A mysterious “black cloud” approaches the earth – our planet’s weather is severely affected.

       Throughout the rest of June and July temperatures rose steadily all over the Earth. In the British isles the temperature climbed through the eighties, into the nineties, and moved towards the hundred mark. People complained, but there was no serious disaster.

       The death number in the U. S. remained quite small, thanks largely to the air-conditioning units that had been fitted during previous years and months. Temperatures rose to the limit of human endurance throughout the whole country and people were obliged to remain indoors for weeks on end. Occasionally air-conditioning units failed and it was then that fatalities(不幸) occurred.

       Conditions were utterly desperate throughout the tropics (热带地区) as may be judged from the fact that 7943 species of plants and animals became totally extinct. The survival of Man himself was only possible because of the caves and cellars (地窖) he was able to dig. Nothing could be done to reduce the hot air temperature. More than seven hundred million persons are known to have lost their lives.

       Eventually the temperature of the surface waters of the sea rose, not so fast as the air temperature it is true, but fast enough to produce a dangerous increase of humidity (湿度). It was indeed this increase that produced the disastrous conditions just remarked. Millions of people between the latitudes of Cairo and the Cape of Good Hope were subjected to a choking atmosphere that grew damper and hotter from day to day. All human movement ceased. There was nothing to be done but to lie breathing quickly as a dog does in hot weather.

       By the fourth week of July conditions in the tropics lay balanced between life and total death. Then quite suddenly rain clouds appeared over the whole globe. The temperature declined a little, due no doubt to the clouds reflecting more of the Sun’s radiation back into space, But conditions could not be said to have improved. Warm rain fell everywhere, even as far north as Iceland. The insect population increased enormously, since the burning hot atmosphere was as favorable to them as it was unfavorable to Man and many other animals.

1．In the British Isles the temperature_________.

       A．stayed at eighty

       B．ranged from eighty to ninety

       C．approached one hundred

       D．exceeded the hundred mark

2．Few people in the United States lost their lives because_________.

       A．the temperature was tolerable

       B．people remained indoors for weeks

       C．the government had taken effective measures to reduce the hot temperature

       D．people were provided with the most comfortable air-conditioners

3．Millions of people in Cairo and the Cape of Good Hope were subjected to a choking atmosphere because_________.

       A．the temperature grew extremely hot

       B．the temperature became damper and hotter as the humidity of the surface waters of the sea increased

       C．their conditions were too dangerous

       D．nothing could be done with the hot temperature

4．By the fourth week of July conditions in the tropics were such that　

       A．human survival would be impossible

       B．more and more people would lose their lives

       C．fewer people could be saved

       D．survival or death was still undecided

. _______, they will do us a lot of good.

A. Unpleasant as his words may be       B As unpleasant his words may be

C His words may be as unpleasant        D Unpleasant his words as may be

. _______, they will do us a lot of good.
A. Unpleasant as his words may be      B As unpleasant his words may be
C His words may be as unpleasant        D Unpleasant his words as may be

E
When I was growing up, 16 was always a magical age, a symbol of maturity, responsibility and of course more independence and freedom.  I sat through the hours of Driver’s Ed classes eager to get out on the road. I couldn’t wait to get my driver’s license.
But it’s a different story for today’s teens. In January, the U.S. Department Transportation released 2012 data that showed only 30.7 percent of U.S. teens got their license at age 16, Twenty years before, that number was almost 45 percent.
There are numbers of reasons for the fall – off. The growing responsibilities like paying for insurance and high gas prices discourage teens from getting behind the wheel. Plus, many teens today are so busy with homework, endless hours of activities and part-time jobs, that finding the time for Driver’s Ed classes may be more difficult that ever.
In addition, many states have raised the driving age, or restricted when teens can drive and who they can have in the car. Parents may also be making their own personal restrictions until they feel their teens are responsible enough to drive safely.
Driving is part of the American culture, but it’s not the central focus like it was 25 years ago. They have so many other things to do now. One of the more interesting factors delaying teens driving might be the change of their social life. Today, teens need to look no further than Face book or other social networking sites to connect with their friends. There is simply less need, maybe less desire, to be able to grab the keys and go.
Michelle Wei got her license as a senior in high school because her digital social life made it easy no to drive. “If I couldn’t get a ride to see my friend who lives a town over,” the 19-year-old said, “I could talk on IM or Skype.”
Research has shown that these online relationships can lead to higher quality friendships, so it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, it’s important to find a balance. If old face-to-face friendships are good, why not drive to find them?
【小题1】We can infer from the first paragraph that         .

D
　　In the atmosphere,carbon dioxide actd rather like a one-way mirror or the glass in the roof of a greenhouse which allows the sun's rays to enter but prevents the heat from excaping.
　　According to a weather expert's prediction,the atmosphere will be 3 warmer in the year 2050 than it is today, if man continues to burn luels at the present rate. If this warming up took place,the ice caps in the poles would begin to melt,thus raising sea level several meters and severely flooding coastal cities.Also，the increase in atmospheric temperature would lead to great changes in the climate of the northern hemisphere(半球),psooicbly resulting in an alteration of earth's chief food growing zones.
　　In the past,concern about a man - made warming of the earth has concentrated on the Arctic because the Antarctic is much colder and has a much thicker ice sheet.But the weather experts are now paying more attention to West Antarctic,which may be affected by a warming on the scale that will possibly take place in the next fifty years from on burning of fuels.
　　Satellite pictures showthat large areas of Antarctic ice are already disappearing.The evidence available suggests that a warming has taken place.This fits the theory that carbon dioxide warms the earth.
　　However,most of the fuel is burnt in the northern hemisphere,where temperatures seem to be falling.Scientists conclude,therefore,that up to now natural influences on the weather have exceeded those caused by man.The question is:Which natural cause has most effect on the weather?
　　One possibility is the variable behavior of the sun.Astronomers at one research station have studied the hot spots and cold spots(that is,the relatively less hot spots) on the sun. As the sun rotates(旋转),every 27.5 days,it presents hotter or colder faces to the earth,and different aspects to different parts of the earth.This seems to have a considerable effect on the distribution of the earth's atmospheric pressure,and consequently on wind circulation.The sun is also variable over a long term:its heat output goes up and down in cycles,the latest trend being downward.
　　Scientists are now finding mutual relations between models of solar weather interactions and the actual climate over many thousands of years ,including the last Ice Age.The problem is that the models are predicting that the world should be entering a new Ice Age and it is not.
　　One way of solving this theoretical difficulty is to assume a delay of thousands of years while the solar effects overcome the inertia(不活动，惰性) of the earth's climate.If this is right,the warming effect of carbon dioxide might thus be serving as a useful counter balance to the sun's diminishing heat.
　　68.It can be concluded that a concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would ___.
　　　A.mean a warming - up im the Arctic
　　　B.raise the temperature of the earth's surface
　　　C.prevent the sun's rays from reaching the earth's surface
　　　D.account for great changes in the climate in the northern hemiphere
　　69.Although the fuel consumption is greater in the northern hemisphere,temperatures there seem to be falling.This is _______.
　　　A.mainly because the levels of carbon dioxide are rising
　　　B.partly due to variations in the output of solar energy
　　　C.possibly because the ice caps in the poles are melting
　　　D.exclusively due to the effect of the inertia of the earth's climate
　　70.On the basis of their models,scientists are of the opinion that ________.
　　　A.the climate of the world should be becoming cooler
　　　B.the new Ice Age will be delayed by the greenhouse effect
　　　C.the man - made warming effect helps to increase the solar effects
　　　D.it will take thousands of years for the inertia of the earth's climate to take effect