Perfect disaster

All around us buildings shook. We decided to leave the town. We stopped once we had left the buildings behind us. The carts were moving in opposite directions, though the ground was perfectly flat, and they wouldn't stay in place even with their wheels blocked by stones.

In addition, it seemed as though the sea was being sucked(吸) backwards, as if it were being pushed back by the shaking of the land. Certainly the shoreline moved outwards, and many sea animals were left on dry sand.

Behind us were frightening dark clouds that opened up to show fire－like lightening, but bigger. Not long after that the clouds reached down to the ground and covered the sea. Now came the dust, though still thin. I looked back. A dense cloud appeared behind us, following us like a flood pouring across the land. Then a darkness came that was not like a moonless or cloudy night, but more like being in a closed and unlighted room. You could hear women and children crying, men shouting. Some were calling for parents, others for children; they could only recognize them by their voices.

Darkness and ashes came again, a great weight of them. We stood up and shook the ash off again and again, otherwise we would have been covered with it and crushed by the weight.

At last the cloud became thinner and thinner until it was no more than smoke or fog. Soon there was real daylight. The sight that met our still terrified eyes was a changed world, buried in ash like snow.

                                           —from Pliny's letter to a friend

1. Pliny left the town after _____. 

A. the eruption                              B. the sky became dark

C. the buildings began shaking        D. the sea went back

2. The carts wouldn't stay still because _____.

A. the earth was shaking                            B. the sea sucked them backwards

C. the wheels had stones under them           D. the lightening frightened the horses

3. The reason why it was dark is that _____.

A. it was very late at night        B. clouds of ash covered the sun

C. there was a very bad storm     D. there was no moon that night

4. People tried to find their relations by calling out their names and      .

A. listening to their voices        B. running about looking for them

C. shaking the ash off people      D. watching people as they ran past

Aeroplanes cannot climb as high or as quickly in cold air as in warm. Nor can clouds. In practice, this is an advantage to the aeroplane, which is already at a good height when it reaches the polar region and so does not need to climb, while at the same time cold air keeps the clouds down.

1.Scientists can live in the North Pole because ______.

A. they know the place well

B.they are specially trained

C.they are not ordinary people

D.they are well equipped

2.From the passage we know that the polar region is ______.

A.a good place to reach by sea

B.an attracting place covered by various kinds of plants

C.a good place to fly over

D.a good place to go on holiday

We all know that it is impossible for ordinary people to make their homes on the equator (赤道), although often they may feel uncomfortable there. Millions do it. But as for the North Pole we know that it is not only a dangerously cold place, but also that people like you and me would find it quite impossible to live there. At the present time only the scientists and explorers can do so, and they use special equipment. Men have been traveling across and around the equator on wheels on their feet or by ships for thousands of years; but only a few men, with great difficulty and in very recent time, have ever crossed the ice to the North Pole. So it may surprise you to learn that, when traveling by air, it is really safer to fly over the North Pole than over the equator. Of course this is not true about landing in the polar region (which passenger aeroplanes do not make), but the weather, if we are flying at a height of 5 000 meters above the Pole is a delight. At 4 000 meters and more above the earth you can always be sure that you will not see a cloud in the sky as far as they can reach in the tropics (热带), on the other hand, you are not certain to keep clear of bad weather at such heights as 18 000 or 20 000 meters.

Aeroplanes cannot climb as high or as quickly in cold air as in warm. Nor can clouds. In practice, this is an advantage to the aeroplane, which is already at a good height when it reaches the polar region and so does not need to climb, while at the same time cold air keeps the clouds down.

1.Scientists can live in the North Pole because ______.

A. they know the place well

B.they are specially trained

C.they are not ordinary people

D.they are well equipped

2.From the passage we know that the polar region is ______.

A.a good place to reach by sea

B.an attracting place covered by various kinds of plants

C.a good place to fly over

D.a good place to go on holiday