2022年大学英语四六级考试精读荟萃100篇(24).pdfVIP

2022年大学英语四六级考试精读荟萃100篇

(24)

Antarcticahasactuallybecomeakindofspacestation–aunique

observationpostfordetectingimportantchangesintheworld’s

environment.Remotefrommajorsourcesofpollutionandthecomplex

geologicalandecologicalsystemsthatprevailelsewhere,

Antarcticamakespossiblescientificmeasurementsthatareoften

sharperandeasiertointerpretthanthosemadeinotherpartsof

theworld.

GrowingnumbersofscientiststhereforeseeAntarcticaasa

distant-early-warningsensor,wherepotentiallydangerousglobal

trendsmaybespottedbeforetheyshowuptothenorth.Onepromising

fieldofinvestigationisglaciology.ScholarsfromtheUnited

States,Switzerland,andFrancearepursuingsevenseparatebut

relatedprojectsthatreflecttheirconcernforthehealthofthe

WestAntarcticIceSheet–aconcerntheybelievetheworldat

largeshouldshare.考试大－全国训练类网站(．Examda。com)

TheTransantarcticMountain,someofthemmorethan14,000feet

high,dividethecontinentintotwoverydifferentregions.Thepart

ofthecontinenttothe“east”ofthemountainsisahighplateau

coveredbyanicesheetnearlytwomilesthick.“West”ofthe

mountain,thehalfofthecontinentsouthoftheAmericasisalso

coveredbyanicesheet,buttheretheicerestsonrockthatis

mostlywellbelowsealevel.IftheWestAntarcticIceSheet

disappeared,thewesternpartofthecontinentwouldbereducedto

asparseclusterofisland.

Whileiceandsnowareobviouslycentraltomanyenvironmental

experiments,othersfocusonthemysterious“dryvalley”of

Antarctica,valleysthatcontainlittleiceorsnoweveninthe

depths