5.8 考研英语阅读模拟试题【难度8.0】

Section II Reading Comprehension 

Part A 

Directions: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. 

Text 3

Microplastics in the atmosphere are heating the planet, magnifying climate change impacts, according to new research.

Scientists in China and the US found that tiny, colored plastic particles absorb sunlight as winds blow them around the world, trapping heat and contributing to temperature rise, according to the peer-reviewed paper published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

“The plastic problem is not just in our blue oceans, it is also in the invisible skies above us,” Hongbo Fu, a co-author of the study and an atmospheric scientist at Fudan University in Shanghai, said at a press conference. “Climate models need to be updated.”

The researchers’ laboratory experiments and atmospheric modeling indicate that airborne plastic pollution has 16.2% of the heat-trapping impact of black carbon, the second biggest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide. That effect is small on a global scale, according to the scientists, but can be significant in areas with high volumes of plastic, such as parts of the Pacific Ocean. There, plastic particles had 4.7 times the impact of black carbon.

Scientists had previously detected the presence of nanoplastics and microplastics, which range in size from a billionth to a millionth of a meter, in the atmosphere. As plastic waste washes into the ocean and litters the landscape, it breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces when exposed to sunlight until winds sweep the particles into the atmosphere, where they become suspended in air currents.

The planet is awash in plastic trash and its deleterious consequences for the environment, wildlife and human health is the subject of ongoing study. But past research suggested that microscopic plastic has a negligible impact on global warming, as white-colored plastic particles reflect sunlight.

The scientists at Fudan University, however, found that the majority of plastic particles in the atmosphere are colored and trap heat. Drew Shindell, a climate scientist at Duke University and a co-author of the paper, said their experiments break new ground by precisely measuring the rate at which different-colored particles absorb sunlight.

He said atmospheric plastic particles either are already dark, or lighter ones darken as they age. “The net effect is warming,” said Shindell.

Those impacts are maximized in regions of the world where plastic pollution is concentrated, such as in the Texas-sized Great Pacific Garbage Patch that lies between California and Japan, the researchers said. Typhoons and tropical cyclones can also create atmospheric hotspots and affect regional climate patterns as strong winds suspend more plastic particles in the air. A super typhoon in 2023, for instance, caused a nearly 51% increase in the atmospheric concentration of nanoplastics, according to the paper.

The scientists said the effects from such extreme weather would likely be strong but short-lived in the immediate area.

Exactly how much warming is attributable to plastic remains to be determined due to the difficulty of measuring the concentration of particles in the global atmosphere and the rates at which they enter the air from the ocean or land. That means the researchers could be underestimating or overestimating the impact on climate change.

“We need more measurements from all around the world to really characterize more precisely how much of the stuff is in the atmosphere,” said Shindell.

31. What can be deduced from Paragraph 4 about the thermal influence of airborne plastic pollution?
[A] It fundamentally offsets the greenhouse effects generated by carbon emissions.
[B] Its potency as a warming catalyst exhibits pronounced geographical asymmetry.
[C] It has progressively eclipsed black carbon as the primary driver of global warming.
[D] Its severity is uniformly distributed across the world's major oceanic patches.

32. Previous scientific consensus underestimated the warming effect of microplastics because it ________.
[A] presumed a static and reflective optical nature of the suspended particles
[B] overlooked the deleterious ramifications of macroscopic debris on marine life
[C] deliberately downplayed the role of ocean currents in transporting pollutants
[D] attributed the atmospheric temperature rise primarily to industrial carbon dioxide

33. The author mentions the 2023 super typhoon to illustrate that ________.

[A] extreme meteorological events can induce a transient exacerbation of localized thermal impacts
[B] atmospheric hotspots persistently alter the regional climate patterns in the Pacific Ocean
[C] severe natural disasters serve as the principal mechanism for degrading oceanic waste
[D] the Great Pacific Garbage Patch remains highly vulnerable to changing climate patterns

34. It can be inferred from the last two paragraphs that the current evaluation of plastic-induced warming ________.
[A] deliberately overstates the thermal impact to capture immediate public attention
[B] proves that existing climate models are adequately equipped to track pollution
[C] is compromised by the erratic behavioral patterns of atmospheric air currents

[D] remains subject to further quantitative characterization and global measurement

35. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
[A] Black Carbon: The Hidden Culprit Behind Global Warming
[B] Airborne Microplastics: An Underestimated Catalyst for Climate Change
[C] The Blue Ocean Dilemma: Eradicating Plastic Waste in the Pacific
[D] From Land to Sky: The Unpredictable Lifespan of Suspended Nanoplastics

附注：根据历年考研英语真题阅读题源外刊等，摘选最新文章，模拟仿真出题。

参考答案见以下。

Quick look: BAADB

31.【正确答案】B
【解析】题型：推理判断题
定位： 第四段“That effect is small on a global scale... but can be significant in areas with high volumes of plastic, such as parts of the Pacific Ocean. There, plastic particles had 4.7 times the impact of black carbon.”
分析： 原文指出，空气中塑料的吸热效应在“全球范围内较小（small on a global scale）”，但在“塑料含量高的地区（如太平洋部分地区）可能非常显著（significant）”。这说明微塑料的加热作用在不同地区差异巨大。选项 B“其作为变暖催化剂的效力表现出显著的地理不对称性（pronounced geographical asymmetry）”是对原文“global vs regional areas”对比关系的高度逻辑归纳。
干扰项：[A] 它从根本上抵消了碳排放产生的温室效应，正反颠倒，原文第一段明言其“放大（magnifying）”了气候变化影响；[C] 它已逐渐使黑碳黯然失色，成为全球变暖的主要驱动力，概念偷换与范围扩大，原文明确说明其全球影响仅为黑碳的16.2%，远不及黑碳，仅在局部超过；[D] 其严重程度在全球主要海洋斑块中均匀分布，与原文指出的“不均衡（显著局部化）”特征完全矛盾。

32.【正确答案】A
【解析】题型：因果推断题
定位： 第六、七、八段。“But past research suggested that microscopic plastic has a negligible impact... as white-colored plastic particles reflect sunlight... He said atmospheric plastic particles either are already dark, or lighter ones darken as they age.”
分析： 过去研究的致命缺陷在于，他们想当然地认为微塑料呈白色从而能够反射阳光。而新研究指出，浅色塑料“会随着老化而变暗（darken as they age）”，从而开始吸热。选项 A“假定悬浮颗粒具有静态的、反射性的光学性质（presumed a static and reflective optical nature）”直击旧认知的逻辑盲区——忽略了塑料颜色（光学性质）随时间老化的动态变化。
干扰项：[B] 忽略了宏观碎片对海洋生物的有害衍生影响，本末倒置，本文的核心议题是“气候变暖（climatic role）”，而非海洋生物健康；[C] 故意淡化了洋流在运输污染物中的作用，无中生有，且“故意（deliberately）”一词动机揣测错误；[D] 将大气温度上升主要归因于工业二氧化碳，常识诱导，碳排放确实是主因，但这并非导致科学家“在微塑料问题上产生误判”的内在逻辑原因。

33.【正确答案】A
【解析】题型：例证推断题
定位： 第九段末句“A super typhoon in 2023... caused a nearly 51% increase...”结合第十段“The scientists said the effects from such extreme weather would likely be strong but short-lived in the immediate area.”
分析： 作者举出超级台风的例子，说明极端天气能导致悬浮塑料浓度瞬间激增（51%），但紧接着在第十段界定了这一影响的性质：“强烈但短暂（strong but short-lived）”且局限于“直接区域（immediate area）”。选项 A“极端气象事件会引发局部热效应的短暂加剧（transient exacerbation of localized thermal impacts）”完美熔合了两段的核心语境（transient 对应 short-lived；localized 对应 immediate area）。
干扰项：[B] 大气热点持久地改变了太平洋的区域气候模式，反面陷阱，persistently（持久地）与原文的 short-lived 绝对对立；[C] 严重自然灾害是将海洋垃圾降解的主要机制，方向错误，台风的作用是将塑料“悬浮在空中（suspend in the air）”，而非降解；[D] 太平洋大垃圾带极易受不断变化的气候模式的影响，张冠李戴，大垃圾带是前文举的“污染集中”的静态例子，超级台风是后文举的“极端天气动态影响”的例子，两者不能强行嫁接。

34.【正确答案】D
【解析】题型：推理判断题
定位： 第十一段与第十二段。“Exactly how much warming... remains to be determined due to the difficulty of measuring... researchers could be underestimating or overestimating... We need more measurements...”
分析： 作者在最后两段明确表示，由于测量难度大，究竟有多少变暖可归因于塑料“仍有待确定（remains to be determined）”，目前可能存在高估或低估，仍需大量全球测量。选项 D“仍有待进一步的定量刻画和全球测量（remains subject to further quantitative characterization and global measurement）”是对全文结尾科学态度的精准上位词提炼。
干扰项：[A] 故意夸大热影响以吸引公众的即时注意，动机揣测错误，原文指出可能低估或高估是受限于测量的客观技术困难；[B] 证明现有的气候模型已具备足够的设备来追踪污染，事实相反，第三段科学家明确呼吁“气候模型需要更新（need to be updated）”；[C] 因大气气流的不稳定行为模式而大打折扣，张冠李戴，阻碍研究准确性的是“整体测量的技术难度（difficulty of measuring）”，并非气流的不稳定行为本身。

35.【正确答案】B
【解析】题型：主旨大意题
定位： 全文逻辑结构。
分析： 文章开篇点题：大气中的微塑料正在加热地球。随后通过新旧认知对比（旧认知：反光不吸热；新发现：彩色变暗吸热），强调了这一现象此前一直被科学界所忽视和低估。全文的核心落脚点在于“空气中的微塑料对气候变暖构成了推波助澜的作用”。选项 B“空气中的微塑料：气候变化被低估的催化剂”最精准、全面地概括了主旨。
干扰项：[A] 黑碳：全球变暖背后的隐藏元凶，局部细节，黑碳只是用来作为塑料吸热程度的对比参照物；[C] 蓝色海洋困境：根除太平洋中的塑料垃圾，偷换核心，本文探讨的是“大气中（in the atmosphere）”的危机，而非海水里的清理；[D] 从陆地到天空：悬浮纳米塑料不可预测的寿命，偏离主线，脱离了文章最核心的落脚点——“加热地球（climate change）”。

【词汇注释】

【参考译文】

一项新研究表明，大气中的微塑料正在使地球变暖，加剧了气候变化的影响。

根据周一发表在《自然·气候变化》杂志上的一篇经过同行评审的论文，中美科学家发现，当风将微小、彩色的塑料颗粒吹向世界各地时，它们会吸收阳光，锁住热量并促使气温上升。

“塑料问题不仅存在于我们蔚蓝的海洋中，也存在于我们头顶看不见的天空中，”该研究的合著者、上海复旦大学大气科学家傅洪波在一次新闻发布会上说。“气候模型需要更新了。”

研究人员的实验室实验和大气建模表明，空气中的塑料污染产生的吸热影响是黑碳（仅次于二氧化碳的全球变暖第二大推手）的16.2%。科学家表示，这种影响在全球范围内很小，但在塑料含量高的地区（如太平洋的部分地区）可能很显著。在那里，塑料颗粒的影响是黑碳的4.7倍。

科学家此前已在大气中检测到纳米塑料和微塑料的存在，其尺寸从十亿分之一米到百万分之一米不等。随着塑料垃圾被冲入海洋并散落在陆地上，在阳光的照射下，它们会分解成越来越小的碎片，直到风将这些颗粒卷入大气层，悬浮在气流中。

地球充斥着塑料垃圾，其对环境、野生动物和人类健康造成的有害后果是正在进行的研究课题。但过去的研究表明，微塑料对全球变暖的影响可以忽略不计，因为白色的塑料颗粒会反射阳光。

阅读更多：研究发现，到2040年全球塑料过剩问题将变得更加严重

然而，复旦大学的科学家们发现，大气中大多数塑料颗粒是彩色的，并且会锁住热量。杜克大学气候科学家、该论文的合著者德鲁·辛德尔（Drew Shindell）表示，他们的实验通过精确测量不同颜色颗粒吸收阳光的速率，开辟了新的领域。

他说，大气中的塑料颗粒要么本来就很暗，要么较浅的颗粒会随着老化而变暗。“净效应就是变暖，”辛德尔说。

研究人员表示，在塑料污染集中的地区，如位于加利福尼亚和日本之间、面积有德克萨斯州那么大的“太平洋大垃圾带”，这些影响会被最大化。台风和热带气旋也会制造大气热点，并影响区域气候模式，因为强风会使更多的塑料颗粒悬浮在空气中。例如，论文指出，2023年的一场超级台风导致大气中纳米塑料的浓度增加了近51%。

科学家表示，这种极端天气带来的影响在当地可能会很强烈，但却是短暂的。

究竟有多少变暖可归咎于塑料仍有待确定，因为很难测量全球大气中颗粒的浓度，以及它们从海洋或陆地进入空气的速率。这意味着研究人员可能低估或高估了其对气候变化的影响。

辛德尔说：“我们需要来自世界各地的更多测量数据，以真正更精确地确定大气中到底有多少这种物质。”

附注：