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.

    We often reach an impasse in our thinking. We are looking at a problem and trying to solve it and it seems there is a dead-end, and “aporia” (the technical term in logical meaning “no opening”). It is on these occasions that we become tense. we feel pressured, overwhelmed(压倒；不知所措)，in a state of stress(紧张). We struggle vainly(徒劳的), fighting to solve the problem.

    Dr. Jenner, however, did something about this situation. He stopped fighting the problem and simply changed his point of view-from patients to dairymaids, picture the process going something like this：Suppose the brain is a computer. This computer has absorbed into its memory bank all your history, your experiences，your training, your information received，through life, and it is programmed according to all this data. To change your point of view，yon must reprogram your computer，thus freeing yourself to take in new ideas and develop new ways of looking at things. Dr. Jenner，in effect，by reprogramming his computer，erased (清除；忘掉) the old way of looking at his smallpox problem and was free to receive new alternatives (选择的办法).

  1. What does “impasse” (in the second sentence) probably mean?

    A. Dead-end.　　　　　　  　　  B. Depression (压力).

    C. Solution.　　　　　　 　　　　  D. Peak.

  2. How did Dr. Edward Jenner solve the problem of smallpox?

    A. He kept on focusing on people who had smallpox.

    B. He changed his way of thinking by turning to people without smallpox.

    C. Dairymaids advised that he use cowpox to experiment.

    D. He happened to discover cowpox and he experimented with it on dairymaids.

3. What does “reprogramming his computer” mean in the last sentence of the passage?

    A. Change the program of his personal computer.

    B. Fox his personal computer.

    C. look at his problem in a new way.

    D. Wash his brain of old ideas.

  4. We can conclude from the passage that fighting a problem is　　   .

    A. always sensible (明智的；合情理的)　　  B. something useless

    C. annoying　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. rewarding

  5. This passage mainly tells us　　　　 .

    A. the definition of an impasses in thinking

    B. the discovery of vaccination

    C. how to fight a problem

    D. how to change our point of view