Between 1998 and 2013 , the Earth’s surface temperature rose at a rate of 0. 04°C a decade, far slower than the 0. 18°C increase

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问题     Between 1998 and 2013 , the Earth’s surface temperature rose at a rate of 0. 04°C a decade, far slower than the 0. 18°C increase in the 1990s. Meanwhile, emissions of carbon dioxide rose continuously. This pause in warming has raised doubts in the public mind about climate change. A few sceptics say flatly that global warming has stopped. Others argue that scientists’ understanding of the climate is so flawed that their judgments about it cannot be accepted with any confidence. A convincing explanation of the pause therefore matters both to a proper understanding of the climate and to the credibility of climate science—and papers published over the past few weeks do their best to provide one.
    As evidence piled up that temperatures were not rising much, some scientists dismissed it as a temporary phenomenon. The temperature, they pointed out, had fallen for much longer periods twice in the past century or so, in 1880- 1910 and again in 1945-75, even though the general trend was up. Variability is part of the climate system and a 15-year pause, they suggested, was not worth getting excited about.
    An alternative way of looking at the pause’s significance was to say that there had been a slowdown but not a big one. Most records, including one of the best known, do not include measurements from the Arctic, which has been warming faster than anywhere else in the world. Using satellite data to fill in the missing Arctic numbers, Kevin Cowtan of the University of York, in Britain, and Robert Way of the University of Ottawa, in Canada, put the overall rate of global warming at 0. 12°C a decade between 1998 and 2012. A study by NASA puts the "Arctic effect" over the same period somewhat lower, at 0.07°C a decade, but that is still not negligible.
    It is also worth remembering that average warming is not the only measure of climate change. According to a study just published by Sonia Seneviratne of the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, in Zurich, the number of hot days, the number of extremely hot days and the length of warm periods all increased during the pause. A more stable average temperature hides wider extremes.
    Still, attempts to explain away that stable average have not been convincing, partly because of the conflict between flat temperatures and rising CO2 emissions, and partly because observed temperatures are now falling outside the range climate models predict. The models embody the state of climate knowledge. If they are wrong, the knowledge is probably faulty, too. Hence attempts to explain the pause.
In the second paragraph, some scientists suggest that______.

选项 A、climate is changeable and the pause is common
B、climate change is not worth receiving our concern
C、climate science is more complicated than you think
D、the temperatures in the past 15 years haven’t risen much

答案A

解析 第二段都在讨论some scientists的观点,其中suggest一词出现在最后一句:Variability is part of the climate system and a 15一year pause,they suggested,was not worth getting excited about.“复杂多变也是气候系统的一个特征。他们认为,15年的停滞期并不值得大惊小怪。”根据该句可以判断[A]项是正确答案。其中[A]项的climate is changeable=variabilityis part of the climate system:the pause is common=a 15一year pause was not worth getting excited about。而[B]项的not worth receiving our concern“不值得我们关注”是偷换概念,原文说的是“不值得大惊小怪”。[C]项的more complicated than you think原文并未提到。[D]项的内容对应该段第一句:As evidence piled up that temperatures were not rising much…由此可见“温度没有上升太多”不是这些科学家提出的,故错误。
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