Ever wonder how much a cloud weighs? What about a hurricane? A meteorologist(气象学者) has done some estimates and the results might surprise you.
Let's start with a very simple white puffy cloud — a cumulus cloud（积云）. How much does the water in a cumulus cloud weigh? Peggy LeMone, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, did the numbers. "The water in the little cloud weighs about 550 tons," she calculates. "Or if you want to convert it to something that might be a little more meaningful … think of elephants."
The thought of a hundred elephants-worth of water suspended(悬浮的) in the sky begs another question — what keeps it up there?
"First of all, the water isn't in elephant-sized particles（微粒）, it's in tiny tiny tiny particles," explains LeMone. And those particles float on the warmer air that's rising below. But still, the concept of so much water floating in the sky was surprising even to a meteorologist like LeMone. "I had no idea how much a cloud would weigh, actually, when I started the calculations," she says.
So how many elephant units of water are inside a big storm cloud—10 times bigger all the way around than the "puffy" cumulus cloud? Again, LeMone did the numbers: About 200,000 elephants.
Now, ratchet up(略微调高) the calculations for a hurricane about the size of Missouri and the figures get really massive(巨大的). "What we're doing is weighing the water in one cubic meter theoretically pulled from a cloud and then multiplying by(乘上) the number of meters in a whole hurricane," she explains.
The result? Forty million elephants. That means the water in one hurricane weighs more than all the elephants on the planet. Perhaps even more than all the elephants that have ever lived on the planet. The weight of is NOT mentioned in the passage.
| A．a cumulus cloud | B．a tornado |
| C．a hurricane | D．a storm cloud |
How did Peggy LeMone feel about the result of her calculations?
| A．She found it not convincing. |
| B．She thought it needed further calculations. |
| C．She was quite surprised at it. |
| D．She considered the calculations inaccurate. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．A storm cloud weighs about 200,000 elephants. |
| B．The water in a hurricane weighs more than that in any other kind of cloud. |
| C．There are less than forty million elephants living on the earth. |
| D．The water in the cloud is in very tiny partials. |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．How Much a Cloud Weighs | B．How Much a Hurricane Weighs |
| C．Surprising Results | D．Elephants in the Sky |
Wednesday night 7: 30 p. m. at the Chuckle Bar!
Starring Rodney Mann, Pedro Mendez and Larry Dunne!
Next Wednesday night at the Chuckle Bar we have an all star line up of comedians. Three of the world’s best known comedians are coming together for one night only. Book your tickets by calling 1 900 555 6565 or be at the door early to buy them before the show begins.
Rodney Mann
Mann is famous for his jokes about average people and their life. Many of his jokes are social commentaries on everyday things. He loves to set his jokes in New York, the city where he grew up.
Mann’s most famous opening line, “You know, I was walking down the street the other day. . . ” is known all over the world. He is just back from his tour of Europe, and is appearing at the Chuckle Bar for one night only. Don’t miss it!
Pedro Mendez
Pedro Mendez grew up on a small farm in Panama. He moved to the USA with his parents when he was ten, and has been telling jokes and making people laugh ever since. Recently, the 30 year old comedian began to film a new TV programme that he will both act in and produce.
Experience Mendez’s unique Latin style humor for yourself. His routine, “I had a farm in Panama”, is a classic that should not be missed.
Larry Dunne
Larry Dunne has been making people laugh all over the world for more than five decades. He began his career by performing for soldiers in Hawaii in the 1950s, and since then, he has been the host of his own late night TV programme. The videos and DVDs of his performances are the best sellers of any stand-up acts out there. As an old style comedian, Dunne uses lots of singing and dancing as part of his routines.
Dunne is best known for his jokes about life in the USA and how it has changed during his lifetime. This will be Dunne’s last show before he retires, so don’t miss it.
Call 1-900-555-6565 to reserve your tickets or be at the door by 7: 00 p. m. .Rodney Mann grew up in ______ .
| A．the USA | B．Panama |
| C．Hawaii | D．New York |
The show begins ______.
| A．at lunch time | B．at 7: 30 p. m. |
| C．at 7: 00 p.m | D．at 7: 30 a. m. |
Pedro Mendez has lived in ______ for ______ years.
| A．the USA; thirty-four | B．the USA; |
| C．Panama; thirty-four | D．the USA; twenty |
The oldest comedian is probably ______, and has been performing ______.
| A．Rodney Mann; for over fifty years |
| B．Larry Dunne; since the 1970s |
| C．Larry Dunne; for over fifty years |
| D．Pedro Mendez; for over fifty years |
The comedy show will have ______ comedians on ______ night.
| A．three; one | B．three; two |
| C．one; three | D．one; two |
A mouse looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package: What food might it contain? He was astonished to discover that it was a mouse trap!
Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse declared the warning, “There is a mouse trap in the house, there is a mouse trap in the house.”
The chicken clucked ( 咯咯叫 ), raised her head and said, “Mr Mouse, I can tell you this is a great concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me, I cannot be bothered by it.”
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mouse trap in the house.” “I am so sorry, Mr Mouse,” sympathized the pig, “but there is nothing I can do about it but pray; be assured that you are in my prayers.”
The mouse turned to the cow, who replied, “A mouse trap, am I in great danger, huh?”
So the mouse returned to the house, head down and depressed to face the farmer’s mouse trap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a mouse trap catching its prey( 猎物 ). The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was an evil snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital. She returned home with a fever. Now everyone knew to treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his knife to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. His wife’s sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer killed the pig. The farmer’s wife did not get well, in fact, she died, and so many people came for her funeral. The farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide meat for all of them to eat.
So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it does not concern you, remember that when the least of us is threatened, we are all at risk.We may infer that the passage is most probably a ______.
| A．an advertisement | B．fable |
| C．science fiction | D．news report |
We could see from the passage that the mouse was ______.
| A．kind and warm-hearted |
| B．well-informed |
| C．good at cheating others |
| D．foolish and rude |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The pig was comparatively less friendly than the others in the farmyard. |
| B．The mouse trap that the mouse discovered was not a practical one. |
| C．The farmer and his wife trapped an evil snake that night. |
| D．The farmer’s family was in fact poor and they had no friends. |
How many animals are mentioned in this passage?
| A．five | B．three | C．four | D．six |
What can we learn from the story?
| A．Better safe than sorry. |
| B．Traps are usually well disguised. |
| C．To help others is just to save you. |
| D．To keep the balance of nature is the duty of us all. |
Most middle school students find it boring to learn math. But students in Yet Sen Middle School in New York, US, don’t think so. Why? Because they are in the school of One Program, which asks students to work on their own or in small groups on computers to have math lessons.
“The program gives the students a new learning style. No traditional classroom can compare with it. We give each lesson according to the students’ interest and their strong and weak points, ”said Joel. Klein, the school’s headteacher, “We’re looking for a new way that interests students. ”
Students enjoy these math lessons, especially lessons with video games. They must find out the answers to math problems to get through the game. One such game is Dimension M. As students move through mazes(迷宫)with their keyboards, some questions come up.
Caleb Deng had to answer the question: What is 5+(6×3)? He calculated on paper quickly because there was just a minute left to play.
“I was right, ”said Deng, 14, as he ended the game with a high score(高分). “This really makes math lessons more exciting, since we are fighting to learn better. ”Students in Yet Sen Middle School like math because.
| A．they work in large groups |
| B．they can work on computer |
| C．the teachers are interesting |
| D．math questions are easy there |
Which is NOT true of the program?
| A．It is very successful. |
| B．It is boring to most students. |
| C．It makes learning math more interesting. |
| D．It gives the students a new way to learn. |
The underlined word“calculated”in Paragraph 4 most probably means.
| A．worked out | B．wrote down |
| C．threw away | D．gave up |
Caleb Deng’s story serves as an example to show.
| A．how students work in small groups |
| B．how to end a game with a high score |
| C．how the question 5+(6×3)should be solved |
| D．how students learn math through video games |
This article is mainly about.
| A．how to learn math well |
| B．an interesting math lesson |
| C．a new way to learn math |
| D．kids in Yet Sen Middle School |
Where Are We Going, Dad? presents a new generation of men, in a break from Chinese tradition, now take an active role in their children's lives.
Five star fathers and their children travel around China, riding camels through the western deserts, fishing off the east coast, and selling vegetables for their bus fare(费用) home in remote(偏远的) southwestern Yunnan province. One dad doesn’t know how to do his daughter’s hair, but give him a couple of days — he’ll figure it out. Another one must survive with his son for three days in the desert, where, because neither can cook, the two only eat instant noodles.
These story lines are part of Where Are We Going, Dad? which, since its first show in October, has become one of China’s most popular television shows, covering more than 600 million viewers each week. And searches for Where Are We Going, Dad? turn up over 40 million hits on Sina Weibo--China’s Twitter.
“In traditional Chinese culture, the common conception of parenthood is that the father is strict and the mother is kind. But on the show, we see fathers who are much gentler on their kids and more concerned with their upbringing,” said Li Minyi, an associate professor of early childhood education at the leading Beijing Normal University. “An important question arises in this show for modern Chinese society — what is the role of fathers in today’s China?”
“As they raise their children, parents are growing up at the same time,” said Wang Renping, a popular education expert, in an interview with the Qianjiang Evening News. “They cannot use parenting styles from 20 years ago to guide the development of children born 20 years later.”
The attraction of Where Are We Going, Dad? lies in the chance to have a close look at the lives of popular Chinese stars and their children. Audiences fancy watching the failed attempts of star dads making dinner, braiding hair(编头发), and disciplining children — tasks often left to mothers in a society still influenced by the opinion that “men rule outside and women rule inside.”In Where Are We Going, Dad, we can probably learn about .
| A．how the fathers do housework at home |
| B．how the children study in their spare time |
| C．how the fathers look after and guide their children |
| D．how the children help their father with their travel around China |
Which of the following is RIGHT according to the passage?
| A．In modern society, men should not care too much about their kids. |
| B．Where Are We Going, Dad has the most number of viewers in China. |
| C．In Chinese tradition, fathers always play an active part in their children’s lives. |
| D．While they bring up their children, parents are improving their parenting styles. |
The reason why Where Are We Going, Dad is so popular in China may include the following EXCEPT that.
| A．audiences enjoy laughing at others’ failure in life |
| B．it can make people laugh and think at the same time |
| C．people love watching the stars and their children’s lives closely |
| D．it presents a new generation of men’s role in their children’s lives |
What does the underlined word “arises” probably mean here?
| A．appears | B．escapes |
| C．settles | D．persuades |
When I walk through the streets, I pass strange rooms where people are doing strange things. Some are biking madly. Others are holding metal bars to keep them from dropping down. Still others are jumping around while someone is shouting at them. It looks like something out of Dante’s Inferno (但丁《神曲》中的《地狱篇》). But what is the most amazing is that people pay for these sufferings!
The strange rooms are gyms(健身房). It is reported that some 41 million Americans are gym members. 12% of the memberships are born in January, as they are determined to lose the holiday fat. Maybe it is good to exercise in the gym. However, should they know they can keep in good shape, spending little money, would they still agree with its necessity(必要性)?
At the age of 23, I joined a gym. I lifted weights twice a week in Muscle’s Gym. I paid as little as $200 per year. You can’t find such gyms in every city any more. Too often, the gym is fancy (花哨的) with lots of equipment. If you ask how much it costs to join it, the person at the front desk often won’t tell you straight. Instead, he’ll let you meet with a fitness consultant (健身顾问), who will provide you with a great number of reasons and suggestions, such as losing weight and getting healthier, just in order to put pressure on you to spend much money joining the gym and becoming a member there.
Working out(锻炼) with the help of equipment at home has problems, too. In the early 2000’s, I bought a spinning bike (动感单车) at a cost of $700 for home use. I tried a few times only to find that it brought me a neck problem.
Now I’m back to my old way. I do Yoga (瑜伽) every morning and evening. Total cost: $60 for an exercise mat(垫子) . I’m enjoying fitness.The strange rooms are places where people _________.
| A．do strange things |
| B．suffer from great pains |
| C．play Dante’s Inferno |
| D．take physical(身体的) exercise |
In the author’s opinion, joining a gym nowadays is __________.
| A．exciting | B．inexpensive |
| C．unnecessary | D．helpful |
The author wrote something about Muscle’s Gym to __________.
| A．tell us he was fat when he was young |
| B．suggest a new way of losing weight |
| C．provide us with an example of gyms |
| D．compare it with the gyms of today |
From the text we can infer that _________.
| A．many Americans put on weight after Christmas and New Year’s Day |
| B．the author and his family had spent a lot of money exercising in gyms |
| C．12% of the American people are members of gyms |
| D．spinning bikes are good equipment for exercise |