Passage 1:

　　During the Arctic winter from October to March, the average temperature in the frozen north typically hovers around minus 20 degrees Celsius. But this year, the Arctic is experiencing much higher temperatures.

　　On February 20th, the temperature in Greenland climbed above freezing or zero degree Celsius and it stayed there for over 24 hours. Then, on February 24th, the temperature on Greenland northern tip reached 6 degree Celsius. Climate scientists described the phenomenon as stunning.

　　Weather conditions that drive this bizarre temperature surge have visited the Arctic before. They typically appear about once in a decade. However, the last such increasing temperature took place two years ago.

　　This is troubling as climbing Arctic temperatures combined with rapid sea-ice loss are creating a new type of climate feedback loop which could accelerate Arctic warming. Indeed, sea-ice cover in the Arctic is melting faster than expected. Without those masses of cooling sea ice, warm air brought to the Arctic can penetrate further inland than it ever did before. The air can stay warmer, and longer too. This drives additional melting.

　　Overall, Earth is warming at a rapid pace — 2014 through 2017 rank as the hottest years on record —and the Arctic is warming twice as fast as anyplace else on Earth. This raises unique challenges for Arctic wildlife and indigenous people who depend on Arctic ecosystems to survive.

　　Previously, climate forecasts predicted that Arctic summer ice would disappear entirely by around 2060. But based on what scientists are seeing now, the Arctic may be facing summers without ice within 20 years.

　　Q9: What did climate scientists describe as stunning?

　　Q10: What does the passage say about the temperature surge in the Arctic?

　　Q11: What may occur in 20 years according to scientists' recent observations?

　　Passage 2

　　A good dose of will power is often necessary to see any task through, whether it’s sticking to a spending plan or finishing a great novel. And if you want to increase that will power, a new study suggests, you just simply have to believe you have it. According to the study, what matters most is what we think about our will power. If we believe it’s a finite resource, we act that way. We feel exhausted any breaks between demanding mental tasks. However, people who view their will power as a limitless resource get energized instead. The researchers used a psychological assessment tool to test the validity of the study. They asked one thousand one hundred Americans and one thousand six hundred Europeans to grade different statements such as “after a challenging mental activity, my energy is depleted and I must rest to get it refueled again” or “I can focus on a mental task for long periods without feeling tired.” Although there was little difference between men and women over all, Americans were more likely to admit to needing breaks after completing mentally challenging tasks. European participants, on the other hand, claimed they were able to keep going. Based on the findings, the researchers suggest that the key to boosting your will power is to believe that you have an abundant supply of it. Your feelings about your will power affect the way you behave. But these feelings are changeable, they said. Changing your beliefs about the nature of your self-control can have positive effects on character development. This leads to healthier behaviors and perceptions of other people.

　　12. What is often necessary for carrying through a task?

　　13. What is the finding of the new study?

　　14. What do we learn about European participants as compared with their American counterparts?

　　15. What do the researchers say concerning people’s feelings about will power?

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