There was great excitement on the planet of Venus(金星) this week. For the first time Venusian scientists managed to land a satellite on the planet Earth, and it has been sending back signals as well as photographs ever since.

The satellite was directed into an area known as Manhattan (named after the great Venusian astronomer Prof. Manhattan, who first discovered it with his telescope 20000 light years ago).

Because of excellent weather conditions and extremely strong signals, Venusian scientists were able to get valuable information as to feasibility (可行性) of a manned flying saucer (碟) landing on Earth. A press conference was held at the Venus Institute of Technology.

“We have come to the conclusion, based on last week’s satellite landing,” Prof. Zog said, “that there is no life on Earth.”

“How do you know this?” the science reporter of the Venus Evening Star asked.

“For one thing, Earth’s surface in the area of Manhattan is made up of solid concrete and nothing can grow there. For another, the atmosphere is filled with carbon monoxide (一氧化碳) and other deadly gases and nobody could possibly breathe this air and survive.”

“What does this mean as far as our flying saucer program is concerned?”

“We shall have to take our own oxygen with us, which means a much heavier flying saucer than originally planned.”

“Are there any other dangers that you discovered in your studies?”

“Take a look at this photo. You see this dark black cloud hovering(盘旋) over the surface of Earth? We don’t know what it is made of, but it could give us a lot of trouble and we shall have further tests before we send a Venus Being there.”

“Over here you will notice what seems to be a river, but the satellite findings indicates it is polluted and the water is unfit to drink. This means we shall have to carry our own water, which will add even greater weight to the saucer.”

“If all you say is true, won’t this set back the flying saucer program several years?”

“Yes, but we shall continue as soon as the Grubstart gives us the added funds.” Prof. Zog replied.

During the week of great excitement the Venusian scientists succeeded in getting important information as to ____.

A. the feasibility of landing a satellite on Earth

B. the possibility of making a first-rate flying saucer

C. the feasibility of sending a Venus Being to Earth

D. the possibility of directing a flying saucer into Manhattan

According to Prof. Zog, the Venusians will have to take their own oxygen with them when they carry out their flying saucer program because ____.

A. they need it in their way to the planet of Earth

B. the Earth’s atmosphere is filled with deadly gases

C. there is a low level of oxygen for Venusians

D. there is no air on the planet of Earth

The “dark black cloud” on the photo refers to ____.

A. the polluted air hovering over the surface of Earth

B. the mass of tiny drops of water floating above Earth

C. the mass of small things moving through the air

D. the dark clouds gathering before a storm breaks

The author wishes to call our attention to the fact that ____.

A. that modern man has polluted his environment to such an extend that he might destroy himself if he went on like this

B. that there is a point in spending billions to land a flying saucer on Earth

C. that pollution has become so serous a problem on Earth that even Venusians find life there unbearable.

D. that it is difficult if not altogether impossible, to land a manned flying saucer on Earth.

Air pollution is damaging 60% of Europe’s prime wildlife sites in meadows, forests and bushes, according to a new report.

A team of EU scientists said nitrogen emissions(氮排放) from cars, factories and farming were threatening biodiversity. It’s the second report this week warning of the on-going risks and threats linked to nitrogen pollution.

Nitrogen in the atmosphere is harmless in its inert(惰性的) state, but the report says reactive forms of nitrogen, largely produced by human activity, can be a menace to the natural world.

Emissions mostly come from vehicle exhausts(排气), factories, artificial fertilizers(肥料) and animal waste from intensive farming. The reactive nitrogen they emit to the air disrupts the environment in two ways: It can make acidic soils too acidic to support their previous mix of species. But primarily, because nitrogen is a fertilizer, it favors wild plants that can maximize the use of nitrogen to help them grow.

In effect, some of the nitrogen spread to fertilize crops is carried in the atmosphere to fertilize weeds, possibly a great distance from where the chemicals were first applied.

The effects of fertilization and acidification favor common aggressive species like grasses, brambles and nettles. They harm more delicate species like mosses(苔藓), and insect-eating sundew plants.

The report said 60% of wildlife sites were now receiving a critical load of reactive nitrogen. The report’s lead author, Dr Kevin Hicks from the University of York’s Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), told BBC News that England’s Peak District had a definitely low range of species as a result of the reactive nitrogen that fell on the area.

“Nitrogen creates a rather big problem that seems to me to have been given too little attention,” he said. “Governments are responsible for protecting areas like this, but they are clearly failing.”

He said more research was needed to understand the knock-on effects for creatures from the changes in vegetation accidentally caused by emissions from cars, industry and farms.

At the conference, the representatives agreed “The Edinburgh Declaration on Reactive Nitrogen”. The document highlights the importance of reducing reactive nitrogen emissions to the environment, adding that the benefits of reducing nitrogen outweigh the costs of taking action.

1.The underlined word “menace” is used to express that the reactive nitrogen, largely produced by human activity can be ___________.

A. frightening              B. threatening      C. unique           D. unusual

2. We can infer from the passage that _________.

A.        it’s harmless to have reactive nitrogen existing in the atmosphere

B.        reactive nitrogen emissions help aggressive species less than crops

C.        the harm to those delicate species has a negative impact on biodiversity

D.        reactive nitrogen can fertilize soils and keep their biodiversity

3. The team of EU scientists released the second report of nitrogen emissions this week when __________.

A.        no action was taken to stop nitrogen emission

B.        governments were willing to protect areas harmed by nitrogen

C.        “The Edinburgh Declaration on Reactive Nitrogen” was agreed

D.        nitrogen emissions were threatening wildlife sites’ biodiversity

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A. Keeping Away From Nitrogen Emissions     B. Stopping Nitrogen Emissions

C. Air Pollution Damaging Europe’s Wildlife        D. Saving Europe’s Wildlife

 

It was once thought that air pollution affected only the area immediately around large cities with factories and/or heavy automobile traffic. Today, we know that although these are the areas with the worst air pollution, the problem is literally worldwide. On several occasions over the past decade, a heavy cloud of air pollution has covered the entire eastern half of the United States and led to health warnings even in rural areas away from any major concentration of manufacturing and automobile traffic. In fact, the very climate of the entire earth may be affected by air pollution. Some scientists feel that the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the air resulting from the burning of fossil fuels(coal and oil) creating a greenhouse effect-holding in heat reflected from the earth and raising the world’s average temperature. If this view is correct and the world’s temperature is raised only a few degrees, much of the polar ice cap will melt and cities such as New York, Boston, Miami, and New Orleans will be under water.

Another view, less widely held, is that increasing particulate matter in the atmosphere is blocking sunlight and lowering the earth’s temperature-a result that would be equally disastrous（灾难的）. A drop of just a few degrees could create something close to a new ice age, and would make agriculture difficult or impossible in many of our top farming areas. At present we do riot know for sure that either of these conditions will happen(though one recent government report prepared by experts in the field concluded that the greenhouse effect is very likely). Perhaps, if we very lucky, the two tendencies will offset each other and the world’s temperature will stay about the same as it is now.

As pointed out at the beginning of the passage, people used to think that air pollution ______.

       A．caused widespread damage in the countryside

       B．affected the entire eastern half of the United States

       C．almost brought worldwide effect

       D．existed merely in urban and industrial areas

As far as the greenhouse effect is concerned, the author _____________.

       A．shares the same view with the scientists

       B．is uncertain of its occurrence

       C．rejects it as being ungrounded（无根据的）

       D．thinks that it will increasingly destroy the world soon

It can be inferred from the passage that                    .

       A．raising the world’s temperature a little would not do much harm to life on the earth

       B．lowering the world’s temperature a little would lead to agricultural disasters

       C．almost no temperature variations have occurred over the past decade

       D．the world’s temperature will remain stable forever

This passage is primarily concerned with              .

       A．the greenhouse effect in the world

       B．the measures to adjust the climate

       C．the potential effect of air pollution

       D．the measures to protect the environment