1 . A weather map is an important tool for geographers. A succession of three or four maps presents continuous picture of weather changes. Weather forecasters are able to determine the speed of air masses and fronts (冷暖空气团接触的锋) to determine whether an individual pressure area is deepening or becoming shallow and whether a front is increasing or decreasing in intensity. They are also able to determine whether an air mass is retaining its original characteristics or taking on those of the surface over which it is moving. Thus, a most significant function of the map is to reveal a summary picture of conditions in the atmosphere at a given time.

All students of geography should be able to interpret a weather map accurately. Weather maps contain an enormous amount of information about weather conditions existing at the time of observation over a large geographical area. They reveal in a few minutes what otherwise would take hours to describe. The United States Weather Bureau issues information about approaching storms, floods, frosts and all climatic conditions in general. Twice a month it issues a 30-day “outlook” which is a rough guide to weather conditions likely to occur over broad areas of the United States. These 30-day outlooks are based upon an analysis of the upper air levels which often set the stage for development of air masses, fronts and storms.

Considerable effort is being exerted today to achieve more accurate weather predictions. With the use of electronic instruments and satellites, enormous gains have taken place recently in identifying and tracking storms over regions which have but few meteorological stations (气象站). Experiments are also in progress for weather modification (改变) studies. But the limitations of weather modification have prevented meteorological results except in the seeding of super-cooled, upslope mountainous winds which have produced additional orographic (山岳形态) precipitation on the windward side of mountain ranges. Nevertheless, they have provided a clearer understanding of the fundamentals of weather elements.

1. By reading weather maps, students majoring in geography can .

A．design a project of weather modification

B．interpret the weather condition before the time of observation

C．obtain data on atmospheric conditions over a wide area

D．survey ever-changing fronts in local meteorological stations

2. A thirty-day forecast is determined by examining________.

A．daily weather maps	B．upper air levels
C．satellite reports	D．changing fronts

3. The observation of weather conditions by satellites is helpful because ________.

A．electronic instruments are used

B．it enables man to alert the weather

C．it makes weather more time-consuming

D．information not be obtained readily otherwise can be gained

4. At the present time, experiments are being conducted in________.

A．controlling and influencing weather

B．determining density of pressure groups

C．30-day “outlooks”

D．predicting storms

2 . The water off the coast of northwest Greenland is a glass-like calm, but the puddles (水坑) on the region’s icebergs are a sign that a transformation is underway higher on the ice sheet.

Several days of unusually warm weather in northern Greenland have caused rapid melting, made visible by the rivers of meltwater rushing into the ocean. Temperatures have been running around 60 degrees Fahrenheit — 10 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year, scientists said.

The amount of ice that melted in Greenland between July 15 and 17 this year alone — 6 billion tons of water per day — would be enough to fill 7.2 million Olympic-sized swimming pools, according to data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Each summer, scientists worry that they will see a repeat of the record melting that occurred in 2019, when 532 billion tons of ice flowed out into the sea. An unexpectedly hot spring and a July heat wave that year caused almost the entire ice sheet’s surface to melt. Global sea level rose permanently by 1.5 millimeters as a result.

Greenland holds enough ice — if it all melted — to lift sea level by 7.5 meters around the world. The latest research points to a more and more threatening situation on the Northern Hemisphere’s iciest island.

“Unprecedented (史无前例的)” rates of melting have been observed at the bottom of the Greenland ice sheet, a study published in February found, caused by huge quantities of meltwater flowing down from the surface. This water is particularly concerning because it can destabilize the sheet above it and could lead to a massive, rapid loss of ice.

And in 2020, scientists found that Greenland’s ice sheet had melted beyond the point of no return. The rate of melting in recent years exceeds anything Greenland has experienced in the last 12,000 years, another study found — and enough to cause measurable change in the gravitational field over Greenland.

At the East Greenland Ice-core Project — or EastGRIP — research camp in northwest Greenland, the work of scientists to understand the impact of climate change is being affected by climate change itself.

Aslak Grinsted, a climate scientist at the University of Copenhagen’s Niels Bohr Institute, said that they have been trying to get flights into the camp but the warmth is destabilizing the landing site.

Before human-caused climate change kicked in, temperatures near 32 degrees Fahrenheit there were unheard of. But since the 1980s, this region has warmed by around 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit per decade — four times faster than the global pace — making it all the more likely that temperatures will cross the melting point.

1. The passage is mainly written to ________.

A．alert people to the rapid melting of Greenland’s ice sheet

B．arouse people’s awareness of protecting the environment

C．inform people of the large amount of ice Greenland holds

D．reveal to people the cause and effect of the rise in sea level

2. What does “a transformation” in the first paragraph refer to?

A．Climate change.	B．A rise in sea level.
C．Global warming.	D．The melting of ice.

3. What can be learned about the ice that melted in 2019?

A．It repeated a record melting of the ice sheet several years ago.

B．Its amount was the largest ever and lifted sea level permanently.

C．It was enough to fill 7.2 million Olympic-sized swimming pools.

D．Its melting rate was so rapid as to result in an unexpectedly hot spring.

4. It is implied in the passage that ________.

A．climate change is a result of human activities

B．the study of climate change is being made easier

C．the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet is reversible

D．temperatures increase 1.5°F or so each decade globally

3 . Directions: Complete the following passages by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. force B. mains C. intense D. spell E. respite F. fuelling G. urging H. severity I. underlying J. collapses K. forecast

People across the UK are set to sizzle on what could be the hottest day of the year so far. Temperatures are expected to reach 33℃ for four consecutive days,     1     concerns there could be hundreds of heat related deaths in the UK.

A Met Office amber weather warning for extreme heat comes into     2     today for almost all of England south of Manchester and parts of eastern Wales. It is expected to last until Sunday with temperatures     3     to climb to 36℃.

Temperatures are not expected to drop below the low 20℃ in some areas, even at night. Older people, young children and those with     4     health conditions are more likely to experience adverse health effects, the Met Office said.

“Compared to the July record-breaking heat, this event will be less     5    , but last longer, which could actually have a greater impact on people’s health,” Hannah Cloke, a professor of hydrology at the University of Reading, said.

Both countryside and urban areas are tinder dry,     6     people to take special care. Ten fire engines and about 70 firefighters were called to a grassfire in Rainham, east London, yesterday, the London Fire Brigade said.

The Met Office’s fire     7     index, an assessment of how severe a fire could become if one were to start, is very high for most of England and Wales. The village of Northend in Oxford shire became the first place in the UK to run dry in the hot     8    . Thames Water, which operates in the area, sent water tankers and handed out bottles. The company has said that as a severe drought has made ground conditions worse for water     9    , it will bring in a hosepipe ban for its 15 million customers across London, Surrey and Gloucestershire in the “coming weeks”.

Experts have also warned that cliff     10     could become more of a risk on south coast beaches. Vanessa Banks, of the British Geological Survey, said that clay-like sediments will shrink as soils experience large changes in volume due to changes in water content.