8/18/2019 Warning on Global Warming

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WARNING ON GLOBAL WARMINGGlobal warming could cause drought and possibly famine in China, the source of much of Hong Kong's food, by 2050, a

new report predicts. Hong Kong could also be at ris from flooding as sea le!els rose. "he report recommends building

sea#walls around low#lying areas such as the new port and airport reclamations. $ublished by the %orld %ide &und for

 ature (%%&), the report, which includes wor by members of the Chinese *cademy of +eteorological ciences, uses

the most recent pro-ections on climate change to point to a gloomy outloo for China.

y 2050 about /0 to 0 per cent of the country will e1perience changes in the type of !egetation it supports, with

tropical and sub#tropical forest conditions shifting northward and hot desert conditions rising in the west where currently

the desert is  temperate.  Crop#growing areas will e1pand but any benefit is e1pected to be negated  by increased

e!aporation of  moisture, maing it too dry to grow crops such as rice. "he growing season also is e1pected to alter

 becoming shorter in southern and central China, the mainland's breadbaset. "he rapid changes mae it unliely that

 plants could adapt.

China will produce smaller crops. 3n the central and northern areas, and the southern part, there will be decreased

 production because of water limitations, 4r. i 6eemans, one of the authors of the report, said during a brief !isit to

the territory yesterday. &amine could result because of the demands of feeding the population # particularly if it grows #

and the diminished producti!ity of the land. 3t loos !ery difficult for the world as a whole he said.

Global warming is caused by the burning of large amounts of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, which release gases that

trap heat in the atmosphere. %orld temperatures already ha!e increased this century by about 0.7 degrees Celsius and are

 pro-ected to rise by between 8.7 degrees and /.9 degrees by 2800.

4r. 6eemans said China's reliance on coal#fired power for its industrial growth did not bode well for the world climate.

3 thin the political and economic powers in China are much greater than the en!ironmental powers, and (greenhouse

gas emissions) could accelerate, 4r. 6eemans said. China is not taing the problem seriously yet, although it is trying

to incorporate this ind of research to see what is going to happen.

"he climate change report, which will be released tomorrow, focuses on China but +r 4a!id +el!ille of %%Hong

Kong said some of the depressing scenarios could apply to the territory. &ood supplies, for instance, could be affected

 by lower crop yields. +aybe we could afford to import food from elsewhere but you ha!e to  keep in mind that the type

of changes e1perienced in southern China will tae place elsewhere as well, he said. ea le!els could rise as  glaciers

melted and the higher temperatures e1panded the si:e of the oceans, threatening much of de!eloped Hong Kong which

is built on reclaimed land. Current pro-ections are that sea le!els worldwide will rise by 85 to ;0 centimetres by 2800,

depending on whether action is taen to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Hong Kong has substantial areas built on reclaimed land and sea le!el rises could impact on that, not only on Che

6ap Ko but the %est Kowloon eclamation and the Central and %estern eclamation # the whole lot, +r +el!ille

said, adding that sea#walls would be needed. Depleted fresh water supplies would be another problem because increased

e!aporation would reduce le!els. +r +el!ille said the general outloo could be helped if Hong Kong used water less

wastefully and encouraged energy efficiency to reduce fuel#burning. He also called on the %est to help China impro!e

its efficiency.

Vocabulary

8/18/2019 Warning on Global Warming

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/. +r 4a!id +el!ille suggests that in futuremore food could be imported into Hong Kong.

He thins these measures could beA

(a)efficient(b)sufficient

(c)insufficient

(d)inefficient

. 3n paragraph B which point is +r +el!ille ?" maingA

(a)suggesting that there is a potential disaster inHong Kong

(b)suggesting that reclamation areas are at ris 

(c)criticising current safeguards(d)maing a call for action

5. "he main point of paragraph / is to describeA(a)effects of changes in the climate of China on

food production

(b)future changes in the climate of China(c)effects of changes in the climate of China on

the growing season

(d)pro-ected future changes in the climate of

China

7. "he main point of paragraph 5 is to describeA

(a)global warming(b)the effects of global warming

(c)the causes and pro-ected effects of global

warming

(d)the causes and effects of global warming

B. How would you describe the 4r. 6eeman's

attitude towards ChinaA(a)mainly fa!ourable

(b)critical

(c)supporti!e in theory(d)admiring

9. 3n paragraph B 'depleted' could be replaced bywhich of the following@

(a)reduced(b)poor 

(c)decaying(d)decimated

;. 3n paragraph 8 'gloomy' is closest in meaningtoA

(a)healthy

(b)gradually deteriorating(c)declining

(d)pessimistic

80. 3n paragraph 2 'negated' is closest in meaningtoA

(a)made possible

(b)made ineffecti!e(c)reduced

(d)paid for 

88.%hy does the writer add the information in

 bracets in paragraph 5@(a)because the uote is from a second language

user whose command of =nglish is not perfect(b)because, although they are not part of the

original uote, the additional information gi!en

is necessary to understand the statement(c)because the writer is uoting from another

source

(d)because the writer wants to emphasi:e themeaning of these words

82. 3n paragraph 2 'alter' is closest in meaning toA(a)cause

(b)alternate

(c)change

(d)recede

8/. 3n paragraph 7 'eep in mind' is closest in

meaning toA (a)see(b)analyse

(c)predict

(d)remember 

8. 3n paragraph B 'substantial' could be replaced

 by which of the following@

(a)considerable(b)worthwhile

(c)well built

(d)orong

85. 3n paragraph B 'depleted' could be replaced by

which of the following@(a)e1hausted

(b)emptied(c)reduced

(d)deplorable

87. 3n paragraph 5 'reliance' is closest in meaning

to which of the followingA(a)stress

(b)emphasis

(c)dependence(d)referendum

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