第二十讲 主旨大意题
(1)(8 min.)
It's hardly surprising that weather is a favorite topic for so many people around the world — it affects where we choose to live, what we wear, our moods, and perhaps even our national characteristics. Studies have shown that changeable weather can make it difficult to concentrate, cloudy skies slow down reaction, and high humidity with hot, dry winds makes many people badtempered.
If you live in a place like Britain, where the weather seems to change daily if not hourly, you could be forgiven for thinking that the weather is random. In fact, the weather is controlled by systems which move around areas of the globe. In the UK the weather depends on depressions, often called lows, and anticyclones, also known as highs. These systems start in the Atlantic Ocean, and make their way across the British Isles from the west to the east. Highs bring sunny weather, while lows bring rain and wind. In modern times, human activities seem to be altering weather patterns. Gases produced by heavy industry change the temperature of the Earth's surface, and affect cloud formation. Some researchers say that factories in Europe and North America may have been one of the causes of the droughts in Africa in the 1980s.
The human race has always tried to guess the weather, especially in areas of the world where there are frequent changes. Traditional rhymes point to early attempts to identify weather patterns, popular poems include：
Red sky at night, shepherds' delight; red sky in the morning, shepherds' warning.
Flies will swarm(云集) before a storm.
Rain before 7, clear by 11.
While folk wisdom can still provide a guide to help forecast weather, today's methods of prediction increasingly rely on technology. Satellites, balloons, ships, aircrafts and weather centers with sensitive monitoring equipment, send data to computers. The data is then processed, and the weather is predicted. However, even this system cannot predict weather for longer than about a week.
1. When weather keeps changing, ______.
A. people become badtempered
B. people's reaction slows down
C. people find it hard to focus on their work
D. people become hungrier
2. What is mainly talked about in the second paragraph?
A. Changes in weather.
B. Weather in Britain.
C. African droughts.
D. Research on weather.
3. The weather in Britain is ______.
A. random
B. moist
C. depressing
D. satisfying
4. According to a traditional rhyme, if there is a red sky at night, the next day will be ______.
A. windy
B. rainy
C. fine
D. snowy
5. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Anticyclones often bring rain and wind.
B. Weather forecasting has been done for a long time.
C. Weather could never be predicted.
D. Modern methods of weather prediction are developed from folk wisdom.
(2)(8 min.)
(2012·雅礼月考三)Time was running out, and Mark Dickinson wasn't sure whether he'd get to see his dying 2yearold grandson one last time. A long line at Los Angeles International Airport's security checkpoint had kept him from getting to his gate on time. His grandson Caden would be taken off life support in a matter of hours in Denver, Colorado, with or without his grandfather's presence.
“I was kind of panicking (惊慌) because I was running late, and I really thought I wasn't going to make the flight, ” Dickinson said.
That's when a pilot from Southwest Airlines stepped up and held the flight at the gate until Dickinson arrived. The pilot was standing by the gate waiting for him when Dickinson arrived in socks, so rushed that he just grabbed his shoes at security and ran through the boarding gate.
“I told him, ‘Thank you so much. I can't tell you how much I appreciated that.’ And he said, ‘No problem. They can't leave without me anyway.'”Dickinson said.
Dickinson's grandson, Caden Rodgers, suffered a head injury in an accident. Dickinson's wife called Southwest and asked them to hold the plane. After the flight, Dickinson said, he wanted to thank the pilot again for his sincere display of sympathy (表示同情) but didn't get the chance.
Most airlines would punish any staff member who holds up a flight, however, a Southwest spokeswoman said the pilot's actions were _exemplary._
“You can't hold a plane for every late customer, but I think we would all agree that the pilot absolutely made the right decision, ” Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said. “I don't think you could ask for a better example of great service for our customers. It gives you a sense of pride that our pilot took such an action.”
1. What caused Dickinson to arrive late?
A. A terrible accident on his way to the airport.
B. Too many passengers in the airport.
C. A panic at the airport.
D. His old age and slow movement.
2. After boarding the plane, Dickinson felt that ______.
A. he was out of luck that day
B. there was nothing special about it
C. the plane couldn't take off without him
D. he was very grateful for the pilot's help
3. The underlined word “exemplary” in the sixth paragraph means “ ______ ”．
A. admirable
B. blamable
C. sympathetic
D. shocking
4. It can be inferred from the passage that the pilot ______.
A. could receive a big reward
B. could have lost his job
C. could escape punishment
D. wouldn't do it again
5. What's the main idea of the passage?
A. The man's wife called the airline and asked them to hold the plane.
B. Many airlines would punish a staff member who holds up a flight.
C. Pilot holds flight for a man going to see dying grandson.
D. The pilot's action makes one proud to work for Southwest.