Essay #15.
Dendrochronology, the study of tree-ring records to glean information about the past, is possible because each year a tree adds a new layer of wood between the existing wood and the bark. In temperate and subpolar climates, cells added at the growing season's start are large and thin-walled, but later the new cells that develop are smaller and thick-walled; the growing season is followed by a period of dormancy（睡眠，冬眠，隐匿）. When a tree trunk is viewed in cross section, a boundary line is normally visible between the small-celled wood added at the end of the growing season in the previous year and the large-celled spring wood of the following year's growing season. The annual growth pattern appears as a series of larger and larger rings. In wet years rings are broad; during drought years they are narrow, since the trees grow less. Often, ring patterns of dead trees of different, but overlapping, ages can be correlated to provide an extended index of past climate conditions.
However, trees that grew in areas with a steady supply of groundwater show little variation in ring width from year to year; these "complacent" rings tell nothing about changes in climate. And trees in extremely dry regions may go a year or two without adding any rings, thereby introducing uncertainties into the count. Certain species sometimes add more than one ring in a single year, when growth halts temporarily and then starts again.
Q22.
The passage suggests which of the following about the ring patterns of two trees that grew in the same area and that were of different, but overlapping, ages?
(A) The rings corresponding to the overlapping years would often exhibit similar patterns.
(B) The rings corresponding to the years in which only one of the trees was alive would not reliably indicate the climate conditions of those years.
(C) The rings corresponding to the overlapping years would exhibit similar patterns only if the trees were of the same species.
(D) The rings corresponding to the overlapping years could not be complacent rings.
(E) The rings corresponding to the overlapping years would provide a more reliable index of dry climate conditions than of wet conditions.
可是，文章中说，由于气候湿度等影响，会出现不同的patterns of rings, 那这样的话，A：The rings corresponding to the overlapping years would often exhibit similar patterns. often exibit similar patterns 就应该不对了吧作者: xianmengyao 时间: 2011-8-26 06:24
因此第一题选A
ring patterns of dead trees of different, but overlapping, ages can be correlated to provide an extended index of past climate conditions. 这句是根据问题的定位，但是这个定位并不能回答问题。因此需要对第一段进行合理的概括和推理才能得出答案作者: Claudinethj 时间: 2011-8-28 07:45
3楼 ：
“可是，文章中说，由于气候湿度等影响，会出现不同的patterns of rings, 那这样的话，A：The rings corresponding to the overlapping years would often exhibit similar patterns. often exibit similar patterns 就应该不对了吧”
