本文选自吴应时主编的《大学英语六级阅读真题精读——晨读伴侣》。本书对历年国家大学英语六级考试（CET-6）的仔细阅读部分进行了详尽而精准的分析、翻译和注释，对四六级考生有着事半功倍的效果，对提升整体英语能力也很有帮助。

学习导读：

全球变暖是一个经久不衰的话题，但如何就这个老话题谈出新意呢？文章从极端天气谈起，通谈及经济、政策等问题，使全文更具深度，也更具可读性。这个时代的时文阅读，归根结底还是要回到经济层面上来。所以可以考虑积累一些与经济相关的词汇，比如文中的期货，你能知道是什么词么？

[Apparently] everyone knows that global warming [only] makes climate me>. A hot, dry summer has triggered1 another flood (of such claims). And, [while many interests are at work,] one of the players (that benefits [the most] [from this story]) are the media: the notion (of “extreme” climate) [simply] makes for [more] (compelling2) news.

显然，大家都知道，全球变暖只会使气候变得更加极端。一个炎热干燥的夏季引发了洪水泛滥般的抱怨。然而有的人却忙于从中获益，从此次事件中获益最多的是媒体：光是“极端”天气这一概念就能成为引人注目的新闻了。

注：1. trigger vt. 引发，引起；触发  vi. 松开扳柄  n. 扳机；[电子] 触发器；制滑机。例：

Any implanted object can trigger a foreign body response which looks a lot like cancer.

任何植入人体的物体都可以引发异物反应，这看起来很像癌。

[选自：ENGADGET: RFID implants linked to cancer in lab tests]

The thieves must have deliberately triggered the alarm and hidden inside the house.

那些小偷一定是故意触发了报警器，然后藏在屋子里。

A man pointed a gun at them and pulled the trigger.

一个男人用枪指着他们，扣动了扳机。

trigger pulse触发脉冲

pull the trigger开枪

trigger off引起；激起quick on the trigger[美国口语] 射击迅速的，出枪快速的，动不动就开枪的；行动迅速的；机灵的，(在回答问题时)反应迅速的，机警的；容易冲动的；性急的；扣扳机的手指

2. compelling adj.强制的, 令人注目的, 强迫性的。例：

In short, there is a clear and compelling reason to not release these particular photos.

总之，不公开这些特殊的照片是有明确并令人信服的理由的。

[选自：WHITEHOUSE: President Obama: Our Security, Our Values]

“Consider Paul Krugman writing breathlessly1 in the New York Times [about the “rising incidence of extreme events],” He claims that global warming caused the current drought [in America’s Midwest], and that supposedly2record-high corn prices could cause a global food crisis.

保罗·克鲁格曼在《纽约时报》不停地写道“极端事件的发生率不断上升”，他声称，全球变暖使得目前美国中西部气候干旱，而据推测创纪录高位的玉米价格可能导致全球粮食危机。

注：1. breathlessly adv.上气不接下气地，气喘地；屏息地。文中为不停地之意。例：

Naida spread the news breathlessly, even stopping the doctor who was hurrying to the treatment room.

Naida把消息奔走相告，不敢耽搁，甚至叫住了匆匆赶往治疗室的医生。

[选自：NEWYORKER: Gorse Is Not People]

Local media have been breathlessly summarizing the newly released study (in Chinese here), which says that some 98.5% of Chinese bureaucrats suffer from poor health.

当地媒体急匆匆地总结了新发布的调查结果，其中说中国98.5%的公职人员健康状况不佳。

【同】wheezily adv.气喘地；屏息地

2. supposedly adv. 可能；按照推测；恐怕。例：

For this reason, prices can supposedly never go down.

出于这个原因，可以推测价格不会下降。

They have supposedly agreed to conduct joint attacks and training exchanges and to share weapons.

他们理应同意进行联合攻击和培训交流以及分享武器。

[选自：CNN: MINDANAO'S CHANCE]

But the United Nations climate panel’s latest assessment1 tells us [precisely] the opposite. [For “North America] there is medium2 confidence {that there has an overall slight tendency [toward less dryness]”. [Moreover], there is no way (that Krugman could have identified this drought [as being caused by global warming] [without a time machine];) Climate models estimate that such detection3 will be possible [by 2048], [at the earliest].

但是联合国气候变化专家小组的最新评估结果却恰恰相反。北美有一定的把握相信：呈现出干旱天气总体略微减少的趋势。更何况，由于没有时间机器，克鲁格曼不能确定干旱是否由全球变暖所引起。气候模型估计，这样的检测方式将至少到2048年才能成为可能。

注：1. assessment n. 评定；估价。例：

The men also carried out an assessment of the benefits of dietary supplements in such situations.

该男子在这种情况下还对膳食补充剂的益处进行了评估。

[选自：BBC: Simulated Mars mission 'lands' back on Earth]

But how do you really know what exists unless you do an in-depth assessment?

但是，除非您进行深入评估，否则如何真正了解存在什么内容呢？

risk assessment风险估计，危险率估计

environmental impact assessment环境影响评价

assessment method评价法

environmental assessment环境评价；环境评估

quantitative assessment定量评定（评价）

2. medium adj. 中间的，中等的；半生熟的。在这里作定语修饰信心，理解上来说讲的是有着一定的把握，而不能直接说成有着中等的信心。例：

Under Bureau of Prison guidelines, Madoff is likely to end up in a medium-security prison.

根据监狱局的指导方针，麦道夫可能最终在一个中等戒备的监狱服刑。

[选自：MSN: What’s the proper penalty for Madoff?]

3. detection n. 侦查，探测；发觉，发现；察觉。例：

For each mapping, set the conflict detection and resolution.

对于每个映射，设置冲突检测和解决方法。

“It could be used as a timing device or as a moisture-detection device,” Tomich said.“

它可以作为一个定时装置或作为水分检测装置”， Tomich说道。

[选自：MSN: New Glue Stays Sticky Even In Outer Space]

And, [fortunately], this year’s drought appears [unlikely] to cause a food crisis, [as global rice and wheat1 supplies retain [plentiful].] [Moreover], Krugman overlooks inflation: Prices have increased six-fold2 [since 1969]. So, [while corn futures did set a record (of about $8 per bushel) [in late July],] the inflation-adjusted3 price (of corn) was higher [throughout most of the 1970s], [reaching 516 in 1974].

而且，好在今年的干旱似乎不太可能导致粮食危机，因为全球大米和小麦供应充足。此外，克鲁格曼忽视了通货膨胀：自1969年以来，价格已经增长了六倍，而玉米期货在7月下旬，也创下了约每蒲式耳8美元的纪录。经通胀调整后的玉米价格几乎比20世纪70年代的都高，达到了1974年516点的水平。

注：1. wheat n. 小麦；小麦色。例：

Their firm has cornered the wheat market.

他们的公司垄断了小麦市场。

wheat germ小麦胚芽； [粮食] 小麦胚芽油；麦芽粉；麦芽

wheat beer [食品] 小麦啤酒；白啤酒；[食品] 小麦啤

2. six-fold adj. 六倍的。例：

The recent rise is extending a rally that began in 2001, multiplying gold prices six-fold in that period.

近期的上涨延续了一轮始于2001年的涨势，目前价格已达当时的六倍。

The sales represented a more than six-fold increase from a year earlier.

销售量比去年同期增长超过六倍。

[选自：WSJ: Apple Opens New Stores in Hong Kong, Shanghai]

3. inflation-adjusted adj. 经通胀调整的。例：

Inflation is running above 2%, largely due to higher energy and food prices, which means workers’ average inflation-adjusted wages have declined.

通货率在2％以上，主要是由于较高的能源和食品价格，这意味着工人的平均通胀调整后的工资都有所下降。

[选自：WSJ: Wages Fail to Keep Up With Inflation]

[Finally], Krugman [conveniently] forgets that concerns about global warming are the main reason (that corn prices have skyrocketed1 [since 2005].) [Nowadays] 40 percent of corn (grown in the United States) is used to produce ethanol, (which does [absolutely] nothing [for the climate], but [certainly] distorts2 the price of corn) – ^at the expense3 of many of the world’s poorest people^.

最后，克鲁格曼常常忘记了2005年以来玉米价格飞涨的主要原因就是对全球变暖的担忧。如今美国种植的玉米有40％用于生产乙醇，这与气候完全无关，但是毫无疑问扭曲了玉米的价格——牺牲了世界上最贫困的人们的利益。

注：1. skyrocket n. 流星烟火；冲天火箭  

vi. 飞涨，突然高升

vt. 使…猛然上涨。例：

skyrocket show焰火表演

Skyrocket perform焰火表演

Skyrocket Property焰火道具

Production has dropped while prices and unemployment have skyrocketed.

在物价和失业人数猛增的同时，生产却下降了。

If we do not reform health care, your premiums and out-of-pocket costs will continue to skyrocket.

如果我们不改革医疗保健制度，你的保费和自付费用将继续扶摇直上。

[选自：CNN: Transcript: Obama pleads health care case]

2. distort vt. 扭曲；使失真；曲解。文中为及物动词。

vi. 扭曲；变形。例：

The media distorts reality; it categorizes people as all good or all bad.

媒体歪曲事实，将人分为十足的好人和坏蛋。

We could see the screen while sitting to the side of it, but tilting it caused colors to distort.

坐在屏幕的一侧时我们可以看到屏幕，但会由于倾斜造成色彩失真。

[选自：ENGADGET: Toshiba Portege R705 review]

3. expense n.损失，代价；消费；开支。文中作名词。

vt. 向…收取费用

vi. 被花掉。例：

Part of the reason Indians favor sons is the enormous expense of marrying off girls.

印度人偏爱儿子的部分原因是嫁女儿要支出一大笔费用。

[选自：NPR: 285 Indian Girls Shed 'Unwanted' Names]

He’s bought a big TV at vast expense so that everyone can see properly.

他花了很多钱买了台大电视，这样人人都可以看清楚了。

at the expense of以…为代价；由…支付费用

at the expense以…为代价

daily expense每日费用

at no expense不花钱地；没有损失地

expense account[经]费用帐户，报销帐单

Bill Mickbben [similarly] worries [in The Guardian] [about the Midwest drought and corn prices]. He [confidently] tells us that raging1 wildfires (from New Mexico and Colorado to Siberia) are “exactly” what the early stages of global warming look like.

Bill Mickbben在《卫报》上同样表达了对中西部干旱和玉米价格的担忧。他自信地告诉我们，从新墨西哥和科罗拉多到西伯利亚肆虐的森林大火 “确实”与全球变暖的初期相似。

注：1. raging adj. 愤怒的，狂暴的。文中为形容词作定语修饰wildfires，分析时一道作为主语划分了。

v.发怒，恼火（rage的现在分词）。例：

Bad weather was the other enemy - thick fog, pack ice and raging storms.

恶劣的天气是另一种敌人：浓雾、浮冰和肆虐的风暴。

[选自：BBC: WWII arctic convoy veterans recall 'dangerous journey']

The field trip involved crossing a raging torrent.

越野旅行包括跨越一条汹涌的急流。

His words roused a great rage inside her.

他的话激发了她心中极大的愤怒。

[In fact], the latest overview (of global wildfire) suggests that fire intensity 1 has declined [over the past 70 years] and is [now] close to its preindustrial2 level.

事实上，对全球野外火情的最新回顾表明火灾密度在过去的70年里有所下降，现在已经接近工业化前的水平。

注：1. intensity n. ① 强烈；剧烈；极度；紧张；极端；②. (电、光、热等的)强度；烈度；③ 热烈；热情；专心致志；④色饱和度；⑤艺术激情；(艺术表现的)紧凑；衡力；⑥【摄影术】密度；⑦(尤指原始人类的)文化活动。例：

At the same time, the intensity of the X-rays rose and fell every 10 minutes.

与此同时，X射线的强度每隔10分钟上升和下降一次。

[选自：BBC: Middleweight black hole discovered]

high intensity adj. 高强度的 n. 高强度

labor intensity劳动强度，劳力投入密集度

light intensity光强度

stress intensity应力强度

intensity distribution强度分布；强度分析；亮度分布

2. preindustrial adj. 工业化前的；未工业化的。例：

All of the above analytical results indicate that war and depopulation have been the important adaptive choices in preindustrial society.

以上分析结果说明，战争和人口衰减，是前工业时代的历史时期，人类在灾害面前最重要的适应性选择。

While ancient Egypt was a preindustrial society, its people did engage in cooking, metal working and mining, all activities that can generate air pollution.

虽然古埃及是一个前工业化社会，古埃及人也从事烹饪、金属加工和开采等能够产生空气污染的所有活动。

[选自：MSN: Egyptian mummies hold clues to ancient air pollution]

[When well-meaning1 campaigners want us [to pay attention to global warming],] they [often] end up pitching beyond the facts. And, [while this may seem justified [by a noble2 goal],] such “policy by people” tactics 3 [rarely] work, and [often] backfire4.

当好心人士要我们注意全球变暖时，他们往往会夸大事实。虽然，为了一个崇高的目标，这似乎是合理的，但这种“政策由人”的策略，往往会适得其反，很少发挥作用。

注：1. well-meaning adj. 善意的；好心的（但却常事与愿违）。例：

He is a well-meaning but ineffectual leader.

他是位有善意却没有效率的领导。

Imaginative and well-meaning suggestions about what ought to happen, but not much consideration given to the how.

想象力和善意的建议通常都用来考虑什么应该发生，而不是应该怎样发生。[选自：BBC: These are my times and I must know them]

2. noble adj. 高尚的；贵族的；惰性的；宏伟的。文中此意。

n. 贵族

vt. 抓住；逮捕。例：

The IRS has a long and noble tradition of resisting White House efforts to politicize it.

美国国税局有一个漫长而高贵的传统：抵制白宫将其政治化的努力。

[选自：FORBES: Barack Obama: A Nixon, Not A Carter]

He was an upright and noble man who was always willing to help in any way he could.

他是一个正直、高尚的人，总是愿意尽其所能来帮忙。

He is a noble from French.

他是法国的贵族人员。

3. tactic n. 策略，战略。文中此意。

adj. 按顺序的，依次排列的。例：

The rebels would still be able to use guerrilla tactics to make the country ungovernable.

反叛者仍然可以用游击战术使国家难以统治。

The White House has rejected resorting to this tactic to keep the nation from defaulting.

白宫拒绝采取这种战术使国家免于违约。

[选自：MSN: GOP retools plan as Congress seeks debt fix]

4. backfire vi. 事与愿违；放出逆火；预先放火；产生出乎意料及事与愿违的结果。文中此意。

n. 逆火，回火。例：

But as I wrote earlier this week, these proposals are far from perfect and could even backfire.

但正如我本周早些时候写道的那样，这些建议都是很不完善的，甚至可能会适得其反。

[选自：FORBES: Cyberwar Hype Comes Under Increasing Scrutiny]

The president's tactics could backfire.

总统的策略可能会事与愿违。

The car backfired.

这辆车回火了。

【同】temper n.逆火，回火

Remember how, ^in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005^, Al Gore claimed that we were in store [for ever more destructive1 hurricanes]? [Since then], hurricane incidence has dropped off 2 the charts. Exaggerated claims [merely] fuel public distrust and disengagement.

紧接着2005年的卡特里娜飓风之后，还记得戈尔是怎样声称我们已经做好随时迎接任何更具破坏性飓风的准备的吗？从那时起，飓风发生率在图表上的数据显示已经下降。夸大的说法只会燃起公众的反感和不参与。

注：1. destructive adj. 破坏的；毁灭性的；有害的，消极的。例：

This destructive activity soon spread to other areas of the city and, in the days that followed, to other parts of the country.

这种破坏性活动很快蔓延到伦敦的其他地区，还在以后的几天里蔓延到了这个国家的其他城市。

Worrying about the things that are not in our control is wasteful and destructive.

担心不在我们控制范围内的事情既浪费又无益。

[选自：FORBES: The Second Golden Rule on Living the Good Life]

2. drop off 减少；让……下车；睡着。例：

Two years later, earnings from the stocks had dropped off by nearly 50%.

2年后，股票收益已下降了近50％。

I must have dropped off to sleep.

我一定是睡着了。

As a result, some analysts expect home sales to drop off after this month.

因此，一些分析师预计新房子的销售量会在本月后下跌。

[选自：BBC: US home sales in unexpected fall]

[en]That is unfortunate, [because global warming is a real problem, and we do need to address1 it.][/en]

这是不幸的，因为全球变暖是一个现实的问题，我们需要解决它。

注：1. address vt. 演说；从事；忙于；对付；处理；设法了解并解决；写姓名地址；向…致辞；与…说话；提出。文中作动词，解决之意。

n. 地址；演讲；致辞；说话的技巧；称呼。例：

Our exercises address core skills so that they don’t need to be addressed by the teacher.

我们的练习可以解决核心技能，而不必靠老师来解决。

[选自：CNN: Free learning videos go viral]

He is due to address a conference on human rights next week.

他下周要在一个人权会议上发言。

Mr King sought to address those fears when he spoke at the meeting...

金先生在会上讲话时试图消除那些恐惧。