大全26-Q6

[Huang Hsin-Yi]

Passage 26 (26/63)
In choosing a method for determining climatic conditions that existed in the past, paleoclimatologists invoke four principal criteria. First, the material—rocks, lakes, vegetation, etc.—on which the method relies must be widespread enough to provide plenty of information, since analysis of material that is rarely encountered will not permit correlation with other regions or with other periods of geological history. Second, in the process of formation, the material must have received an environmental signal that reflects a change in climate and that can be deciphered by modern physical or chemical means. Third, at least some of the material must have retained the signal unaffected by subsequent changes in the environment. Fourth, it must be possible to determine the time at which the inferred climatic conditions held. This last criterion is more easily met in dating marine sediments, because dating of only a small number of layers in a marine sequence allows the age of other layers to be estimated fairly reliably by extrapolation and interpolation. By contrast, because sedimentation is much less continuous in continental regions, estimating the age of a continental bed from the known ages of beds above and below is more risky.
One very old method used in the investigation of past climatic conditions involves the measurement of water levels in ancient lakes. In temperate regions, there are enough lakes for correlations between them to give us a reliable picture. In arid and semiarid regions, on the other hand, the small number of lakes and the great distances between them reduce the possibilities for correlation. Moreover, since lake levels are controlled by rates of evaporation as well as by precipitation, the interpretation of such levels is ambiguous. For instance, the fact that lake levels in the semiarid southwestern United States appear to have been higher during the last ice age than they are now was at one time attributed to increased precipitation. On the basis of snow-line elevations, however, it has been concluded that the climate then was not necessarily wetter than it is now, but rather that both summers and winters were cooler, resulting in reduced evaporation.
Another problematic method is to reconstruct former climates on the basis of pollen profiles. The type of vegetation in a specific region is determined by identifying and counting the various pollen grains found there. Although the relationship between vegetation and climate is not as direct as the relationship between climate and lake levels, the method often works well in the temperate zones. In arid and semiarid regions in which there is not much vegetation, however, small changes in one or a few plant types can change the picture dramatically, making accurate correlations between neighboring areas difficult to obtain.

6.It can be inferred from the passage that an environmental signal found in geological material would not be useful to paleoclimatologists if it
(A) had to be interpreted by modern chemical means
(B) reflected a change in climate rather than a long-term climatic condition
(C) was incorporated into a material as the material was forming
(D) also reflected subsequent environmental changes
(E) was contained in a continental rather than a marine sequence

Ans:D
這一題要從那裡定位呀?

[amazingslim]

6.It can be inferred from the passage that an environmental signal found in geological material would not be useful to paleoclimatologists if it (題目問下列哪種情形沒用)
(A) had to be interpreted by modern chemical means
有用，the second criteria
(B) reflected a change in climate rather than a long-term climatic condition
有用，the second criteria，文章根本沒提到 long-term
(C) was incorporated into a material as the material was forming
跟有沒有用無關，重點是要看material特性，如the first criteria:要普遍.....
(D) also reflected subsequent environmental changes
定位到第六行
Third, at least some of the material must have retained the signal unaffected by subsequent changes in the environment.
(E) was contained in a continental rather than a marine sequence
有用，第一段最後一句

[Huang Hsin-Yi]

真是謝謝,原來我沒細讀藍色與紅色部份,然後就給迷惑了!!!