The direct raya of the sun touch the equator and strike northward toward the Tropic of Cancer. In the Southern hemisphere winter has begun, and it is summer north of the equator. The sea and air grow warmer; the polar air of winter begins its gradual retreat.

　　The northward shift of the sun also brings the season of tropical cyclones to the northern hemisphere, a season that is ending for the Pacific and India Oceans south of the equator. Along our coasts and those of Asia. it is time to look seaward. to guard against the season's storms. Over the Pacific, the tropical cyclone season is never quite over. but varies in intensity. Every year. conditions east of the Philippines send a score of violent storms howling toward Asia, but it is worst from June through October. Southwest of Mexico. a few Pacific hurricanes will grow during spring and summer. but most will die at sea or perish over the desert or the lower California coast as squalls.

　　Along our Atlantic and Gulf coasts. the hurricane season is from June to November. In an average year, there are fewer than ten tropical cyclones and six of them will develop into hurricanes. These will kill 50 to 100 persons between Texas and Maine and cause property damage of more than $100 million. If the year is worse than average, we will suffer several hundred deaths,and property damage will run to billions of dollars.

　　Tornadoes, floods, and severe storms are in season elsewhere on the continent. Now, to these destructive forces must be added the hazard of the hurricane. From the National Hurricane Center in Miami. a radar fence reaches westward to Texas and northward to New England. It provides a 200-mile look into offshore disturbances. In Maryland. che giant computers of the National Meteorological Center digest the myriad bits of data-atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, surface winds. and winds aloft-received from weather stations and ships monitoring the atmospheric setting each hour, every day. Cloud photographs from spacecraft orbiting the earth are received in Maryland and are studied for che telltale spiral on the warming sea. The crew of United States aircraft over the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and Atlantic watch the sky and wait for the storm that will bear a person's name. The machinery of early warning vibrates with new urgency as the season of great storms begins.

　　測試題

　　1.The cyclone season of the Southern hemisphere__________________.

　　A) is brought by the polar air of winter

　　B) ends when winter comes to the Southern hemisphere

　　C) virtually lasts throughout the year

　　D) begins when the sun rays strike the Tropic of Cancer

　　2.What is true about the storms howling towards Asia?

　　A) They originate over the Pacific.

　　B) They influence Southeast Asia most violently.

　　C) They mainly grow during spring and summer.

　　D) They usually perish off coast.

　　3.When the Pacific hurricanes reach the lower California. most of them will_____________.

　　A) reduce their intensity B) increase their intensity

　　C) cause much property damage D) result in great rain and floods

　　4.What can we leam about the National Hurricane Center in Miami?

　　A) It mainly provides protection against hurricanes to Texas and New England.

　　B) It warns the whole country against tornadoes, severe storms and hurricanes.

　　C) It consists of radars along the coast of the west and the north of U.S.

　　D) It supervises the coastal areas stretching from Texas to New England.

　　5.The passage discusses most clearly about_______________.

　　A) the factors that cause hurricanes

　　B) the most risky areas that suffer hurricanes

　　C) the early warning system against hurricanes

　　D) the remedies for property damage by hurricanes

　　答案詳解

　　1.南半球的熱帶氣旋季節_________________。

　　A)是由冬季的極地空氣所帶來的

　　B)在南半球冬季到來的時候就結束了

　　C)實際上全年都存在

　　D)在太陽光照射到北回歸線的時候就開始了

　　[B]從首段和第2段首句的描述可以知道，南北半球的氣候相反，當南半球進入冬季、熱帶氣旋季節結束的時候，北半球卻是夏季、熱帶氣旋季節開始的時候，辨清了這些事實，就不難判斷選項B為本題答案。

　　2.下列關于刮向亞洲的風暴的說法那一點是正確的?

　　A)風暴產生干太平洋。 B)風暴對于東南亞的影響最巨大。

　　C)風暴主要在春夏兩季產生。 D)風暴通常在海岸邊上消亡。

　　[A]第2段第3-5句說的是太平洋沿岸熱帶氣旋的形成和影響，而且，如果稍有地理知識的話，就知道菲律賓東部也在太平洋上，結合第3、4句的內容就可以推斷選項A為正確的說法。選項B沒有原文依據;選項C和D都是第2段第5句提到的內容，是關于墨西哥西南部的颼風的，與亞洲的暴風無關。

　　3.A西洋颶風到達下加州的時候'大部分的羆塞基p鼉;agI

　　A)減弱強度

　　c)造成重大財產損失 D)導致暴雨和洪水

　　從第2段末旬中C die和perisb可以知道，多數太平洋踺風的強度會減弱并最終

　　消逝，雖然句> yjsqualls-詞為超綱間，但這不影響對壘句的p解，而且，從

　　die和perish也可推斷，squalls應該是強度不lihurricarles的暴風，由此可見，選

　　項A為正確的說法。

　　4.對于邁阿密的國家颼風中心，我們了解到什么情況?

　　A)該中心主要為得克薩斯州和新英格蘭地區遭颶風襲擊時提供保護。

　　B)該中心對于龍卷鳳，強烈暴風和颶風提出全國警報。

　　C)該中心在美國的西部和北部海岸都設有雷達。

　　D)該中心管理從得克薩斯到新英格蘭的海岸地區。

　　[D]從末段第3句可以知道國家颶風中心的監測范圍，第4句指出國家颶風中心主要監測的是海面的情況，結合這兩句，即可知道選項D正確。選項A所表示的范圍過小了，而選項B正好相反，范圍過大;選項C中的the west and the north of U.S.(美國的西部和北部)與原文的westward to Texas and northward to New England所指的地點是不同的。

　　5.文章最清晰的討論點是____。

　　A)導致颶風的因素 B)受颼風危害風險最大的地區

　　C)對于颼風的早期預警機制 D)解決由颶風造成的財產損失的方法

　　[C]末段提到了國家颶風中心和國家氣象中心，說明了美國為了預警颶風所采取的措施，由此可見，選項C在文中是有清楚說明的。

　　參考譯文

　　[1]太陽直射光線接近赤道并向北回歸線移動。南半球冬季開始了，而赤道北面則是夏季。海洋和天空變得溫暖，冬天的極地氣團開始逐漸減弱。

　　[1]太陽北移也為北半球帶來了熱帶氣旋季節，而太平洋和印度洋的赤道以南部分卻是這個季節的結束。沿著我國和亞洲的海岸，又到了監視海洋、提防夏季暴風的時候了。[2]在整個太平洋上空熱帶氣旋季節從來就不會完全過去，只是強度會有所不同。每年菲律賓東部一帶會生成20個暴風咆哮刮向亞洲，但從6月直到整個10月是最糟糕的日子。[2]/[3]在墨西哥西南部，春季和夏季會生成幾個太平洋颶風，但是大多數會在海上消亡，或者成為暴風雨而在沙漠的上空或加利福尼亞南部海岸消逝。

　　在我國的太西洋和海灣沿岸，颼風季節從6月到11月。在一般的年份，熱帶氣旋少于10個，有6個會發展成颶風。從得克薩斯州到緬因州，這些颶風令導致50到100人喪生，造成超過1億美元的財產損失。如果是比一般年份更糟，就會有幾百人喪生和高達幾十億美元的財產損失。

　　此時大陸的其他地方正是龍卷風、洪水和猛烈暴風的季節。現在，除了這些破壞性的天氣以外，還得加上颶風的危險。[4]在邁阿密的國家颶風中心，西至得克薩斯州，北至新英格蘭建起了一道雷達防護欄。它可以對離岸200英里的大氣擾動進行監視。在馬里蘭州，國家氣象中心巨型計算機對巨量的數據進行整理，這些數據包括從每時每日監測著大氣狀況的各個氣象觀測站臺和觀測船只接收到的大氣壓力、溫度、濕度、表面風和高空風等等數據。馬里蘭州還接收從在地球軌道飛行的太空船發回的云圖，研究在溫暖海洋上空的那些先兆性氣旋。在墨西哥灣、加勒比海和大西洋上空飛行的美國飛機上的機務人員監視著無空，等待著以一個人的名字書名的暴風到來。隨著巨大暴風季節的開始，早期預警機制會對新的緊急狀況迅速發出警報。