Which is safer-staying at home, traveling to work on public transport, or working in the office? Surprisingly, each of these carries the same risk, which is very low. However, what about flying compared to working in the chemical industry? Unfortunately, the former is 65 times riskier than the latter! In fact, the accident rate of workers in the chemical industry is less than that of almost any of human activity, and almost as safe as staying at home.
The trouble with the chemical industry is that when things go wrong they often cause death to those living nearby. It is this which makes chemical accidents so newsworthy. Fortunately, they are extremely rare. The most famous ones happened at Texas City ,Flixborough , Seveso , Pemex and Bhopal .
Some of these are always in the minds of the people even though the loss of life was small. No one died at Seveso, and only 28 workers at Flixborough. The worst accident of all was Bhopal, where up to 3,000 were killed. The Texas City explosion of fertilizer killed 552. The Pemex fire at a storage plant for natural gas in the suburbs of Mexico City took 542 lives, just a month before the unfortunate event at Bhopal.
Some experts have discussed these accidents and used each accident to illustrate a particular danger. Thus the Texas City explosion was caused by tons of ammonium nitrate, which is safe unless stored in great quantity. The Flixborough fireball was the fault of management, which took risks to keep production going during essential repairs. The Seveso accident shows what happens if the local authorities lack knowledge of the danger on their doorstep. When the poisonous gas drifted over the town, local leaders were incapable of taking effective action. The Pemex fire was made worse by an overloaded site in an overcrowded suburb. The fire set off a chain reaction os exploding storage tanks. Yet, by a miracle, the two largest tanks did not explode. Had these caught fire, then 3,000 strong rescue team and fire fighters would all have died.
1. Which of the following statements is true?
A. Working at the office is safer than staying at home.
B. Traverlling to work on public transport is safer than working at the office.
C. Staying at home is safer than working in the chemical industry.
D. Working in the chemical industry is safer than traveling by air.
2. Chemical accidents are usually important enough to be reported as news because ____.
A. they are very rare
B. they often cause loss of life
C. they always occur in big cities
D. they arouse the interest of all the readers
3. According to passage, the chemical accident that caused by the fault of management happened at ____.
A. Texas city B. Flixborough C. Seveso D. Mexico City
4. From the passage we know that ammonium nitrate is a kind of ____.
A. natural gas, which can easily catch fire
B. fertilizer, which cant be stored in a great quantity
C. poisonous substance, which cant be used in overcrowded areas
D. fuel, which is stored in large tanks
5. From the discussion among some experts we may coclude that ____.
A. to avoid any accidents we should not repair the facilities in chemical industry
B. the local authorities should not be concerned with the production of the chemical industry
C. all these accidents could have been avoided or controlled if effective measure had been taken
D. natural gas stored in very large tanks is always safe
参考答案:DBABC
雅思口语话题范例:your hometown
雅思口语话题范例:a shopping centre
听歌看报看电影 在娱乐中轻松提升雅思成绩
克服雅思口语难关有两思路和三方法
雅思口语part 1模版-Preferences(Hobbies)
雅思口语part 1模版-Family(General)
雅思口语话题范例:a small shop
雅思口语话题范例:a library
雅思口语话题范例:your favouriteTV program
雅思口语话题范例:a childhood song
雅思口试常见话题汇总(3)
巧用逻辑轻松备战雅思口语
雅思口语话题范例:a good thing
雅思口语part 1模版-Preferences(Movies)
雅思口语话题范例:a river/lake
雅思口语人文词汇详解-Commute
雅思口语话题卡范文:Jamie Oliver
解析雅思口语考试语音、词汇、语法的问题
雅思口试常见话题汇总(4)
雅思口语人文词汇详解-Family Bond
雅思口语人文词汇详解-Ageism
雅思口语话题范例:the ideal home
雅思口语人文词汇详解-Entertainment
雅思口语话题范例:a film/your favourite film
雅思口语话题范例:a traditional Chinese festival
雅思口语part 1模版-Preferences(Reading)
雅思口语话题范例:your living place
雅思口语话题范例:a life change
英国留学指南:如何突破雅思口语
雅思口试常见话题汇总(1)
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |