Many of the most damaging types of weather begin quickly, strike suddenly, and disappear rapidly, destroying small areas while leaving neighboring areas untouched. Such event as a tornado(龙卷风) struck the northeastern part of Edmonton, Alberta, in July 1987. Total damages from the tornado went beyond $ 250 million, the highest ever for any Canadian storm.

Traditional computer models of the atmosphere have limited value in predicting short-lived local storms like the Edmonton tornado, because the available weather data(数据)are generally not detailed (详细)enough to allow computers to study carefully the slight atmospheric changes that come before these storm. In most nations, for example, weather—balloon observations are taken just once every twelve hours at places separated by hundreds of miles. With such limited data, traditional forecasting models do a much better job predicting general weather conditions over large areas than they do forecasting specific local events.

Until recently, the observation intensive method needed for exact, very short—range forecasts, or “Nowcasts”, was not possible. The cost of equipping and operating many thousands of traditional weather stations was extremely high, and the difficulties concerned in rapidly collecting and processing the weather data from such a network were hard to overcome.

Fortunately, scientific and technological advances have overcome most of these problems. Radar(雷达) systems and satellites are all able to make detailed, nearly continuous observations over large areas at a lower cost. Communication satellites can send out data around the world cheaply and immediately, and modern computers can quickly collect and analyze this large amount of weather information.

Meteorologists(气象学者) and computer scientists now work together to design computer programs and video equipment able to change weather data into words and graphic displays(图解) that forecasters can understand easily and quickly. As meteorologists have begun using these new technologies in weather forecasting offices, nowcasting is becoming a reality.

1．Why can’t traditional computer models predict short-lived local storms?

       A．The weather data people collect are often wrong.

       B．Detailed weather data in some small areas are not available.

       C．The computers are not advanced enough to predict them.

       D．The computers are not used to forecast specific local events.

2．The word “Nowcast” in Paragraph 3 means          .

       A．a network to collect storm data

       B．a way of collecting weather data

       C．a more advanced system of weather observation

       D．a forecast which can predict weather in the small area.

3．What can make “Nowcasts” a reality according to the passage?

       A．Scientific and technological advances.

       B．Advanced computer programs.

       C．Computer scientists

       D．Meteorologists

4．What does the passage mainly talk about?

       A．The advantages of “Nowcasts”

       B．A tornado in Edmonton, Alberta.

       C．The difficulty in predicting tornados.

       D．A great development in weather forecast.

Bringing up children is a hard work, and you are often to blame for any bad behavior of your children. If so, Judith Rich Harris has good news for you. Parents, she argues, have no important long—term effects on the development of the characteristics of their children. Far more important are their playground friends and neighborhood. Ms. Harris takes to hitting the belief which has controlled developmental psychology(心理学) for almost half a century.

Ms. Harris’s attack looks likely to strengthen doubts that the field was already having. If parents matter, why is it that a pair of twins, raised in the same home, are no more alike than a pair of twins raised in different homes?

Difficult as it is to follow the exact effects of parental upbringing, it may be harder to measure the exact influence of the peer(同龄人) group in childhood and youth. Ms. Harris points to how children from immigrant homes soon learn not to speak at school in the way their parents speak. But gaining a language is surely a skill, rather than a characteristic of the sort developmental psychologists look for. Certainly it is different from growing up tensely or relaxed, or from learning to be honest or hard—working. Easy though it may be to prove that parents have little effect on those qualities, it will be hard to prove that peers have much more.

Moreover, mum and dad surely cannot be ignored completely. Young adults may, as Ms. Harris argues, be eager to appear like their peers. But even in those early years, parents have the power to open doors: they may firstly choose the peers with whom their young mix. Moreover, most people suppose that they come to be similar to their parents more in middle age. So the balance of influences is probably complex, as most parents already doubted without being able to prove it scientifically. Even if it turns out that the genes(基因) they pass on and the friends their children play with matter as much as love and good example, parents are not completely off the hook.

1．What is Ms. Harris’s idea?

       A．Parents have no effect on children.

       B．Genes have a great effect on children’s qualities.

       C．Parents are to blame for bad behavior of their children.

       D．Children’s personality is greatly affected by their friends.

2．The developmental psychologists think           .

       A．children are more influenced by their peers.

       B．twins raised in the same home are different in personality

       C．twins raised in two separate families are different in personality

       D．children’s personality development depends on children themselves

3．Which of the following statements is true according to Paragraph 3?

       A．It is easier for children to gain a language at home.

       B．It is harder to follow the effects of parental upbringing.

       C．It is proved that peers have great effect on children’s qualities.

       D．Immigrant children avoid speaking the same way as their parents at school.

4．What does the author mean by saying “parents are not completely off the hook.” at the end of the passage?

       A．Parents should control the situation.

       B．Parents should give their way to children.

       C．Parents should take on their responsibility.

       D．Parents should spend more time on children.

I am one of the many city people who are always saying that given the choice we would prefer to live in the country away from the dirt and noise of a large city. I have managed to convince myself that if it weren’t for my job I would immediately head out for the open spaces and go back to nature in some sleepy village buried in the country. But how realistic(现实的) is the dream?

Cities can be frightening places. The majority of the population live in huge tower blocks, noisy, dirty and unfriendly. The sense of belonging to a group tends to disappear when you live fifteen floors up. Strangely enough, nowadays people on the same floor don’t even say hello to each other.

Country life, on the other hand, differs in that a sense of group generally unites the people of small villages together. People have the advantage of knowing that there is always someone to turn to when they need help. But it is also true that you are cut off from the exciting and important events that take place in cities. Shopping becomes a major problem, and for anything slightly out of the ordinary you have to go on a trip to the nearest large town. The city people are often worried by a sense of unbearable stillness and quiet.

What, then, is the answer? The country has the advantage of peace and quiet, but suffers from the disadvantage of being cut off. The city raises a feeling of loneliness, and constant noise beats the senses. But you are at the center of things, and life doesn’t come to an end at half-past nine at night. Some people have found or rather bought a solution between the two: they have expressed their preference for the “quiet life” by leaving the cities and moving to villages within commuting(同勤) distance of large cities.

What then of my dream? I’m eager for the idea, but you see there’s my  cat, Toby, I’m not at all sure that he would take to all that fresh air and exercise in the long grass. I mean, can you see him mixing with all those energetic males down the farm? No, he would rather have the electric fire any evening.

1．We get the impression from the first paragraph that the author            .

       A．works in the city  B．lives in the country

       C．used to work in the city                        D．used to live in the country

2．Which of the follow makes city people unhappy?

       A．Colorful life.                                        B．A sense of group.

       C．Close neighborhood.                            D．A feeling of loneliness.

3．What is difficult to buy in the country?

       A．designer clothes.  B．Farming tools.

       C．Daily supplies.     D．Fresh vegetables.

4． We can infer from the passage the author              .

       A．enjoys living in huge tower blocks    B．is in two minds

       C．will continue his life in the city    D．will move to the country

From the day that she learned to walk, Katie’s parents had warned her not to walk past the wire fence. The fence divided the farm from the open grassland that ran for miles. A child would get lost in the high, waving grass. Katie’s mother would remind her about her sister Hannah. “Hannah was no older than you the day that she disappeared, ” Mama would say. Katie couldn’t think of anything worse than to be separated from her parents.

Katie had never seen her sister. Hannah had been lost before Katie was born. Katie often imagined one day a beautiful stranger would come up the road and it would be Hannah.

Now, more than twelve years after her disappearance, Hannah was coming home! She was found at a small village far away. A woman found the lost child many years ago and raised Hannah like one of her own children.

Katie and her mother were busy cleaning the spare bedroom all day.

The next day Hannah arrived. Katie raced out into the yard, her arms open wide. As she came closer to the tall, young woman, her arms dropped. The cry of welcome died in her throat. Hannah had sun—Browned skin. A blanket pulled around her shoulders. She stood staring, looking helpless as Katie’s mother moved forward to embrace(拥抱) her.

At that moment, Katie remembered the rabbit she caught last winter. She carried it home gently and built a comfortable house for it. The next morning the rabbit was gone. “It was used to freedom,” her mama had explained.

Hannah stayed at her new home for almost a month. She never slept in the soft bed. She seldom came out of her room. Whenever Katie went in, she always found Hannah looking our of the window. Katie’s parents kept telling her that it was just a matter of time. Hannah would get used to their ways. “After all,” Mama said, “we’re her real family.”

Then one night, when Katie went in to say good night, Hannah was gone. Her window was open wide. Katie looked around the empty room. She started to run downstairs to call her parents, but then stopped. She thought of the rabbit that she had caught. She wouldn’t tell. She would let her parents discover Hannah’s absence in the morning. Then Hannah would have had a head start on her long journey back to her family.

1．What happened to Hannah many years ago?

       A．She went to catch a rabbit and got lost.

       B．She got lost in the grass and was taken to a village.

       C．She walked past the fence and found a small village.

       D．She didn’t like living with her parents and ran away.

2．Katie’s experience with the rabbit helps her to believe         .

       A．people are cruel animals

       B．family members should always stay together

       C．people belong where they feel most comfortable

       D．both people and animals enjoy a life close to nature

3．Which words best describe Katie?

       A．Lonely and shy                                    B．Brave and confident.

       C．Honest and helpful.                              D．Kind and understanding

4．What can be inferred from the story?

      A．Hannah didn’t want a sister.

       B．It is always dangerous to walk alone.

       C．Hannah, in fact, was not Katie’s sister.

       D．We should think more of others’ happiness.

12 East Point Road, Fannie Bay

Near Darwin, Australia

25 October, 2006

Dear Emily,

How are you? Things are not too bad for me at the moment. I still have the cough that Dr Maclaren isn’t interested in and my back hurts when I sit too long. The leg problem is much better, though.

Our big excitement her recently was visitors form England. A rather pretty young girl came to the home, with no warning, and said she was my great niece. All the nurses made a big fuss(大惊小怪) of her and wanted to know who she was. She is a charming girl called Carol who is traveling around the Northern Territory with a friend( also a girl, thank heavens). They had come in the rainy season and her friend kept complaining that it was raining. Silly girl. Her name is Selina, which is a silly name, too.

Carol and Selina did all the things tourists do here. They went to Kukudu National Park and Tim Tim Falls and took the wonderful photos.

Carol was quite interested in my stories about Darwin in the old days. I lived through the bombing in World War Ⅱ, you know. I know you Londoners think London was the only place that was bombed, but it wasn’t.  And I nearly died when the wind storm hit at Christmas in the 1970s. I told Carol all about that. One of the ladies who live here had some photos of that, too. That was nice, but one woman, Mrs Apthorpe, wouldn’t leave us alone when Carol was here. We don’t get many young people here, I know, but Carol had come to see me, not Mrs Apthorpe.

Well, I must stop now. It’s time for my afternoon medicine and then I must have nap. I hope you are keeping well.

Love Mabel Green

1．Which of the following is true about Mabel Green?

      A．She likes traveling.                               B．She is in poor health.

       C．She is in her forties.                             D．She doesn’t like young people.

2．What does Mabel Green care about?

       A．The nurses.

       B．The two visitors.

       C．Her health and her memories.

       D．Tourism in the Northern Territory.

3．Where do you think Mabel Green lives?

       A．In her own home.

       B．At a hospital of London.

       C．In a house with Mrs Apthorpe.

       D．In a nursing home for old people.

4．Whom does Mabel Green dislike?

      A．Only Selina.

       B．Dr Maclaren and Mrs Apthorpe.

       C．Dr Maclaren, Mrs Apthorpe and Selina.

       D．Dr Macharen, Mrs Apthorpe, Emily and Selina.