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  3. The Climate of Japan P1: Meteorological features in Japan are mainly shaped by two factors. On one hand, tropical cyclone activi

The Climate of Japan P1: Meteorological features in Japan are mainly shaped by two factors. On one hand, tropical cyclone activi

admin2019-03-10  26
问题 The Climate of Japan
P1: Meteorological features in Japan are mainly shaped by two factors. On one hand, tropical cyclone activity peaks in the late summer, when the difference between temperatures aloft and sea surface temperatures is the greatest. On the other hand, during winter months heavy masses of cold air from Siberia dictate the weather around Japan. Persistent cold winds skim across the Sea of Japan from the northwest, picking up moisture that they deposit as several feet of snow on the western side of the mountain ranges on Honshu Island. As the cold air drops its moisture, it flows over high ridges and down eastern slopes to bring cold, relatively dry weather to valleys, coastal plains, and cities.
P2: In spring, the Siberian air mass warms and loses density, enabling atmospheric currents over the Pacific to steer warmer air into northeast Asia. This warm, moisture-laden air covers most of southern Japan during June and July. The resulting late spring rains then give way to a drier summer that is sufficiently hot and muggy, despite the island chain’s northerly latitude, to allow widespread rice cultivation. In addition to the rain and sweltering temperatures of summer, the months of August and early September are also considered typhoon season, when high pressure systems formed in the tropical areas of the western Pacific Ocean occasionally strike Japan’s southern regions, inflicting torrential rain and strong wind. The arrival of autumn in late September usually brings drier conditions and a drop in temperatures.
P3: Each season has its own characteristics, with the highest precipitation in most areas falling during the rainy season, when temperatures can soar into the high 90’s daily with almost 100% humidity. While the moisture fosters an exceptionally abundant forest, the combination of precipitous slopes and heavy rainfall also gives the islands one of the world’s highest rates of natural erosion, intensified by both human activity and the natural shocks of earthquakes and volcanism. These factors have in turn contributed to mountainsides that are extremely susceptible to erosion and landslides, and hence generally unsuitable for agricultural manipulation.
P4: The climate of Japan is predominantly temperate, but varies greatly from north to south and Japan’s geographical features divide it into six principal climatic zones. Generally sunny winters along the Pacific seaboard have made habitation there relatively pleasant. Along the Sea of Japan, on the other hand, cold, snowy winters have discouraged settlement. Furthermore, the combination of warm waters and monsoons results in strong evaporation of the relatively high annual precipitation, leaving little moisture for farming.
P5: In the summer, the region of Honshu is cooler than the Pacific area, though it sometimes experiences extremely hot temperatures because of the foehn. This has also discouraged agriculture. The area is subject to the yamase effect, when cool air from the north sometimes lowers temperatures sharply and damages farm production. As the the rice grown in Japan requires a mean summer temperature of 20°C or higher, a drop of 2°C -3°C can lead to a 30-50 percent drop in rice yield, and the yamase effect is capable of exceeding that level. This yamase effect does not, however, extend very far south, where most precipitation comes in the form of rain rather than snow and the bulk of it in spring, summer, and fall, when most useful for cultivation. Even the autumn typhoons, which deposit most of their moisture along the southern seaboard, are beneficial because they promote the start of the winter crops that for centuries have been grown in southern Japan.
P6: To conclude, meteorological factors, including both climate on a large scale and precipitation patterns, have forced the Japanese to cluster their settlements along the southern coast, most densely along the sheltered Inland Sea, moving out of the northeast in the past two millennia. There the limits that topography imposed on production have been tightened by climate, with the result that agricultural output has been more modest and less reliable, making the risk of crop failure and hardship greater.
P3: ■ Each season has its own characteristics, with the highest precipitation in most areas falling during the rainy season, when temperatures can soar into the high 90’s daily with almost 100% humidity. ■ While the moisture fosters an exceptionally abundant forest, the combination of precipitous slopes and heavy rainfall also gives the islands one of the world’s highest rates of natural erosion, intensified by both human activity and the natural shocks of earthquakes and volcanism. ■ These factors have in turn contributed to mountainsides that are extremely susceptible to erosion and landslides, and hence generally unsuitable for agricultural manipulation.■
Why does the author include the phrase "despite the island chain’s northerly latitude" in the paragraph?
选项 A、To indicate that one would not expect such hot, muggy weather at Japan’s latitude
B、To compare Japan’s climate to the climates of more northerly latitudes
C、To give a reason for the hot, muggy weather experienced in Japan during the summer
D、To explain why Japan’s climate is only suitable for rice cultivation
答案A
解析 【修辞目的题】文中提到尽管日本的纬度较高，但是随之而来的暮春时节的雨水还是带来了干燥、高温、闷热的夏天，表明日本这么高纬度的位置还能有炎热的夏天是出乎人们意料的。
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