Question

  MANY kids love to play with snow in the winter. But Long Chuan has come to hate it.
  This year his hometown in Guizhou Province suffered from snowstorms for nearly a month. The heavy snow stopped cars and trains, broke the pylons (電塔) and turned tap water to ice.
  Every day Long had to walk several kilometers to fetch drinking water. "I couldn't ride a bike and it took me 3 hours to walk to school. I can't remember how many times I slipped on the hard ice," said Long.
  Long is not alone. This year millions of people in central and southern China had a freezing winter without enough water and electricity (電). The biggest snowstorms in 50 years killed more than 100 people. They also cost the country 111.1 billion yuan.
What's behind the snowstorms?
 Experts say a special type of climate (氣候) condition, La Nina, caused the storms. During a La Nina, the water in the Pacific Ocean (太平洋) near the equator (赤道) becomes colder than usual. It changes the weather around the world.
 Besides China, Canada, the US and Middle Eastern countries also met with heavy snow storms this winter. The special climate caused the recent flooding in Australia, too.
 However, experts say that people have damaged the environment. Global warming (全球變暖) may be causing these extreme (極端的) weather events to happen more and more often.
Little girl, big trouble
 The name "La Nina" comes from Spanish. It means "little girl".
 In the last century, there were 19 La Ninas. La Ninas often last several months. They usually bring China colder winters and hotter summers than usual.

1. Why does Long Chuan hate snow now?

A. Because he doesn't like cold weather all the time.

B. Because there were terrible snowstorms in his hometown.

C. Because the snow made people sick.

2. The snowstorms in Long Chuan's hometown _____.

A. killed more than 100 people              B. made it hard to ride a bike

C. used too much electricity

3. According to the passage, ____ caused the snowstorms.

A. a special kind of weather                  B. serious flooding

C. a little girl

4. The passage warns people _____.

A. to wear more clothes in winter         B. to stop riding bikes on ice

C. to protect the environment

5. Put the following items into the right order.

  a. global warming       b. snowstorms     c. La Nina

d. no electricity or water  e. broken pylons

  A. c-a-b-e-d                                         B. a-c-b-e-d

  C. b-a-c-d-e

Answer 1

1B  2B  3A  4C  5B