Question

【題目】Weather experts said this year could be one of the strongest EL Nino events in recorded history. El Nino means severe weather conditions in parts of the world. In eastern Africa, for example, Kenya and Uganda are preparing for possible flooding. Yet South Africa and Malawi are already dealing with extremely dry weather.

El Nino is Spanish for “the child”. It usually begins in December, near the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. In fact, the weather event was named in his honor. El Nino develops when winds off the west coast of South America weaken. This permits warm water in the western Pacific to expand toward the east and the Americas. At the same time, clouds and rain over the warm water move east, too. El Nio conditions normally appear only about twice every 10 years. Usually, El Nino conditions continue for about 12 to 18 months. They bring warm weather to some areas. These areas become wetter than normal, while others become drier.

The United Nations Children’s Fund warns that many people are at risk from hunger, disease and water shortages resulting from El Nino. In the east and southern Africa up to 11 million children could be affected. East African countries usually experience heavy rainfall during the El Nino. Southern Africa usually has little rainfall which may lead to wildfires or drought(干旱).

Weather changes caused by El Nino depend on the strength of the condition. In the early 1980s, strong El Nino was linked to dry weather in Australia and Asia, rain and flooding in South America and high temperatures in many parts of the U.S. The years later, smaller El Nino caused trouble in parts of the U.S. It caused severe floods in the Southeast and the Middle West. Tom Di Leberto is a meteorologist(氣象學(xué)家) at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington, D.C. He said this year could be the third strongest El Nino on record. But we will not know for sure until all the weather records are examined.

【1】The author writes the text to tell us_________.

A. many countries are preparing for the coming floods

B. Africa will probably suffer a lot form this year’s El Nino

C. this year could be one of the strongest El Nino on record

D. 11 million children could be affected by this year’s El Nino

【2】The second paragraph is mainly about ____________.

A. what El Nino actually means

B. how El Nino comes into being

C. when El Nino will occur next time

D. why El Nino causes weather changes

【3】Which of the following countries often suffers from flooding caused by El Nino?

A. Kenya B. Malawi

C. Australia D. South Africa

【4】The author mentioned the 1980s’ El Nino and the 1990s’ El Nino to ______ .

A. explain why so many countries were affected by El Nino

B. prove weather changes caused by El Nino depend on its strength

C. argue that El Nino conditions usually appear about twice every 10 years

D. show scientists doubt whether this year will have the strongest El Nino

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】B

【3】A

【4】B

【解析】本文是一篇說明文。介紹了厄爾尼諾現(xiàn)象，它的特征以及它所帶來的影響。

【1】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第一段中“Weather experts said this year could be one of the strongest EL Nino events in recorded history.”可知，作者是為了告知我們今年可能是厄爾尼諾現(xiàn)象最強(qiáng)烈的一年。故C選項正確。

【2】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段中“El Nino is Spanish for “the child”. It usually begins in December, near the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.”可知，本段講述的是厄爾尼諾的來源，故B選項正確。

【3】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第一段中“Kenya and Uganda are preparing for possible flooding.”可知，經(jīng)常反生厄爾尼諾現(xiàn)象的國家包括肯尼亞，故A選項正確。

【4】推理判斷題。根據(jù)最后一段中“Weather changes caused by El Nino depend on the strength of the condition.”可知，天氣變化取決于其強(qiáng)度。故B選項正確。