The geology of the Earth's surface is dominated by...

The geology of the Earth's surface is dominated by the particular properties of water. Present on Earth in solid, liquid, and gaseous states, water is exceptionally reactive. It dissolves, transports, and precipitates many chemical compounds and is constantly modifying the face of the Earth.

Evaporated from the oceans, water vapor forms clouds, some of which are transported by wind over the continents. Condensation from the clouds provides the essential agent of continental erosion: rain. Precipitated onto the ground, the water trickles down to form. brooks, streams, and rivers, constituting what is called the hydrographic network. This immense polarized network channels the water toward a single receptacle: an ocean. Gravity dominates this entire step in the cycle because water tends to minimize its potential energy by running from high altitudes toward the reference point that is sea level.

The rate at which a molecule of water passes through the cycle is not random but is a measure of the relative size of the various reservoirs. If we define residence time as the average time for a water molecule to pass through one of the three reservoirs--atmosphere, continent, and ocean--we see that the times are very different. A water molecule stays, on an average, eleven days in the atmosphere, one hundred years on a continent and forty thousand years in the ocean. This last figure shows the importance of the ocean as the principal reservoir of the hydrosphere but also the rapidity of water transport on the continents.

A vast chemical separation process takes places during the flow of water over the continents. Soluble ions such as calcium, sodium, potassium, and some magnesium are dissolved and transported. Insoluble ions such as aluminum, iron, and silicon stay where they are and form. the thin, fertile skin of soil on which vegetation can grow. Sometimes soils are destroyed and transported mechanically during flooding. The erosion of the continents thus results from two closely linked and interdependent processes, chemical erosion and mechanical erosion. Their respective interactions and efficiency depend on different factors.

According to the passage, clouds are primarily formed by water ______.

A．precipitating onto the ground

B．changing from a solid to a liquid state

C．evaporating from the oceans

D．being carried by wind

The geology of the Earth's surface is dominated by the particular properties of water. Present on Earth in solid, liquid, and gaseous states, water is exceptionally reactive. It dissolves, transports, and precipitates many chemical compounds and is constantly modifying the face of the Earth.

Evaporated from the oceans, water vapor forms clouds, some of which are transported by wind over the continents. Condensation from the clouds provides the essential agent of continental erosion: rain. Precipitated onto the ground, the water trickles down to form. brooks, streams, and rivers, constituting what is called the hydrographic network. This immense polarized network channels the water toward a single receptacle: an ocean. Gravity dominates this entire step in the cycle because water tends to minimize its potential energy by running from high altitudes toward the reference point that is sea level.

The rate at which a molecule of water passes through the cycle is not random but is a measure of the relative size of the various reservoirs. If we define residence time as the average time for a water molecule to pass through one of the three reservoirs--atmosphere, continent, and ocean--we see that the times are very different. A water molecule stays, on an average, eleven days in the atmosphere, one hundred years on a continent and forty thousand years in the ocean. This last figure shows the importance of the ocean as the principal reservoir of the hydrosphere but also the rapidity of water transport on the continents.

A vast chemical separation process takes places during the flow of water over the continents. Soluble ions such as calcium, sodium, potassium, and some magnesium are dissolved and transported. Insoluble ions such as aluminum, iron, and silicon stay where they are and form. the thin, fertile skin of soil on which vegetation can grow. Sometimes soils are destroyed and transported mechanically during flooding. The erosion of the continents thus results from two closely linked and interdependent processes, chemical erosion and mechanical erosion. Their respective interactions and efficiency depend on different factors.

According to the passage, clouds are primarily formed by water ______.

A．precipitating onto the ground

B．changing from a solid to a liquid state

C．evaporating from the oceans

D．being carried by wind

Section C

About 70% of the earth's surface is covered with water, but only a little percentage of water is 【11】______. Life on the earth entirely depends on water. It is a fact that man can live without food for days, but without water he will【12】______die soon.

Water serves us in so many useful ways. The rivers, lakes and seas provide much of our food such as fish and prawns. Men have built boats and ships to enable them to travel on water. Today cargo and 【13】______ships can travel around the world.

In【14】______parts of the world where there is not much rain. Water is led from rivers and lakes to water crops. In many parts of these dry regions,【15】______is difficult unless there is enough water.

But too much water in the form. of floods can bring disaster to man. Floods, which result from heavy rains, are very common in many parts of the world. Each year thousands of people die and huge damage is done by floodwaters.

【11】

A．drinking

B．drinkable

C．drinker

D．drunk

Everyone of us lives and works on a small part of the earth's surface, moves in a small circle, and of these acquaintances knows only a few intimately. Of any public event that has wide effects we see at best only a phase and an aspect. This is true that the eminent insiders, who draft treaties, make laws, and issue orders, are like those who have treaties framed on them, laws promulgated to them, orders given at them. Inevitably our opinions cover a bigger space, a longer reach of time, many things, that we can directly observe. So they have to be pieced together out of what others have reported and what we can imagine. Yet even the eyewitness does not bring back a naive picture of the scene. For experience seems to show that he himself brings something to the scene which later he takes away from it, that oftener than not what he imagines to be the account of an event is really a transfiguration of it. Few facts in consciousness seem to be merely given. Most facts in consciousness seem to be partly made. A report is the joint product of the knower and known, in which the role of the observer is always selective and usually creative. The facts we see depend on where we are placed, and the habits of our eyes.

The limited time and space which man occupies suggest, according to the paragraph,

A．man's life is also insignificant.

B．man's opinions can not be accurate at all.

C．human observations in general are all but partial.

D．man cannot have any opinion.

Everyone of us lives and works on a small part of the earth's surface, moves in a small circle, and of these acquaintances knows only a few intimately. Of any public event that has wide effects we see at best only a phase and an aspect. This is true that the eminent insiders who draft treaties, make laws, andissue orders, as it is of those who have treaties framed on them, laws promulgated to them, orders given at them. Inevitably our opinions cover a bigger space, a longer reach of time, many things, that we can directly observe. So they have, to be pieced together out of what others have reported and what we can imagine. Yet even the eyewitness does not bring back a naive picture of the scene. For experience seems to show that he himself brings something to the scene which later he takes away from it, that oftener than not what he imagines to be the account of an event is really a transfiguration of it. Few facts in consciousness seem to be merely given. Most facts in consciousness seem to be partly made. A report is the joint product of the knower and known, in which the role of the observer is always selective and usually creative. The facts we see depend on where we are placed, and the habits of our eyes.

The limited time and space which man occupies suggest, according to the paragraphes,

A．man's life is also insignificant.

B．man's opinions can not be accurate at all.

C．human observations in general are all but partial.

D．man can not have any opinion.

1 Most earthquakes occur within the upper 15 miles of the earth's surface. But earthquakes can and do occur at all depths to about 460 miles. Their number decreases as the depth increases. At about 460 miles one earthquake occurs only every few years. Near the surface earthquakes may run as high as 100 in a month, but the yearly average does not vary much. In comparison with the total number of earthquakes each year, the number of disastrous earthquakes is very small.

2 The extent of the disaster in an earthquake depends on many factors. If you carefully build a toy house with an Erector set, it will still stand no matter how much you shake the table. But if you build a toy house with a pack of cards, a slight shake of the table will make it fall. An earthquake in Agadir, Morocco, was not strong enough to be recorded on distant instruments, but it completely destroyed the city. Many stronger earthquakes have done comparatively little damage. If a building is well constructed and built on solid ground, it will resist an earthquake. Most deaths in earthquakes have been due to faulty building construction or poor building sites. A third and very serious factor is panic. When people rush out into narrow streets, more deaths will result.

3 The United Nations has played an important part in reducing the damage done by earthquakes. It has sent a team of experts to all countries known to be affected by earthquakes. Working with local geologists and engineers, the experts have studied the nature of the ground and the type of most practical building code for the local area. If followed, these suggestions will make disastrous earthquakes almost a thing of the past.

4 There is one type of earthquake disaster that little can be done about. This is the disaster caused by seismic sea waves, or tsunamis. (These are often called tidal waves, but the name is incorrect. They have nothing to do with tides. ) In certain areas, earthquakes take place beneath the sea. These submarine earthquakes sometimes give rise to seismic sea waves. The waves are not noticeable out at sea because of their long wave length. But when they roll into harbours, they pile up into walls of water 6 to 60 feet high. The Japanese call them "tsunamis", meaning "harbour waves", because they reach a sizable height only in harbours.

5 Tsunamis travel fairly slowly, at speeds up to 500 miles an hour. An adequate warning system is in use to warn all shores likely to be reached by the waves. But this only enables people to leave the threatened shores for higher ground. There is no way to stop the oncoming wave.

Which of the following CANNOT be concluded from the passage?

A．The number of earthquakes is closely related to depth.

B．Roughly the same number of earthquakes occur each year.

C．Earthquakes are impossible at depths over 460 miles.

D．Earthquakes are most likely to occur near the surfaces.

1 Most earthquakes occur within the upper 15 miles of the earth's surface. But earthquakes can and do occur at all depths to about 460 miles. Their number decreases as the depth increases. At about 460 miles one earthquake occurs only every few years. Near the surface earthquakes may run as high as 100 in a month, but the yearly average does not vary much. In comparison with the total number of earthquakes each year, the number of disastrous earthquakes is very small.

2 The extent of the disaster in an earthquake depends on many factors. If you carefully build a toy house with an Erector set, it will still stand no matter how much you shake the table. But if you build a toy house with a pack of cards, a slight shake of the table will make it fall. An earthquake in Agadir, Morocco, was not strong enough to be recorded on distant instruments, but it completely destroyed the city. Many stronger earthquakes have done comparatively little damage. If a building is well constructed and built on solid ground, it will resist an earthquake. Most deaths in earthquakes have been due to faulty building construction or poor building sites. A third and very serious factor is panic. When people rush out into narrow streets, more deaths will result.

3 The United Nations has played an important part in reducing the damage done by earthquakes. It has sent a team of experts to all countries known to be affected by earthquakes. Working with local geologists and engineers, the experts have studied the nature of the ground and the type of most practical building code for the local area. If followed, these suggestions will make disastrous earthquakes almost a thing of the past.

4 There is one type of earthquake disaster that little can be done about. This is the disaster caused by seismic sea waves, or tsunamis. (These are often called tidal waves, but the name is incorrect. They have nothing to do with tides. ) In certain areas, earthquakes take place beneath the sea. These submarine earthquakes sometimes give rise to seismic sea waves. The waves are not noticeable out at sea because of their long wave length. But when they roll into harbours, they pile up into walls of water 6 to 60 feet high. The Japanese call them "tsunamis", meaning "harbour waves", because they reach a sizable height only in harbours.

5 Tsunamis travel fairly slowly, at speeds up to 500 miles an hour. An adequate warning system is in use to warn all shores likely to be reached by the waves. But this only enables people to leave the threatened shores for higher ground. There is no way to stop the oncoming wave.

Which of the following CANNOT be concluded from the passage?

A．The number of earthquakes is closely related to depth.

B．Roughly the same number of earthquakes occur each year.

C．Earthquakes are impossible at depths over 460 miles.

D．Earthquakes are most likely to occur near the surfaces.

Most earthquakes occur within the upper 15 miles of the earth's surface. But earthquakes can and do occur at all depths to about 460 miles. Their number decreases as the depth increases. At about 460 miles one earthquake occurs only every few years. Near the surface earthquakes may run as high as 100 in a month, but the yearly average does not vary much. In comparison with the total number of earthquakes each year, the number of disastrous earthquakes is very small.

The extent of the disaster in an earthquake depends on many factors. If you carefully build a toy house with an Erector set, it will still stand no matter how much you shake the table. But if you build a toy house with a pack of cards, a slight shake of the table will make it fall. An earthquake in Agadir, Morocco, was not strong enough to be recorded on distant instruments, but completely destroyed the city. Many stronger earthquakes have done comparatively little damage. If a building is well constructed and built on solid ground, it will resist an earthquake. Most deaths in earthquakes have been due to faulty building construction or poor building sites. A third and very serious factor is panic. When people rush out into narrow streets, more deaths will result.

The United Nations has played an important part in reducing the damage done by earthquakes. It has sent a team of experts to all countries known to be affected by earthquakes. Working with local geologists and engineers, the experts have studied the nature of the ground and the type of most practical building code for the local area. If followed, these suggestions will make disastrous earthquakes almost a thing of the past.

There is one type of earthquake disaster that little can be done about. This is the disaster caused by seismic sea waves, or tsunamis. (These are often called tidal waves, but the name is incorrect. They have nothing to do with tides. ) In certain areas, earthquakes take place beneath the sea. These submarine earthquakes sometimes give rise to seismic sea waves. The waves are not noticeable out at sea because of their long wave length. But when they roll into harbors, they pile up into walls water 6 to 60 feet high. The Japanese call them "tsunamis", meaning "harbor waves", because they reach a sizable height only in harbors.

Tsunamis travel fairly slowly, at speeds up to 500 miles an hour. An adequate warning system is in use to warn all shores likely to be reached by the waves. But this only enables people to leave the threatened shores for higher ground. There is no way to stop the oncoming wave.

Which of the following can NOT be concluded from the passage?

A．The number of earthquakes is closely related to depth.

B．Roughly the same number of earthquakes occur each year.

C．Earthquakes are impossible at depths over 460 miles.

D．Earthquakes are most likely to occur near the surfaces.

Most earthquakes occur within the upper 15 miles of the earth's surface. But earthquakes can and do occur at all depths to about 460 miles. Their number decreases as the depth increases. At about 460 miles one earthquake occurs only every few years. Near the surface earthquakes may run as high as 100 in a month, but the yearly average does not vary much. In comparison with the total number of earthquakes each year, the number of disastrous earthquakes is very small.

The extent of the disaster in an earthquake depends on many factors. If you carefully build a toy house with an erect set, it will still stand no matter how much you shake the table. But if you build a toy house with a pack of cards, a slight shake of the table will make it fall. An earthquake in Agadir, Morocco, was not strong enough to be recorded on distant instruments, but it completely destroyed the city. Many stronger earthquakes have done comparatively little damage. If a building is well constructed and built on solid ground, it will resist an earthquake. Most deaths in earthquakes have been due to faulty building construction or poor building sites. A third and very serious factor is panic. When people rush out into narrow streets, more deaths will result.

The United Nations has played an important part in reducing the damage done by earthquakes. It has sent a team of experts to all countries known to be affected by earthquakes. Working with local geologists and engineers, the experts have studied the nature of the ground and the type of most practical building code for the local area. If followed, these suggestions will make disastrous earthquakes almost a thing of the past.

There is one type of earthquake disaster that little can be done about. This is the disaster caused by seismic (地震的) sea waves, or tsunamis. These are often called tidal (海潮的) waves, but the name is incorrect. They have nothing to do with tides.

In certain areas, earthquakes take place beneath the sea. These submarine earthquakes sometimes give rise to seismic sea waves. The waves are not noticeable out at sea because of their long wave length. But when they roll into harbors, they pile up into walls of water 6 to 60 feet high. The Japanese call them "tsunamis", meaning "harbor waves", because they reach a sizable height only in harbors.

Tsunamis (海啸) travel fairly slowly, at a speed of up to 500 miles an hour. An adequate warning system is in use to warn all shores likely to be reached by the waves.

But this only enables people to leave the threatened shores for higher ground. There is no way to stop the oncoming waves.

Which of the following CANNOT be concluded from the passage?

A．The number of earthquakes is closely related to depth.

B．Roughly the number of earthquakes varies much every year.

C．Earthquakes are most likely to occur within the upper 15 miles of the earth's surface.

D．Earthquakes are most likely to occur near the surfaces.

The earth is much cooler than the sun, and the wave length of the earth's radiations is much longer than that of sunrays. These longer heat waves cannot pass through the atmosphere as easily as the short waves coming from the sun. Similarly, radio stations that transmit programs to distant countries broadcast in short waves, which can travel all around the world. Stations that broadcast local programs send out longer waves, which can be received more easily, but only in a limited area.

(83) Heat waves, rising from the earth, meet resistance in the atmosphere from the water vapor there. Many if the waves are stopped by the water vapor can not get back out into space. The atmosphere, when it is warmed up, also adds some heat back to the earth's surface.

When the sun's rays strike water surface, some of the water becomes absorbed by the air as water vapor. The warmer the air is, the more vapor it can hold. When the air has absorbed its maximum amount of vapor, it is said to be saturated. If the air is then cooled, some of the vapor will condense and clouds will form. (84)These clouds, will contain drops of water at temperatures above freezing, or ice crystals at temperatures below freezing.

Clouds can greatly affect the temperature of the earth's surface. When there are many clouds in the sky, all of the sun's rays can not reach the earth. The cloudy day, then, will be cooler than the cloudless day. Clouds also prevent the earth from cooling off rapidly at night. For this reason, countries such as the British Isles, which are often covered by clouds, have a relatively constant temperature. The weather in these cloudy areas is neither very hot in summer nor very cold in winter. On the other hand, places such as deserts, which have few or no clouds, have very sharp variations in temperature—between night and day as well as between summer and winter.

Radio stations that transmit programs to distant countries send out waves that resemble______.

A．heat waves rising from the earth

B．waves absorbed by water vapor

C．waves sent out by radio stations that transmit local programs

D．the rays sent out from the sun