2015职称英语(理工类)教材阅读理解文章及译文(2)

　　Egypt Felled by Famine

　　The ancient Egyptians depended on the Niles annual floods to irrigate their crops. But any change in climate that pushed the African monsoons southwards out of Ethiopia would have diminished these floods.

　　The Blue Nile mud has a different isotope signature from that of the White Nile. So by analyzing isotope differences in mud deposited in the Nile Delta, Michael Krom of leeds University worked out what proportion of sediment came from each branch of the river.

　　The weakened waters would have been catastrophic for the Egyptians. Changes that affect food supply dont have to be very large to have a ripple effect in societies, says Bill Ryan of the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory in New York.

　　词汇：

　　dwindle 逐渐变少，逐渐变小;使变少，使变小

　　geoarchaeologist 地质考古学家

　　signature 签名;特征

　　注释：

　　2.Ethiopia：埃塞俄比亚

　　4.the White Nile：白尼罗河

　　1. Why does the author mention pyramid builders?

　　B. because they were well-built

　　D. because even they were unable to rescue their civilization

　　A. Change of climate

　　C. food

　　3. Which of the following statements is true?

　　B. The White Nile is the trunk of the Blue Bile

　　D. The White Nile and the Blue Nile are branches of the River Nile

　　A. immediately after a period of drought

　　C. just before a drought struck

　　5. The word devastating in the last paragraph could be best replaced by

　　B. damaging

　　D. worrying