1. What is the weather like today?
| A．Rainy. | B．Snowy. | C．Sunny. |
| A．At 5:30. | B．At 6:00. | C．At 6:30. |
| A．Whistles. | B．Maps. | C．Cameras. |
| A．Go surfing. | B．Go hiking. | C．Go boating. |
1. What was the weather like that night?
| A．Windy. | B．Stormy. | C．Cloudy. |
| A．Under the sofa. | B．Under the table. | C．Under the bed. |
| A．It was hit by lightning. |
| B．Its screen flashed rapidly. |
| C．It was damaged by the woman. |
1. How is the weather now?
| A．Rainy. | B．Sunny. | C．Cloudy. |
| A．32 degrees. | B．22 degrees. | C．12 degrees. |
| A．By the sea. | B．In the valley. | C．Up on the mountains. |
4 . A study published on May 24 offers an explanation for a mysterious (神秘的) and sometimes deadly weather pattern in which the jet stream (急流), the global air currents that circle the Earth, wanders over a region. “Much like highways. The jet stream has a limit,” researchers said, “and when it was beyond its limit, blockages (拥堵)form that are remarkably similar to traffic jams—and climate forecasters can use the same math to model them both.”
The deadly 2003 European heat wave, California’s 2014 drought and the swing of Superstorm Sandy in 2012 that surprised forecasters—all of these were caused by a weather phenomenon known as “blocking”, in which the jet stream wanders, stopping weather systems from moving eastward. Scientists have known about it for decades, almost as long as they’ve known about the jet stream—first discovered by pioneering University of Chicago meteorologist (气象学家)Carl-Gustaf Rossby, in fact—but no one had a good explanation for why it happens.
“Blocking is very difficult to forecast, in large part because there was no clear theory about when it forms and why,” said study coauthor Noboru Nakamura, a professor in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences.
Nakamura and then-graduate student Clare S. Y. Huang were studying the jet stream, trying to determine a clear set of measurements for blocking in order to better analyze the phenomenon. One of their new metrics (度量)was a term that measured the routine of the jet stream. Looking over the math. Nakamura realized that the result was nearly the same to one designed decades ago by transportation engineers trying to describe traffic jams.
Much like car traffic, movement slows when multiple highways come together and the speed of the jet stream is reduced due to mountains or coasts.
1. What is the similarity between jet stream and traffic jams?| A．Both of them are mysterious. |
| B．Both of them can be predicted. |
| C．Blockages can be solved in the same way. |
| D．Blockages form when they are beyond a certain limit. |
| A．Nakamura helped explain the blocking phenomenon of jet stream. |
| B．Carl-Gustaf Rossby discovered the cause of the jet stream. |
| C．Scientists have known the swing of Superstorm Sandy in 2012 before it happened. |
| D．Blocking phenomenon of jet stream happened when multiple highways come together. |
| A．Some Great Scientists in a Study |
| B．A New Explanation for Traffic Jam |
| C．Some New Discoveries for Traffic Jam |
| D．A New Theory Finds “Traffic Jams” in Jet Stream |
| A．A science magazine. | B．A guidebook. |
| C．A science fiction. | D．An advertisement |
5 . Brownrigg is a London tour guide and leads walks through the capital all summer long, whatever the weather. His dozen or so routes range in topics from Harry Potter to the London Underground, but all have something in common. “I often end up talking about the weather,” he says. “It’s a national obsession (痴迷). I realised how much it has shaped London’s existence and history.”
Brownrigg’s Discovering Britain walk takes in several of the city’s famous landmarks, from the Tower of London lo the Shard, each stop exploring some of London’s extraordinary weather events.
We begin at the Monument Christopher Wren’s elegy to the Great Fire of London. With its pale stone column topped by a golden orb. the Monument was designed to look like a giant candle. It stands 202ft high, exactly 202ft away from where the lire began in Pudding Lane. Despite its size, the structure is dwarfed by (相形见绌) today’s surrounding tower blocks. Similarly, the causes behind the fire are sometimes overlooked. The Great Fire was a significant event in the City of London’s history, one that was shaped by the capitals geography. The spark was the weather.
As we enjoy some autumn sun beside the Monument, Brownrigg explains: “The summer of 1666 was unusually warm. At that time London was crammed (塞满) with wooden buildings, many only a few feet apart. A long, hot summer left them bone dry. Add stores of flammable materials including gunpowder left over from the Civil War and the city was a giant tinderbox.” It caught a light on 2 September when a bakery oven wasn’t cleaned properly. The inferno (特大火) lasted three days thanks to a strong breeze. Besides fanning the flames, the wind caused more mess by changing direction.
1. What does “it” refer to in paragraph 1?| A．Introducing the celebrities in London. | B．Talking about the weather. |
| C．Explaining the public transport. | D．Exploring the culture of Britain. |
| A．Admiring the special architecture. |
| B．Warning tourists of the public safety. |
| C．Paying a visit to the famous museums. |
| D．Probing some historical matters with weather. |
| A．By making a comparison. | B．By analyzing the important figures. |
| C．By offering some examples. | D．By describing the features of the buildings. |
| A．Showing the materials of the buildings. | B．Expressing the cause of the Great Fire. |
| C．Predicting the change of the weather. | D．Describing the surroundings of the bakery. |
