Question

Scientists today are making greater effort to study ocean currents (洋流) . Most do it using satellites and other high-tech equipment. However, ocean expert Curtis Ebbesmeyer does it in a special way --- by studying movements of random floating garbage. A scientist with many years’ experience, he started this type of research in the early 1990s when he heard about hundreds of athletic shoes washing up on the shores of the northwest coast of the United States. There were so many shoes that people were setting up swap meets to try and match left and right shoes to sell or wear.

Ebbesmeyer found out in his researches that the shoes — about 60,000 in total — fell into the ocean in a shipping accident. He phoned the shoe company and asked if they wanted the shoes back. As expected, the company told him that they didn't. Ebbesmeyer realized this could be a great experiment. If he learned when and where the shoes went into the water and tracked where they landed, he could learn a lot about the patterns of ocean currents.

The Pacific Northwest is one of the world's best areas for beachcombing(海滩搜寻) because winds and currents join here, and as a result, there is a group of serious beachcombers in the area. Ebbesmeyer got to know a lot of them and asked for their help in collecting information about where the shoes landed. In a year he collected reliable information on 1, 600 shoes. With this data, he and a colleague were able to test and improve a computer program designed to model ocean currents, and publish the findings of their study.

As the result of his work, Ebbesmeyer has become known as the scientist to call with questions about any unusual objects found floating in the ocean. He has even started an association of beachcombers and ocean experts, with 500 subscribers from West Africa to New Zealand. They have recorded all lost objects ranging from potatoes to golf gloves.

1. The underlined phrase swap meets in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ___________.

A. fitting rooms B. trading fairs

C. business talks D. group meetings

2.Ebbesmeyer phoned the shoe company to find out ___________.

A. what caused the shipping accident

B. when and where the shoes went missing

C. whether it was all right to use their shoes

D. how much they lost in the shipping accident

3. How did Ebbesmeyer prove his assumption?

A. By collecting information from beachcombers.

B. By studying the shoes found by beachcomber.

C. By searching the web for ocean currents models.

D. By researching ocean currents data in the library.

4. Ebbesmeyer is most famous for _________________.

A. traveling widely the coastal cities of the world

B. making records for any lost objects on the sea

C. running a global currents research association

D. phoning about any doubtful objects on the sea

5.What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?

A. To call people's attention to ocean pollution.

B. To warn people of shipping safety in the ocean.

C. To explain a unique way of studying ocean currents.

D. To give tips on how to search for lost objects on the beach.

 

Answer 1

1.B

2.C

3.A

4.D

5.C

【解析】

试题分析：本文是一篇说明性质的科普文，介绍了一种不同寻常的研究海洋洋流的方法——通过研究海上随机漂浮物来研究洋流。科学家Ebbesmeyer通过对鞋子掉入海中的时间以及地点进行数据分析研究来模拟电脑程序，构建洋流模型。

1.try and match left and right shoes to sell or wear可知此处应该是一种交易集市性质的活动，即B项。

2.asked if they wanted the shoes back以及Ebbesmeyer realized this could be a great experiment可知Ebbesmeyer想利用这批鞋子进行他的实验，所以打电话给鞋厂的目的是问问自己能不能使用这些鞋子，即C项。

3.asked for their help in collecting information ..., 以及In a year he collected reliable information ...和 With this data, he... 可知Ebbesmeyer是通过收集研究数据来证明他的假设的，即A项。

4.Ebbesmeyer has become known as the scientist to call with questions about any unusual objects found floating in the ocean可知此处D项更加准确。

5.However, ocean expert Curtis Ebbesmeyer does it in a special way --- by studying movements of random floating garbage. 然后下文都是对这一研究方法的说明和阐述，所以作者写作目的即是介绍一种新的研究洋流的方法。即C项。

考点：考查科普文