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Uncertainty threatens the very existence of Quinhagak, Alaska. The village is built on a layer of permanently frozen ground, and

admin2022-02-27  36
问题     Uncertainty threatens the very existence of Quinhagak, Alaska. The village is built on a layer of permanently frozen ground, and as a warming Earth rapidly turns that to soup and as rising oceans encroach, the unthinkable is looking increasingly inevitable; The town may have to move.
    The story of Quinhagak, told in this week’s cover story by Simon Montlake, is in some ways tied to the town’s Arctic environment. But it also speaks to the fundamental tension in the wider debate about global warming; How do we handle uncertainty?
    The core challenge is that the immense complexity of Earth’s climate means modeling involves significant uncertainty. To some, that uncertainty puts climate change between "a mere annoyance and an existential threat," as theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder put it in a recent New York Times opinion article, suggesting the only answer is a massive investment in supercomputers.
    But climate scientists say the uncertainty is already narrowing. " Where the uncertainty comes in is how soon some of these impacts will be felt—what will the world look like 20 years, or 50 years, or a century from now?" writes Boger Cohn, editor of the online magazine Yale Environment 360, in an email. "But there is a very strong scientific consensus that they will occur. … Scientists already know that the impacts will be catastrophic in the future if we continue on the same trajectory. "
    These uncertainties cause a similar spectrum of responses—from doubting the conclusions entirely to claims that the world is already doomed. How do you chart a course forward when uncertainties result in disagreement about the scope and urgency of the problem? One answer has been to accelerate efforts to convince societies that the threat is existential. Yet without the overwhelming evidence of disaster facing places like Quinhagak seen more broadly, skepticism has remained.
    In his book " Enlightenment Now," Harvard University professor Steven Pinker argues that the progress the world has made on health, wealth, and human rights comes from a clear formula: science, reason, and humanism. I would argue that the formula deepens when you exchange "humanism" for "humanity," defined by Webster’s New World College Dictionary as "the fact or quality of being humane; kindness, mercy, sympathy. "
    Can we talk about climate change that way? As science advances, can we use reason to examine policy choices and our own views honestly and with compassion, humility, and restraint— all qualities of humanity in its broader sense? Studies show that kind of discussion can do more to create unity than facts alone. And it also creates a firmer foundation to discuss the uncertainties that remain.
Which of the following is more likely to help create unity towards the remaining uncertainties?
选项 A、Facts alone.
B、Careful examinations.
C、Further studies.
D、Discussion with some formula.
答案D
解析 细节题。根据题干中的unity和remaining uncertainties可定位至最后一段最后两句：Studies show that kind of discussion can do more to create unity than facts alone. And it also creates a firmer foundation to discuss the uncertainties that remain. 由此可知答案为“that kind of discussion”，而指代词that的具体含义，可以从上文中发现，即以science，reason，and humanity的角度来谈论文中提及的不确定性。A项facts alone“单纯的事实”，为本文倒数第二句中than后面的内容，故可以排除；B项和C项脱离定位且无中生有，并非that kind of discussion“那种讨论”的具体含义，故亦排除；D项中的some formula “某种公式”是对原文内容的概括表达，这里注意some不是“一些”，而是“某种，某一”的意思。故本题答案为D项。
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