Aman who lives alone in the Rocky Mountains has become a hero for climate scient-组卷网

阅读理解-阅读单选 0.65 引用1 组卷44

A man who lives alone in the Rocky Mountains has become a hero for climate scientists because of his unusual hobby. The man is called Billy Barr——he writes his name with small b’s——and for 50 years he has been the only person who kept living in Gothic, a small town in Colorado.

In the summer of 1973, Billy decided he wasn’t happy in the regular world, so he moved to Gothic, where he felt more relaxed. Every summer, scientists come to Gothic’s Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (生物实验室) ——or RMBL——for research. But in winter, Billy is alone. Having little to do, Billy started keeping records of snow levels, temperatures and animal sightings. For Billy this was fun. He has always liked numbers. So he continued keeping records——for 50 years.

Over time, he started working at the RMBL, looking after the place and keeping records. He made the laboratory his home, and became friends with the scientists. One day, Billy mentioned his hobby to a scientist, who asked to see his records and realized at once how important they were. Those records of fifty years show climate change and its effects very clearly: Winters are getting warmer, and the snow is disappearing earlier. Now Billy’s records have been used in many academic papers and there’s a short film about him called The Snow Guardian. He still keeps his records, but now he uses Excel and a website instead of notebooks.

Although he has other hobbies, like playing cricket and watching Bollywood movies, his records have made him famous among climate scientists. But why does he write his name with small b’s? Well, Billy said that it felt more comfortable. “I live a quiet little life,” he said. “And I enjoy it.”

【小题1】Why did Billy move to Gothic?