1. What can we say about the weather on Sunday?
| A．It was fine. | B．It was hot. | C．It was changeable. |
| A．It’s beyond their expectations. |
| B．It’s a common phenomenon. |
| C．It’s caused by climate change. |
| A．Tomorrow. | B．The day after tomorrow. | C．Next week. |
1. Which classes will play against each other?
| A．Class 5 and Class 6. |
| B．Class 4 and Class 5. |
| C．Class 3 and Class 4. |
| A．This afternoon. |
| B．This Saturday. |
| C．Next Saturday. |
| A．Rainy. | B．Fine. | C．Cloudy. |
4 . Why the East Coast has had such a weak winter
Overall, winter across the East Coast this year has been pretty weak. “I was in shorts and a T-shirt,” said Jeff Weber, a research meteorologist (气象学家) at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. Meteorologists descended upon Boston in mid-January for the annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society. January is Boston's coldest month, but during the weather conference, meteorologists experienced 75 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures.
A major reason is that the polar vortex (极地涡旋) — which is a circulating stream of air that forms over the Arctic during winter — has stayed rigid and in place, keeping its cold air mostly locked up north. Consequently, little of this exceptionally chilly air has got into the U.S. this winter.
Arctic blasts (北极寒流), like those in January 2019, happen when the polar vortex becomes unstable, allowing frigid air to spill south. “But this winter, instead of a weak polar vortex, we’ve had strong polar vortex conditions,” said Andrea Lang, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Albany who researches changes in seasonal winter weather.
The polar vortex has stayed strong because other weather systems, sometimes originating from the Pacific. Ocean, haven’t come along and knocked the spinning vortex out of place.
A frequent culprit (问题的起因) in disturbing the polar vortex is a powerful stream of air traveling some 30,000 to 35,000 miles up in the atmosphere (where jets fly) which we commonly call the jet stream. The jet stream shoots from west to east around Earth at speeds of 120 to 250 miles per hour, but can become dramatically wavier when it’s disturbed by strong storm activity or encounters masses of hot or cold air.
But this winter season, the meandering (蜿蜒前进的) jet stream has not knocked the polar vortex off its pole, explained Lang. Instead, the jet stream has bent dramatically south, right through the heart of the central U. S.
Atmospheric scientists are deeply interested in why a perturbed polar vortex has become more frequent. There’s evidence that the incessantly warming Arctic — the fastest-warming place on Earth — has led to a weaker and less stable polar vortex, which means more outbreaks of freezing Arctic air. Just not this winter — so far, anyway.
1. What does Jeff Weber mean by saying what he wore?| A．To introduce his dressing style. | B．To express his feeling then. |
| C．To prove the abnormal weather. | D．To show his love of winter. |
| A．It was as warm as that of this year. |
| B．It was very cold owing to the arctic blast. |
| C．The polar vortex stayed rigid and in place. |
| D．The polar vortex was weak and unstable. |
| A．Fixed. | B．Frozen. | C．Heated. | D．Disturbed. |
| A．By bending north and knocking it off. |
| B．By moving from east to west around Earth. |
| C．By waving and meandering powerfully. |
| D．By turning to the south dramatically. |
1. What was the weather like last week?
| A．Too warm. | B．Nice and sunny. | C．Neither hot nor cold. |
| A．Summer. | B．Winter. | C．Autumn. |
| A．He thinks it’ll rain. |
| B．He thinks it’ll be cloudy. |
| C．He doesn’t think it’ll rain. |
1. What is the weather usually like at this time in the speakers’ place?
| A．Nice and bright but a bit hotter. |
| B．Nice and bright but a bit colder. |
| C．Nice and lovely but much hotter. |
| A．Always. | B．Sometimes. | C．Once a year. |
| A．Go shopping. | B．Go working. | C．Listen to the radio. |
1. What will happen on Wednesday?
| A．There will be“blood rain”. |
| B．There will be shooting stars. |
| C．There will be bright sunshine. |
| A．Red. | B．Yellow. | C．Orange. |
| A．24℃. | B．22℃. | C．20℃. |
| A．Cloudy. | B．Rainy. | C．Clear. |
1. When will the first storm arrive?
| A．Today. | B．This weekend. | C．Next week. |
| A．New York City. | B．Saint Paul. | C．Boston. |
| A．People traveling on foot. | B．People driving on the road. | C．People celebrating by the water. |
| A．Sunny. | B．Snowy. | C．Windy. |
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. |
10 . 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. |
