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　　An image taken of the Pacific Ocean last September is astonishing. Made by using data collected from satellites monitored by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the picture shows the surface level of the Pacific as clearly as a yardstick lying across a lumpy bed. One sample of water—with a volume 30 times that of all the Great Lakes—is white, indicating that it is as 13 inches higher than its normal level.

　　El Nino experts are still striving to tackle the really big question: What is causing the abnormal El Nino behavior of the past two decades? Some see the hand of global warming, accelerating the pace of El Nino formation and reinforcing each event. Supporters of global�瞱arming�瞐s�睧l Nino�瞚nstigator include Kevin Trenberth, a climate analyst of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, “There’s evidence that global warming didn’t have much impact until 1979, but now it’s beginning to break through,” he says.

　　Two additional arguments are on the table. One theory is that the recent El Nino epidemic is simply one of nature’s climatic riffs, but that we haven’t been hearing the tune long enough to recognize the change in key. One problem is that historical data on El Nino is sketchy prior to the early 1970s and almost nonexistent going back more than 50 years. If one looks back further, however, fossil evidence suggests that something about El Nino has indeed changed. Fossil records of coral in the Galapagos Islands show that some 4,000 years ago, an El Nino occurred only 60 years or so. Studies of tree rings and ice cores indicate a more recent cycle of seven years, still much less frequent than the present cycle of every three or four years.

　　The other alternative? Records are accurate enough to show that we’re in the second El Nino�瞚ntensive era of the past 100 years. The first was during the 1920s and 30s, and probably was responsible for the Dust Bowl, when drought destroyed hundreds of farms in Oklahoma and north Texas. The second seems to have started around 1976. These shifts seem to be periods of natural warming in the Pacific. The warming does not necessarily cause El Nino but certainly amplifies it, creating the appearance of more and more severe El Nino. (380 words)

　　1. The picture as depicted by the writer in the first paragraph seems to be .

　　[A] fairly reassuring.

　　[B] very bleak.

　　[C] rather shocking.

　　[D] quite exceptional.

　　2. The idea of the “global�瞱arming�瞐s�睧l Nino�瞚nstigator” roughly refers to be .

　　[A] contribution of global warming to the occurrence of El Nino.

　　[B] unusual behavior of El Nino in the past two decades caused by global warming.

　　[C] caution shown by authorities against the destruction of El Nino.

　　[D] accurate forecast for the approach of El Nino.

　　3. The possible explanations of El Nino is the following EXCEPT .

　　[A] global warming. [B] nature’s climatic riffs.

　　[C] Human behavior.[D] natural warming in the Pacific.

　　4. We may assume that the author considers forecasting of El Nino as .

　　[A] inconclusive.

　　[B] effortless.

　　[C] informative.

　　[D] precise.

　　5. What is the passage mainly about?

　　[A] A trace to the mysteries of El Nino.

　　[B] A vivid account of the impact of El Nino.

　　[C] Exposure to the formation of El Nino.

　　[D] A review of different theories on El Nino.

　　核心詞匯

　　yardstick n.比較或衡量的標準;尺度

　　lumpy a. 多塊狀物的，粗笨的

　　El Nino n. 厄爾尼諾現象，即赤道中、東太平洋海水表面溫度偶爾增暖的現象

　　fossil n. 化石

　　epidemic n. 流行病

　　reinforce vt. 增強;加強

　　tackle vt. 解決;應付vt. & vi. 捉住; 扭倒n. 攔截; 擒抱;器械，用具

　　難句剖析

　　1. Made by using data collected from satellites monitored by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the picture shows the surface level of the Pacific as clearly as a yardstick lying across a lumpy bed.

　　【解析】 句子的主語是the picture，前面的成分作picture的定語，這個定語比較長，是層層修飾的，monitored by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California修飾satellites，而collected from satellites則修飾data，by using data collected from…作方式狀語，和made結合起來修飾主語the picture。

　　【譯文】 使用美國國家航空航天局在加州帕薩迪納衛星城的噴氣推進實驗室監控衛星所收集到的數據拍攝的照片，非常清楚地顯示了太平洋的水平面，就像凹凸不平的床上有一根尺子一樣清楚。

　　2. One theory is that the recent El Nino epidemic is simply one of nature’s climatic riffs, but that we haven’t been hearing the tune long enough to recognize the change in key.

　　【解析】 本句的結構并不難，關鍵是理解riffs，tune，key的意思，這些都是音樂術語，有一定難度。

　　【譯文】 理論之一是，最近的厄爾尼諾現象不過是自然氣候即興重復的一個段落而已，只是我們很久沒有聽到這段調子，聽不出音調的變化了。

　　文章類型：科普類——厄爾尼諾現象

　　本文從一張衛星拍攝的照片出發，對之進行了描繪，引出了厄爾尼諾現象，進而提出關于其發生原因的三種理論。

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