Question

Most forest fires are caused by human carelessness, negligence, or ignorance. Forest fire prevention, therefore, is mainly a problem of creating a better understanding of the importance of forests, an awareness of the danger of fire in the woods, and a sense of personal responsibility to safeguard the forests from danger. This is not an easy job. A city dweller, used to paved street, does not easily change his smoking habits when he goes into the woods.

Careless smokers are responsible for thousands of forest fires each year. Many of these are started when cigarette butts and matches are tossed from automobiles. Others are caused by hunters, hikers, fishermen, or woods workers who are careless in disposing of their smoking material. The Forest Service has posted rules in many of the National Forests that prohibit smoking except in certain designated areas. Many of the states have laws against throwing lighted materials from automobiles. The prevention of smoker-caused fires, however, depends upon changing the attitudes and behavior of millions of people who smoke in hazardous area.

The most important natural cause of fire is lightning. This accounts for 11 percent of forest fires on protected land for the entire nation. In the western states, lightning causes a much higher percentage of fire than it does in the east.

Advances in knowledge of fire weather are helping forest protection forces to know when to be alert for lightning-caused fires. Adequate and well-equipped forces can control them quickly and hold the damage to a minimum. Experiments in “seeding” thunder clouds to prevent or control the lightning itself have been in process for many years, but new breakthroughs are needed for any significant reduction in the lightning starts.

　　 1. The passage is chiefly about

　　　　 A. smoking in forests

　　　　 B. the chief cause of forest fire and their prevention

　　　　 C. changing the attitudes and behavior of millions of people

　　　　 D. advances in knowledge of fire weather

　　 2. Preventing smoker-caused forest fires is mainly a problem of——.

　　　　 A. building the proper knowledge and habits in human beings

　　　　 B. safeguarding the forest from fire

　　　　 C. posting rules in forests

　　　　 D. holding the damage to minimum　　　　　　　　  　　

　　 3. Lightning-caused fires can be controlled quickly by——.

　　　　 A. hunters and woods workers　　　　　　  B. responsible smokers

　　　　 C. adequate and well-equipped forces　　　　 D changing people's habits

　　 4. Which of the following statements is not true?

　　　　 A. The chief causes of forest fires are human carelessness, negligence, or ignorance.

　　　　 B. Lightning, the important natural cause of forest fire, can be prevented or controlled by men.

　　　　 C.  Quite a few states in America have laws against throwing lighted materials from automobiles.

　　　　 D. “Seeding” thunder clouds are a good way to prevent forest fire.

 

Answer 1

解析：

1.B。文章一开始作者就指出大多数森林火灾都是由人类的“carelessness，negligence，or ignorance”造成  的。接着作者分别详细描述了两类火灾——人为引起和自然现象引起——的原因及具体预防措施，故选B。     2.A。见文章第二段最后一句，大意为：“但是，对于由吸烟者引起的森林火灾的预防问题，关键在于改变数百万在危险地区吸烟的人的态度及行为。”故选A。     3.C。见文章最后一段第二句，大意为：“足够的装备良好的设施能迅速控制住由闪电引起的森林火灾。并把损失减小到最低限度。”故选C。     4.D。见文章最后一段最后一句，大意为：“为了预防和控制由闪电引发的森林大火，人们进行了一种“播种”雷雨云的试验，这种试验多年来一直在进行，但是，人们仍然需要有新的突破以大大减少由闪电引发的森林火灾。”从这句话可知，“播种”雷雨云到目前为止尚不能被认为是一种好的防止闪电引发火灾的方法。故选D。

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