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  3. THE CLIMATE OF JAPAN (1) At the most general level, two major climatic forces determine Japan’s weather. Prevailing westerly

THE CLIMATE OF JAPAN (1) At the most general level, two major climatic forces determine Japan’s weather. Prevailing westerly

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问题                                                 THE CLIMATE OF JAPAN
    (1) At the most general level, two major climatic forces determine Japan’s weather. Prevailing westerly winds move across Eurasia, sweep over the Japanese islands, and continue eastward across the Pacific Ocean. In addition, great, cyclonic airflow (masses of rapidly circulating air) that arises over the western equatorial Pacific moves in a wheel-like fashion northeastward across Japan and nearby regions. During winter months heavy masses of cold air from Siberia dominate the weather around Japan. Persistent cold winds skim across the Sea of Japan from the northwest, picking up moisture that then deposits 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 and coastal plains and cities.
    (2) 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.
    (3) Summer heat is followed by the highly unpredictable autumn rains that accompany the violent tropical windstorms known as typhoons. These cyclonic storms originate over the western Pacific and travel in great clockwise arcs, initially heading west toward the Philippines and southern China, curving northward later in the season. Cold weather drives these storms eastward across Japan through early autumn, revitalizing the Siberian air mass and ushering in a new annual weather cycle.
    (4) This yearly cycle has played a key role in shaping Japanese civilization. [A] It has assured the islands ample precipitation, ranging irregularly from more than 200 centimeters annually in parts of the southwest to about 100 in the northeast and averaging 180 for the country as a whole. [B] The moisture enables the islands to support uncommonly lush forest cover, but the combination of precipitous slopes and heavy rainfall also give the islands one of the world’s highest rates of natural erosion, intensified by both human activities and the natural shocks of earthquakes and volcanism. [C] These factors have given Japan its wealth of sedimentary basins, but they have also made mountainsides extremely susceptible to erosion and landslides and hence generally unsuitable for agricultural manipulation. [D]
    (5) The island chain’s mountains backbone and great length from north to south produce climatic diversity that has contributed to regional differences. 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, although annual precipitation is high in that region, much of it comes as snow and rushes to the sea as spring runoff, leaving little moisture for farming.
    (6) Summer weather patterns in northern Honshu, and especially along the Sea of Japan, have 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. The impact of this effect has been especially great on rice cultivation because, if it is to grow well, the rice grown in Japan requires a mean summer temperature of 20 degree centigrade or higher. A drop of 2 to 3 degree centigrade 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 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.
    (7) In short, for the past two millennia, the climate in general and patterns of precipitation in particular have encouraged the Japanese to cluster their settlements along the southern coast, most densely along the sheltered Inland Sea, moving into the northeast. 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 commensurately greater.
An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
Japan’s yearly weather cycle influences settlement patterns and agriculture across the islands.
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Answer Choices
(A) Cold, westerly winds from Siberia and cyclonic airflow from the Pacific Ocean provide ample rainfall for farming but contribute to high rates of erosion.
(B) Japan’s yearly weather cycle makes farming possible only in the summer, as the effects of the Siberian air mass result in winters that are too cold and snowy for agriculture.
(C) Settlements are most concentrated along the Pacific seaboard to the south, where climate and topography are more suitable for crop cultivation than along the Sea of Japan.
(D) The Yamase effect has a great impact on rice growing in northern Japan but does not affect cultivation in southern Japan, where precipitation comes in the form of rain rather than snow.
(E) Agricultural practices that stabilize sediments have reduced erosion and landslides and allowed the growth of lush forests in Japan.
(F) Climate changes during the last two millennia have caused the Japanese to move their settlements toward the northeast, where the climate is more favorable to agriculture.
选项
答案A,C,D
解析 本题属于文章总结题。A项“来自西伯利亚的冷西风和太平洋的气旋性气流为农业提供了充足的降水，但也造成了高侵蚀率”是对原文第4段的整合，为文章的主要观点。C项“定居点大多集中在太平洋沿岸到南部沿海，那里的气候和地形比日本海沿岸更适合种植作物”是对第5—7段的整合，为文章的主要观点。D项“Yamase效应对日本北部的水稻生长有很大的影响，但对日本南部的种植没有影响，日本南部的降水是以雨而不是雪的形式出现的”为第6段的整合，是文章的主要观点。B项“日本的年度天气循环使农业生产只有在夏季才有可能进行，因为西伯利亚的空气团导致冬天寒冷、多雪，不利于农业生产”没有依据；并且，从第6段可知，日本南部全年均可耕种。E项“在日本，稳定沉积物的农业措施减少了侵蚀和滑坡，并使得茂密的森林得以生长”，原文第4段第3句说的是茂密的森林与降水有关，与农业措施无关，E项错误。F项“在过去的2,000年里，气候的变化使日本人把他们的定居点搬到了东北部，因为那里的气候对农业更有利”可根据第7段第1句提到的“日本人聚居在南部沿海”排除。
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