4．What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．The advantages of “Nowcasts”.

B．A tornado in Edmonton, AlbertA．

C．The difficulty in predicting tornado.

D．A great development in weather forecast.

　( E )

There are two basic ways to see growth: one as a product, the other as a process. People have generally viewed personal growth as an external (外在的) result or a product that can easily be identified and measured．The worker who gets a rise, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language -- all these examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts．

By contrast (对照) , the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way．The process is not the road itself, but the attitudes, feelings people have , and their caution or courage, as they meet with new experiences and unexpected difficulties．In this process, the journey never really ends；there are always new ways to experience the world, new ideas to try, new challenges to accept．

In order to grow, to travel new roads, people need to have a willingness to take risks, to face the unknown, and to accept the possibility that they may “fail” at first．How we see ourselves as we try a new way of being is necessary for our ability to grow．Do we see ourselves as quick and curious? If so, we tend to take more chances and be more open to unfamiliar experiences．Do we think we’re shy and indecisive? Then our sense of fear can cause us to hesitate, to move slowly, and we think we are slow to adapt (适应) change or that we’re not smart enough to deal with a new challenge．Then we are likely to take a more passive role or not try at all．

These feelings of insecurity (不安全) and self-doubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and grow．If we protect ourselves too much, then we stop growing．We become trapped inside a shell of our own making．

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

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

C．Computer scientists.　　　　　　　 D．Meteorologists. 　

2．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

1．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.　

4．What can we learn from the passage?

　　　 A．John Buttterfield got thousands of dollars for delivering mail in stagecoaches.

　　　 B．John Buttterfield kept his promise to deliver mail straight to the West Coast.

　　　 C．Passengers might be robbed when traveling through the West.

　　　 D．Passengers needed to pay one hundred dollars for their journey.　

　(D)

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 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.

3．As is described in the passage, the stagecoach ________.

　　　 A．could only stop twice a day　　　　　

B．was modern with seats and beds

　　　 C．was a closed wagon pulled by horses or mules

　　　 D．had different horses or mules pulled all the way

2．The reason why Lawmakers wanted to send mail by land was that ________.

　　　 A．mail was usually carried west on ships　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

B．it was safer to travel to send mail by land

　　　 C．it would take less time to send mail by land

　　　 D．stagecoaches could carry passengers and mail

1．What is the passage mainly about?

　　　 A．Different ways of sending mail in the United States.

　　　 B．The difficulty in sending mails across the USA by land.

　　　 C．The first stagecoaches that carried both passengers and mail.

　　　 D．The history of the first stagecoaches carrying mail to the American West.

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

A．How to Select a Christmas Tree

B．No More Christmas Tree for Us

C．Dark Moments of Life

D．Christmas Without Trees

(C)

Mail was usually carried west on ships that sailed around the bottom of South America and then north to California．That could take several months.　

So, in eighteen fifty-seven, D.C．Lawmakers in Congress in Washington wanted to make it possible to send mail all the way across the United States by land．Congress offered to help any company that would try to deliver mail overland to the West Coast. A man named John Butterfield accepted this offer. He developed plans for a company that would carry the mail-and passengers, too.

Congress gave John Butterfield six hundred thousand dollars to start his company. In return, he had to promise that the mail would travel from Saint Louis, Missouri, to San Francisco, California, in twenty-five days or less.

It was not possible to travel straight through because of the Rocky Mountains and the deep snow that fell in winter. So the stagecoach would travel south from Saint Louis to El Paso, Texas, then over to southern California, then north to San Francisco. The distance was about four thousand five hundred kilometers.

Two hundred of these stations were built, each about thirty-two kilometers apart. The workers were to quickly change the horses or mules whenever a stagecoach reached the station. There could be no delay. Each stagecoach was to travel nearly two hundred kilometers a day.

One hundred stagecoasches were built and painted red or dark green. They were the most modern coaches that money could buy. They were designed to hold as many as nine passengers and twelve thousand pieces of mail. The seats inside could be folded down to make beds. Passengers either slept on them or on the bags of mail.

The cost would be one hundred fifty dollars to travel from Saint Louis to San Francisco. If a passenger was not going all the way, the cost was about ten cents a kilometer. The passengers had to buy their own food at the stations. The stagecoach would stop for forty minutes, two times a day.

The company warned passengers about the possible dangers. A poster said: “You will be traveling through Indian country and the safety of your person cannot by vouchsafed (granted) by anyone but God.”

3．When the writer said " my mother bought what she thought to be a bargain", he means ____.

　　 A．she bought the tree at a cheap price

　　 B．she didn't really want to buy it

　　 C．she had to bargain hard with the salesman

　　 D．she couldn't afford a more expensive one