8模块八课文原文.docx
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8模块八课文原文.docx
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8模块八课文原文
Canwetaketheheat?
Inthelastfewdecades,scientistshavereachedconsensusand
reportedthathumanbeingsarecausingchangesintheEarth'sclimate-somethingpreviouslyseenasbeyondourcontrol.Theyclaimthatinthelast50years,gasespumpedintotheEarth'satmospherebythefactoriesandvehicleshavebeenspeedinguptheprocessofglobalwarmingandaffectingourclimate.Lookingahead,scientistsbelievethatglobalwarmingcouldbeoneofthebiggestenvironmentalproblemsfacingthe21stcentury.Butwhatexactlyisglobalwarming,whyisitseenasadanger,andhowisitrelevanttoourlives?
GlobalwarmingreferstoanaverageincreaseintheEarth'stemperaturethat,inturn,leadstoclimatechange.ScientistsfoundthatthetemperatureoftheEarthiscontrolledbygreenhousegasessuchascarbondioxidewhichtrapheatfromthesunintheEarth'satmosphere.Withoutthesenaturallyoccurringgases,thesun'srayswouldbouncebackintospaceleavingtheEarthcoldandimpossibletoliveon.Whenthepresenceofthesegasesintheatmosphereincrease,however,moreheatistrappedandtheEarth'stemperaturerises.
Overthelast100years,theglobalaveragetemperaturehasincreasedby1°Fandmanyexpertsinsistthattheblameforthisglobalwarmingcanmostlybepinnedonhumanactivities.Asaresultofincreasedindustry,agriculture,thecuttingdownofforests,theincreaseintransportandtheburningoffuels,nearly6tonnesofcarbondioxidegoesintotheatmosphereeveryyearforeveryoneoftheEarth's6billionpeople.Theamountofcarbondioxideintheatmospherehasrisenbymorethan30%inthelast250yearswithhalfofthisincreaseoccurringsince1960.Giventhisdata,itseemsthatthelinkbetweenhumanactivitiesandrisingglobaltemperaturesisnotmerelyacoincidence.
Atemperatureincreaseof1?
Fmaynotsoundlikealot,butifwe
continuetoproducecarbondioxideandothergasesinsuchhugequantities,wearecondemninglifeonEarthandshouldexpectsevereconsequences.Recentreportswarnedthatglobalwarmingwillcauseterribleclimatechangesincludingmorefrequentflooding,heatwavesanddroughts.Seriousdiseaseswillspreadandindustriesthatrelyonnaturesuchasfishingwillbebadlyaffected.Increasedtemperatureswillalsocausethepolaricetomelt,raisingsealevelsandfloodingmanyislandsandcities.Howcanwestopthesedisastersfromhappening?
Governmentsallovertheworldhavearesponsibilitytoreducetheamountofcarbondioxidewhichtheircountriesareproducing.Iflesscarbondioxidegoesintotheatmosphere,globalwarmingwillslowdown.Thisisnoeasytask,however,andsomegovernments,forexample,theUSA'sfederalgovernment,expressreservationsaboutwhetherglobalwarmingisreallycausedbyhumanactivities.
ManypeoplebelievethattheyaresimplynotpreparedtosacrificetheamountofmoneytheymakefromindustrytosavetheEarth.Butwhywaitaroundforgovernmentstotakeaction?
Expertsadvocatethateachpersonplaytheirpart.Theysuggestmakingsmallchangesliketakingpublictransport,recycling,usinglow-flowshowerheads,andbuyinglightbulbsthatuselessenergy.Evensimplethingslikeusingrecycledpaperorswitchingoffthelightswhenyouleavearoomcanhelp.Ifweaddupallthesesmallchangesmadebyeveryoneworldwide,theywon'tbesuchsmallchanges.Theycouldbethechangesthatsaveourfuture.Afterall,there'snosubstituteforourEarth.It'sallwe'vegottoliveon.
Natureisturningonus
Thelastfewyearshaveseenenvironmentaldisastersonagrandscale,andexpertsarepredictingfarworsetocome.JinLireportsonourEarth'schangeableweatherpatterns.
Inthelastdecade,thunderstorms,floods,earthquakes,typhoons,volcaniceruptions,tsunamisandforestfireshavebecomeincreasinglycommon.TherehasbeenterriblefloodinginAsia,Africa,AmericaandOceania.
(1)Stormshavebeengettingworseeverywheretoo,
withagrowingnumberofhurricaneshittingtheUS,andCentralAmerica.ReducedrainfallhasaffectedlargeareasofAfricaforyearsleavingirrigationcanalsdryandmanyotherzonesarebecomingdrier.
(2)Anumberofnationshavealreadybeeninarmedconflictoverwater,andreducedrainfallinthewestoftheUShasresultedinhugeforestfires.
Volcaniceruptionsandearthquakeshavealwaysbeenathreatincertainpartsoftheworld.AvolcaniceruptionnearlywipedoutthesmallislandofMontserratin1997,andtherehavebeenseriousearthquakesinmanypartsofAsia,EuropeandSouthAmerica.Inthelastthreeyears,Indonesiahashadaroughtime,sufferingseveralkillerquakesanditisstillrecoveringfromtheAsiantsunamicausedbyanoffshoreearthquakeonDecember26th,2004.Thetsunamikilled132,000Indonesiansandanother100,000peopleofothernationalities.Thiscatastropheisstillveryfreshinthemindsofpeopleworldwidewhohavenotyetgotovertheirseparationfromlovedoneslostinthetsunami.
Sowhyisnaturebeginningtoturnonus?
(3)Thepopulation
oftheworldisgrowingatthedisturbingrateof10,000peopleanhour,nearly90millionayear,withmostofthegrowthinthedevelopingworld.Peopleinagriculturalareas,withoutanymeanstoearntheirliving,movetothecities,andthenconstructshabbyhomesfromwhatevermaterialstheycanfindonpoorclaysoil.Thesehomes,seldommadeofbricks,caneasilyfalldowninearthquakesorslipandslidedownhillinlandslides,especiallyinmountainousareas.(4)Thishasmainlybeen
causedbythehugeamountsofcarbondioxideproducedbyfactoriesand
vehicles,andthedestructionoftheworld'sforests.Asaresult,ahotteroceancausesmorepowerfulwinds.Atlantichurricanes—theirhowling
windswithspeedsofover300kilometresanhour-are40%strongernowthantheywere30yearsago.
Volcanoesandearthquakesareevenmoredangerousthaninthepastasaroundhalftheworld'spopulationnowlivesincities.Therearemorethan300activevolcanoes,aboutfiftyofwhicherupteachyear,andmore
than500millionpeoplenowlivewithintherangeofavolcaniceruption.Becausethesenaturaldisastersoccuratrandomtimes,itisdifficulttowarnpeopleinadvance.InMay2006,thousandsofIndonesianslivingnearMtMerapi(whichmeansmountainoffire)hadtofleeastheythoughtitwasabouttoerupt.Anevengreaternumberofpeopleliveatrisk,tosomedegree,fromearthquakeswhichhaveclaimedmorethan1.6millionlivesinthelasthundredyears.
Mostdisasterexpertsbelievethereisthepotentialthatthingscouldgetalotworse.ProfessorHouMing,ofBeijingUniversitystudiesvolcanoesandhewarnsthattheworldhasnotseentheworstnaturecando.TheworsteruptioninhumanhistorywasprobablyMtTamborain1815,inIndonesia.DustfromthevolcanorolledacrosstheEarth'sskiesandprettymuchcancelledthefollowingsummerinEuropeandAmerica.(5)“Itreducedtemperaturesbymaybe6?
Cinsomeplacesandthewholeplanetwassentintowinterforyears.Andthereareabouttwooftheseeventsevery100,000years...”
Unit23Lesson1LivinginaCommunity
Drummerhitstheroad
YangMing,drummerfortherockband“Storm”,haspackedhisbags.He'sbidhisfurnishedapartmentgoodbyeaftercomplaintsfromhisneighboursaboutlossofsleep.Beingabachelor,YangMingheldpartieseverynightbutthebiggestproblemwashislatenightdrumming.
Seldomhasdrummingcausedsuchconflict.YangMing'sneighbourssaytheywerebeingdrivenmadbeingexposedtosuchnoise.Hadtheyknowntheirneighbourwasadrummer,theywouldn'thavemovedintothebuilding.Nosoonerhadtheymovedinthanthenoisebeganandrarelydidtheygetafullnight'ssleep.Neithercouldtheyrelaxorreadabookwithoutpluggingtheirears.OneneighbouralsoclaimsthatYangMingisanalcoholicandwasabadinfluenceonhisadolescentson.
Intheend,thelocalcounciltookaction.“ItwasonlyaftercarefulconsiderationthatwegaveYangMingawarning,”acouncilmembersaid.“Gettingenoughsleepisimportantforpeople'shealthandaftersuchachorusofcomplaints,wehadtotakeaction.”YangMing'sdeparture
haspleasedhisneighbours.“Lifewillgobacktonormalnow,”theysay.
ForYangMing'sversionofthestory,wefoundhimintheloungeofhissuiteatShanghai'sHolidayInnHotel.YangMingfeelsthathisrightshavebeenignored.YangMinghatesbeingcalledanalcoholic,butitisthefactthatpeoplehaveclassifiedhismusicas“noise”thatupsets
himmost.Otherwisehedoesn'treallymindhavingtoleavehisapartment.“LivinginahotelmeansamaidmakesmybedeverydayandIdon'thavetodomyownlaundry!
”Buthowlongwillthehoteltoleratehim?
Wewonder.
Grandpajailedafteroneshowertoomany
Eighty-year-oldretiredtailor,JamesMcKay,spentSaturdaynightinjailafterhittingthirty-year-oldKeithSmithovertheheadwithhiswalkingstick.McKay'swife,LaurenetoldusthatwhileMcKayisusuallyapeacefulperson,hehadbeendriventothisactofviolencebygettingwetjustoncetoooften.
SmithlivesabovetheMcKaysanditappearsthatnotonlyisheakeengardener,heisalsoafishcollector.Unfortunatelyforhim,thewaterhesentoverhisbalconyeverydayendedupontheMcKay's,ortoooften,ontheMcKaysthemselves.
“Forthelastfortnight,sinceSmithmovedintotheflataboveus,wehavehardlydaredgoontoourbalcony,”saidLaurene.Sheaddedthatitwasn'tsomuchthewaterfallingontotheirbalconyfromSmithwateringhisplantsthatbotheredthem,itwasmorethewayhecleanedhisfishtanks.“We'dbesittingtherehappilyreadingournewspapers,whensuddenlysomuchwaterwouldcomefromabovethatwe'dbeaswetasifwe
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