A.the Western frontiers

B.the Maine woods

C.an imagined mysterious land

D.the coastal towns of Maine

According to the speaker, why does coastal area receive more rain than land regions？

A．The ocean saturates the atmosphere with water.

B．More salt particles are suspenede in the air over the coast.

C．The dust from blowing sand causes moisture to condense.

D．Lower coastal elevations attract predictable weather patterns.

A．the Western frontiers

B．the coastal towns of Maine

C．a(chǎn)n imagined mysterious land

D．the Maine woods

About 3 billion people live within 100 miles (160km) of the sea, a number that could double in the next decade as humans flock to coastal cities. The oceans produce $3 trillion of goods and services each year and untold【C1】______for the Earths ecology. Life could not exist【C2】______these vast water reserves—and, if anything, they are becoming even more important to humans than before. Mining is about to begin under the seabed in the high seas. New summer shipping lanes are opening【C3】______the Arctic Ocean. The genetic resources of marine life promise a big【C4】______: the number of patents has been rising at 12% a year. But these developments are【C5】______compared with vaster forces reshaping the Earth, both on land and at sea It has long been clear that people are damaging the oceans—【C6】______the melting of the Arctic ice in summer and the death of marine lives. Now, the【C7】______of that damage are starting to be felt onshore. Thailand provides a【C8】______example. In the 1990s it cleared coastal plants to set up fish farms. Ocean storm surges in 2011, no longer【C9】______by the plants, rushed in to【C10】______the countrys industrial heartland, causing billions of dollars of damage. More【C11】______is the global mismanagement of fish stocks. About 3 billion people get a fifth of their protein from fish, making it a more important protein source than beef.【C12】______a vicious cycle has developed as fish stocks decline and fishermen【C13】______to grab what they can of the remainder.【C14】______the Food and Agriculture Organization, a third of fish stocks in the oceans are over-exploited. People could be eating much better, were fishing stocks【C15】______managed. The forests are often called the lungs of the Earth, but the description better fits the oceans. They produce half the worlds【C16】______of oxygen. At the moment, the oceans are moderating the【C17】______of global warming— though that may not【C18】______This cannot be good news,【C19】______scientists are still debating the likely consequences.【C20】______, the decades of damage imposed on the oceans are now damaging the environment on land.

【C1】

A．value

B．secret

C．harm

D．possibility

After many skyscrapers were built in some of Shanghai's coastal areas,_____.

A．the land beneath these buildings was sinking

B．the sea level on average went up

C．water shortage was solved accordingly

D．its government went into bankruptcy

A．Using magnetic fields as a guide

B．Recognizing coastal landmarks

C．Following the heat of the tropical water

D．Listening to sounds that bounce off of the land

E．Following the migrating plankton

A．correspondences between coastal contours

B．proof of an original solitary land mass

C．level of sima underlying the continents

D．immobility of the African continent

E．relative heaviness of the continental masses

A．correspondences between coastal contours

B．proof of an original solitary land mass

C．level of sima underlying the continents

D．immobility of the African continent

E．relative heaviness of the continental masses

Degraded Land in South China

Damaging agricultural and forestry practices over the past years have degraded half of the land in China bounded by the Tropic of Cancer and the South China Sea, dramatically reducing its biological productivity and environmental services. The damage to South China's hilly tropical/subtropical(亞熱帶的) forests probably began in the Sung Dynasty as population expanded to the south. The settlers most likely used cutting and bum techniques to clear land for fanning. Forest cover provided building materials and firewood to the settlers, but also served as a habitat(棲息地) for tigers, leopards, wild pigs, and deer. Population growth put severe pressure on the land. Eventually, erosion (腐蝕) washed away much of the top soil and much of the degraded land was abandoned. Today, only about one square kilometer of the original tropical evergreen broad-leaved forest remains.

Impacts

The most direct impact of this disastrous loss of productive soil is reduced agricultural production. Farmers trying to produce crops under these conditions face great difficulties even when using commercial fertilizers(化肥). The soil is poor at holding the plant nutrients(營養(yǎng)) contained in commercial fertilizers. The problem is deteriorated by the fact that fertilizer runs off the land quickly during heavy rains.

China cannot afford to abandon potentially productive land, let alone lose more to erosion. It is already losing enormous amounts of land to new towns and other non-agricultural uses. Per capita amble land (人均可耕種土地) in China now is about 0.1 hectare, only 47 percent of the world average. But China estimates that it lost about 50,000 square kilometers of its amble land from 1986 to 1995, the equivalent of the total agricultural land area of Japan. Food production is not the only problem. The loss of much of China' s forest cover today has made wood products China' s leading import costing the country $ 2 to $ 5 billion annually.

Economic losses also result from waterlogged (水澇的) fields and coastal sand storms that result directly from the soil erosion. Some 710 million tons of sediment(沉淀物)were carried through the Three Gorges(三峽) part of the Yangtze in 1998--a 33 percent increase over the loads measured before 1990. In parts of Guangdong Province, sediment-choked streams and rivers have caused the water table to rise and have waterlogged nearby farm fields. Since the waterlogged land is useless for conventional fanning, the Chinese introduced the "dam-pond system". Ponds are dug and used for raising fish and vegetables are grown on the tops of the dam surrounding the ponds.

This system may have to be ridiculously stopped if erosion is controlled. Once controlled, the streams and rivers will cut deeper channels, thus lowering the water level in the fishponds. In the few areas where reforestation (重新造林) of eroded hills has reduced erosion and sediments in the rivers, the river has begun to cut through years of deposited sediment to return to its original bed. This lower water table(地下水位) reduces water logging of nearby land and the fishponds begin to dry up. In some places, pumps had to be installed to draw water from the streams and rivers to keep the water level in the fishponds stable.

Sandstorms are another effect of the heavy sediment load created when granite (花崗巖)weathers (風(fēng)化)in the wet tropics. Coarse quartz(粗的石英) sands move from the weathered hills to lower elevations during heavy rains, filling valleys and covering agricultural fields. Fine-grained quartz sands, however, are carried further downstream and deposited near river mouths. Strong sea winds and typhoons regularly blow the sand inland, burying agricultural fields and human settlements. To reduce the movement of sand by wind action, the Chinese built windbreaks(防風(fēng)林)along much of the sandcovered coastal belt. Salt-tolerant (耐鹽的)trees, satisf

A．Y

B．N

C．NG

The coast of the State of Maine is one of the most irregular in the world. A straight line running from the southernmost coastal city to the northernmost coastal city would measure about 225 miles. If you followed the coastline between these points, you would travel more than ten times as far. This irregularity is . the result of what is called a drowned coastline. ______【46】. At that time, the whole area that is now Maine was part of a mountain range that lowered above the sea. As the glacier (冰川) descended, however, it expended enormous force on those mountains, and they sank into the sea.

As the mountains sank, ocean water charged over the lowest arts of the remaining land, forming a series of twisting inlets and lagoons (咸水湖) . The highest parts of the former mountain range, nearest the shore, remained as islands. ______【47】Marine fossils found here were 225 feet above sea level, indicating the level of the shoreline prior to the glacier.

The 2, 500-mile-long rocky coastline of Maine keeps watch over nearly two thousand islands. Many of these islands are tiny and uninhabited, but many are home to thriving communities. Mt. Desert Island is one of the largest, most beautiful of the Maine coast islands. Measuring 16 miles by 12 miles, Mt. Desert Island was essentially formed as two distinct islands. ______【48】.

For years, Mt. Desert Island, particularly its major settlement, Bar Harbor, afforded summer homes for the wealthy. Recently though, Bar Harbor has become a rapidly growing arts community as well. But the best part of the island is the unspoiled forest land known as Acadia National Park. Because the island sits on the boundary line between the temperate (溫帶) and sub-Arctic zones, the island supports the plants and animals of both zones as well as beach, inland , and alpine (高山 的) plants. ______【49】The establishment of Acadia National Park in 1916 means that this natural reserve will be perpetually available to all people, not just the wealthy. Visitors to Acadia may receive nature instruction from the park naturalists as well as enjoy camping, cycling, and boating. Or they may choose to spend time at the archeological museum, learning about the Stone Age inhabitants of the island.

The best view on Mt. Desert Island is from the top of Cadillac Mountain. ______【50】. From the summit, you can gaze back toward the mainland or out over the Atlantic Ocean and contemplate the beauty created by a retreating glacier.

A. It also lies in a major bird migration lane and is a resting spot for many birds.

B. Mt. Desert Island is one of the most famous of all of the islands left behind by the glacier.

C. The wealthy residences of Mt. Desert Island selfishly keep it to themselves.

D. The term comes from the activity of the Ice Age.

E. This mountain rises 1, 532 feet, making it the highest mountain on the Atlantic seashore.

F. It is split almost in half by Somes Sound, a deep and narrow stretch of water seven miles long.

(46)