It’s hardly surprising that weather is a favorite topic for so many people around the world—it affects where we choose to love, what we wear, our moods, and perhaps even our national characteristics. Studies have shown the changeable weather can make it difficult to concentrate, cloudy skies slow sown reaction, and high humidity with hot, dry winds makes many people bad-tempered.

If you live in a place like Britain, where the weather seems to change daily if not hourly, you could be forgiven for thinking that the weather is random. In fact, the weather is controlled by systems which move around areas of the globe. In the UK the weather depends on depressions（低气压）, often called lows, and anticyclones（高气压）, also known as highs. These systems start in the Atlantic Ocean, and make their way across the British Isles from the west to the east. Highs bring sunny weather, while lows bring rain and wind. In modern times, human activities seem to be altering weather patterns. Gases produced by heavy industry change the temperature of the Earth’s surface, and affect cloud formation. Some researchers say that factories in Europe and North America may have been one of the causes of the droughts in Africa in the 1980s.

The human race has always tied to guess the weather, especially in areas of the world where there are frequent changes. Traditional rhymes point to early attempts to identify weather patterns, popular poems include:

Red sky at night, shepherds’ delight; red sky in the morning, shepherds’ warning.

Flies will swarm before a storm.

Rain before 7, clear by 11.

While folk wisdom can still provide a guide to help forecast weather, today’s methods of prediction increasingly rely on technology. Satellites, balloons, ships, aircrafts and weather centers with sensitive monitoring equipment, send data to computers. The date is them processed, and the weather is predicted. However, even this system cannot predict weather for longer than about a week.

1.When weather keeps changing,          .

       A．people become bad-tempered

       B．people’s reaction slows down

       C．people find it hard to focus on their work

       D．people become hungrier

2.What is mainly talked about in the second paragraph?

       A．Changes in weather.                             B．Weather in Britain.

       C．African droughts.                                D．Research on weather.

3.The weather in Britain is       .

       A．random               B．moist                  C．depressing           D．satisfying

4.According to a traditional rhyme, if there is red sky at night, the next day will be      .

       A．windy                 B．rainy                   C．fine                     D．snowy

5.Which of the following statements in true?

       A．Anticyclones often bring rain and wind.

       B．Weather forecasting has been done for a long time.

       C．Weather could never be predicted.

       D．Modern methods of weather prediction are developed from folk wisdom.

 

It’s hardly surprising that weather is a favorite topic for so many people around the world—it affects where we choose to love, what we wear, our moods, and perhaps even our national characteristics. Studies have shown the changeable weather can make it difficult to concentrate, cloudy skies slow sown reaction, and high humidity with hot, dry winds makes many people bad-tempered.

If you live in a place like Britain, where the weather seems to change daily if not hourly, you could be forgiven for thinking that the weather is random. In fact, the weather is controlled by systems which move around areas of the globe. In the UK the weather depends on depressions（低气压）, often called lows, and anticyclones（高气压）, also known as highs. These systems start in the Atlantic Ocean, and make their way across the British Isles from the west to the east. Highs bring sunny weather, while lows bring rain and wind. In modern times, human activities seem to be altering weather patterns. Gases produced by heavy industry change the temperature of the Earth’s surface, and affect cloud formation. Some researchers say that factories in Europe and North America may have been one of the causes of the droughts in Africa in the 1980s.

The human race has always tied to guess the weather, especially in areas of the world where there are frequent changes. Traditional rhymes point to early attempts to identify weather patterns, popular poems include:

Red sky at night, shepherds’ delight; red sky in the morning, shepherds’ warning.

Flies will swarm before a storm.

Rain before 7, clear by 11.

While folk wisdom can still provide a guide to help forecast weather, today’s methods of prediction increasingly rely on technology. Satellites, balloons, ships, aircrafts and weather centers with sensitive monitoring equipment, send data to computers. The date is them processed, and the weather is predicted. However, even this system cannot predict weather for longer than about a week.

1．When weather keeps changing,          .

       A．people become bad-tempered

       B．people’s reaction slows down

       C．people find it hard to focus on their work

       D．people become hungrier

2．What is mainly talked about in the second paragraph?

       A．Changes in weather.                             B．Weather in Britain.

       C．African droughts.                                D．Research on weather.

3．The weather in Britain is       .

       A．random               B．moist                  C．depressing           D．satisfying

4．According to a traditional rhyme, if there is red sky at night, the next day will be      .

       A．windy                 B．rainy                   C．fine                     D．snowy

5．Which of the following statements in true?

       A．Anticyclones often bring rain and wind.

       B．Weather forecasting has been done for a long time.

       C．Weather could never be predicted.

       D．Modern methods of weather prediction are developed from folk wisdom.

阅读理解

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出最佳选项。

　　Not only farmers but scientists have studied weather forecastiong (预报). People, for many centuries and in all countries, have studied the weather and tried to make weather forecasts. Sometimes distant objects such as hills and tall trees seem to be very clear and near, This is a sign of much water - vapour in the air, and therefore a rain will probably come.

　　When distant sounds (such as the noise from a train, birds singing, or people shouting) are very clearly heard, then wet and stormy weather is on the way.

　　Rings round the sun are a sigh of coming rain.

　　Many people feel the coming of wet weather in their bones. Their joints hurt. Some birds fly high if fine weather is coming, but they fly very near the ground if rainy weather of a storm is on the way. This is probably because the insects, which they are hunting, fly low at that time. If you see a rainbow during rainy weather, this is a sign that the weather will clear up and become fine. Such rainbows come in the evening. If the start twinkle clearly at night, fine weather will continue. If a mist appears in the early morning, just about sunrise, the day will be warm.

　　If the sunset is mostly red in color, the following day will be fine. When big cumulous clouds (积云) appear at sunset, the bad weather will follow the next day.

　　If cirrus clouds remain quite still, fine weather will come. If a rainbow appears in the morning, then rainy weather will probably come. Most of the above sayings have been made up by people who have used their eyes and their brains to forecast the weather.

1．Some birds fly high if fine weather is coming, because ________.

[　　]

A．they fly high to catch insects

B．they can fly high when fine weather is coming

C．they like fine weather

D．they feel very happy

2．When big cumulous clouds appear at sunset then the weather will ________ the next day.

[　　]

3．Weather will be fine if ________.

[　　]

A．you see rings round the sun

B．you see the distant objects very clear and near

C．you feel pain in your bones

D．the stars twinkle clearly at night

4．If you see a rainbow during rainy weather, it shows that the weather will clear up and become fine. This is because ________.

[　　]

A．there is much water - vapour in the air

B．there is not much water - vapour in the air

C．there is not any water - vapour in the air

D．there are all kinds of water - vapour in the air

阅读理解

　　Not only farmers but scientists have studied weather forecasting. People, for many centuries and in all countries, have studied the weather and tried to make weather forecasts. Sometimes distant objects such as hills and tall trees seem to be very clear and near. This is a sign of much water－vapour in the air, and therefore a rain will probably come.

　　When distant sounds(such as the noise from a train, birds singing, or people shouting)are very clearly heard, then wet and stormy weather is on the way. Rings round the sun are a sign of coming rain.

　　Many people feel the coming of wet weather in their bones. Their joint aches. Some birds fly high if fine weather is coming, but they fly very near the ground if rainy weather or a storm is on the way. This is probably because the insects, which they are hunting, fly low at that time. If you see a rainbow during rainy weather, this is a sign that the weather will clear up and become fine. Such rainbows come in the evening. If the stars twinkle clearly at night, fine weather will continue. If a mist appears in the early morning, just about sunrise, the day will be warm.

　　If the sunset is mostly red in color, the following day will be fine. When big cumulous clouds(积云)appear at sunset, the bad weather will follow the next day.

　　If cirrus clouds(卷云)remain quite still, fine weather will come. If a rainbow appears in the morning, then rainy weather will probably come. Most of the above sayings have been made up by people who have used their eyes and their brains to forecast the weather.

1．Some birds fly high if fine weather is coming, because ________.

[　　]

A．they like fine weather

B．they can fly high when fine weather is coming

C．they fly high to catch insects

D．they feel very happy

2．When big cumulous clouds appear at sunset, then the weather will ________ the next day.

[　　]

3．Weather will be fine if ________.

[　　]

A．you see rings round the sun

B．you see the distant objects very clear and near

C．you feel pain in your bones

D．the stars twinkle clearly at night

4．If you see a rainbow during rainy weather, it shows that the weather will clear up and become fine. This is because ________.

[　　]

A．there is much water－vapour in the air

B．there is not much water－vapour in the air

C．there is not any water－vapour in the air

D．there are all kinds of water－vapour in the air

5．In this passage “wet weather” means ________ weather.

[　　]

阅读理解

　　Not only farmers but scientists have studied weather forecasting (预报). People, for many centuries and in all countries, have studied the weather and tried to make weather forecasts. Sometimes distant objects such as hills and tall trees seem to be very clear and near. This is a sign of much water-vapour in the air, and therefore a rain will probably come.

　　When distant sounds (such as the noise from a train, birds singing, or people shouting) are very clearly heard, then wet and stormy weather is on the way.

　　Rings round the sun are a sign of coming rain.

　　Many people feel the coming of wet weather in their bones. Their joint aches. Some birds fly high if fine weather is coming, but they fly very near the ground if rainy weather or a storm is on the way. This is probably because the insects, which they are hunting, fly low at that time. If you see a rainbow during rainy weather, this is a sign that the weather will clear up and become fine. Such rainbows come in the evening. If the stars twinkle clearly at night, fine weather will continue. If a mist appears in the early morning, just about sunrise, the day will be warm.

　　If the sunset is mostly red in colour, the following day will be fine. When big cumulus clouds (积云) appear at sunset, the bad weather will follow the next day.

　　If cirrus clouds (卷云) remain quite still, fine weather will come. If a rainbow appears in the morning, then rainy weather will probably come. Most of the above sayings have been made up by people who have used their eyes and their brains to forecast the weather.

1．Some birds fly high if fine weather is coming, because ________.

[　　]

A．they like fine weather

B．they can fly high when fine weather is coming

C．they fly high to catch insects

D．they feel very happy

2．When big cumulus clouds appear at sunset, then the weather will ________ the next day.

[　　]

3．Weather will be fine if ________.

[　　]

A．you see rings round the sun

B．you see the distant objects very clear and near

C．you feel pain in your bones

D．the stars twinkle clearly at night

4．If you see a rainbow during rainy weather, it shows that the weather will clear up and become fine. This is because ________.

[　　]

A．there is much water-vapour in the air

B．there is not much water-vapour in the air

C．there is not any water-vapour in the air

D．there are all kinds of water-vapour in the air

5．In this passage “wet weather” means ________ weather.

[　　]