Many of the most damaging and life-threatening types of weather—torrential rains, severe thunderstorm, and tornadoes—begin quickly, strike suddenly, and dissipate rapidly, devastating small regions while leaving neighboring areas untouched. One such event, a tornado, struck the northeastern section of Edmonton, Alberta, in July 1987. Total damages from the tornado exceeded $250 million, the highest ever for any Canadian storm. Conventional computer models of the atmosphere have limited value in predicting short-lived local storms like the Edmonton tornado, because the available weather data are generally not detailed enough to allow computers to discern the subtle atmospheric changes that precede these storms. In most nations, for example, weather-balloon observations are taken just once every twelve hours at locations typically separated by hundreds of miles.
With such limited data, conventional forecasting models do a much better job predicting general weather conditions over large regions than they do forecasting specific local events. Until recently, the observation—intensive approach needed for accurate, very short-range forecasts, or “Nowcasts”, was not feasible. The cost of equipping and operating many thousands of conventional weather stations was prohibitively high, and the difficulties involved in rapidly collecting and processing the raw weather data from such a network were insurmountable. Fortunately, scientific and technological advances have overcome most of these problems Radar systems, automated weather instruments, and satellites are all capable of making detailed, nearly continuous observations over large regions at a relatively low cost. Communications satellites can transmit data around the world cheaply and instantaneously, and modern computers can quickly compile and analyze this large volume of weather information.
Meteorologists and computer scientists now work together to design computer programs and video equipment capable of transforming raw weather data into words, symbols, and vivid graphic displays that forecasters can interpret easily and quickly. As meteorologists have begun using these new technologies in weather forecasting offices. Nowcasting is becoming a reality.
1. The author mentions the tornado in Edmonton, Canada, in order to ____.
2. All the following are mentioned as an advance in short-range weather forecasting EXCEPT ____.
3. With Nowcasting, it first became possible to provide information about ____.
4. With which of the following statements is the author most likely to agree?
5. Nowcasting would be best illustrated by ____.
问题1选项
A.indicate that tornadoes are common in the summer
B.give an example of a damaging storm
C.explain different types of weather
D.show that tornadoes occur frequently in Canada
问题2选项
A.weather balloons
B.radar systems
C.automated instruments
D.satellites
问题3选项
A.short-lived local storms
B.radar networks
C.long-range weather forecasts
D.general weather conditions
问题4选项
A.Communications satellites can predict severe weather.
B.Meteorologists should standardize computer programs.
C.The observation-intensive approach is no longer useful.
D.Weather predictions are becoming more accurate.
问题5选项
A.a five-day forecast
B.a warning about a severe thunder-storm on the radio
C.the average rainfall for each month
D.a list of temperatures in major cities
第1题:B
第2题:A
第3题:A
第4题:D
第5题:B
第1题:
【选项释义】
The author mentions the tornado in Edmonton, Canada, in order to ____. 作者提到加拿大埃德蒙顿的龙卷风，是为了____。
A. indicate that tornadoes are common in the summer A. 表明龙卷风在夏天很常见
B. give an example of a damaging storm B. 举一个破坏性风暴的例子
C. explain different types of weather C. 解释不同类型的天气
D. show that tornadoes occur frequently in Canada D. 表明龙卷风在加拿大经常发生
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到第一段“许多最具破坏性和威胁生命的天气类型——暴雨、严重雷暴和龙卷风——开始迅速、突然袭击并迅速消散，对小地区造成破坏。”然后文章举例说明了加拿大埃德蒙顿的龙卷风，即一个破坏性的风暴的例子。因此B选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“表明龙卷风在夏天很常见”，文章没有体现，该选项属于无中生有；
C选项“解释不同类型的天气”，加拿大埃德蒙顿的龙卷风只是说明了龙卷风这个类型的天气类型，并不能解释不同类型的天气，该选项属于过度推断；
D选项“表明龙卷风在加拿大经常发生”，文中没有说明，该选项属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
All the following are mentioned as an advance in short-range weather forecasting EXCEPT ____. 除了____以外，以下都是作为短期天气预报的一个进步。
A. weather balloons A. 气象气球
B. radar systems B. 雷达系统
C. automated instruments C. 自动化的工具
D. satellites D. 卫星
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到第二段最后“雷达系统、自动气象仪器和卫星都能够以相对较低的成本在大范围内进行详细的、几乎连续的观测。通信卫星可以在世界各地廉价而即时地传输数据，现代计算机可以迅速地汇编和分析这一大批天气信息。”即B选项“雷达系统”、C选项“自动化的工具”、D选项“卫星”都是天气预报的进步，都被提及，只有A选项没有提及，该选项选A。
【干扰项排除】
B、C、D选项属于反向干扰。
第3题:
【选项释义】
With Nowcasting, it first became possible to provide information about ____. 有了即时预测，第一次可以提供关于____的信息。
A. short-lived local storms A. 短暂的局部风暴
B. radar networks B. 雷达网络
C. long-range weather forecasts C. 长期天气预报
D. general weather conditions D. 一般天气情况
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到第一段倒数第二句“传统的大气计算机模型在预测像埃德蒙顿龙卷风这样的短期局部风暴方面的价值有限，因为现有的天气数据通常不够详细，不足以让计算机识别这些风暴之前的细微的大气变化。”以及第二段“在这样有限的数据下，传统的预测模型在预测大范围的一般天气状况方面要比预测特定的局部事件好得多。直到最近，精确的、非常短的预测所需要的观测密集型方法还不可行。”和“科学和技术的进步已经克服了这些问题中的大部分。”由此可推断，传统的计算模型不能预测短期局部风暴，但是短期预测可以，并且科学和技术的进步克服了短期预测中的问题，使得短期预测成为可能，因此可以预测短暂的局部天气。因此选A。
【干扰项排除】
B选项“雷达网络”，文章没有提及，该选项属于无中生有；
C选项“长期天气预报”，文章并不能推测出即时预测可以预测长期天气情况，该选项属于过度推断；
D选项“一般天气情况”，文章并不能推测出即时预测可以预测一般天气情况，该选项属于过度推断。
第4题:
【选项释义】
With which of the following statements is the author most likely to agree? 作者最可能同意下列哪一种说法?
A. Communications satellites can predict severe weather. A. 通信卫星能预报恶劣天气。
B. Meteorologists should standardize computer programs. B. 气象学家应使计算机程序标准化。
C. The observation-intensive approach is no longer useful. C. 密集观察的方法不再有用。
D. Weather predictions are becoming more accurate. D. 天气预报越来越准确了。
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到倒数第二段“雷达系统、自动气象仪器和卫星都能够以相对较低的成本在大范围内进行详细的、几乎连续的观测。通信卫星可以在世界各地廉价而即时地传输数据，现代计算机可以迅速地汇编和分析这一大批天气信息。”以及最后一段“气象学家已经开始在天气预报办公室使用这些新技术。临近预报正在成为现实。”由此可推断，因为技术的进步，天气预报可以变得更加准确。因此选D。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“通信卫星能预报恶劣天气。”，文中没有提及，该选项属于无中生有；
B选项“气象学家应使计算机程序标准化。”文中没有提及，该选项属于无中生有；
C选项“密集观察的方法不再有用。”，文章第二段提到“直到最近，精确的、非常短的预测所需要的观测密集型方法还不可行。”以及“幸运的是，科学和技术的进步已经克服了这些问题中的大部分。”由此可推断作者认为需要用密集观测方法，只是这种方法需要科学技术的进步解决其中的一些问题，该选项与原文意思相反，属于反向干扰。
第5题:
【选项释义】
Nowcasting would be best illustrated by ____. 至于即时预报，最好的例子是____。
A. a five-day forecast A. 为期五天的预测
B. a warning about a severe thunder-storm on the radio B. 收音机里发出了关于严重雷雨的警告
C. the average rainfall for each month C. 每个月的平均降雨量
D. a list of temperatures in major cities D. 主要城市的温度列表
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到最后一段“气象学家和计算机科学家现在合作设计计算机程序和视频设备，能够将原始的天气数据转换成文字、符号和生动的图形显示，气象预报员可以轻松快速地解释。”上文中可以推测出即时预测可以预测短暂天气，再根据最后一段可知，气象预报员可以预报这些信息，B选项属于短期预测，符合推断。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“为期五天的预测”，即时预测只能预测短期天气，该选项属于长期，属于反向干扰；
C选项“每个月的平均降雨量”，即时预测只能预测短期天气，该选项属于长期，属于反向干扰；
D选项“主要城市的温度列表”，该选项属于长期预测，属于反向干扰。
