Nina is reading a book which described 37 endangered natural and cultural treasures in the world. The writers want the book to be a hopeful call to action. Let’s visit some of these places.

Venice

The ancient city of Venice, Italy has long been threatened (威胁) by rising sea levels because of the warm temperature. The situation is made worse by the fact that its ancient buildings, built on a body of water, are slowly sinking (下沉). When the city was founded about 1,600 years ago, the level of Adriatic Sea was almost 2 meters lower than it is today.

Mount Kilimanjaro

Mount Kilimanjaro in northeastern Tanzania, is the highest in Africa, almost 6,000 metres. The mountain supports 5 plant areas and many kinds of animals. The ice glaciers (冰川) on the mountain are disappearing very quickly. This will have a bad effect on the mountain’s ecosystems (生态系统) and on Tanzania’s travel industry. Also, a valuable record of thousands of years of weather history will also be lost if the ice melts.

Glacier National Park

In the United State, the icy blocks in Clacier National Park may soon completely disappear because of weather change. In 1850, there were about 150 glaciers. There are 26 glaciers remaining today. Scientists estimate that the glaciers will be gone by 2030. Warm temperatures are also threatening the many kinds of plants and animals that live in this mountain ecosystem.

Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest coral reef (珊瑚礁) system in the world. Rising sea temperatures are greatly harming the reef. In some areas, healthy yellow, brown and green reefs have become white. The coral whitens when it is in warmer temperature. Sick or dying coral influences the whole ecosystem of this special underwater area. Water pollution and visits by careless swimmers and divers also threaten the reef.

【小题1】What does the common harm to the four places above according to the text?

A．Sea levels.

B．Ice glaciers.

C．Warm temperature.

D．Water pollution.

【小题2】What does the underlined word “estimate” mean?

A．count

B．guess

C．suggest

D．wonder

【小题3】Which writing method does not appear in the text?

A．Listing numbers.	B．Drawing diagrams (图表).
C．Providing examples.	D．Making comparisons (比较).

【小题4】What might be the name of the book that Nina is reading?

A．Disappearing destinations (目的地).	B．Ecosystems of the sea.
C．Creating a new world now.	D．Treasures in the world.