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 are generally not detailed enough to allow computers to study carefully the slight atmospheric changes that come before these storms. 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 (十分细致) method needed for exact, very short-range forecasts, or “Nowcasts,” was not possible. The cost of equipping and operating many thousands of conventional 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 observation over large areas at a lower cost. Communications 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.

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.

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

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

   A.Scientific and technological advances.     B. Advanced computer programs.

   C.Computer scientists.                                 D.Meteorologists.

What does the passage mainly talk about?

A.The advantages of “Nowcatsts”.              

B.A tornado in Edmonton, A1bertA.

C.The difficulty in predicting tornado.

D.A great development in weather forecast.

如今世界粮食短缺，价格飞涨，给部分地区造成社会动荡。假设在你校开展的研究性学习中，你们小组以“World Food Crisis”为题进行研究，现在请你代表你们小组向全体同学简要介绍你们的研究成果。主要内容如下：

造成的原因：

1．气候变化，造成粮食减产            2. 工业发展，城市化加速，耕地减少   

3．世界能源价格上涨，使用粮食生产生物燃料   

应对的措施：   

1．注重环保，改善生态                2．严格保护耕地         3．富国支持穷国，促进世界和谐 

你如何做出自己的贡献   

1．……                                   2．……

注意：1．内容包括以上要点，但不要逐句翻译        

2．词数150左右，文章开头已提供，不计入总词数

3．参考词汇：城市化urbanizatiou  生物燃料biofuels

Hello，everyone，

Now I’ll tell you something about our research project The World Food Crisis on behalf of our group.As you know，food shortages have hit many countries in the world and even caused social unrest in some areas.

—Is the television advertisement working？

    —Yes.        orders are coming.

A．None               B．Some                     C．Few                D．More

You should try to get a good night’s sleep_____ much work you have to do.

   A. however          B. no matter            C. although         D. whatever

阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡相应位置上。

    Chinese proverbs(谚语) are rich and they are still widely used in Chinese people’s daily life. Behind these proverbs there    (be) often interesting stories. For example, the proverb, “plucking up (拔高)a crop to help it grow”, is based     the following story.

    It is said that a short-tempered(脾气急躁的) man in the Song Dynasty (960—1279) was very anxious to help   ___ rice crop grow up quickly. He was thinking about this day and night. But the crop was growing much _____     (slow) than he expected.

    One day, he came up with ___ idea that he would pluck up all of his crop a few inches. He did so the next day.

    He was very tired after doing this     a whole day,    he felt very happy since the crop did “grow”higher.

    His son     (hear) about this and went to see the crop. Unfortunately the leaves of the crop began to wither(枯萎).

This proverb      we learn through this story is saying we have to let things go in their natural course. Being too anxious to help an event develop often   (result) in the contrary to our intention.

Even though they have worked side by side in the same office for 9 years, the two ladies ______ on good terms.

       A. are not                     B. were not                   C. have not been           D. will not be

Only when the war was over______ to his hometown.

A. did the young soldier return           B the young soldier returned

C. returned the young soldier            D the young soldier return

____You seem to be glad to come back in your hometown.

  _____Yes , I ____________.

A. worked in Shanghai for 10 years.

B. have worked in Shanghai for 10 years.

C. am working in Shanghai for 10 years.

D. had working in Shanghai for 10 years.

I recognized the man _______ he came into the room.

A. at once                    B. suddenly                  C. immediately             D. quickly

Thousands of people living in the Chinese capital will celebrate the start of the Chinese  New year by heading for the ski resorts (滑雪场). Never mind that Beijing's dry weather seldom produces snow. It is cold enough in winter for snow-making machines to make a covering for the hills north to the capital. And the rapid growth of a pleasure-seeking middle class has formed the basis for this new craze(热潮）     

Since Beijing's first ski resort was opened ten years ago, the sport has enjoyed astonishing increase. There are now more than a dozen resorts. Clothes markets in the city have added bright colored ski suits to their winter collections. Mr. Wei, a manager of a newly-opened ski resort in Beijing, sees the growth of an industry that could soon lead Chinese to head for the ski resorts of Europe, In recent years ski resorts offering natural snow have opened in China. But many are in faraway areas of the country and can't really match the equipment and services of some ski resorts in Europe.

Beijing's skiing craze is partly a result of the recent increase in private (私有的) cars. This has led to the growth of a leisure industry in the capital's suburbs (郊区), which until the late-1990s were unreachable to ordinary people, According to Mr. Wei, about 40% of the visitors to his resort come in their own cars. The rest are bused in by schools, businesses or government offices.  

The problem is making money. Starting ski resorts requires quite a lot of money; hiring land from the local government, preparing the hills, buying snow machines, making sure there are enough water and electricity to run them, and buying ski equipment for hiring out to customers.

   The ski resort where Mr. Wei works cost nearly $4 million to set up. And. as so often in China when someone comes up with a good idea, many others rush in and price wars break out. Beijing now offers some of the cheapest ski training classes in the world, though with most people rather new to the sport, expecting a few more doing the same job.

What does this text mainly talk about?

A. Convenience for skiers brought about by private cars.

B. Skiing as a new way of enjoying one's spare time.

C. Things to be considered when starting a ski resort.

D. A sudden increase of ski training classes in Beijing.

Why are some Chinese likely to go skiing in Europe?

 A. To visit more ski areas.              B. To ski on natural snow.

 C. For a large collection of ski suits.      D. For better services and equipment.

The underlined words "leisure industry" in Paragraph 3 refer to ----

 A. transport to ski resorts                    B. production of family cars

 C. business of providing spare time enjoyments  D part-time work for people living in the suburbs

What is the main problem in running a ski resort?

A. Difficulty in hiring land.            B. Lack of business experience.

C. Price wars with other ski resorts,      D. Shortage of water and electricity,