Throughout history, human beings have had to be intertwined1 with serious diseases as a natural or manmade threat many times. The following is a very brief introduction to 5 films about these serious situations:
The Cassandra Crossing\[1976\]
This exciting disaster features an allstar cast, including Richard Harris, Sophia Loren, Martin Sheen and O.J. Simpson. A thousand passengers traveling from Geneva, Switzerland to Stockholm, Sweden on a luxury2 express train, learn that theres a terrorist on board carrying a highly infectious3 plague4 virus. He has to be stopped.
Dead Man Walking\[1987\]
The worlds population has been challenged by a deadly virus, and its up to one man to go into the Plague Zone to rescue a wealthy industrialist and his daughter, before time runs out.
The Plague\[1993\]
Based on French Nobelprize winning novelist Albert Camus 1947 novel, a study of peoples instinctive5 character emerging during the passing of a deadly plague.
Deadly Outbreak\[1995\]
Scientists headed for a chemical facility to test an antidote6 to chemical weapons are captured in midair by a renegade colonel who subsequently takes over the entire plant. One man alone must find the woman who holds the secret to the antidote before the mad man unleashes chemical destruction on unsuspecting citizens.
Contagious\[1997\]
The toxic7 contents of an airline dinner give passengers more than just upset stomachs, and a disease outbreak is traced back to the airliners prepackaged food plates. In comes a dedicated doctor, ready to fight the germs before all of America suffers.
【生词注释】
1. intertwinevt.& vi. 缠结在一起2. luxuryn. 奢侈；豪华
3. infectiousadj. 传染的；有传染性的4.plaguen. 瘟疫
5. instinctiveadj. 凭本能的；天生的；直觉的6. antidoten. 解药
7. toxicadj. 有毒的；因中毒引起的
1. Which of the following films is about manmade threat but not serious diseases?
A. The Cassandra Crossing.
B. Dead Man Walking.
C. The Plague.
D. Contagious.
2. Which of the following films is based on French Nobelprize winning novelist Albert Camus 1947 novel?
A. Dead Man Walking.
B. The Plague.
C. Deadly Outbreak.
D. Contagious.
3. The film appearing some famous stars is called .
A. The Cassandra Crossing
B. Dead Man Walking
C. Deadly Outbreak
D. Contagious
4. What do these five films have in common?
A. Their playwrights are introduced in detail.
B. They all have America suffers and general popularity.
C. Each of them is well commented by film fans.
D. They indicate a similar problem-threat to people.
While the greater harm from climate change so far has been in the cold polar regions, tropical plants and animals may face an even greater threat, say scientists who studied conditions in Costa Rica.
“Many lowland1 tropical species could be in trouble,” the team of researchers, led by Robert K. Colwell of the University of Connecticut, warns in Fridays edition of the journal Science.
“The tropics, in the popular view, are already hot, so how could global warming harm tropical species?” Colwell said. Thats because some tropical species are living near their maximum temperatures already and warmer conditions could cause them to die out, Colwell explained. The researchers estimated that a temperature increase of 3.2 Celsius over a century would make 53 percent of the 1,902 lowland tropical species they studied subject to attrition2.
“Its an ill wind that blows nobody any good. Some species will prosper,” Colwell said. “But they are likely to be those already adapted to stressful conditions, such as weeds. ”
What of the others? There are few nearby cooler places for tropical plants and animals fleeing rising temperatures. In the tropics in particular, going up rather than out may be an answer. Thats because tropical species with small ranges would have to shift3 thousands of kilometers north or south to maintain their current climatic conditions. “Instead,” Colwell said, “the most likely escape route in the tropics is to follow temperature zone shifts upward in altitude on tropical mountainsides4.” For example, moving uphill, temperature drops between 5.2℃ and 6.5℃ for every 1,000 meters. To get a similar reduction moving north or south, species would have to travel more than 1,000 kilometers. Of course moving wont work for everyone; species already living on mountaintops will have no place to climb.
Earlier this year a study of 171 forest species in Western Europe showed most of them are shifting their favored locations to higher, cooler spots. For the first time, research can show the “signs of climate change” in the distribution5 of plants by altitude, and not only in sensitive ecosystems6.
【生词注释】
1. lowlandn. 低地2. attritionn. 消耗; 消磨, 磨损
3. shiftn. 转换, 转变4. mountainsiden. 山腰, 山坡
5. distributionn. 分发, 分配6. ecosystemn. 生态系统
1. From the passage, we can infer that .
A. Costa Rica is located near the equator
B. Costa Rica is located near the North Pole
C. global warming has no effect on the distribution of plants
D. species living on mountaintops benefit from the weather change
2. To flee rising temperatures, tropical species tend to .
A. move up
B. move out
C. move northwards
D. move southwards
3. The example in the fifth paragraph was quoted to show .
A. temperature increase makes some lowland tropical species disappear
B. moving out wont work for every species
C. some species are very sensitive to temperature increase
D. why tropical species prefer going up rather than going out
4. What is the best title of the passage?
A. Global warming threatens survival of species
B. The effect of global warming on two polar regions
C. Moving up or out?
D. Global warming threatens tropical species
The developed world should take responsibility to climate change rather than only point out that Chinas greenhouse gas is rising, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Wednesday.