1. What will the weather be like tomorrow?
| A．Hot. | B．Cold. | C．Wet. |
| A．Rail travelers. | B．Air travelers. | C．Car travelers. |
| A．High winds. | B．A drought. | C．Floods. |
| A．Every hour. | B．Every two hours. | C．Every three hours. |
2 . Perhaps you know northern Americans still maintain the habit of celebrating Groundhog Day when a large groundhog (土拨鼠) checks to see its shadow on February 2 and helps to predict when winter will end. But have you ever heard about how a mountain town in North Carolina uses a caterpillar (毛毛虫) known as the Woolly Worm to make similar predictions?
According to the folklore (民间传说), the amount of black on the woolly worm in autumn predicts the severity of the upcoming winter. The longer the woolly worm’s black bands (带) are, the longer, colder, snowier, and more severe the winter will be. Similarly, a wider middle brown band is a sign of a milder upcoming winter. The position of the longest dark bands supposedly indicates which part of winter will be coldest or hardest. If the head end of the caterpillar is dark, the beginning of winter will be severe. If the tail end is dark, the end of winter will be cold. In addition, the caterpillar has 13 segments (昆虫的节/段) to its body, which traditional forecasters say correspond to the 13 weeks of winter.
Scientific studies on worm forecasting are rare. American Museum of Natural History entomologist Howard Curran conducted a small trial in 1948. Having heard about the caterpillar folklore, Curran headed to Bear Mountain State Park to collect caterpillars each fall for eight years. He found that if the worms had brown markings on more than a third of their body, winters tended to be milder.
Most scientists view the folklore of caterpillar predictions as just that, folklore. “It’s a wonderful story, but I do think it was a playful trial,” says Joe Boggs, an entomologist at Ohio State University Extension who has studied woolly worms. “Curran was a real scientist. He had tons of papers published, but he never published this one — probably because he knew it wouldn’t stand up to peer review.”
Mike Peters, an entomologist at the University of Massachusetts, doesn’t disagree, but he says there could be a link between the band of a caterpillar and the severity of winter. Peters suggests that the timing of their growth and environmental conditions, such as temperature, moisture levels, and food sources, can impact the appearance of woolly worms, including their size, coloration, and band patterns. By analyzing these characteristics, researchers can potentially infer information about the weather conditions. “The band does say something about a heavy winter,” he says. “The only thing is that it’s telling you about the previous year.”
1. How do people predict the weather through caterpillars?| A．By analyzing their living habits. |
| B．By measuring the change of their size. |
| C．By calculating the number of their segments. |
| D．By studying color bands on their bodies. |
| A．His personal observations. |
| B．An investigation on the locals. |
| C．Studies by previous scientists. |
| D．Statistics collected by the museum. |
| A．Positive. | B．Indifferent. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unclear. |
| A．The caterpillar forecasting needs long-term data to support it. |
| B．The color band of caterpillars can be a mirror of past weather. |
| C．The cold environment has a great impact on caterpillars’ growth. |
| D．The caterpillar can help predict the severity of winter accurately. |
1. How is the weather right now?
| A．Cloudy. | B．Rainy. | C．Sunny. |
| A．On Friday morning. | B．On Thursday morning. | C．On Tuesday morning. |
| A．The southeast. | B．The northwest. | C．The southwest. |
| A．16 degrees. | B．17 degrees. | C．18 degrees. |
1. What is the ship captain going to do?
| A．Speed the ship. | B．Change the direction. | C．Stop the ship. |
| A．Sunny and nice. | B．Windy and rainy. | C．Stormy and cold. |
| A．Run for safety. | B．Stay in their rooms. | C．Call 911. |
1. What will the weather be like in the afternoon?
| A．Bright. | B．Rainy. | C．Cloudy. |
| A．The height of their nests. | B．The shape of their nests. | C．The way in which they fly. |
| A．To discuss how to take up farming. |
| B．To persuade the woman to study the weather. |
| C．To show where the farmer learned weather prediction. |
| A．Wandering around. | B．Lying down. | C．Eating grass carelessly. |
1. When was the festival held last time?
| A．One year ago. | B．Two years ago. | C．Three years ago. |
| A．In Worthy Farm. | B．In Jackson Farm. | C．In Minogue Entertainment Park. |
| A．On Sunday. | B．On Thursday. | C．On Wednesday. |
| A．The stars may not attend. | B．It will be held outside. | C．It could be cancelled. |
7 . You have probably eaten a hot dog, but have you ever spotted a sundog? This isn’t your pet dog napping in the sun!
A sundog is a weather event that causes two bright bursts of rainbow colored light to appear on either side of the sun. You would see them around 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock. Sundogs can be very beautiful, with a red glow closest to the sun and a white in the center. The scientific name for sundogs is parhelia, which comes from a Greek word meaning “beside the sun”.
Conditions need to be just right for sundogs to appear. Sunlight passes through high clouds that spread out like feathers in front of the sun. These clouds contain flat, six-sided ice crystals (晶体). If the crystal drifts toward the ground, with the larger face facing the Earth, light is refracted (折射). These crystals then separate the light, forming a sundog.
Sundogs can be seen during any season but are most often seen during the winter months when the sun is lower in the sky. You are also more likely to see them early or late in the day, when the sun is near the horizon. Sundogs have been spotted around the world, across North America, Europe, and Asia, at the South Pole and in the far north. Scientists have even predicted what sundogs might look like on other planets.
Throughout history, sundogs have been used to predict weather because they indicate snow or rain on its way. Some people believed that sundogs were a sign of good luck, while others saw them as a warning from God. Shakespeare described sundogs in poems as frightening.
Ready to try out your weather detective skills? First, use your hand to block the center of the sun to protect your eyes. Search for clouds in a winter sky and a circle or burst of light around the sun. Be sure to show off your sundog smarts to your friends and family — you’ll be their top dog!
1. What can be inferred about a sundog from the passage?| A．It leads the sun to produce crystals. | B．It forms under strict circumstances. |
| C．It causes the appearance of rainbow. | D．It separates the sun from high clouds. |
| A．One summer midday in China. | B．One late winter night in America. |
| C．One winter morning in Europe. | D．One summer morning in the Arctic. |
| A．To convince readers of the beauty of sundogs. |
| B．To illustrate the wide range of topics of his poems. |
| C．To help readers understand the function of sundogs. |
| D．To show impressions of sundogs vary among viewers. |
| A．Confident. | B．Encouraging. | C．Worried. | D．Fearful. |
1. Where did Lisa see the first snow this year?
| A．In Scotland. |
| B．In London. |
| C．In the north of England. |
| A．Take some photos. |
| B．Make snowmen. |
| C．Have snowball fights. |
| A．-1℃. | B．0℃. | C．1℃. |
| A．Thick gloves. | B．Right shoes. | C．Dark coats. |
| A．The lecture. | B．The heat. | C．The workload. | D．The air quality. |
1. How does the woman look now?
| A．Tired. | B．Upset. | C．Excited. |
| A．Intelligent and pretty. | B．Popular and lovely. | C．Hard-working and smart. |
| A．Cloudy. | B．Sunny. | C．Rainy. |
| A．Borrow some books. |
| B．Study with the woman. |
| C．Return to the teaching building. |
