Earlier cherry, climate worry樱花之殇

李海运

今年日本的櫻花开得比往年都要早，是日本1，200多年来最早的一次。专家指出，樱花开得越来越早，预示着气候危机和生态危机会越来越严重。

1 Think of Japan in the spring and the image that comes to mind is likely the countrys famous cherry blossom， also known as “Sakura”—a kind of white and pink flowers， blooming across cities and mountains.

2 The flowers， which experience a “peak bloom” that only lasts a few days， have been loved in Japan for more than a thousand years. Crowds celebrate with viewing parties， flocking to the most popular locations to take photos and have picnics underneath the branches.

3 But this year， cherry blossom season has come and gone in the blink of an eye， in one of the earliest blooms on record. Scientists warn its a symptom of the larger climate crisis threatening ecosystems everywhere.

4 Yasuyuki Aono， a researcher at Osaka Prefecture University， has gathered records from Kyoto back to 812 AD from historical documents and diaries. In the central city of Kyoto， cherry blossom peaked on March 26， the earliest in more than 1，200 years， Aono said. And in the capital Tokyo， cherry blossom reached full bloom on March 22， the second?earliest date on record.

5 The peak bloom dates shift every year， depending on numerous factors including weather and rainfall， but it has shown a general trend of moving earlier and earlier. In Kyoto， the peak date stayed around mid?April for centuries， but began moving into early April during the 1800s. The date has only dipped into late March a handful of times in recorded history.

6 “Sakura blooms are very temperature?sensitive，” said Aono. “Flowering and full bloom could be earlier or later depending on the temperature alone，” he said. “The temperature was low in the 1820s， but it has risen by about 3.5 degrees Celsius to this day.”

7 This years seasons in particular influenced the blossom dates， he added. The winter was very cold， but the spring came fast and unusually warm.

[Reading][Check]

Gist 1. What does this text mainly talk about？

A. Warning of a climate crisis.

B. Cherry blossom celebrations.

C. A strong love for cherry blossom.

D. Cherry blossom season coming ahead of time.

Vocabulary 2. What does the underlined word “flocking to” in paragraph 2 mean？

A. Blocking out. B. Flooding into.

C. Running into. D. Taking on.

Inference 3. What can we infer from paragraph 5？

A. Cherry blossom rarely peaks in March.

B. The peak bloom dates fall on a fixed date.

C. Cherry blossom peaks around mid?April in Tokyo.

D. The peak bloom dates mainly depend on weather and rainfall.

Inference 4. What is the authors purpose in writing the passage？

A. To show a study on cherry blossom dates.

B. To inform people the date of cherry blossom.

C. To present a Japanese tradition of cherry blossom celebration.

D. To make people aware of the influence of climate change on cherry blossom.

[Language][Study]

Ⅰ. Analyze difficult structure in the text

Scientists warn its a symptom of the larger climate crisis threatening ecosystems everywhere. 科学家们警告说，这是威胁到各地生态系统的更大气候危机的一个征兆。

【点石成金】本句中，its a symptom of the larger climate crisis threatening ecosystems everywhere是省略了that的宾语从句;threatening ecosystems everywhere为现在分词短语作后置定语，修饰名词crisis。

Ⅱ. Memorize text?centered chunks

come to mind 想起来

be known as 以……而闻名

in the blink of an eye 一眨眼;很快

depend on 依赖于;取决于

dip into 浸泡;浸入

in the 1820s 在19世紀20年代

rise by 上升了……

in particular 特别;尤其