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.

1.The weight of      is NOT mentioned in the passage.

A．a cumulus cloud    B．a tornado          C．a hurricane        D．a storm cloud

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

A．She found it not convincing.

B．She thought it needed further calculations.

C．She was quite surprised at it.

D．She considered the calculations inaccurate.

3.What can be inferred from the passage?

A．A storm cloud weighs about 200,000 elephants.

B．The water in a hurricane weighs more than that in any other kind of cloud.

C．There are less than forty million elephants living on the earth.

D．The water in the cloud is in very tiny partials.

 

A volcanic eruption in Iceland has sent ash across northern Europe. Airlines have stopped or changed the flights across the Atlantic Ocean, leaving hundreds of passengers stuck in airports.  
Grirmsvom is one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Europe. What makes Grimsvom different is that it lies under a huge glacier（冰川） of ice up to 12 maters thick. The hot volcano heats up the ice above it, which then forms a layer（层）of water between the glacier and the volcano This layer of water puts pressure on the volcano, keeping it stable, As the water flows out from under the glacier, the pressure lifts. The lava（岩浆） from the volcano then comes up to the surface. This is exactly what happened today.  
Now, airlines have to make changes to their flights so as not to fly through the clouds of volcanic ash. According to KLM. one of Europe’s biggest airlines, airplanes cannot go under the cloud or over it. Going through the cloud can result in ash getting stuck in the airplane’s engines, causing damage to the plane.  
The eruption has also caused problems for animals in Iceland. The volcano left ash and sharp. Glass-like rocks all over the countryside. Farmers are keeping their animals inside to stop them from eating ash- covered grass to the sharp object.  
【小题1】What makes Grimsvom different from other volcanoes? 

A．It is below ice.

B．It lies under the sea

C．It is the largest volcano

D．It is lava affects the airlines

【小题2】What keeps Grimsvotn still? 

A．The slow flow of water

B．The low water temperature

C．The thick glacier

D．The water pressure

【小题3】Which of the following is the result of the volcanic eruption? 

A．People stop traveling in Europe

B．Airlines suffer from the loss of planes

C．It becomes dangerous for animals to eat outside

D．Farmers have lost many of their animals

【小题4】This text is most probably taken from_ 

A．a research paper

B．a newspaper report

C．a class presentation

D．a geography textbook.

     A volcanic eruption in Iceland has sent ash across northern Europe. Airlines have stopped or changed the flights across the Atlantic Ocean, leaving hundreds of passengers stuck in airports.

Grirmsvom is one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Europe. What makes Grimsvom different is that it lies under a huge glacier（冰川） of ice up to 12 maters thick. The hot volcano heats up the ice above it, which then forms a layer（层）of water between the glacier and the volcano This layer of water puts pressure on the volcano, keeping it stable, As the water flows out from under the glacier, the pressure lifts. The lava（岩浆） from the volcano then comes up to the surface. This is exactly what happened today.  

Now, airlines have to make changes to their flights so as not to fly through the clouds of volcanic ash. According to KLM. one of Europe’s biggest airlines, airplanes cannot go under the cloud or over it. Going through the cloud can result in ash getting stuck in the airplane’s engines, causing damage to the plane.  

The eruption has also caused problems for animals in Iceland. The volcano left ash and sharp. Glass-like rocks all over the countryside. Farmers are keeping their animals inside to stop them from eating ash- covered grass to the sharp object.  

.  

64. What makes Grimsvotn different from other volcanoes?

A. It is below ice.

B. It lies under the sea

C. It is the largest volcano

D. It is lava affects the airlines

65. What keeps Grimsvotn still?

A. The slow flow of water

B. The low water temperature

C. The thick glacier

D. The water pressure

66. Which of the following is the result of the volcanic eruption?

A. People stop traveling in Europe

B. Airlines suffer from the loss of planes

C. It becomes dangerous for animals to eat outside

D. Farmers have lost many of their animals

67. This text is most probably taken from_

A. a research paper

B. a newspaper report

C. a class presentation

D. a geography textbook.

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, “Mum, you must come and see the daffodils （水仙花）before they are over.” I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Lake Arrowhead. “I will go next Tuesday,” I promised, a little unwillingly, on her third call.

    The next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn’s house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, “Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible （看不见的）in the cloud and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see!”

    My daughter smiled calmly and said, “We drive in this weather all the time, Mum. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience.”

    After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand-lettered sign that read “Daffodil Garden”.

    We got out of the car and each took a child’s hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most beautiful sight! There were five acres of flowers! “But who has done this?” I asked Carolyn. “It’s just one woman,” Carolyn answered. “That’s her home,” Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house. On the patio （庭院）, we saw a poster. “Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking” was the headline.

    The first answer was a simple one. “50,000 bulbs （鳞茎）,” it read. The second answer was, “One at a time, by one woman.” The third answer was, “Began in 1958.”

    I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than fifty years before, had begun -- one bulb at a time -- to bring the beauty and joy to the mountain top.

The author didn’t go to see the daffodils at first because _________.

    A. she was not interested in them

    B. they were growing on the mountain top

    C. the weather was not good enough

    D. it was not easy for her to drive there

What do we know about the woman living in the A-frame house?

    A. She must be out of mind.

    B. She acted as a gardener there.

    C. It took her great determination to grow the daffodils.

    D. She was poor and made her living by selling daffodils.

What could the author probably learn from this experience?

    A. Nothing is too difficult if you put your heart into it.

    B. We must put the interests of others above our own.

    C. We can change the world by growing flowers.

    D. It’s never too late to learn.

What would be the best title for the passage?

    A. An Unforgettable Experience.         B. Beautiful Daffodils.

C. One Bulb at a Time.                 D. I Love Daffodils.

根据短文内容，从选项中选出能填人空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Amazon Introduces a Digital Music Locker

Amazon.com, plans to introduce a service that will let people upload their digital music to the Web from anywhere.   1.   

The service, known as a music locker, was made available to Amazon account holders early Tuesday．Amazon will offer a Web-based hard drive backup service called Cloud Drive, where people can store documents, photos, videos and music．

It will also offer Cloud Player, which will let people listen to, download and make play lists from the music they store on Cloud Drive from any Web site or from an app on Android devices． Cloud Player will automatically upload songs bought on Amazon．   2.   

    3.   One key difference is that Google and Apple reportedly want to automatically make all the music that a user owns available to stream on other instruments, while Amazon will require that people upload music, except songs they buy on Amazon, to access it elsewhere．

The dream of these companies, along with many start-ups, is for people to be able to listen to their music from any computer or phone．   4.   Several experts in digital music say that the music locker business is still legally ambiguous．   5.   

    Amazon says it has avoided the problem, because its users would upload their songs, in MP3 to the cloud-based service, just like backing them up on an external （outside） hard drive or a Web-based computer backup service．

Companies, including Google and Spotify have been forced to delay introducing certain services while they negotiate with the music labels and publishers．

A．People can access it from any computer and from Android phones．

B．But they have all run into the same problem: music companies and publishers would prefer that listeners buy a new copy of a song everywhere they want to listen to it．

C．Experts suspect that Amazon seems to be copying what Google and Apple have already achieved．

D．They agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity （匿名） because their agreements with Amazon are confidential．

E．It is impossible for Web companies to tell whether a song was bought legally or downloaded illegally．

F．Amazon is racing Google and Apple, both of which are interested in offering similar services．

G．It will also scan iTunes or Windows libraries to find other music to upload．