江苏高考2016阅读C篇
2018-05-01 13:09阅读：
El Nifio, a Spanish term for “the Christ child”, was named by South
American fisherman sho noticed that the global weather pattern,
which happens every two to seven years, reduced the amount of
fishes caught around Christmas. El Nifio sees warm water, collected
over several years in the western Pacific, flow back eastwards when
winds that normally blow westwards weaken, or sometimes the other
way round.
The weather effects both good and bad, are felt in many places.
Rich countries gain more from powerful Nifio, on balance, than they
lose. A study found that a strong Nifio in 1997 helped American’s
economy grow by 15 billion, partly because of better agricultural
harvest, farmers in the Midwest gained from extra rain. The total
rise in agricultural in rich countries in growth than the fall in
poor ones.
But in Indonesia extremely dry forests are in flames. A multi-year
drought (干旱）in south-east Brazil is becoming worse. Though heavy
rains brought about by El Nino may relieve the
drought in California, they are likely to cause surface flooding
and other disasters.
The most recent powerful Nino, in 1997-98, killed around 21,000
people and caused damage worth $36 billion around the globe. But
such Ninos come with months of warning, and so much is known about
how they happen that governments can prepare. According to the
Overseas Development Institute (ODI), however, just 12% of
disaster-relief funding in the past two decades has gone on
reducing risks in advance, rather than recovery and rebuilding
afterwards. This is despite evidence that a dollar spent on
risk-reduction saves at least two on reconstruction.
Simple improvements to infrastructure (基础设施）can reduce the spread
of disease. Better sewers (下水道）make it less likely that heavy rain
is followed by an outbreak of the disease of bad stomach. Stronger
bridges mean villages are less likely to be left without food and
medicine after floods. According to a paper in 2011 by Mr Hsiang
and co-authors, civil conflict is related to El Nino’s harmful
effects—and the poorer the country, the stronger the link. Though
the relationship may not be causal, helping divided communities to
prepare for disasters would at least reduce the risk that those
disasters are followed by killing and wounding people. Since the
poorest are least likely to make up for their losses from disasters
linked to El Nino, reducing their losses needs to be the
priority.
61. What can we learn about El Nino in Paragraph 1?
AIt is named after a South American fisherman.
BIt takes place almost every year all over the world.
CIt forces fishermen to stop catching fish around Christmas.
DIt sees the changes of water flow direction in the ocean.
62. What may El Ninos bring about to the countries affected?
AAgricultural harvests in rich countries fall.
BDroughts become more harmful than floods.
CRich countries’ gains are greater than their losses.
DPoor countries suffer less from droughts economically.
63. The data provided by ODI in Paragraph 4 suggest that
Amore investment should go to risk reduction
Bgovernments of poor countries need more aid
Cvictims of El Nino deserve more compensation
Drecovery and reconstruction should come first
64. What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
ATo introduce El Nino and its origin.
BTo explain the consequences of El Nino.
CTo show ways of fighting against El Nino.
DTo urge people to prepare for El Nino.
