1 . Millions of people along the US mid-Atlantic region should be preparing for severe snow, the National Weather Service has said. Forecasters say two feet of snow could fall over the weekend in some areas. A light dusting of snow on Wednesday night caused a traffic jam in Washington, but it is what lies ahead that is occupying the thoughts of millions of people living on the US east coast.
       Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser tweeted an apology to her constituents(选民), saying that the city government had “failed to use the necessary resources effectively in response to the snow-for that I am sorry.” Among those affected was President Barack Obama, whose motorcade spent an hour and 12 minutes trying to get him from an airport back to the White House-a trip that typically takes about a half hour.
       Routine commutes lasted up to three hours and some people abandoned their cars, after an inch fell-a small amount compared to what is expected on Friday and Saturday. Long queues have formed at supermarkets, as people expect shop closures over the weekend. “Heavy snow and blowing snow will cause dangerous conditions and will be threat to life and property,” the National Weather Service warned.
       Across the US east coast at a glance:
Classes were cancelled at schools in Kentucky and Tennessee, the first states being affected by the storm.
Washington has requested Humvees from the National Guard so that emergency responders can reach isolated(孤立的) people and places. Besides, its underground train system will close throughout the weekend.
West Virginia Govemor Earl Ray Tomblin has activated the National Guard to assist.
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania officials are calling on people to keep large salt stockpiles and plough vehicles in good repair.
1. What do people living on the US east coast most worry about?

A．The traffic jam caused by snow on Wednesday noght

B．The government’s dealing with the situation improperly

C．The situation’s getting worse

D．Their own lack of preparation for the on-coming bigger snow

2. Many aspects of people’s daily life are affected by snow. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．transportation

B．entertainment

C．business

D．schooling

3. Muriel Bowser’s words imply that     

A．the city government should take all the responsibilities for the severe situation

B．the city of Washington didn’t have enough necessary resources

C．the citizens of Washington would have to rely on themselves

D．the city government should have dealt with the snow better

4. Which of the statements is true?

A．Heavy snow may cut off the connection of people in some places with the outside

B．Obama was held up by snow when he went to an airport from the White House

C．Despite the heavy snow, all the people can still go to work in their own cars

D．People in Washington can travel by underground train at the weekend.

2 . Climate change will increase US wildfires,and the smoky air will cause terrible problems in areas far beyond those burned,reports an environmental group Thursday.

Two-thirds of Americans,or nearly 212 million,lived in states suffering from wildfire smoke three years ago,according to the report by the Natural Resources Defense Council(NRDC).These areas,which had smoke for at least a week,were nearly 50 times greater than those burned directly by fire.

“It affects a much wide area of the United States than people have realized.” says author Kim Knowlton,a Columbia University health professor,adding the smoke can move up to hundreds of miles.She says the smoke contains air pollution and can cause several kinds of diseases.

Texas was hit hardest in 2011,when smoke stayed for at least a week in areas that are home to 25 million people,according to NRDC’s report.Illinois,which recorded no wildfires within its borders, came second with nearly 12 million people affected by smoke that moved in from elsewhere.The other eight states with the most people in touch with smoky air were,in descending   order: Florida,Missouri,Georgia,Louisiana,Michigan,Alabama,Oklahoma and Iowa.

Nearly two dozen states had no wildfires within their borders in 2011,but eight of them still had at least one week of smoky air: Illinois,Missouri，Iowa,Kansas,Nebraska,Indiana,Wisconsin and Ohio.

Only 18 states and the District of Columbia had no people in touch with at least a week of smoke that year,although five of them—Alaska,California,Hawaii,Nevada and Utah—had a large area burned by wildfires.

The problem will only get worse.Knowlton says.Scientific research shows climate is causing higher temperatures and health problems.

1. We can learn from the first two paragraphs that_______.

A．climate change killed many Americans

B．there are fewer states burned by wildfires

C．every state had wildfire smoke for at least a week

D．most Americans suffered from wildfire smoke 3 year ago

2. Which of the following states had wildfires within its borders in 2011?

A．Iowa.	B．Kansas.
C．Ohio.	D．California.

3. The underlined word “descending” in the fourth paragraph probably means _______.

A．going down	B．coming true
C．looking practical	D．turning back

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Climate change causes more wildfires.

B．Wildfire smoke becomes a serious health problem.

C．More wildfires cause climate changes.

D．Air pollution becomes a terrible problem.

3 . Polar bears are suffering in a       1    (warm) world.

Polar bears live in environments too cold for most animals.    2    much of the year, they live and hunt on the frozen Arctic sea ice. Nature has prepared     3    for the cold conditions. But nothing has prepared the bears for the danger that     4     (threat)the only home they know.

The polar bears’ world is melting. Studies show that the polar ice has reduced by 9.8% every 10 years     5     1978. Now about 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears live in the Arctic. Polar bears depend on the sea ice for their     6     (survive). “The sea ice is more than just this platform that the bears walk over,” says Andrew Derocher,     7     scientist who studies North American polar bear populations. “    8     it, they can’t exist.”

Some melting and refreezing of the polar ice is natural.     9     in a warmer world, these cycles speed up, and bears have less time to hunt. Normally, they have three months in the spring when they gain more weight. The extra fat is used later,      10     the bears are not actively hunting.

4 . TUVALU, a tiny country in the Pacific Ocean, has asked for help as it fears it will be swallowed up by the sea. Storms and huge waves are a constant threat and none of Tuvalu’s nine little islands is more than five meters above sea level, Salt water is already entering the country’s drinking water supply, as well as damaging plants that produce fruit and vegetable.    1    .

    2    . Venice, a historic city in Italy best known for its canals, has sunk about 24 cm over the past 100 years. Experts say that it will have sunk another 20-50cm by 2050. A century ago, St. Mark’s Square, the lowest point in the city, floodedd about nine times a year, Nowadays, it happens more than 100 times. While Venice is slowly sinking into the mud on which it stands, Tuvalu’s rising sea level is caused by global warming.The average global temperature has increased by almost 0.5 centigrade degrees over the past century; scientists expect it to rise by extra 1-3 degrees over the next 100 years.Warmer weather makes glaciersmelt, adding more water to the ocean. The warmer temperatures also make water expand, so it takes up more space, causing the sea level to rise. The sea level has risen about 10－25 cm in the last 100 years.    3    .

Through burning coal, oil and gas, people have been increasing the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as CO₂. This adds to the power of the greenhouse effect, making the planet even warmer. Many scientists believe that, if the warming is not stopped, there will be huge climate changes.    4    .

    5    , the sea will swallow up millions of homes and the world will be flooded with “climate refugees” looking for somewhere to live.

A．The main cause of global warming is human pollution

B．Should this come true

C．Without urgent help, the country’s days are numbered.

D．But Tuvalu is not the first place to face sinking into the sea

E．The sea level could rise by one meter this century.

F．people face a lot of pollution.

G．much has been done about our planet .

5 . Plants are flowering faster than scientists predicted (预测) in reaction to climate change, which could have long damaging effects on food chains and ecosystems.

Global warming is having a great effect on hundreds of plant and animal species around the world, changing some living patterns, scientists say.

Increased carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the air from burning coal and oil can have an effect on how plants produce oxygen, while higher temperatures and changeable rainfall patterns can change their patterns of growth.

“Predicting species, reaction to climate change is a major challenge in ecology,” said the researchers of several U.S. universities. They said plants had been the key object of study because their reaction to climate change could have an effect on food chains and ecosystem services.

The study, published on the Nature website, uses the findings from plant life cycle studies and experiments across four continents and 1,634 species. It found that some experiments had underestimated(低估) the speed of flowering by 8.5 times and leafing by 4 times.

“Across all species, the experiments under-predicted the speed of the advance—for both leafing and flowering— that results from temperature increase,” the study said.

The design of future experiments may need to be improved to better predict how plants will react to climate change, it said.

Plants are necessary for life on the Earth. They are the base of the food chain, using photosynthesis (光合作用) to produce sugar from carbon dioxide and water. They let out oxygen which is needed by nearly every organism on the planet.

Scientists believe the world’s average temperature has risen by about 0.8℃ since 1900, and nearly 0.2℃ every ten years since 1979.

So far, efforts to cut emissions (排放) of planet-warming greenhouse gases are not seen as enough to prevent the Earth heating up beyond 2℃ this century—a point scientists say will bring the danger of a changeable climate in which weather extremes are common, leading to drought, floods, crop failures and rising sea levels.

1. What is the main idea of Paragraph 1?

A．Plants’ reaction to weather could have damaging effects on ecosystems.

B．The increasing speed of flowering is beyond scientists’ expectation.

C．Climate change leads to the change of food production patterns.

D．Food chains have been seriously damaged because of weather.

2. We can learn from the study published on the Nature website that       .

A．plants’ flowering is 8.5 times faster than leafing

B．there are 1,634 plant species on the four continents

C．scientists should improve the design of the experiments

D．the experiments failed to predict how plants react to climate change

3. Scientists pay special attention to the study of plants because       .

A．they can prove the climate change clearly

B．they are very important in the food chains

C．they play a leading role in reducing global warming

D．they are growing and flowering much faster than before

4. What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs about the world’s temperature?

A．It needs to be controlled within 2℃ in this century.

B．Its change will lead to weather extremes.

C．It is 0.8℃ higher in 1979 than that of 1900.

D．It has risen nearly 0.2℃ since 1979.