5.11 考研英语阅读真题来源外刊模拟试题【难度8.3】

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

Why would a meteorologist concern herself with the rocks beneath her feet? For good reason, if she lives in Iceland. That island nation straddles the mid-Atlantic ridge, a boundary between two of Earth’s crustal plates which are drifting apart. That allows hot, liquid rock called magma to well up from the depths. Iceland also sits just below the Arctic circle and enjoys glacier-promoting temperatures. As a consequence of these facts, it is home to 34 active volcanoes, half of which are buried under ice up to 1km thick. And that ice is melting as the climate warms.

Some predict the glaciers will vanish in two centuries, which could upset the volcanoes below, causing them to erupt more frequently, more violently or both. Michelle Parks of the Icelandic Meteorological Office is therefore leading a three-year project that will try to determine whether, in future, less ice could mean more fire.

Glaciers bear down upon Earth’s crust. The pressure they create squeezes the underlying rock, raising its melting point. Remove the ice and the rock rebounds (the land around some ice-bound volcanoes is rising by as much as 3cm a year), easing the pressure. That means the melting point drops, enhancing the formation of magma, which then erupts from volcanoes as lava.

Early geological data collected by Dr Parks suggest two or three times more magma is being produced beneath Iceland than was the case a century ago. Her colleague Freysteinn Sigmundsson, a geophysicist at the University of Iceland, suggests the newly generated magma might start arriving in the next few decades.

How that plays out will depend on how the magma reservoirs beneath individual volcanoes are reshaped by the rebounding land. Some may erupt more frequently; others, less so but more violently. This may be happening already. Grimsvotn and Bardarbunga, two volcanoes in central Iceland, have been more active than normal in recent decades. By contrast Katla, in the south, once erupted every 50 years or so but has been quiet for over a century.

History certainly supports the idea that melting ice stimulates magma production. There were 30 to 50 times more volcanic eruptions after the retreat, some 10,000 years ago, of an ice sheet thousands of metres thick that smothered Iceland during the last ice age. Admittedly, there was a lot more ice then than the bits-and-pieces now remaining. But the link with more volcanic activity seems clear.

Iceland is not the only place thus affected. Antarctica, Alaska and the Andes are similarly cursed. Altogether, some 250 volcanoes are known to lurk beneath or close to ice sheets. And Antarctica, at least, may host others yet undiscovered.

Antarctica and Alaska (and, indeed, Iceland) are sparsely populated. But the Andes—or, rather, coastal regions to their west—are not. Research published in 2020 suggests that though only 20,000 people dwell within 5km of an affected volcano, 160m people live within 100km of one, and might thus be at risk of disruptions to their water supplies, which often start as mountain ice, and also of mudslides.

And people need not live nearby to be affected. When Eyjafjallajökull, a small volcano by Icelandic standards, erupted 15 years ago it sent into the atmosphere an ash cloud sufficient to trigger six days of aviation chaos. In the late 18th century Laki, another Icelandic volcano, emitted so much sulphur dioxide and ash that some historians suggest crop failures precipitated by the resulting drop in temperatures helped cause the French revolution.

Current fears about climate change’s effect on agriculture revolve around the damage which rising temperatures might do. That it might provoke damaging temperature falls as well is ironic.

31. According to Paragraph 3, how does the melting of glaciers contribute to volcanic eruptions?
[A] It triggers the collision of crustal plates along the mid-Atlantic ridge.
[B] It substantially elevates the internal temperature of the subterranean rock.
[C] It facilitates magma formation by diminishing the overlying crustal pressure.
[D] It uniformly intensifies the violent eruptions of historically dormant volcanoes.

32. What can be inferred about the future behavior of Icelandic volcanoes from Paragraph 5?
[A] Their structural evolution will dictate diverse patterns of eruptive activity.
[B] The rebounding land will systematically reactivate those dormant for a century.
[C] They are poised to unleash an unprecedented volume of lava within a decade.
[D] Their subterranean reservoirs will shift gradually towards the southern regions.

33. The author mentions the Andes in Paragraph 8 primarily to highlight ________.
[A] the specific difficulties in predicting volcanic activities in coastal regions
[B] the vulnerability of dense populations to secondary volcanic hazards
[C] the direct correlation between population density and magma production
[D] the imminent exhaustion of freshwater resources in South American countries

34. The examples of Eyjafjallajökull and Laki are used to illustrate that ________.
[A] historical sociopolitical upheavals were predominantly driven by tectonic shifts
[B] the atmospheric ramifications of volcanic eruptions transcend geographical boundaries
[C] relatively small volcanoes tend to emit higher concentrations of sulphur dioxide
[D] extreme meteorological events serve as the primary catalysts for agricultural failures

35. What is the irony mentioned in the last paragraph?
[A] The mitigation of global warming may paradoxically exacerbate subterranean fires.
[B] Meteorologists are fundamentally prioritizing geological shifts over atmospheric anomalies.
[C] Agricultural failures are largely attributed to volcanic eruptions rather than heatwaves.
[D] A climate phenomenon defined by heating could indirectly trigger detrimental cooling.

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: CABBD

31.【正确答案】C
【解析】题型：因果细节题
定位： 第三段“Glaciers bear down upon Earth’s crust... Remove the ice and the rock rebounds... easing the pressure. That means the melting point drops, enhancing the formation of magma...”
分析： 原文清晰地阐述了这一“反直觉”的地质机制：冰川融化（移走冰）会导致岩石反弹，从而“减轻压力（easing the pressure）”；压力的减轻意味着“熔点下降（melting point drops）”，进而促进了岩浆的形成。选项 C“通过减少上覆的地壳压力来促进岩浆的形成（diminishing the overlying crustal pressure）”是对该物理机制的精准高度概括。
干扰项：[A] 它触发了大西洋中脊沿线地壳板块的碰撞（张冠李戴，板块漂移是第一段提到的先天地理背景，且原文说的是 drifting apart/分离，而非碰撞）；[B] 它大幅提高了地下岩石的内部温度（偷换概念，原文是“降低熔点/melting point drops”使得岩石更容易熔化，而不是“直接增加温度”）；[D] 它统一加剧了历史上休眠火山的剧烈喷发（程度微调/修饰错位，第五段说有些喷发更频繁，有些更猛烈，并非“统一/uniformly”加剧）。

32.【正确答案】A
【解析】题型：推理判断题
定位： 第五段“How that plays out will depend on how the magma reservoirs beneath individual volcanoes are reshaped by the rebounding land. Some may erupt more frequently; others, less so but more violently.”
分析： 原文指出，未来的情况将取决于反弹的土地如何“重塑（reshaped）”各个火山下方的岩浆库。有些可能会喷发得更频繁，有些则频率降低但更加猛烈。这表明岩浆库的物理结构变化将导致火山反应各不相同。选项 A“它们的结构演变将决定多种多样的喷发活动模式（dictate diverse patterns）”是对原文逻辑的完美抽象提炼。
干扰项：[B] 反弹的土地将系统性地重新激活那些休眠了一个世纪的火山（程度微调/强加因果，卡特拉火山已经安静了一个世纪是事实，但原文并未说它将被“系统性地/systematically”重新激活）；[C] 它们准备在十年内释放出史无前例体积的熔岩（细节错位，新生成的岩浆可能会在“未来几十年/next few decades”到达，且并未强调“史无前例”）；[D] 它们的地下水库将逐渐向南部地区转移（张冠李戴，南部地区指南部的卡特拉火山的位置，并非岩浆库移动的方向）。

33.【正确答案】B
【解析】题型：例证推断题
定位： 第八段“But the Andes—or, rather, coastal regions to their west—are not [sparsely populated]... 160m people live within 100km of one, and might thus be at risk of disruptions to their water supplies... and also of mudslides.”
分析： 作者在对比了南极洲和阿拉斯加（人烟稀少）之后，特意提及安第斯山脉，是因为其西部沿海地区人口密集（1.6亿人生活在危险范围内），面临供水中断和泥石流的风险。选项 B“密集人口对次生火山灾害的脆弱性（vulnerability of dense populations to secondary volcanic hazards）”准确提炼了作者举此例的核心社会学意图。
干扰项：[A] 预测沿海地区火山活动的具体困难（无中生有，本段未探讨预测的难度）；[C] 人口密度与岩浆产生之间的直接相关性（强加因果，人口密度高是容易受灾的基础，但绝对不会“导致”岩浆的产生）；[D] 南美国家淡水资源即将枯竭（程度微调，原文说面临供水中断的“风险/at risk”，并非“即将枯竭/imminent exhaustion”）。

34.【正确答案】B
【解析】题型：例证推断题
定位： 第九段首句“And people need not live nearby to be affected.”及随后的两个例子（引发航空混乱的Eyjafjallajökull和间接导致法国大革命的Laki）。
分析： 段首句即为本段的核心论点（Topic Sentence）：“人们不必住在附近也会受到影响。”随后作者用艾雅法拉火山和拉基火山的例子来支撑这一论点。选项 B“火山喷发的大气衍生后果超越了地理边界（transcend geographical boundaries）”是对段首论点极其漂亮的高度上位词替换。
干扰项：[A] 历史上的社会政治剧变主要是由地壳构造变动驱动的（程度篡改，原文只是推测一次火山喷发“促成了/helped cause”法国大革命，用 predominantly/主要地 属于过度夸大）；[C] 相对较小的火山往往会排放更高浓度的二氧化硫（张冠李戴，艾雅法拉是小火山，拉基排放了大量硫，两者不能强行拼凑因果）；[D] 极端气象事件是农业歉收的主要催化剂（概念偷换，原文是火山灰导致气温下降引发歉收，而非单纯的气象事件）。

35.【正确答案】D
【解析】题型：主旨/句意推断题
定位： 第十段（最后一段）“Current fears about climate change... revolve around the damage which rising temperatures might do. That it might provoke damaging temperature falls as well is ironic.”
分析： 文章结尾指出，目前人们对气候变化的担忧主要围绕“气温升高”可能造成的破坏。但讽刺的是，气候变暖（融化冰川 → 引发火山喷发

→火山灰遮蔽阳光）同样可能引发“破坏性的气温下降（damaging temperature falls）”。选项 D“以变暖为特征的气候现象可能会间接触发有害的降温（indirectly trigger detrimental cooling）”精准地诠释了这种逻辑上的讽刺意味（irony）。

干扰项：[A] 缓解全球变暖可能会自相矛盾地加剧地下火灾（偷换概念，讽刺的不是缓解全球变暖，而是变暖导致降温）；[B] 气象学家从根本上将地质变化置于大气异常之上（张冠李戴，文章首段用气象学家做引子，但结尾的讽刺与此无关）；[C] 农业减产主要归咎于火山喷发而非热浪（强加对比，原文并未比较这二者对农业谁的破坏更大）。

【词汇注释】

straddle: verb (POSITION) to sit or stand with your legs on either side of something 横跨；跨越（文中指冰岛横跨大西洋中脊）

magma: noun (GEOLOGY) hot liquid rock found just below the surface of the earth 岩浆

bear down upon: phrasal verb. to press on something hard 施加压力；向下压（文中指冰川对地壳施加重压）

rebound: verb (SPRING BACK) to return to an earlier and better condition; to bounce back 反弹；回升（文中指冰川融化后地壳的反弹）

smother: verb (COVER) to cover someone or something entirely with a large amount of something 覆盖；笼罩（文中指冰盖笼罩了冰岛）

【参考译文】

为什么一位气象学家要关心她脚下的岩石？如果她住在冰岛，那就有充分的理由。这个岛国横跨大西洋中脊，这是地球上两个正在不断分离的地壳板块的边界。这使得被称为岩浆的炽热液态岩石能够从深处涌出。冰岛刚好也坐落在北极圈下方，享有极易形成冰川的气温。基于这些事实，冰岛拥有34座活火山，其中一半被厚达1公里的冰层所覆盖。而随着气候变暖，这些冰正在融化。

有人预测，这些冰川将在两个世纪内消失，这可能会扰乱下方的火山，导致它们喷发得更频繁、更猛烈，或两者兼而有之。因此，冰岛气象局的米歇尔·帕克斯正在领导一个为期三年的项目，试图确定在未来，更少的冰是否意味着更多的火。

冰川对地球的地壳施加了巨大的压力。它们产生的压力挤压着下层的岩石，提高了其熔点。移走冰层，岩石就会反弹（一些被冰覆盖的火山周围的土地每年上升多达3厘米），从而减轻了压力。这意味着熔点下降，促进了岩浆的形成，随后岩浆便作为熔岩从火山中喷发出来。

帕克斯博士收集的早期地质数据表明，现在冰岛地下产生的岩浆是一个世纪前的两到三倍。她的同事、冰岛大学的地球物理学家弗雷斯泰恩·西格蒙德松表示，新生成的岩浆可能会在未来几十年内开始到达。

这种情况将如何发展，将取决于反弹的土地如何重塑各个火山下方的岩浆库。有些可能会喷发得更频繁；另一些则频率降低但更加猛烈。这可能已经在发生了。冰岛中部的两座火山——格里姆和巴达本加，在近几十年来比平时更加活跃。相比之下，南部的卡特拉火山曾经大约每50年喷发一次，但现在已经安静了一个多世纪。

历史确实支持“冰雪融化会刺激岩浆产生”的观点。大约10,000年前，在最后一个冰河时代笼罩冰岛的几千米厚的冰盖退却后，火山喷发次数增加了30到50倍。诚然，当时的冰比现在剩下的零星碎块要多得多。但冰川融化与更多火山活动之间的联系似乎是明确的。

冰岛并非唯一受此影响的地方。南极洲、阿拉斯加和安第斯山脉同样遭受着这种诅咒。总而言之，已知约有250座火山潜伏在冰盖下方或附近。而且，至少南极洲可能还隐藏着其他尚未被发现的火山。

南极洲和阿拉斯加（实际上也包括冰岛）人口稀少。但安第斯山脉——或者更确切地说，其西部的沿海地区——却并非如此。2020年发表的研究表明，虽然只有2万人居住在受影响火山的5公里范围内，但有1.6亿人居住在100公里范围内，因此他们可能面临供水中断（水源通常来自高山冰雪）以及泥石流的风险。

而且，人们不必住在附近也会受到影响。15年前，以冰岛标准来看算是一座小火山的艾雅法拉火山喷发时，它向大气中喷出了足以引发长达六天航空混乱的火山灰云。在18世纪末，另一座冰岛火山拉基排放了大量的二氧化硫和火山灰，一些历史学家甚至认为，随之而来的气温骤降所促成的农作物歉收，间接引发了法国大革命。

目前人们对气候变化对农业影响的担忧，主要围绕着气温升高可能造成的破坏。然而，它同样可能引发破坏性的气温下降，这实在是具有讽刺意味。

附注：