportion（比例）of life they killed off with the volume of lava（熔岩)that they produced. He found that size for size, older eruptions were at least 10 times as effective at wiping out life as their more recent rivals. 　　3. When did dinosaurs become extinct?恐龙什么时候灭绝的？ 　　A) 300 million years ago. 　　B) 250 million years ago. 　　C) 60 million years ago. 　　D) 65 million years ago 　　分析：这是标准的细节题，核心词：dinosaurs become extinct。而且这题的特点就是数字，所以在接下来的段落中大家要用笔标出所见到的数字加以判断！ 　　The Permian extinction, for example, which happened 250 million years ago（答案B，但和dinosaurs become extinct没有关系，不是答案！）, is marked by floods of volcanic rock in Siberia that cover an area roughly the size of western Europe. Those volcanoes are thought to have pumped out about 10 gigatonnes of carbon as carbon dioxide. The global warming that followed wiped out 80 per cent of all marine genera at the time, and it took 5 million years for the planet to recover. Yet 60 million years ago（答案C，但和dinosaurs become extinct没有关系，不是答案！）, there was another huge amount of volcanic activity and global warming but no mass extinction. Some animals did disappear but things returned to normal within ten thousands of years. The most recent ones hardly have an effect at all, Wignall says. He ignored the extinction（该词是extinct的同根词，所以含义应是一样的！） which wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago（这是答案D，所以这就是我们所要找的！！！）, because many scientists believe it was primarily caused by the impact of an asteroid. He thinks that older volcanoes had more killing power because more recent life forms were better adapted to dealing with increased levels of CO2. 　　4.What can be inferred from paragraph 3 concerning（关于、涉及到） dinosaurs? 　　A) They were killed off by an asteroid（小行星）. 　　B) They died of（死于） drastic（急剧的） climate change. 　　C) They were wiped off by a volcanic eruption. 　　D) The cause of their extinction has remained a controversial （有争议的）issue. 　　分析：题目就告诉我们这是一道推断题，是第三段。这是一道比较难的题目。需要大家要读懂句子，还要有推理能力： 　　相关的句子：The most recent ones hardly have an effect at all, Wignall says. He ignored（忽略、忽视） the extinction which wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, because many scientists believe it was primarily caused by the impact of an asteroid. He thinks that older volcanoes had more killing power because more recent life forms were better adapted to（更好的适应） dealing with increased levels of CO2. 　　主要句子是说：Wignall忽略了6千5百万年前恐龙的灭绝是否跟火山爆发有关，而其他很多科学家都认为恐龙的灭绝是受一颗小行星的影响。这就可以说明科学家们关于恐龙灭绝的原因是由争议的，因此选择D。 　　5. What is the main thesis of the article?（文章的主要论点是什么？） 　　A) Volcanic eruptions are not always deadly. 　　B) Older volcanic eruptions were more destructive. 　　C) Carbon dioxide emissions often give rise to global warming. 　　D) It is not easy to calculate the killing power of a volcanic eruption. 　　分析：通过题目分析这是一道主旨题。相当于在文章里寻找中心句。其实文章第一段就是中心：Volcanoes were more destructive in ancient history, not because they were bigger, but because the carbon dioxide they released wiped out life greater ease.