2017年12月大学英语六级仔细阅读练习题（47）思维导图

UniversityofYorkbiologistPeterMayhewrecentlyfoundthatglobalwarmingmightactuallyincreasethenumberofspeciesontheplanet，contrarytoapreviousreportthathighertemperaturesmeantfewerlifeforms—areportmatwashisown.

InMayhew’sinitial2008study，lowbiodiversityamongmarineinvertebrates(无脊椎动物)appearedtocoincidewithwarmertemperaturesonEarthoverthelast520millionyears.ButMayhewandhiscolleaguesdecidedtoreexaminetheirhypothesis，thistimeusingdatathatwere“afairersampleofthehistoryoflife.”砌thisnewcollectionofmaterial.theyfoundacompletereversaloftherelationshipbetweenspeciesrichnessandtemperaturefromwhattheirpreviouspaperargued：thenumberofdifferentgroupspresentinthefossilrecordwashigher，ratherthanlower，durin9“greenhousephases.”

Theirpreviousfindingsrestedonanassumptionthatfossilrecordscanbetakentorepresentbiodiversitychangesthroughouthistory.Thisn’tnecessarilythecase.becausetherearecertainperiodswithhigher.qualityfossilsamples.andsomethataremuchmoredifficulttosamplewell.Awareofthisbias.Mayhew’steamuseddatathatstandardizedthenumberoffossilsexaminedthroughouthistoryandaccountedforothervariableslikesealevelchangesthatmightinfluencebiodiversityintheirnewstudytoseeiftheiroldresultswouldholdup.

Twoyearslater，theresultsdidnot.Butthenwhydoesn'tlifeincreasinglyemergeonEarthasourtemperaturesgetwarmer?

Whiletheswitchmaypromptsometoassertthatclimatechangeisnothazardoustolivingcreatures，Mayhewexplainedthatthetimescalesinhisteam’sstudyarehuge--over500millionyears--andthereforeinappropriatefortheshorterperiodsthatwemightlookatashumansconcernedaboutglobalwanning.Manyglobalwarmingconcernsarefocusedonthenextcentury.Hesaid——andthelifetimeofaspeciesistypicallyoneto10millionyears.

“Idoworrythatthesefindingsvillbeusedbytheclimateskepticcommunitytosay‘look.Climatewarmingisfine。hesaid.Nottomentionthenumerousotherthingsweseemtodotocreateastormofthreatstobiodiversity—thinkofwhathabitat(栖息地)destruction，overfishing，andpollutioncandoforaspecies’viability(生存力).Thosethings，Mayhewexplained，givetheorganismsafargreaterchallengeincopingwithclimatechangethantheywouldhavehadintheabsenceofhumans.

“Ifweweretorelaxallthesepressuresonbiodiversityandallowtheworldtorecoverovermillionsofyearsinawarmerclimate.thenmypredictionisitwouldbeanimprovementinbiodiversity，”hesaid.Soitlookslikeweneedtocurbourrecklesstreatmentoftheplanetfirst，ifwewanttoeventuallyseeasurgeinthenumberofspeciesontheplanetastemperaturesgetwarmer.Wedon'thave500millionyearstowait.

A.Highertemperaturecausesthelowbiodiversityofmarineinvertebrates.

B.Fossilrecordcanrepresentarelativelybelievablehistoryoflife.

C.Thenumberoffossilswashigherduringgreenhousephases.

D.GlobalwarmingmightpromotetherichnessofspeciesonEarth.

A.Itwasbasedonhiscolleagueshypothesisaboutglobalwarming.

B.Itwascontrarytowhathisteamfoundintherecentstudy.

C.Itwasacompletereversalfromhis2008studyaboutmarineinvertebrates.

D.Itfoundevidencefortheconnectionsbetweenbiodiversityandtemperature.

A.Theyrealizenotallfossilscansamplewelltorepresentbiodiversitychanges.

B.Theystarttoconsiderthevariablesthatmightinfluencebiodiversity.

C.Theywanttocheckthepreviousfindingswithdifferentresearchmethods.

D.Theybelievesealevelchangescanleadtoinaccuratefossilrecords.

A.globalwarmingisnothazardoust01ivingcreaturesinashorttime

B.hisstudyisnotsuitabletosupportshort-termglobalwarming

C.globalwarmingconcernsshouldbefocusedoninthenextcentury

D.thelifetimeofaspeciescanbeextendedt010millionyears

A.wehavenoenoughtimetoallowtheearthtorecoverfromdamages

B.wehavenoenoughtimetowitnesstheevolutionofaspecies

C.it’surgentforhumanstotakestepstopreventglobalwarming

D.it'snecessaryforhumanstostopmaltreatmentoftheplanet

参考答案

56.D)。本题考查彼得·梅休的最新研究成果。定位句指出，他发现气候变暖可能使得地球上物种的数量增加，故答案为D)。

57.B)。本题考查对梅休之前研究报告结论的理解。定位句指出，在新收集的材料中，他们发现了与他们之前的论文所辩称的一种物种丰富性与温度间完全相反的关系，故答案为B)。

58.A)。本题考查梅休团队利用标准化化石的原因。定位句指出，因为某些特定的时段有一些更高质量的化石样本，其中一些更难取出好的样本。基于这一点，梅休团队在他们的新实验中利用标准化个数并被历史所检测的化石数据，故本题答案为A)。

59.B)。本题考查梅休对于研究时间跨度太长的态度。定位句指出，梅休解释他们团队的研究时标很长，有5亿多年，所以用于解释人们关注的较短时间内的全球变暖是不合适的，故答案为B)。

60.D)。