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  3. It has become a recurring theme, and worryingly so. Since October 2015, our planet has experienced ten consecutive months of hum

It has become a recurring theme, and worryingly so. Since October 2015, our planet has experienced ten consecutive months of hum

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问题    It has become a recurring theme, and worryingly so. Since October 2015, our planet has experienced ten consecutive months of human-influenced, record-breaking temperature increases. The previous October, November, December, January, February, March, April, May and June months were all documented as the warmest Octobers, the warmest Januarys, the warmest Aprils; global heat highs are the hot new trend and the data suggests they are here to stay.
   According to NASA, July 2016 is not only the warmest July in history, but the warmest month in recorded history. NASA has tallied temperature changes from 1880 to the present day, with its data showing no signs of a slow-up in rising temperatures. Climate scientists have been perplexed in their attempts to understand the factors pushing the mercury so far up the thermometer this year. El Nino—the phenomenon explaining the unusual warming of surface waters in the east-central zone of the Pacific Ocean—has been tied to increased ocean water temperatures and changes in weather patterns.
   Important as it is to factor El Nino into the climate change framework, it is highly unlikely that it has contributed significantly to the hurried, upward trend witnessed these past ten months. If anything, focus on the subsiding effects of El Nino risks detracting attention from the pressure asserted on the climate by human activity.
   Greenhouse gases continue to bloat the atmosphere, trapping heat as atmospheric escape routes are obscured. Further exacerbating the climate change panic seems to be an unusually high temperature currently being experienced in the Arctic region. Arctic sea ice is the most vulnerable to climate change, and is now at a new low with ice cover down to 14. 54m sq km.
   With no clear solution in sight, the ice is destined to continue melting, with longer melting seasons becoming a normal occurrence. The U. S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration have noted a similar trend for the past 14 months, and are expected to release a similar figure for July. Though the rise is expected to taper off towards the end of the year, a scientist drew attention to how there is a "99 percent chance of a new annual record in 2016". As we confront the reality that many of these changes are as a direct consequence of human intervention, it is very possible that without the appropriate response, we could be contending with broken records for years to come.  
The phrase "taper off" in the last paragraph most probably means______.
选项 A、plunge
B、dwindle
C、descend
D、decelerate
答案B
解析 词汇细节题。动词短语taper off指的是to decrease gradually(逐渐下降)，选项[A]意思是“(突然地)下降”，如价格骤降或者一个人从高空一跃入水。[B]指“(尺寸、大小、数量的逐渐)减少或萎缩”。[C]尤指“拾级而下”。[D]指的是“(速度的)变慢，尤指机动车的减速”。正确答案是[B]。
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