Section C Reading in Depth
Read the following passages carefully and then choose the best answer for each question below．
PASSAGE 1
People are so quick to normalize extreme weather in the face of climate change that we have become like the proverbial frog slowly boiled alive in a pot of water，scientists warned．
In the famous fable，a frog that jumps into a pot of boiling water suddenly realizes the danger it is in and jumps straight out．But if the frog jumps in when the water is cold，and is slowly brought to the boil，the frog will not realize the danger it is in．
Researchers at the University of California，Davis，have now found that people appear to have short memories of what they considered“normal”weather，with events they once perceived as remarkable and out of the ordinary becoming old news in the space of two to eight years．
In their study，published in PNAS，the team looked at more than 2 billion posts shared on Twitter relating to the weather．They found people tended to tweet when temperatures were unusual for a specific time of year．A particularly warm March，for example，would generate a lot of tweets．
However，if that weather persisted in the years that followed，it would generate far fewer tweets，indicating people no longer viewed it as remarkable．
The scientists，led by Frances C．Moore from the university’s Department of Environmental Science and Policy，said unusual weather compared with pre-industrial conditions“constitute direct evidence of anthropogenic（人为的）climate change．”But as unusual weather becomes normal，people no longer recognize it as a symptom of climate change．
“We provide evidence for a‘boiling frog’effect，”they wrote．“The declining noteworthiness（值得注意）of historically extreme temperatures is not accompanied by a decline in the negative sentiment that they cause，indicating that social normalization of extreme conditions rather than adaptation is driving these results．”The implications are，they say，that people could start accepting global warming，and this may influence public pressure for mitigation（减轻）policies．
The tweets were generated between March 2014 and November 2016．During this time，the U．S．saw polar vortexes（极地涡旋），a catastrophic hurricane（灾难性的飓风）season and one of the worst droughts on record．
So far，2019 has also shaped up to be a year of extremes．In January，parts of the Midwest saw the coldest temperatures in about two decades．On the West Coast，however，the country basked in one of the warmest starts to the year ever recorded．At the beginning of February，Sandberg，California，set an all-time record high for the month as temperatures reached 82 degrees Fahrenheit，the Weather Channel reported．
In a statement，Moore said：“People seem to be getting used to changes they’d prefer to avoid．But just because they’re not talking about it doesn’t mean it’s not making them worse off．”
1．What does the“cold water”in the famous frog fable indicate？
A．The polar vortexes in the U．S．
B．The normal weather in the U．S．
C．The coldest temperatures in the Midwest of the U．S．
D．The negative sentiment induced by extreme weather in the U．S．
2．What does the number of tweets produced in the U．S．in a year in the study reflect？
A．The number of people who produce the posts on Twitter
B．The degree of noteworthiness of extreme weather in the U．S．
C．The amount of remarkable and out-of-the-ordinary events
D．The number of people boiled in American society
3．What failed to accompany the social normalization of extreme conditions according to the scientists？
A．A“boiling frog”effect．
B．Anthropogenic climate change．
C．People’s acceptance of global warming．
D．The adjustment of measures and mitigation policies．
4．What can be inferred between March 2014 and November 2016 from paragraph 8？
A．Extreme weather conditions increased a lot．
B．Tweets about extreme weather were less produced．
C．Tweets about extreme weather were greatly increased．
D．Measurements accompanied with Extreme climates
5．What is this passage mainly about？
A．People are very quick to get used to extreme weather．
B．People seem to be getting used to changes of all kinds they’d prefer to avoid．
C．Tweets are the indispensable tools to normalize extreme weather．
D．People tend to tweet when temperature are unusual for a specific time of year．
PASSAGE 2
When Yoshiro Mori，president of the Tokyo Olympics committee，complained last month that women did not belong on leadership committees because they talk too much，the fierce global reaction was instant and unforgiving．Mori，a former prime minister of Japan，resigned and was replaced by Seiko Hashimoto，a female government minister and former Olympian．
Mori’s remarks were not only sex-biased，but in fact incorrect．A much cited 1993 review of 56 studies of speaking patterns in meetings found only two showing that women talked more；34 found men talked more—and in the remaining parts the sexes behaved similarly．More recent studies have found similar results．
But the incident highlights a challenge that employers worldwide are struggling with．Efforts to diversify（使多样化）leadership teams and workforces are finally bearing fruit．To benefit，however，companies must ensure that people with different perspectives are heeded，respected and retained（雇佣）rather than just present，hated or ignored．
This is particularly important right now．Years of progress toward improved sex and racial equality are under threat as women and racial minorities disproportionately（不成比例地）bear the burden of helping their families cope with the Covid-19 pandemic（全球性瘟疫）．Unless employers find ways to make clear their contributions are valued—and update working practices to help them stay in the workforce—their participation is likely to fall．
First，the good news：all-male boards have disappeared from the FTSE 350 and those UK-listed companies have reached their collective target of having one in three directors be female．In the US，the share of women on Russell 3，000 index boards has hit an all-time high of 22．6 percent．In France，the world leader，research company BoardEx estimates that big company boards are 43．6 percent female．
Firm leaders now routinely seek a wide range of viewpoints and experiences．“Board diversity is not optional for me，”says Dame Louise Makin，newly appointed chair of Halma，the FTSE 100 maker of safety technologies．“It enhances performance and innovation，and ensures that our strategies are well informed and powerful．”
But progress on executive leadership has been much slower—the executive committees of FTSE 350 companies are 21．5 percent female，for example．And there is growing evidence that the challenges of working during Covid-19 have disproportionately affected women．
A McKinsey survey of 40，000 US workers at 47 companies found that one in four women was considering leaving the workforce or downshifting career because of the pandemic．That rose to one in three for mothers，nearly double the rate for fathers．Senior women were significantly more likely than senior men to report feeling burnt out，exhausted or pressured to work more．
Employers who want to retain these women and benefit from their professional knowledge must act now，to address pandemic stresses and to make sure their contributions are welcomed．Employees already under personal strain are unlikely to want to fight to make themselves heard at work．They may instead drop out or change jobs．
While few people are as frank as Mori，his resentment of contributions from women，and others he perceived as outsiders，is not uncommon．
Indeed，Lareina Yee，McKinsey’s chief diversity and inclusion officer，estimates that“anywhere from 10 to 30 percent of employees are not on board with change，and many of them may be silent objection bearers”．
Their discomfort may reveal itself in small acts of exclusion or disrespect．These tiny prejudices end up making the workplace uncomfortable for the kinds of new employees that companies are working to attract and retain．
Jennifer Howard-Grenville，professor at Cambridge Judge Business School，argues that top managers need to talk clearly about how they plan to work together and get the benefit of different leadership and conversational styles．
Drawing on research that suggests mixed sex teams improve performance，she says，“you want people who are socially focused and thinking about the community，and you also want people who will be confidently firm and raise challenging issues”．That requires an environment where people trust each other and feel comfortable expressing themselves．
The challenge for managers at all levels is to bring the resisters along，while not allowing them to interfere with the contributions of people they hate．That may simply involve making time to get to know—and to listen to—every member of a team．But it also means making a special effort to draw out introverts，welcome new colleagues and check in regularly with those who feel they are the“only”representative of their sex，race or other category．
Zoom（手机云视频会议软件）calls and remote working have made it harder for people to develop the kinds of personal ties that allow for honest discussion．That puts the duty on team leaders．At the start of meetings，McKinsey’s Yee advises：“Don’t just say hi，say‘how are you？’—listen to the answers．”
If companies fail to do this，we may look on 2020 as a high water mark for diversity that will not come again for a very long time．
Task 1：
Complete the sentences below using the information from the passage．Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer．
1）Mori’s complaints were no only________，but in fact________，which caused________and________fierce global reaction．
2）In 56 studies of speaking patterns in meetings in 1993 review，________showing women，while________showing men who talked more，and in the rest ones women and men are generally the same．
3）In order to get benefits，companies must ensure that people with different perspectives are________，________and________．
4）The discomfort of employees may reveal itself in small acts of________and________．
5）Jennifer says“You want people who are socially focused，thinking about the community and who are confidently firm，missing challenging issues，making use of the research that suggests________teams improve________．”
6）It is challenging for managers of all levels to introduce the________，while not allowing them to________the contributions of people they________．
7）What made it more difficult for people to develop the kinds of personal ties in which honest discussion is permitted are________and________．
Task 2：
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 1？Read the statements 1-5 in the box，and write
YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the author
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the author
NOT GIVN if it is imposssible to say what the writer thinks about this
1）When women and racial minorities disproportionately bear the burden of helping their families fight against Covid-19 pandemic，progresses in years towards improved sex and racial equality are undergone in a large scale．________
2）Dame Louise Makin，newly selected chair of Halma says that Board diversity is selective to him．________
3）A McKinsey survey of 40，000 US workers at 47 companies discovered that about one in six for fathers was considering leaving the workforce or downshifting career due to the pandemic．________
4）Mori’s resentment of contributions from women and outsiders is commonly seen though few people are as direct in opinions as him．________
5）It’s not always the responsibility of team leaders to promote Zoom calls and remote working which make it harder for people to develop the personal ties suitable for honest discussion．________
PASSAGE 3
Scientists have discovered that rats have adapted to modern human life，even adapting their diets to the cities they live in．
The scientists behind the study claim that it could be possible that humans and rats have had parallel shifts in their genetic make-up，due to modern city life．The changes in the DNA could make rats easily affected by the same health problems as humans，such as polluting substance and sweet foods．
The study showed that rats’diets have also adapted to their environment．Arbel Harpak，a population geneticist at New York’s Columbia University who led the study，told The Guardian，“We know rats have changed in incredible ways in their behaviors and in their diets，just as human communities have changed．”
In New York，you can see them eat bagels（百吉饼）and beer；in Paris，they like croissants（羊角面包）and butter．They adapt in amazing ways．The team of scientists analyzed the genomes of 29 New York rats and compared them with those of nine brown rats from Heilongjiang province，north-east China，which is the original home of Rattus norvegicus（褐家鼠）．
The finding showed that dozens of rat genes had been through major DNA changes over the centuries，as the rats spread from Asia to Europe and America，and from the countryside and into cities．The changed genes were associated with diets，behaviors，and movements，which added pressures and challenges for the rat to overcome，such as an increased danger of diseases and changes in diets．
Harpak explained to The Guardian that“This could reflect the fact that urban rats have to move through highly artificial environments that are very different from the natural environment．So you could argue these gene changes might have developed to help them move more easily through sewers and pipes．”
As the rats are closely associated with city-living humans，the scientists believe that it is possible that similar shifts have happened in both species．
In November 2019，scientists revealed that they had taught rats how to drive as part of a behavioral research project that aimed to highlight the importance of enriched environments in lab-based animal studies and to benefit the field of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative（神经发育的和神经变性的）diseases，such as like ADHD and Alzheimer’s．
Additionally，in October 2019，scientists used rats to successfully test an enzyme（酶）that could be used to help people quit smoking．Two groups of rats were trained to self-administer nicotine，and over two weeks their nicotine absorption amount increased gradually，suggesting addiction．Then，one group of rats was given the enzyme，which led to a decreased nicotine absorption amount．The scientists behind the study say that the enzyme could be developed for human use in the future．
Newsweek has contacted the researchers for comments and will update this story．
1．Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted part of the selected sentence in Paragraph 2？
A．It could be possible that humans and rats have had similar shifts in their genetic structures．
B．It could be possible that humans and rats have had uncrossed shifts in their gene-linked cosmetics．
C．It could be possible that humans and rats have had uncrossed shifts in their genetic structures．
D．It could be possible that humans and rats have had similar shifts in their gene-linked cosmetics．
2．What’s the main purpose of author’s citing the two examples in both“New York”and“Paris”in the first sentence of Paragraph 4？
A．To exemplify rats have changed in incredible ways in their behaviors．
B．To exemplify rats’diets have adapted to their environments．
C．To exemplify rats are easily affected by the same health problems as humans．
D．To exemplify rats can’t eat other foods in those cities because they are on a diet．
3．All of the following are mentioned in this passage as the reasons of the changed genes of rats Except________．
A．Modern city life
B．Time and space
C．Natural environment
D．Diet，behavior and movement
4．Which of the following statements is the reason for the implementation of“rats-used test of
an enzyme that could be used to help people quit smoking”in paragraph 9？
A．Enzymes could be developed for human use in the future．
B．Heilongjiang province，north-east China is the original home of Rattus norvegicus．
C．The enzyme leads to a decreased nicotine absorption amountin rats．
D．Humans and rats possibly have similar shifts．
5．What’s the main idea of this article？
A．Rats have adapted to modern human life and adapted their diets to the cities they live in．
B．It is possible that similar shifts have happened in species of human beings and rats．
C．The changed genes were associated with diets，behaviors，and movements of rats．
D．Urban rats have to move through highly artificial environments that are very different from the natural environment．