Passage Four
Severe climate change was the main driver behind the birth of civilisation, a scientist said yesterday. An increase in harsh, arid conditions across the globe around 5,000 years ago forced people to start living in stable communities around remaining water sources. "We can certainly say that the earliest civilisations arose on the backdrop of increasing dryness, which are driven by natural, global-scale changes in climate," said Nick Brooks of the University of East Anglia. "The cultural transitions track changes in environmental conditions quite closely."
Dr. Brooks said his research turned traditional ideas of how the world’s first civilisations started--such as those in Egypt, China, the Indus Valley region and South America---on their head. Many anthropologists think that civilisation was spread gradually among populations after it began in some part of the world. ’A current popular th
A. differences in civilizations are the result of differences in climate conditions
B. the emergence of civilizations is closely related to climate change
C. the development of civilizations has caused the world climate change
D. similar civilizations have appeared despite various climate conditions
Passage Four
Severe climate change was the main driver behind the birth of civilisation, a scientist said yesterday. An increase in harsh, arid conditions across the globe around 5,000 years ago forced people to start living in stable communities around remaining water sources. "We can certainly say that the earliest civilisations arose on the backdrop of increasing dryness, which are driven by natural, global-scale changes in climate," said Nick Brooks of the University of East Anglia. "The cultural transitions track changes in environmental conditions quite closely."
Dr. Brooks said his research turned traditional ideas of how the world’s first civilisations started--such as those in Egypt, China, the Indus Valley region and South America---on their head. Many anthropologists think that civilisation was spread gradually among populations after it began in some part of the world. ’A current popular th
A. confirm
B. extend
C. challenge
D. supplement
| Climate, more than any other single
factor, determines the distribution of life on earth. Climatic boundaries
establish the limits which organisms can survive. Plants, even more than
animals, must be well adapted to climate in order to survive. They cannot move
about or take shelter but must be equipped to endure whatever weather conditions
are likely to occur. In the harsh conditions of the tundra, for example, low
growing mosses, lichens, and a few flowering plants all hug the ground for
shelter from icy winds. Animals, despite their ability to move about and find shelter, are just as much influenced by climate as plants are. Creatures such as the camel and the penguin are so highly specialized that they have an extremely limited distribution. Others, such as bears are flexible enough to adapt to a broad range of climates. Oc A. to avoid being eaten by arctic animals B. because fertilizer is not readily available C. to minimize exposure to the cold D. because unfrozen water supplies are very scarce [单项选择] Passage One
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