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  3. New ice core samples taken from the centre of the Greenland ice-sheet have given a detailed record of the last "interglacial (间冰

New ice core samples taken from the centre of the Greenland ice-sheet have given a detailed record of the last "interglacial (间冰

admin2010-09-10  27
问题     New ice core samples taken from the centre of the Greenland ice-sheet have given a detailed record of the last "interglacial (间冰期)" which rail from about 135,000 to 115,000 years ago. The cores, taken from a depth of 2,780 to 2,870 metres, show that during this peroid the climate oscillated(摆动) between three states instead of remaining in one, as in the whole of recorded human history. The middle state was like our own, but the others were either’ much colder or warmer.
    Worse, it seems that the climate flipped from one condition to another very rapidly. "It apparently took very little time, perhaps less than a decade or two, to shift between the states," Dr. J.C. W. White of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado wrote earlier this year in the scientific journal, Nature: "We humans have built a remarkable socio-economic system during perhaps the  only time when it could be built, when the climate was stable enough to let us develop the agricultural  infrastructure(基础设施) required to maintain an advanced society."
    We do not know why we have been so blessed. But if the Earth had an operating manual, the chapter on climate might begin with a warning that the system has been adjusted at the factory for optimum comfort-- so don’t touch the dials.
    Unfortunately, we have been "twidling the knobs (旋钮)" for decades. In December 1995 the official Intergovernmental Panel on Climatic Change ( 1PCC. , which represents the work of 2,000 top meteorologists  from around the world, concluded that global warming due to human activities is probably already taking place. Global warming sounds deceptively favorable to inhabitants of countries which currently experience  harsh winters. In fact, with global warming, the world would struggle to cope with the effects of even a steady, gradual warming. This was spelt out to members of the British Royal Society by Sir John Houghton, chairman both of Britain’ s Royal Commission of Environmental Pollution and of one of the main IPCC working groups.  Houghton pat forward the IPCC picture of seas flooding much of Egypt, southern China and Bangladesh, making "many millions" of people homeless; of horde’s of "environmental  refugees" and of wars breaking out over dwidling (becoming gradually smaller) fresh water’ supplies, as world rainfall patterns changed.
    There is at least a chance that the world could adapt to steady warming if it happened slowly enough. However, many scientists, believe that even this prediction from the IPCC is too cautious.
What does "we have been ’twiddling the knobs’ for decades" mean?
选项 A、We have been changing the climate with thoughtless actions for decades.
B、We have been handling machines with poor skills for decades.
C、We have been following a misleading chapter about the earth for decades.
D、We have been mistaken in the belief in developing the agricultural infrastructure.
答案A
解析 根据以上的理解，此句中的 twidling the knobs 与上一句中的 touch the dials相比，更进一步。这用来比喻人们一直不顾大自然的法则，行为过分，改变了地球上的环境，包括气候。
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