搞定这些特殊符号，雅思阅读你就赢了一半

Developed most probably as a defense against forest fires, the bark of the cork oak has a particular cellular structure — with about 40 million cells per cubic centimeter — that technology has never succeeded in replicating.

这句话破折号起到句中停顿作用，补充解释"a particular cellular structure"，去掉这个补充成分，此句要说明的是软木作为木材有抵御森林火灾的天然优势，而人类技术从未能企及。

对应地，后面的判断题目scientists have developed a synthetic cork with the same cellular structure as natural cork.(Question 2) 题目说“科学家已经研发出合成软木，跟天然橡木有相同的纤维质地(也就是防火的特点)”，显然题目与原文矛盾，判定为false。

If the bark is stripped on a day when it's too cold — in when the air is damp— the tree will be damaged.

此句说“如果在寒冷或潮湿的日子里剥树皮，树会遭损伤”，通过"if"可以看出是讲“条件”，对应到后面一判断题：Cork bark should be stripped in dry atmospheric conditions.(Question 4)

此题就在讲剖树皮的条件，显然干燥与“潮湿”(damp)矛盾，判定false. 这里有个小插曲，有的童鞋不认识damp一词，恐怕只好通过语境猜词义，前面说cold，搭配一起是“寒冷干燥”还是“阴冷潮湿”，这里就得想想出题的是英国人，恐怕他们字典里很难找“寒冷干燥”吧，于是这是潮湿的意思。