Passage 4
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:
“I’m feeling a bit under weather” is a common complaint in Britain, especially on Monday mornings, and it seems that weather really can be responsible for moods. Studies have shown that changeable weather can make it hard to concentrate, cloudy skies slow down reflexes, and high humidity with hot, dry winds makes many people irritable and snappy.
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.
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, shepherd’s warningFlies will swarm before a storm.Rain before 7, clear by 11.Two other popular traditional ways of forecasting the weather used pine cones and seaweed. When the air has a high level of humidity there is a higher chance of rain, when the humidity is slow, there is more chance of fine weather. Pine cones and seaweed react to changes in humidity- pines cones open, and seaweed feels dry when the humidity is low, while high humidity has the opposite effect.A recent study by an Australian psychologist suggests that certain people may have a special gift for predicting the weather. However it is possible that these people would use their talent in another way, since the same group had considerable success in forecasting changes in another chaotic system — the stock market.
It appears that a study of weather patterns may also enable scientists to predict the outbreak of disease. An Ebola epidemic in Uganda in the year 2000 came after the same rare weather conditions that had been present before an outbreak 6 years earlier. Efforts to limit the spread of airborne diseases such as foot and mouth, are also strongly dependent on favorable wind conditions.
26. What does “ I am feeling a bit under weather” in Para. 1 mean?
A) I am feeling a bit depressed.
B) I am feeling a bit uncomfortable .
C) I am feeling a bit stressed.
D) I didn’t like such weather.
27. What is true about British weather?
A) It’s changeable but can be controlled.
B) It’s controlled by depressions from Atlantic Ocean.
C) It’s completely random and unpredictable.
D) It is controlled by the alternation of highs and lows.
28. Which is the following suggests the traditional ways of forecasting the weather?
A) Using ships and balloons with monitoring equipment.
B) Open pinecones and observing .
C) Reciting traditional poems about weather.
D) Observing seaweed pinecones and the seaweed.
29. What does “chaotic”(line 4, Para. 6) mean?
A) random.
B) disordered.
C) unpredictable.
D) out of order.
30. Which of the following statements is true?
A) People with special gift for predicting weather must be successful in stock market.
B) Modern technology helps people with special gift succeed in stock market.
C) Epidemic in Uganda was caused by rare weather condition.
D) Favorable wind condition helps to control disease.
Passage Four
内容概述本文主要介绍了天气变化的原因并分析了对人类有可能产生的影响。
26. 答案: B。【参考译文】感到不舒服。【试题分析】词组考查题。【详细解答】本题考得是固定词组搭配，该词组意思是“感到不舒服”
27. 答案: D 。【参考译文】英国的天气受到气旋（low）和反气旋（high）的影响。【试题分析】客观事实题。【详细解答】由文章第二段第二句话可以知道D为正确答案。
28. 答案: D 。【参考译文】通过观察松石和海藻。【试题分析】客观事实题。【详细解答】见文章倒数第三段“Pine cones and seaweed react to changes in humidity- pines cones open, and seaweed feels dry when the humidity is low, while high humidity has the opposite effect.”
29. 答案: C 。【参考译文】难以预计的。【试题分析】事实分析题。【详细解答】Chaotic 本意为“混乱的”，在文中的意思为“难以预计”。
30. 答案: D。【参考译文】有利的风向能够帮助控制疾病。【试题分析】客观事实题。【详细解答】见文中最后一段最后一句。
