Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, started erupting late Sunday in the U.S. island state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The volcano last erupted 38 years ago. But it is not expected to put people in danger.
At this point, melted(熔化的) rock, called lava, is predicted not to come near populated areas, but officials warned people to be ready to move away. The path of lava flows can change quickly.
Island officials warned people to stay away from the areas where lava is coming out because it can shoot 30 to 60 meters in the air. The gas coming from the eruption is also harmful. At the moment, however, the state said air quality on the island is good.
The eruption is a new experience for many people on the island. There are more than twice as many people living there compared to the last time Mauna Loa erupted. State officials are most concerned about an area about 50 kilometers to the south of the volcano where about 5,000 people live.
There is some concern about a weak area on the southwestern part of the mountain. If lava escapes from that area, it could threaten places where people live in just hours or days. The lava has never come up through that area during past eruptions.
The lava could flow toward the city of Hilo, which has about 45,000 people. That could take about a week. Scientists say they hope the lava flows like it did in 1984, when it moved slowly.
Hawaii mayor is Mitch Roth. He said the eruption “will be remarkable”, but he does not think it will cause problems for people visiting Hawaii. He said many people come to Hawaii to see volcanoes, but they have to travel a long way to a national park. Now, they can see an eruption much more easily. “You can just look out your window at night and you’ll be able to see Mauna Loa erupting,” he said.
1. Why did officials give people a warning?| A．The way lava flows is uncertain. | B．Air quality on the island isn’t good. |
| C．The lava can shoot 60 meters at least. | D．The lava will reach where people live. |
| A．It is near populated places. | B．No lava has come up through it. |
| C．Many people live there. | D．It can stop eruptions. |
| A．People had better leave Hawaii soon. |
| B．The eruption is a possible danger to visitors. |
| C．It is convenient to watch an eruption in Hawaii. |
| D．The eruption is a once-in-a-century natural wonder. |
| A．People in Hawaii Are Ready to Escape |
| B．Volcanoes in Hawaii Always Attract Visitors |
| C．Damage of Volcano in Hawaii Is Not Clear |
| D．World’s Largest Active Volcano Erupts in Hawaii |
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【推荐1】Vehicles (车辆) were turned over and roofs were torn from houses after a tornado was seen forming over a northern New South Wales town late on Thursday.
A clean-up is under way in Armidale, in the state’s Northern Tablelands, after a violent storm hit the area and knocked out power for half the town.
The tornado followed an evening of terrible storms over Greater Sydney which saw hailstones (冰雹), as large as five centimetres in diameter, fall across western and south-west Sydney. Apart from this, several thunderstorms also hit the state’s east coast.
Meteorologist (气象学家) Grace Legge said the tornado caused significant amounts of damage. “Through Armidale, we saw a very strong thunderstorm push through about 10 pm,” she said. “It did cause a tornado to touch down in the area which, unfortunately, caused significant amounts of damage. It was quite a quick-moving storm, but with stronger, violent winds.”
The State Emergency Services (SES) received 475 requests for help overnight, with 127 of those coming from citizens in Armidale. Officer Sharon Fox said it was surprising there were no reports of serious injuries after the tornado. “There were reports of roads that had been blocked, reports of large trees falling done, several reports of power lines coming off,” Ms Fox said. “It was a pretty terrible impact there in Armidale.”
A report posted by the SES this morning said half of Armidale was without power and the emergency services and uncompleted repairs were going to take some time.
1. The tornado led to the following except _________.| A．roofs torn apart | B．trees falling to the ground |
| C．vehicles upside down | D．houses washed away |
| A．The rain. | B．The winds. |
| C．The thunderstorm. | D．The hailstones. |
| A．No one was reported seriously injured. |
| B．A large number of people asked for help. |
| C．Another tornado was predicted to come soon. |
| D．The electricity supply in the area was cut off. |
| A．To call on people to offer help to others. |
| B．To inform people of a natural disaster. |
| C．To predict what the weather will be like in the area. |
| D．To warn the public to watch over their possessions. |
Tsunami waves are larger and faster than normal surface waves.A tsunami wave can travel as fast as a jet plane and can be as tall as a ten-story building.Imagine dropping a stone into a pond.The water on the surface ripples（起涟漪）.A tsunami is like a very powerful ripple. Tsunamis begin when the ocean rises or falls very suddenly.Large amounts of seawater are displaced.This movement caused huge waves.
For a tsunami to occur,there must be some kind of force that causes the ocean water to become displaced.Most tsunamis are caused by underwater earthquakes.However,volcanoes ,landslides（塌方）,large icebergs,and even meteorites（陨石）are capable of causing one of these mighty waves.
Tsunamis are extremely powerful. Ordinary waves lose power when they break.Tsunami waves can remain powerful for several days.Because tsunami waves are so strong,they can kill people,damage property,and completely ruin an ecosystem in just one hour.
Scientists have no way of predicting when a tsunami will hit.However,if a powerful enough earthquake occurs, scientists can send out a warning or a watch.A warning means that a tsunami will very likely hit soon.A watch means that conditions are favorable for a tsunami.When people are informed of a watch or a warning,they have more time to prepare.It is best not to get caught unaware when a tsunami is on the way.
1. Elephants are acting strange mostly because they_______.
| A．dislike the huge wave |
| B．are afraid of the big fish |
| C．can sense something out of the ordinary |
| D．see the ocean drawing back from the beaches |
| A．They are not familiar to most people. |
| B．They are very powerful and long-lasting. |
| C．They break on the coast,unlike normal waves. |
| D．They are caused by underwater earthquakes. |
| A．a tsunami travels as fast as normal waves |
| B．a tsunami is formed by huge normal sea waves |
| C．a tsunami warning is more serious than a watch |
| D．a warning and watch both mean a tsunami has formed |
| A．How to guard against tsunami |
| B．Differences between waves types |
| C．What to do with tsunami waves. |
| D．Causes and effects of tsunami |
【推荐3】Floods are one of the most common disasters in the US. Some floods develop slowly. But flash floods can develop quickly, sometimes in just a few minutes and without any signs of rain.
If a flood is likely in your area, you should:
Listen to the radio or watch television for information. If there is any possibility of a flash flood, move at once to higher ground.
If you have time to prepare, you should:
Make your home safe by bringing in outdoor furniture. Move necessary items to an upper floor.
If you have to leave your home right away, remember these tips:
Do not walk through moving water.
| A．Do not drive into flooded areas. |
| B．Do not wait for instructions to move. |
| C．20 cm depth of moving water can make you fall. |
| D．Turn off all pieces of electrical equipment. |
| E．Flash floods often have a dangerous wall of water. |
| F．Maybe you know floods, earthquakes, sandstorms, and so on. |
| G．During recent years, floods have caused billions of dollars in damage each year. |
【推荐1】Imagine having a ear made out of an apple. It seems like a crazy idea from a horror movie. But it could happen in the near future.
Canadian biophysicist Andrew Pelling used an apple to grow a human ear. He think fruit and vegetables can be used to cheaply repair human body parts in the future.
Scientists have been trying to grow organs(器官)in labs to replace our old ones. But it is a hard job. For example, liver cells(肝细胞) can grow in a lab, but he cells still need things like blood vessels(血管) to actual work. These things have to grow inside a scaffold(支架).
In the past, scientists have used man-made materials, animals parts and even dead people as scaffolds. But that has proved to be difficult and expensive.
Pelling and his team, however, found the apple to be a cheap and easy-to-use scaffold.
They first cut an apple into the shape of an ear. Then they used a special way to take out the apple make it a scaffold. The team then added human cells to the apple, and watched it grow.
“You can implant these scaffolds into the body, and the body will send in cells and a blood supply and actually keep these things alive.” Pelling said during a Ted Talk speech.
The team put the apple scaffold inside a living mouse and the mouse’s cells slowly took over the pieces of apple.
Now Pelling is thinking of other fruit, plants or vegetables to use.
He says that the shape of flower petals could be perfect for repairing skin And asparagus(芦笋)could fix a broken spine(脊柱).
Now, Pelling and his team are trying hard to put these crazy ideas into reality.
1. Pelling’s idea of man-made ear seems crazy because he use as scaffolds.| A．animal parts | B．dead people |
| C．man-made materials | D．ordinary apples |
| A．pick | B．put |
| C．produce | D．protect |
a. put the apple scaffold inside a mouse
b. add human cells to the apple scaffold
c. cut an apple into the shape of an ear
d. make the apple ear a scaffold
e. take out the apple’s cells in a special way
| A．a-b-c-d-e | B．b-c-d-a-e |
| C．c-e-d-b-a | D．c-d-a-e-b |
| A．to make human ears | B．to repair burnt skin |
| C．to fix a broken spine | D．to make body parts |
【推荐2】Microplastics, or tiny plastic particles - have been found in human blood for the first time.
In a paper published in Environment International, researchers in the Netherlands analyzed 22 blood samples from healthy donors and found that 17 or almost 80% contain microplastics.
The team tested for five types of plastics. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), commonly used in disposable water bottles, was the most common plastic type and found in about 50 percent of the donors. The second most common, polystyrene (PS) which is used for food packaging, was found in about 36 percent. Alarmingly, the researchers found up to three different types of plastic in a single blood sample.
Previously, microplastic pollution has been recorded to the summit of Mount Everest, oceans, seafood, water and air. It is the first study to find such tiny particles in human blood. “The particles are transported throughout the body and stay in internal organs,” study author Dick Vethaak, an ecotoxicologist in the Netherlands says to the Guardian.
The health effects of taking in microplastics are currently unclear. Today, the only data available are laboratory studies that show its unfavorable effects on mice or rats when given large quantities of microplastics. As Professor Mark Taylor of Macquarie University in Sydney told The Guardian last year, “nobody really knows.” However, as he stressed., “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” If we’re to understand the effects, the first step underway at the moment is understanding levels of exposure.
It is estimated that since the 1950s, more than 70 million tons of microplastics have been dumped into the oceans due to industrial manufacturing processes. A WWF report also suggested we’re all unintentionally taking in 125 grams of plastic every 6 months. Despite the small number of donors in the study, pollution expert Fay Couceiro of the University of Portsmouth, who was not involved in the study, tells the AFP that the study was “solid and will stand up to examination.” Now, many countries are taking action to reduce microplastics in the environment.
1. What did scientists find in the study of 22 donors’ blood samples?| A．Half the blood samples contained microplastics. |
| B．PET was the most common plastic in the samples. |
| C．Altogether three types of plastics are detected in samples. |
| D．Donors were healthy despite microplastics in their blood. |
| A．Microplastics can damage human internal organs. |
| B．Microplastics have unfavorable effects on humans. |
| C．Multiple types of plastic were found in one sample. |
| D．Microplastics have polluted the peak of Mount Everest. |
| A．Their effect is too weak to note. |
| B．Evidence shows no health impacts. |
| C．Lots of more study about them is needed. |
| D．Levels of exposure to microplastics matter. |
| A．How microplastics get into the food chain. |
| B．How widespread microplastics have become. |
| C．Distribution of microplastics in the ecosystem. |
| D．Effective measures taken to restrict microplastics. |
【推荐3】What if our city streets could act like forests and reduce pollution? Thanks to scientific innovation, roads treated with a new pavement technology can now eat smog and help keep cities cool. Since there is little room for forests in urban areas, where air pollution actually occurs, Pavement Technology Inc. (PTI), together with researchers from Louisiana State University, came up with an asphalt spray (沥青喷雾) called A.R.A.-1 Ti.
The spray's exact composition hasn't been revealed, but it is known to be based on titanium oxide (二氧化钛), a component contained in many sunscreens on the market. When ultraviolet rays(紫外线) from the sun activate this chemical substance, light and heat are absorbed and moved apart. Through a chemical process, titanium oxide also breaks down poisonous substances in the air. “In good conditions, we can achieve a 60% reduction”, said Michael Durante, PTI's vice president of finance and strategic planning. But the spray is not only meant to address overheating and to remove harmful gases produced by cars. It can also make aging asphalt stronger, preventing breaks generated by severe heat.
These impressive characteristics have encouraged several cities in the US to try out the product. The success stories keep adding up. At Orlando International Airport, taxiway pavements that had been sprayed with the titanium dioxide-based composition have already managed to reduce nitrogen oxide(一氧化氮) rates by half. And in Charleston,the pavement treatment is being used in low-income neighborhoods that have many asphalt-coated roads.
The company suggests that while heat shortens pavement life, their product's components can extend it from five to ten years, which translates the pavements into sustainable roads. And although green spaces are still necessary and cannot be fully replaced due to their multiple environmental and health benefits, innovations like A.R.A.-1 Ti are extremely promising. We may expect to see the major benefits it can bring to public health, positively affecting the lives of billions living in urban areas worldwide.
1. What is the function of the asphalt spray according to paragraph 1?| A．To effectively protect forests. |
| B．To relieve traffic jams in city streets. |
| C．To reduce urban heat and air pollution. |
| D．To detect the weather and road conditions. |
| A．It extends life of roads. |
| B．It blocks out ultraviolet light. |
| C．It is produced by sunscreens' components. |
| D．It may absorb harmful substances in the air. |
| A．To impress the importance of the invention. |
| B．To prove the successful application of the spray. |
| C．To emphasis the necessity of the road treatment. |
| D．To show the increasing popularity of the product. |
| A．A Major Reform in Urban Construction |
| B．Green Spaces: The Access to Public Health |
| C．The Bright Prospect of the Pavement Technology |
| D．A New Asphalt Spray: The Welfare to Urban Areas |
