干旱河床拆“盲盒”

山东 李全忠

干旱导致欧洲河流干涸，多瑙河的水位降到了过去近一个世纪以来的最低水平，埋葬在多瑙河深处的十几艘德国舰船残骸露出水面。

主题语境：人与社会 篇幅：335词 建议用时：7分钟

1From the depths of the big Danube River, the huge wrecks (沉船) of more than a dozen German ships have risen once again, exposed by a drought that has starved Europe's rivers and led to some of the lowest water levels of the past century. The exposed wrecks had been on the river's bottom for nearly eight decades and emerge only when the water level is extremely low. The spread of an extraordinarily hot and dry summer across Europe has dropped water levels suddenly, creating a danger for local river transport and fishing on the Danube River.

2More broadly,the high temperature weather has caused alarm across the continent as heat waves have increased at a faster rate, with scientists pointing to global warming and other factors as playing major roles.

3The extreme temperatures have led to lower harvests and restricted Europe's ability to create its own energy supply.They have reduced hydropower (水力发电)in Norway and threatened nuclear reactors in France. Britain banned the use of outdoor hoses (水管) after England experienced its driest July since 1935. In Spain, towns in Andalusia have restricted water usage. In Germany, environmentalists are concerned that dried-up lakes and rivers in the center of the country threaten the survival of fish and other wildlife.The drought has also brought more interest in relics dating back thousands of years thatsometimes surface as water levels drop in rivers across Europe.

4The foundations of a 2,000-year-old bridge in Rome emerged in the Tiber River this summer.In Spain,the Dolmen of Guadalperal,a four-to-five-thousand-year-old monument often compared to Stonehenge, rose from the waters west of Madrid. Earlier, a village in Spain, which had been abandoned and flooded when artificial reservoirs (水库) were built in the 1960s,became visible after years under water.

5So-called hunger stones also resurfaced as rivers ran low.When water levels dropped,the local populations knew the harvest would be bad and the following year would be tough.

Reading Check

1.What do we know about the wrecks of the ships from paragraph 1?

A.They belonged to the European Union.

B.They reappeared mainly due to the human factor.

C.They have been in the Danube River for nearly eighty years.

D.Transport and fishing on the Danube River contributed to their exposure.

2.What does the third paragraph mainly talk about?

A.Measures of dealing with the drought.

B.Results caused by severe weather.

C.Challenges environmentalists are faced with.

D.Problems scientists are managing to solve.

3.How does the author develop the fourth paragraph?

A.By listing examples.

B.By stating arguments.

C.By providing research results.

D.By explaining scientific knowledge.

4.Why does the author write the text?

A.To stress the importance of rivers.

B.To describe a phenomenon in detail.

C.To introduce the dangerous drought in Europe.

D.To increase people's environmental awareness.

Language Study

Ⅰ.Useful expressions

lead to 导致

more broadly 更广泛地

play a major role in 发挥重要作用

dry up 干涸；逐渐枯竭

date back 追溯到；始于

so-called(表示不认同)所谓的

Ⅱ.Difficult sentence

The drought has also brought more interest in relics dating back thousands of years that sometimes surface as water levels drop in rivers across Europe.这场干旱也使人们对（其历史能够）追溯到数千年前的历史遗迹产生更大的兴趣，这些遗迹有时会随着欧洲河流水位的下降而露出水面。

【点石成金】本句是一个主从复合句，句中的dating back thousands of years 是现在分词短语作后置定语，修饰前面的relics；that 引导定语从句，修饰先行词relics；as 引导时间状语从句。