Question

【题目】 Almost everyone has heard the expression “the calm before the storm”. It is usually used to describe a peaceful period just before a very stressful situation or a tense argument.

British sailors created the phrase in the late 1600s. They noted that before certain storms the seas would seem to become static and the winds would drop. But why is it often so calm before a storm?

Science has given us the answer. According to US website How Stuff Works, a calm period occurs because many storms, such as hurricanes and tornadoes (龙卷风), draw in all the warm and damp air from the surrounding area. As this air rises into the storm clouds, it cools and acts as “fuel for the storm, like petrol in a car”.

Once the storm has taken all the energy it can from the air, it is pushed out from the top of the storm clouds and falls back down to ground level. As the air goes down, it becomes warm and dry. Warm, dry air is stable, so once it covers an area, it causes a calm period before the storm. This same process also causes “the eye of the storm” in hurricanes and tornadoes. In these conditions, the calm occurs in the center of the storm because of the strong winds moving in a circle.

The Weather Network has a tip for working out how far away a storm is. First, count how many seconds there are between a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder. Roughly 3 seconds equal 1 kilometer. So, for example, if you count 9 seconds, the storm is about 3 kilometers away. A good judgement is that if your count is below 30 seconds, you should seek shelter straight away.

However, due to the complexity of storm system, not all storms break after calm. Given the right conditions, some storms announce themselves with heavy rain and cold winds.

So, your best bet is to keep yourself updated with weather reports for any predictions regarding a coming storm in your area. That’s the most reliable and sensible way to predict the next display of nature’s temper.

【1】The underlined word “static” in Paragraph 2 probably means “________”.

A.violent

B.warm

C.still

D.changeable

【2】What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

A.To find out how a storm comes into being.

B.To explain why a peaceful period occurs before a storm.

C.To prove whether the research on storm clouds is correct.

D.To show how dangerous a storm can be in certain situations.

【3】If there’re 15 seconds between a flash of lightning and a thunder clap, how far is the storm away?

A.About 3 kilometers.

B.About 5 kilometers.

C.About 9 kilometers.

D.About 15 kilometers.

【4】What can be learned from the passage?

A.Storms don’t always blow up after calm.

B.Storms have a bad influence on our life.

C.Weather reports may fail to predict a storm.

D.Heavy storms don’t usually last a long time.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】B

【3】B

【4】A

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。文章从科学角度解释了暴风雨前的平静。

【1】词句猜测题。根据划线词后的the winds would drop. But why is it often so calm before a storm?可知，风也会减弱，为什么暴风雨前总是那么平静呢？这说明在某些暴风雨来临之前，海水是静止的。由此可知划线词意为“静止的”，故C项正确。

【2】推理判断题。通读全文，特别是根据第二段中的But why is it often so calm before a storm?及第三段中的Science has given us the answer.可知，为什么暴风雨来临前总是很平静呢？科学家们给出了答案。由此可知，作者写这篇文章的目的是从科学角度解释暴风雨前的平静，故B项正确。

【3】细节理解题。根据第五段中的First, count how many seconds there are between a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder. Roughly 3 seconds equal 1 kilometer.可知，首先，数一数闪电和雷声之间有多少秒，大约3秒等于1公里。由此可知，如果闪电和雷声之间有15秒的间隔，暴风雨还有大约5公里，故B项正确。

【4】细节理解题。根据倒数第二段中的However, due to the complexity of storm system, not all storms break after calm.可知，然而，由于风暴系统的复杂性，并不是所有的暴风雨都会在平静之后爆发，故A项正确。