Over-dried Earth
The south-west of the United States, together with some parts of Mexico across the Rio Grande, is one of the driest parts of the North American continent. But, over the past two decades, even that expected dryness (take) to the limit. According to Park Williams, who works at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, the current lack of rainfall in the area constitutes a megadrought of a severity (see) on only four other occasions in the past 1,200 years.
Dr Williams studies the annual growth rings of 1,586 ancient trees, in order to reconstruct soil-moisture patterns going back to 800 A. D. During warm, wet years trees grow fast, producing wide rings. During cold, dry they grow more slowly, producing narrow rings. During a drought, a tree not grow much at all.
they describe in this week's Science, the team identified dozens of droughts over the centuries in question. But four stood out. They then took the average soil-moisture value for the current drought and compared it with sequential (连续的) 19-year averages with the previous four, one of them (last) nearly a century. This showed that the region is already drier than it was during the first three of the previous megadroughts, and is equivalent to the event of 1575-1603.
In a world human actions are driving temperatures up, Dr Parker and his colleagues wondered how much people are (blame) for this state of affairs. To estimate that, they turned to climate modelling.
Climate models are able to re-run the past with and the warming effects of human activity, offering a way to compare what actually happened with what might have done. In their simulated world in which anthropogenic (人类起源的) emissions had not increased the greenhouse-gas effect, the team found that a drought did indeed still influence the western reaches of North America during the first two decades of the 21st century. But this imaginary dry spell was considerably (severe) than the real one-ranking 11th rather than 2nd in the period under study (see chart).
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A. essential B. adventure C. adopted D. entertaining E. route F. disastrous G. count H. visual1yI.purposes J. moderately K. religious |
"Life of Pi" is narrated by an older Pi and takes place in the present as he tells his life story to a writer. Pi begins with how he got his name and how his family owned a zoo, but eventually leads into his family needing to leave India for financial . The heart of the story lies in Pi as a young man and the time he spent out at sea on a lifeboat with a tiger named Richard Parker, but getting to that point is quite an ordeal (苦难考验). Pi loses everything and everyone close to him in the blink of an eye and he doesn't on making what feels like an unbreakable bond with a Bengal tiger.
The film offers a rather marvelous message about religion as Pi discusses the experimentation with several different religions as a young boy. Even though it seems kind of silly that a boy has so many religions at one point in his life, it portrays a/an message in a light that doesn't seem too preachy (说教的). But the religious aspect is really only a backdrop for being on your own to finding who you really are. Feeling so alone for so long and having Pi talk about not being alone and not getting to say goodbye to those he cared about most is one of those things that just hits you really hard.
While witnessing Pi attempt to tame Richard Parker is really , there are so many unbelievable sights to witness in" Life of Pi". There's the whale, the jellyfish, the flying fish, that storm, and that seaweed island with all of the meerkats (a kind of monkey). "Life of Pi" never really lets up on being breathtaking and amazing from beginning to end.
"Life of Pi" is pleasantly satisfying. With a heartfelt message, beautiful visuals, and stunning camera work. "Life of Pi" is truly a sight to behold and illustrates how 3D can be to a film that isn't just a summer hit or blockbuster.
The Old Man and the Sea is the story of an epic struggle between an old, seasoned fisherman and the greatest catch of his life. For eighty-four days. Santiago, an aged Cuban fisherman, has set out to sea and returned 1 handed. So conspicuously unlucky is he that the parents of his young, devoted apprentice (徒弟) and friend, Manolin, have 2 the boy to leave the old man in order to fish in a more prosperous boat. 3, the boy continues to care for the old man upon his return each night. He helps the old man haul his gear to his ramshackle hut (破旧不堪的陋室), secures food for him, and discusses the latest developments in American baseball, especially the trials of the old man's hero, Joe DiMaggio. Santiago is 4 that his unproductive streak of failure will soon come to an end, and he 5 to sail out farther than usual the following day.
On the eighty-fifth day of his unlucky streak, Santiago does as promised, sailing his skiff (小艇) far beyond the island's shallow coastal waters and 6 into the Gulf Stream. He prepares his lines and drops them. At noon, a big fish, which he knows is a marlin (青枪鱼), takes the bait (鱼饵) that Santiago has placed one hundred fathoms deep in the waters. The old man expertly hooks the fish, but he cannot pull it in. Instead, the fish begins to pull to boat.
Unable to tie the line 7 to the boat for fear the fish would snap a taut line, the old man bears the strain of the line with his shoulders, back, and hands, ready to give slack should the marlin make a run. The fish 8 the boat all through the day, through the night, through another day, and through another night. The entire time, Santiago endured 9 pain from the fishing line. Whenever the fish lunges, leaps, or makes a dash for 10, the cord（绳） cuts Santiago badly. Although wounded and weary, the old man feels a deep empathy and admiration, for the marlin, his brother in suffering, strength, and determination.
As Santiago sails on with the fish, the marlin's blood leaves a trail in the water and attracts sharks. The first to attack is a great make shark, which Santiago manages to kill with the harpoon (鱼叉). In the 11, the old man loses the harpoon and lengths of valuable rope, which leaves him vulnerable to other shark attacks. Although he kills several sharks, more and more appear. They devour (吞噬) the marlin's precious meat, leaving only skeleton, head, and tail, Santiago punished himself for going "out too far," and for sacrificing his great and worthy 12.
The next morning, a crowd of 13 fishermen gathers around the skeletal carcass of the fish, which is still lashed (紧系) to the boat. Knowing nothing of the old man's struggle, tourists at a nearby café observe the 14 of the giant marlin and mistake it for a shark. Manolin, who has been worried over the old man's absence, is moved to tears when he finds Santiago safe in his bed. The boy fetches the old man some coffee and the daily papers with the baseball scores, and watches him sleep. When the old man wakes, the two agree to fish as 15 once more. The old man returns to sleep and dreams his usual dream of lions at play on the beaches of Africa.
Like many of my generation, I have a weakness for hero worship. At some point, however, we all begin to question our heroes and our need for them. This leads us to ask: What is a hero?
Despite immense differences in cultures, heroes around the world generally share a number of characteristic that instruct and inspire people. A hero does something worth talking about. A hero has a story of adventure to tell and a community who will listen. But a hero goes beyond mere fame.
Heroes serve powers or principles larger than themselves. Like high-voltage (电压) transformers, heroes take the energy of higher powers and step it down so that it can be used by ordinary people.
The hero lives a life worthy of imitation. Those who imitate a genuine hero experience life with new depth, enthusiasm, and meaning. A sure test for would-be heroes is what or whom do they serve? What are they willing to live and die for? If the answer or evidence suggests they serve only their own fame, they may be famous persons but not heroes. Madonna and Michael Jackson are famous, but who would claim that their fans find life more abundant?
Heroes are catalysts (催化剂) for change. They have a vision from the mountain top. They have the skill and the charm to move the masses. They create new possibilities. Without Gandhi, India might still be part of the British Empire. Without Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr, we might still have segregated (隔离的) buses, restaurants, and parks. It may be possible for large-scale change to occur without leaders with magnetic personalities, but the pace of change would be slow, the vision uncertain and the committee meetings endless.
