托福阅读真题Official 48 Passage 3（五）

托福阅读真题Official 48 Passage 3（五）

Climate and Urban Development

For more than a hundred years,it has been known that cities are generally warmer than surrounding rural areas.This region of city warmth,known as the urban heat island,can influence the concentration of air pollution.However,before we look at its influence,let’s see how the heat island actually forms.

The urban heat island is due to industrial and urban development.In rural areas,a large part of the incoming solar energy is used in evaporating water from vegetation and soil.In cities,where less vegetation and exposed soil exist,the majority of the Sun’s energy is absorbed by urban structures and asphalt.Hence,during warm daylight hours,less evaporative cooling in cities allows surface temperatures to rise higher than in rural areas.The cause of the urban heat island is quite involved.Depending on the location,time of year,and time of day,any or all of the following differences between cities and their surroundings can be important:albedo(reflectivity of the surface),surface roughness,emissions of heat,emissions of moisture,and emissions of particles that affect net radiation and the growth of cloud droplets.

At night,the solar energy(stored as vast quantities of heat in city buildings and roads)is slowly released into the city air.Additional city heat is given off at night(and during the day)by vehicles and factories,as well as by industrial and domestic heating and cooling units.The release of heat energy is retarded by the tall vertical city walls that do not allow infrared radiation to escape as readily as does the relatively level surface of the surrounding countryside.The slow release of heat tends to keep nighttime city temperatures higher than those of the faster-cooling rural areas.Overall,the heat island is strongest(1)at night when compensating sunlight is absent;(2)during the winter,when nights are longer and there is more heat generated in the city;and(3)when the region is dominated by a high-pressure air pressure(atmospheric pressure)is the pressure exerted by the mass of air above a given place area with light winds,clear skies,and less humid air.Over time,increasing urban heat islands affect climatological temperature records,producing artificial warming in climatic records taken in cities.This warming,therefore,must be accounted for in interpreting climate change over the past century.

The constant outpouring of pollutants into the environment may influence the climate of the city.Certain particles reflect solar radiation,thereby reducing the sunlight that reaches the surface.Some particles serve as nuclei upon which water and ice form.Water vapor condenses onto these particles when the relative humidity is as low as 70 percent,forming haze that greatly reduces visibility.Moreover,the added nuclei increase the frequency of city fog.

Studies suggest that precipitation may be greater in cities than in the surrounding countryside;this phenomenon may be due in part to the increased roughness of city terrain,brought on by large structures that cause surface air to slow and gradually converge.This piling up of air over the city then slowly rises,much like toothpaste does when its tube is squeezed.At the same time,city heat warms the surface air,making it more unstable,which enhances rising air motions,which,in turn,aids in forming clouds and thunderstorms.This process helps explain why both tend to be more frequent over cities.

On clear still nights when the heat island is pronounced,a small thermal low-pressure area forms over the city.Sometimes a light breeze—called a country breeze—blows from the countryside into the city.If there are major industrial areas along the outskirts,pollutants are carried into the heart of town,where they tend to concentrate.Such an event is especially probable if vertical mixing and dispersion of pollutants are inhibited.Pollutants from urban areas may even affect the weather downwind from them.

Question 9 of 14

Why does the author mention“toothpaste”being squeezed from a tube?

A.To compare the movement of toothpaste from a tube to the movement of precipitation from clouds

B.To suggest that the process of cloud formation is a simple,everyday experience

C.To help the reader visualize the process of air movement over a city

D.To contrast the slow rising of air currents with the rapid squeezing of toothpaste

正确答案：C

题目详解

题型分类：修辞目的题

题干分析：考察句子之间的关系。原文中说像挤牙膏一样来比喻空气缓慢的移动。

选项分析：

C选项：帮助读者想象城市上空空气流动的过程。

A选项：将牙膏在管内的运动与从云层中的降雨相比较，错误，不是来和降雨发生比较的。

B选项：表明云彩的形成过程很简单、很常见，错误。

D选项：将空气流的缓慢上升与快速挤压牙膏相对比，错误，是慢慢移动。

Question 10 of 14

The word“both”in the passage refers to

A.piling up and warming of air

B.clouds and thunderstorms

C.warm surface air and rising air motions

D.heat and instability

正确答案：B

题目详解

题型分类：指代题

题干分析：指代词一般指代前方的对应内容

原文定位：At the same time,city heat warms the surface air,making it more unstable,which enhances risings air motions,which,in turn,aids in forming clouds and thunderstorms.与此同时，城市热量使表面的空气变暖,使之更不稳定，增强了上升的空气运动,这反过来，有助于形成云层和雷暴。这个过程帮助解释为什么这两者在城市上空更容易发生。

选项分析：

B选项clouds and thunderstorms根据句间指代的就近原则和语义原则，指代的内容因为云层和雷暴，正确。

A选项piling up and warming of air前文没有提到，错误。

C选项warm surface air and rising air motions，前文有提到，但是不是this process的指代内容，错误。

D选项heat and instability前文没提，错误。

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