Ever wonder how much a cloud weighs? What about a hurricane? A meteorologist has done some estimates and the results might surprise you.
Let's start with a very simple white puffy cloud — a cumulus cloud（积云）. How much does the water in a cumulus cloud weigh? Peggy LeMone, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, did the numbers. "The water in the little cloud weighs about 550 tons," she calculates. "Or if you want to convert it to something that might be a little more meaningful … think of elephants."
The thought of a hundred elephants-worth of water suspended in the sky begs another question — what keeps it up there?
"First of all, the water isn't in elephant sized particles（微粒）, it's in tiny tiny tiny particles," explains LeMone. And those particles float on the warmer air that's rising below. But still, the concept of so much water floating in the sky was surprising even to a meteorologist like LeMone. "I had no idea how much a cloud would weigh, actually, when I started the calculations," she says.
So how many elephant units of water are inside a big storm cloud—10 times bigger all the way around than the "puffy" cumulus cloud? Again, LeMone did the numbers: About 200,000 elephants.
Now, ratchet up the calculations for a hurricane about the size of Missouri and the figures get really massive. "What we're doing is weighing the water in one cubic meter theoretically pulled from a cloud and then multiplying by the number of meters in a whole hurricane," she explains.
The result? Forty million elephants. That means the water in one hurricane weighs more than all the elephants on the planet. Perhaps even more than all the elephants that have ever lived on the planet.
【小题1】The weight of      is NOT mentioned in the passage.

Throughout the Depression（经济萧条）years, my brothers, sisters and I often heard our granny say，“One of these days, my ship is coming in．” Of course Granny’s ship was just a dream---her escape from the reality of being poor most of her life．But to us it was very real．

       Our family got by with the barest（最少）of necessities, there rarely was enough left over for special desires．So if we wished for other things, we told Granny about them, and she would plan for them to be aboard her ship．

       At times we kids worried greatly as to how the ship was going to arrive at Granny’s house in the deep pine woods of East Texas, miles from any waterway．One day when Granny was sitting with us on her front porch, we asked her how she expected the ship to come．Shifting in her rocking chair, she pointed to the beautiful clouds floating in the bright blue sky．

       “Why, children,” she explained，“Granny’s ship has big beautiful sails．Some day it will rise up on clouds like those, and come floating right up to the front door．”

       As we grew older, our childish wishes for BB guns, baby dolls and mohair sweaters were replaced by dreams of an education, a job or a lovely wedding．We told Granny of those goals and she put each one aboard her ship．

       Granny has been gone a long time now, but I still remember how we sat with her on the porch scanning the skies for her help．She never told us the name of it, but I think perhaps it was “Hope”．For Granny told us to have patience, to reach beyond our limitation, and many of our dreams and wishes did indeed come true．

       Even now, sometimes, when the skies are brilliantly blue, with soft puffy clouds sailing along with the breeze（微风）, I look up---to see Granny’s ship．Its sails are full and proud．It is a beautiful ship, carrying a wonderful cargo of many packages of many sizes---all marked “From Granny．With Love．”

1．Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

       A．Our Dream                                    B．Granny’s Ship

       C．The Depression Years                           D．Granny’s Wisdom

2．From the text, we know           ．

       A．Granny has been dead for a long time

       B．Granny used to have unpractical ideas about life

       C．Granny’s ship arrived at last

       D．Granny has moved to the city

3．We can infer from the text that the writer’s family lived         ．

       A．in a city                                              B．in granny’s ship   

       C．in a mountainous village                        D．at the seaside

4．What does the underlined word “them” in the second paragraph refer to in the passage?

       A．our necessities         B．our wishes              C．the children             D．packages

Ever wonder how much a cloud weighs? What about a hurricane? A meteorologist(气象学者) has done some estimates and the results might surprise you.
Let's start with a very simple white puffy cloud — a cumulus cloud（积云）. How much does the water in a cumulus cloud weigh? Peggy LeMone, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, did the numbers. "The water in the little cloud weighs about 550 tons," she calculates. "Or if you want to convert it to something that might be a little more meaningful … think of elephants."
The thought of a hundred elephants-worth of water suspended(悬浮的) in the sky begs another question — what keeps it up there?
"First of all, the water isn't in elephant-sized particles（微粒）, it's in tiny tiny tiny particles," explains LeMone. And those particles float on the warmer air that's rising below. But still, the concept of so much water floating in the sky was surprising even to a meteorologist like LeMone. "I had no idea how much a cloud would weigh, actually, when I started the calculations," she says.
So how many elephant units of water are inside a big storm cloud—10 times bigger all the way around than the "puffy" cumulus cloud? Again, LeMone did the numbers: About 200,000 elephants.
Now, ratchet up(略微调高) the calculations for a hurricane about the size of Missouri and the figures get really massive(巨大的). "What we're doing is weighing the water in one cubic meter theoretically pulled from a cloud and then multiplying by(乘上) the number of meters in a whole hurricane," she explains.
The result? Forty million elephants. That means the water in one hurricane weighs more than all the elephants on the planet. Perhaps even more than all the elephants that have ever lived on the planet

1. 1.

   The weight of      is NOT mentioned in the passage

   1. A.
      a cumulus cloud
   2. B.
      a tornado
   3. C.
      a hurricane
   4. D.
      a storm cloud
2. 2.

   How did Peggy LeMone feel about the result of her calculations?

   1. A.
      She found it not convincing
   2. B.
      She thought it needed further calculations
   3. C.
      She was quite surprised at it
   4. D.
      She considered the calculations inaccurate
3. 3.

   What can be inferred from the passage?

   1. A.
      A storm cloud weighs about 200,000 elephants
   2. B.
      The water in a hurricane weighs more than that in any other kind of cloud
   3. C.
      There are less than forty million elephants living on the earth
   4. D.
      The water in the cloud is in very tiny partials
4. 4.

   What is the best title for the passage?

   1. A.
      How Much a Cloud Weighs
   2. B.
      How Much a Hurricane Weighs
   3. C.
      Surprising Results
   4. D.
      Elephants in the Sky

Most parents love the Internet and want their kids to use it. But a new survey in America finds almost as many also fear the online world—especially social networking sites such as My Space—and worry their kids will get in trouble with people they meet.

“The parents see the web’s incredible potential(可能性), and they know their kids have to be there.” says James Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media, which released results from a survey that looked into parental attitudes toward the Internet. “It is also what they are scared of most.”

The study was conducted online May 5-10 by Insight Research Group. It says 80% of parents are concerned about kids meeting bad people online. That’s because young people who largely have grown up with the Net think of it as a social outlet(出口), say the researchers. To young people, the benefits of giving out some personal information to reach out to friends outweigh the risks. And the study shows they are so comfortable with the medium that 78% have a personal website or blog.

Parents also recognize the importance of the Internet. The survey shows 91% think the Net helps their children explore their passions, and 77% think the Internet is one of the most valuable education tools teens have. But 88% think it’s important to know what their kids are doing online.

Findings suggest both parents and teens need more education about using online media, Steyer says.

Internet safety has become an increasing concern for parents in America. Organizations like the Non-profit Common Sense have been trying to reach and help parents pay attention to the problem.

In the second paragraph, the underlined word “It” refers to_____.

A. Common Sense Media                         B. the result of the survey

C. the web’s incredible potential                   D. the website called My Space

Why do young people give out their personal information?

A. They think it has more advantages than disadvantages.

B. They want to make themselves famous by doing that.

C. They want to have a personal website each.

D. They want to get some information from others.

Most parents think it is important to know_____.

A. where their children give out the information  B. what kind of websites they have

C. how often they go online                        D. what their children are doing online

From the passage we can infer that_____.

A. children are too young to know how to use the Internet

B. parents must teach their children how to use the Internet

C. parents also need to learn more about using the Internet

D. the Internet is the most valuable tool for children to learn