IT CAN BE INFERRED FROM THE PASSAGE THAT_ . A. TODAY PEOPLE ARE...

34. It can be inferred from the passage that_ .

A. Today people are more bored with the modern life

B. Today people have fewer choices to make

C. Modern life is more difficult to deal with

D. Today people are more interested in modern life

XIX. Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer

sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions

We are descendants of the ice age. Periods of glaciations have spanned the whole of

human existence for the past 2 million years. The rapid melting of the continental glaciers

at the end of the last ice age spurred one of the most dramatic climate changes in the

history of the planet. During this interglacial time, people were caught up in a cataclysm of

human accomplishment, including the development of agriculture and animal husbandry.

Over the past few thousand years, the Earth’s climate has been extraordinarily beneficial,

and humans have prospered exceedingly well under a benign atmosphere.

Ice ages have dramatically affected life on Earth almost from the very beginning. It is even

possible that life itself significantly changed the climate. All living organisms pull carbon

dioxide out of the atmosphere and eventually store it in sedimentary rocks within the

Earth’s crust. If too much carbon dioxide is lost, too much heat escapes out into the

atmosphere. This can cause the Earth to cool enough for glacial ice to spread across the

land.

In general, the reduction of the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been

equalized by the input of carbon dioxide from such events as volcanic eruptions. Man,

however, is upsetting the equation by burning fossil fuels and destroying tropical rain

forests, both of which release stored carbon dioxide. This energizes the greenhouse effect

and causes the Earth to warm. If the warming is significant enough, the polar ice caps

eventually melt.

The polar ice caps drive the atmospheric and oceanic circulation systems. Should the ice

caps melt, warm tropical waters could circle the globe and make this a very warm,

inhospitable planet.

Over the past century, the global sea level has apparently risen upwards of 6 inches,

mainly because of the melting of glacial ice. If present warming trends continue, the seas

could rise as much as 6 feet by the next century. This could flood coastal cities and fertile

river deltas, where half the human population lives. Delicate wetlands, where many marine

species breed, also would be reclaimed by the sea. In addition, more frequent and severe

storms would batter coastal areas, adding to the disaster of the higher seas.

The continued melting of the great ice sheets in polar regions could cause massive

amounts of ice to crash into the ocean. This would further raise the sea level and release

more ice, which could more than double the area of sea ice and increase correspondingly

the amount of sunlight reflected back into space. The cycle would then be complete as this

could cause global temperatures to drop enough to initiate another ice age.