Today’s article
“Nature’s capacity to ‘bounce-back’ when species are lost vastly overestimated” — King’s College London, October 6, 2026. The page does not list an individual author.
Original article: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/natures-capacity-to-bounce-back-when-species-are-lost-vastly-overestimated
Free to read without login. This is a selected article from October 6, 2026, not news published today. Read the full English text at the source; the exercises below are original.
Suggested level: B2–C1 (editorial estimate) · Time: 12 minutes to read, plus 8 minutes for the questions.
Introduction
今天换到生态主题：不同物种真的能互相替代吗？这篇研究报道适合练习区分总体趋势、特殊情况与证据局限，尤其要留意“结果显著”与“证据充分”并不是一回事。
训练重点：数字定位、同义替换、True / False / Not Given 和研究限制。
Vocabulary
- biodiversity — 生物多样性
- overestimate — 高估
- redundancy — 冗余；替代能力
- estuarine — 河口的
- sequestration — 封存（本文指碳封存）
- dataset — 数据集
- erosion — 侵蚀
- foundational — 基础性的
- safeguard — 保护
- projection — 预测；推算
Reading comprehension
Answer questions 1, 3, and 4 briefly in English. For questions 2 and 5, choose TRUE, FALSE, or NOT GIVEN according to the original article.
1. How many published studies were included in the analysis?
Reference answer
423 published studies.
定位：研究规模段落，注意区分研究篇数与数据点数量。
2. Most ecological benefits stopped increasing once a few species were present.
Reference answer
FALSE. Most benefits continued increasing with diversity.
定位：总体趋势段落，判断增加趋势是否在少数物种出现后停止。
3. What limits confidence in the finding about ocean carbon storage?
Reference answer
It relies on relatively few datasets.
定位：海洋结果之后的限制说明。
4. Why can protection against coastal flooding depend less on total biodiversity?
Reference answer
A few essential species may provide that service.
定位：例外情况段落，关注基础性物种的作用。
5. The researchers calculated the financial cost of restoring every damaged ecosystem.
Reference answer
NOT GIVEN. No such cost estimate is provided.
缺少信息不等于作者否定了这一说法。
Reading strategy
先定位研究规模，再区分总体趋势、特殊情况与证据限制。第 3 题要把结果的强弱与证据的多少分开；第 5 题不要把原文未提供的信息推断为错误。
Expression practice
The following practice sentences are original, not quotations from the article.
rather than — 而不是。
The course rewards understanding rather than memorisation.
depend on — 取决于；依赖。
Successful teamwork depends on clear communication.
balance A with B — 兼顾 A 与 B。
Public transport should balance affordability with reliability.
Review
用两句英文概括：第一句说明主要发现，第二句说明一个限制。尝试使用 however，避免把审慎结论改写成绝对判断。