In Singapore, most of us love window-shopping while some others enjoy having a picnic at East Coast Park or Changi Beach on sunny days. Singaporeans are never bothered by the occasional thunderstorm. However, we know that if it rains for long continuous periods, there will be more serious effects. Just recently the main shopping street of Orchard Road was flooded and some part of Bukit Timah was impassable to traffic. People reacted by writing in to the newspaper to complain about this! We forget that other countries suffer much worse effects. Elsewhere, heavy tropical（热带的）storms often result in floods that ruin crops especially in Thailand and Malaysia. This in turn usually means that the price of rice and vegetables here in Singapore will rise because we import these products from them. If there is a typhoon or tsunami, thousands of lives are lost too. This happened in Indonesia and Phuket in Thailand in 2004 and it serves to remind us of how Mother Nature can cause great damage.

Weather patterns in general have changed dramatically in recent years. Scientists believe that global warming and the resulting melting of the polar ice-cap has caused the level of the ocean to rise. This in turn causes flooding of low-lying areas in countries where the land is rather flat and some parts of which is below water level. It is believed that human activities have caused Mother Nature to show her extreme anger, so it is now important that we really work together to cut down on harmful activities, for example, illegal logging（伐木）or irresponsible forest-burning to clear land for farming.

56.From Paragraph 1, we can see that most Singaporeans love________.

A. making complaints           B. going out for picnics

C. doing window-shopping    D. traveling along the coast

【答案】C

【解析】根据第一段第一句可知。

57.What will happen in Singapore if there are floods in its neighboring countries?

A. Heavy tropical storms will follow shortly.

B. The price of rice and vegetables will go up.

C. Many people will write in to the newspaper.

D. More rice and vegetables will be imported.

【答案】B

【解析】根据第一段倒数三，四句可知。热带风暴导致的洪水会毁掉庄稼，新加坡的蔬菜和大米是从这些国家进口的，所以会导致蔬菜，大米的价格上升。

58.The underlined word“it” in Paragraph 2 refers to___________.

A. the arrival of heavy tropical storms

B. the import of rice and vegetables

C. the rising price of rice and vegetables

D. the loss of lives in natural disasters

【答案】D

【解析】上句提到台风和海啸会导致成千上万的人死亡。这在2004年在印度尼西亚和泰国的普吉岛发生过。自然灾害到这人死亡这件事用来提醒我们大自然可以带来巨大损害。

59.Which of the following shows how the low-lying areas are flooded?

a. global warming

b. the rise in ocean level

c. harmful human activities

d. the flooding of low-lying areas

e. the melting of the polar ice-cap

A. c→a→e→b→d         B. a→c→e→b→d        

C. c→a→b→e→d         D. d→a→c→b→e

【答案】A

【解析】根据最后一段可知。

60.What should we do in order not to make Mother Nature angry?

A. Clear more land for farming.           B. Reduce harmful human activities.

C. Bring down the price of food.          D. Improve the quality of weather.

【答案】B

【解析】根据最后一段It is believed that human activities have caused Mother Nature to show her extreme anger, so it is now important that we really work together to cut down on harmful activities,“人们认为是人类的活动导致了大自然极端愤怒， 因此，现在我们真的应该团结合作减少有害活动。”

In Singapore, most of us love window-shopping while some others enjoy having a picnic at East Coast Park or Changi Beach on sunny days. Singaporeans are never bothered by the occasional thunderstorm. However, we know that if it rains for long continuous periods, there will be more serious effects. Just recently the main shopping street of Orchard Road was flooded and some part of Bukit Timah was impassable to traffic. People reacted by writing in to the newspaper to complain about this! We forget that other countries suffer much worse effects. Elsewhere, heavy tropical（热带的）storms often result in floods that ruin erops especially in Thailand and Malaysia. This in turn usually means that the price of rice and vegetables here in Singapore will rise because we import these products from them. If there is a typhoon or tsunami, thousands of lives are lost too. This happened in Indonesia and Phuket in Thailand in 2004 and it serves to remind us of how Mother Nature can cause great damage.

Weather patterns in general have changed dramatically in recent years. Scientists believe that global warming and the resulting melting of the polar ice-cap has caused the level of the ocean to rise. This in turn causes flooding of low-lying areas in countries where the land is rather flat and some parts of which is below water level. It is believed that human activities have caused Mother Nature to show her extreme anger, so it is now important that we really work together to cut down on harmful activities, for example, illegal logging（伐木）or irresponsible forest-burning to clear land for farming.

56.From Paragraph 1, we can see that most Singaporeans love________.

A. making complaints           B. going out for picnics

C. doing window-shopping    D. traveling along the coast

57.What will happen in Singapore if there are floods in its neighboring countries?

A. Heavy tropical storms will follow shortly.

B. The price of rice and vegetables will go up.

C. Many people will write in to the newspaper.

D. More rice and vegetables will be imported.

58.The underlined word“it” in Paragraph 2 refers to___________.

A. the arrival of heavy tropical storms

B. the import of rice and vegetables

C. the rising price of rice and vegetables

D. the loss of lives in natural disasters

59.Which of the following shows how the low-lying areas are flooded?

a. global warming

b. the rise in ocean level

c. harmful human activities

d. the flooding of low-lying areas

e. the melting of the polar ice-cap

A. c→a→e→b→d         B. a→c→e→b→d        

C. c→a→b→e→d         D. d→a→c→b→e

60.What should we do in order not to make Mother Nature angry?

A. Clear more land for farming.           B. Reduce harmful human activities.

C. Bring down the price of food.          D. Improve the quality of weather.

IF you lived by the sea, you’d know that typhoons are frequent（频繁的）visitors during summer .They bring Strong winds, heavy rain and flooding（洪水）But most of the time, when people stay indoors, they’re just all right.

This is what the people in the Philippines used to believe – until they met the “super typhoon”, Haiyan. 

The typhoon hit the country on Nov 8, at around 5 am, when most people were still asleep. But being at home didn’t keep them safe, since few buildings remained standing once they were hit by wind as violent as 376 kilometers per hour, according to NBC News.

“This is at the top end of any tropical system that we’ve seen on our planet,” said Bryan Norcross, a weather scientist working for NBC. And so far, Haiyan has caused more than 3,600 deaths and left millions of people homeless.

.But where did Haiyan get its destructive power?

According to Brian McNoldy, a tropical weather expert at the University of Miami, US, Haiyan was so strong because “it had everything working for it”

“All typhoons feed off the warm ocean waters,” Colin Price, a weather researcher at Tel Aviv University in Israel, told National Geographic. Tropical storms are like giant engines（发动机），powered by the heat transferred（传导）from the ocean waters to the air above. However, because of climate change, the oceans have been warming up in recent decades. “Warmer oceans will result in more intense（强烈的）storms，” Price said.

Also, Haiyan started near the equator（赤道），where it was able to pick up more heat before heading to the Philippines. Moreover, the route（路线）it traveled was mostly along open ocean, which means no land prevented it from gathering steam（水蒸气）．

In addition, there happened to be very little “wind shear（风切变）in the area this time. Wind shear is a sudden change in wind speed or direction, which can tear apart developing storms. This is like when you stir（搅动） a glass of water with a chopstick: a swirl（漩涡）will form, ‘but if you move the chopstick in the opposite direction, the swirl will quickly disappear.”

“When all those things align in a certain way, you’re going to get something like‘Haiyan’.”Jim Kossin, a scientist with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told National Geographic.

1.Which of the following is TRUE about typhoons according to the article?

A. They mostly happen early in the morning.

B. They mostly do damage during winter.

C. During most typhoons people can keep safe just by staying at home.

D. This year, more intense storms have happened in the world,

2.Which of the following made Haiyan so powerful?

a, lts starting point was the equator

b, The frequency of other intense storms

c. More heat was transferred from the ocean waters to the air above,

d. There was a strong wind shear in the area

e. There was no land in its way

A. abc              B．acd               C．ace             D.  ade 

3.The underlined word “alignin” the last paragraph is closest in meaning to_____

A. disappear         B. affect each other

C. Arrive at the top     D. Happen at the same time

4.The article mainly talks about

A. how destructive Haiyan was             

B. Why Haiyan was so destructive

C. how typhoons like Haiyan form（形成）  

D. ways to protect yourself when typhoons hit