1 . The number of weather-related disasters has increased by five times over the past 50 years, the latest report by the World Meteorological (气象) Organization (WMO) said on September. However, thanks to improved early warning systems and disaster management, the number of death from these hazards (危险) has been almost three times less.
According to the WMO, from 1970 to 2019, weather, climate and water hazards accounted for 50 percent of all disasters. Among the top 10 hazards that led to the largest loss of human life during this period were droughts, storms, floods and extreme temperatures. However, deaths fell from over 50, 000 in the 1970s to less than 20, 000 in the 2010s.
“Weather, climate and water extremes are increasing and will become more frequent and severe in many parts of the world as a result of climate change,” says WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
“That means more heat waves, drought and forest fires such as those we have observed recently in Europe and North America. We have more water vapor in the atmosphere, which is worsening extreme rainfall and deadly flooding. The warming of the oceans has affected the frequency and area of existence of the most intense tropical storms.”
“Economic losses are increasing as exposure increases. But behind the statistics lies a message of hope. Improved multi-hazard early warning systems have led to a significant reduction in deaths. Quite simply, we are better than ever before at saving lives,” Taalas said.
1. What do we know from the first paragraph?| A．Disasters connected with weather have gone up. |
| B．The number of weather-related disasters has decreased. |
| C．The number of deaths from hazards has been increasing. |
| D．Early warning systems have made disasters decline much. |
| A．There will be more extreme weather. |
| B．Extreme rainfall will no longer exist. |
| C．Water vapor in the atmosphere will go down. |
| D．Humans will defeat extreme weather in the end. |
| A．Improved warning systems will save economic losses. |
| B．Economic losses are going down as exposure increases. |
| C．More lives will be saved thanks to early warning systems. |
| D．Improved early warning systems will control extreme weather |
| A．A novel. | B．A brochure. | C．A magazine. | D．A guideline. |
2 . Why do we like drinking water from plastic bottles（塑料瓶）? Some people think it is healthy and clean. Others drink bottled water because it’s easy — you can carry it around with you. In hot countries, like Greece, we often buy bottles of cold water in the summer.
However, making lots of plastic is not a good idea for many reasons. First of all, we need a lot of oil for plastic products. We usually use oil as a source of energy. If we reduced the number of bottles we made, we wouldn’t need so much oil. Plastic bottles also pollute the environment. If we reused all our plastic bottles, we wouldn’t need so much space for rubbish dumps. But in Greece, we don’t reuse much of the plastic we use. In 2006, Greeks reused only about 10% of plastic waste. The rest became rubbish on land and in rivers and seas.
So next time you want to throw away a plastic bottle in the litter bin, stop and think. If you reuse it, you would help the environment. But what can you do when there isn’t a bin near you? Well, there are lots of useful ways that you can use your bottles again. For example, an empty bottle makes a great piggy bank for your pocket money, and if you cut a bottle in half, you will have a plant pot. Go green! You can make a difference.
1. What is not mentioned about bottled water in this passage?| A．It’s healthy. | B．It’s clean. |
| C．It’s easy. | D．It’s expensive. |
| A．energy | B．oil |
| C．rubbish | D．plants |
| A．To reuse them. | B．To make a piggy bank. |
| C．To make a plant pot. | D．To drop them into the river. |
| A．To make a different life, you’d better go outside. |
| B．To look different, you’d better wear green clothes. |
| C．To protect the environment, you can do something. |
| D．To go green, you should use plastic products. |
