Question

Studying volcanoes is a demanding profession. Hazel Rymer frequently has to struggle through rainforests, climb to the top of mountains, then climb 200 metres into the crater of active volcanoes. But the 38-year-old volcanologist does her best to make it sound less alarming than it is. “Driving to work is more risky,” she insists. “And the deepest I go into the crater of a volcano is about 300 metres,” she adds, trying to make it all sound as ordinary as taking the dog for a walk.

Hazel has been studying volcanoes for a long time, so it’s not surprising she is used to the danger. Her interest in volcanoes began at school. A teacher gave her a book about Pompeii. “I remember reading about the eruption of Vesuvius and the destruction of the city,” she explains. “The thought of all those people just frozen in time had quite an effect on me and I am still excited by their dangerous beauty today.”

Nowadays, volcanoes are getting more and more unpredictable. There have been many changes in sea level caused by global warming and melting ice caps. These have resulted in some dormant volcanoes erupting, so studying them is more dangerous than ever before. Hazel says that although she doesn’t take any unnecessary risk she has had some frightening moments. Her worst experience was on the slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily, when she was slowly surrounded by lava. “I had a choice of walking ten hours to get around the lava flow or just walking across it,” she explains. She chose to pick a path across the cooler rocks in the lava stream. “I guess it was five metres. The flow was 1,000°C, so if you hesitated your boots would begin to melt. It was scary, but it really was a practical decision --- there wasn't time to do anything else.”

And what about the future? “I haven’t been to the volcanoes in Indonesia yet. And I would love to spend some time working in the Antarctic,” she says. “I would also like to know why quiet lava flows erupt from some volcanoes and why other volcanoes go bang.” In other words, Hazel Rymer won’t be exchanging her volcanoes for the relative safety of driving to work just yet.

1.Hazel’s claim that “driving to work is more risky” than exploring volcanoes shows that ______.

A. people have exaggerated the dangers of volcanoes in the past

B. Hazel does not really understand the dangerous situations she puts herself in.

C. there are many bad drivers in the place where Hazel lives

D. Hazel is being modest and understating the dangers she faces

2.When did Hazel first become interested in volcanoes?

A. When she was visiting Italy.

B. When she was at school.

C. When she was twenty.

D. When she saw Vesuvius.

3.The underlined word “these” (in paragraph 3) refers to __________.

A. melting ice-caps         B. volcanic eruptions

C. changes in sea level         D. higher temperatures

4.When Hazel was on Mount Etna she had to ________.

A. take a dangerous route

B. take an unnecessary risk

C. leave her boots behind

D. walk for ten hours around the mountain

5.In the future, Hazel wants to ________.

A. revisit volcanoes she knows

B. go on holiday to the Antarctic

C. find a less dangerous job

D. discover new things about volcanoes

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.D

2.B

3.C

4.A

5.D

【解析】文章介紹了一位研究火山的專家。

1.推理題。根據(jù)下文的trying to make it all sound as ordinary as taking the dog for a walk.說明她非常清楚自己所面臨的危險也很謙虛淡定。

2.細節(jié)題。根據(jù)第二段第2行Her interest in volcanoes began at school.

3.猜測詞義題。根據(jù)上文的There have been many changes in sea level caused by global warming and melting ice caps.可知這里的they就是指上文提及的changes.

4.推理題。根據(jù)到書第2段最后4行可知她走的那條路線非常危險。

5.推理題。根據(jù)最后一段的2,3行“I would also like to know why quiet lava flows erupt from some volcanoes and why other volcanoes go bang.”可知她是想發(fā)現(xiàn)一些關(guān)于火山的新事物。