2022年职称英语等级考试综合类(B级)试题、答案及题解5Even ancient Egypts mighty pyramid(金字塔)builders were powerless in the face of the famine(饥饿)that helped bring down their civilization around 2180 BCNow evidence collected from mud deposited by the River Nile suggests that a shift in climate thousands of kilometers to the south was ultimately to blame-and the same or worse could happen today The ancient Egyptians depended on the Niles annual floods to irrigate their cropsBut any change in climate that pushed the African monsoons(季风)southwards out of Ethiopia would have reduced these floods Declining rains in the Ethiopian highlands would have meant fewer plants to stabilize the soilW1len rain did fall it would have washed large amounts of soil into the Blue Nile and into Egypt，along with sediment(沉积)from the White Nile Blue Nile mud has a different isotope(同位素)signature from that of the white NileSo by analyzing isotope differences in mud deposited in the Nile DeltaMichael Krom of Leeds University worked out what proportion of sediment came from each branch of the river Krom reasons that during periods of drought，the amount of Blue Nile mud in the river would be relatively highHe found that one of these periods，from 4500 to 4200 years ago. immediately came before the fall of the Egypts old Kingdom The weakened waters would have been disaster for the Egyptians“Changes that affect food supply dont have to be very large to have a ripple(波浪)effect in societies，”says Bill Ryan of the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory in New York Similar events today could be even more devastating，says team member Daniel Stanleya scientist from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC“Anything humans do to shift the climate belts would have an even worse effect along the Nile system today because the populations have increased dramatically” 36 Why does the author mention “Egypts mighty pyramid builders? A Because they once worked miraclesB Because they were wellbuiltC Because they were actually very weakD Because even they were unable to rescue their civilization 37 Which of the following factors was ultimately responsible for bringing down the civilization of ancient Egypt? A Change of climateB CorrulptionC floodD Population growth 38 which of the following statements is true? A The White Nile is the trunk of the River NileB The White Nile is the trunk of the Blue NileC The White Nile is a branch of the Blue NileD The White Nile is a branch of the River Nile 39 According to Krom，the Egypts o1d Kingdom fell A immediately after a period of droughtB immediately after a period of floodC just before a drought struckD just before a flood struck 40 The word “devastating” in the last paragraph could be best replaced by A “frustrating”B “damaging”C “defeating”D “worrying”