完型填空部分

注：本次考試的理工B完型填空是由2013年閱讀理解改編。

Underground Coal Fires a Looming Catastrophe

Coal burning deep underground in China, India and Indonesia is threatening the environment and human life, scientists have warned, these large-scale underground blazes cause the ground temperature to heat up and kill surrounding vegetation, produce greenhouse gases and can even ignite forest first, a panel of scientists told the annual meeting of the American Association For the Advancement of Science in Denver. The resulting release of poisonous elements like arsenic and mercury can also pollute local water sources and soils, they warned.

“Coal fires are a global catastrophe,” said Associate Professor Glenn Stracher of East Georgia College in Swainsboro, USA, But surprisingly few people know about them.

Coal can heat up on its own, and eventually catch fire and burn, if there is a continuous oxygen supply. The heat produced is not cause to disappear and under the right combinations of sunlight and oxygen, can trigger spontaneous catching fire and burning. This can occur underground, in coal stockpiles, abandoned mines or even as coal is transported. Such fires in China consume up to 200 million tones of coal per year, delegates were told. In comparison, the U.S. economy consumes about one billion tones of coal annually, said Stracher, whose analysis of the likely impact of coal fires has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Coal Ecology. Once underway, coal fires can burn for decades, even centuries. In the process, they release large volumes of greenhouse gases poisonous fumes and black particles into the atmosphere.

The members of the panel discussed the impact these fires may be having on global and regional climate change, cand agreed that the underground nature of the fires makes them difficult to protect. One of the members of the panel, Assistant Professor Paul Van Dijk of the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth observation in the Netherlands, has been working with the Chinese government to detect and monitor fires in the northern regions of the country.

Ultimately, the remote sensing and other techniques should allow scientists to estimate how much carbon dioxide these fires are emitting. One suggested method of containing the fires was presented by Gary Colaizzi, of the engineering firm Goodson, which has developed a heat-resistant grout (a thin mortar used to fill cracks and crevices), which is designed to be pumped into the coal fire to cut off the oxygen supply.

1. According to the first paragraph, one of the warnings given by the scientists is that?Underground Coal Fires — a Looming(即將到來的) Catastrophe?Coal burning deep underground in China, India and Indonesia is threatening the environment and human life, scientists have warned. These large-scale underground blazes cause the ground temperature to heat up and kill surrounding vegetation, produce greenhouse gases and can even ignite forest fires, a panel of scientists told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Denver. The resulting release of poisonous elements like arsenic and mercury can also pollute local water sources and soils, they warned.

vegetation 植被

1. According to the first paragraph, one of the warnings given by the scientists is that

A. underground fires loom large in the forests.

B. coal burning deep underground is found in China.

C. poisonous elements released by the underground fires can pollute water sources.

D. arsenic and mercury are the most poisonous elements to water sources.

「答案」：C

2. According to the third paragraph, what will happen when the underground heat does not disappear?

“Coal fires are a global catastrophe,” said (Associate Professor Glenn Stracher of East Georgia College in Swainsboro, USA.) But surprisingly few people know about them.

Coal can heat up on its own, and eventually catch fire(著火) and burn, if there is a continuous oxygen supply. The heat produced is not caused to disappear and under the right combinations of sunlight and oxygen, can trigger spontaneous catching fire and burning.

catch fire　著火

set fire　縱火

2. According to the third paragraph, what will happen when the underground heat does not disappear?

A. Coal heats up on its own and catches fire and burns.

B. The underground oxygen will be used up.

C. Poisonous fumes and greenhouse gases will be accumulated underground.

D. There will be an increase of abandoned mines.

「答案」：A

課文講解(3)～(5)題

3. What did Stracher analyze in his article published in the International Journal of Coal Ecology?

This can occur underground, in coal stockpiles(儲備物資), abandoned mines or even as coal is transported. Such fires in China consume up to 200 million tones of coal per year, delegates were told. In comparison, the U.S. economy consumes about one billion tones of coal annually, said Stracher, whose analysis of the likely impact of coal fires has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Coal Ecology.

3. What did Stracher analyze in his article published in the International Journal of Coal Ecology?

A. Annual consumption of coal in U.S.

B. Annual consumption of coal in China.

C. How long coal fires has lasted in the northern region of China.

D. Coal fires can have an impact on the environment.

「答案」：D

4. Which of the following statements about Paul Van Dijk is NOT true?

Once underway, coal fires can burn for decades, even centuries. In the process, they release large volumes of greenhouse gases, poisonous fumes and black particles into the atmosphere.

The members of the panel discussed the impact these fires may be having on global and regional climate change, and agreed that the underground nature of the fires makes them difficult to protect. One of the members of the panel, Assistant Professor Paul Van Dijk of the (International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation in the Netherlands, has been working with the Chinese government to detect and monitor fires in the northern regions of the country).

4. Which of the following statements about Paul Van Dijk is Not true?

A. He was one of the scientists who have warned against the threats of underground fires.

B. He has detected and monitored underground fires in Netherlands.

C. He has worked with the Chinese government on the underground fires issue.

D. He works for a research institute in the Netherlands.

「答案」：B

5. According to the fifth paragraph, what is the suggested method to control under ground fires?

Ultimately, the remote sensing (遠程感應)and other techniques should allow scientists to estimate how much carbon dioxide these fires are emitting. One suggested method of containing the fires was presented by Gary Colaizzi, of the engineering firm Goodson, which has developed a heat-resistant grout(水泥漿)(a thin mortar(灰漿) used to fill cracks and crevices), which is designed to be pumped into the coal fire to cut off the oxygen supply.

5. According to the fifth paragraph, what is the suggested method to control under ground fires?

A. Using remote sensing technique.

B. Controlling the release of carbon dioxide.

C. Making the soil heat resistant.

D. Cutting off the oxygen supply.

「答案」：D

譯文：

地下煤引發(fā)即將來臨的災難

科學家們警告說，中國、印度和印尼的地下煤礦著火將嚴重威脅自然環(huán)境和人身安全。在丹佛舉行的美國科學促進協(xié)會的會議上，一個專家小組的科學家們表示，林規(guī)模地地下大火將會提高地面溫度，燒死周圍的植物，由此產(chǎn)生的氣體將會導致溫室效應，甚至有可能引起森林大火。他們還警告說，大火釋放出來的砷、汞等有毒物質(zhì)還會污染當?shù)氐乃春屯寥馈?/p>

美國東佐治亞大學Swainboro分校的副教授Glenn Stracher說：“煤礦失火是一個全球性的災難?！钡钊梭@奇的是很少有人知道這一點。

煤能夠自己提高溫度，存在充足的氧氣時，它能夠自然。它產(chǎn)生的熱量并不會消失，在合適的陽光和氧氣條件下，它就會自燃。這種情況可能發(fā)生在地下煤礦的煤堆，廢棄的煤礦，甚至在煤的運輸過程中。Stracher教授告訴與會代表們，每年在中國，這種情況會消耗掉2億噸的煤。相比之下，美國每年的用煤量為十億噸。Stracher教授關(guān)于由煤引起的大火的影響的分析已經(jīng)在《國際煤生態(tài)學期刊》上發(fā)表。煤一旦燃燒起來，就可能燃燒幾十年，甚至幾百年。在這個過程中，會排出大量的溫室氣體、有毒氣體和物質(zhì)到大氣中。

專家們討論了這些大火對全球和地區(qū)氣候變化的影響，一致認為火災地點發(fā)生在地下，使得火災不容易被發(fā)現(xiàn)。小組的一個成員，來自荷蘭國際地質(zhì)信息科學和地球觀測研究院的Paul Van Dijk副教授已經(jīng)同中國政府合作探測和控制中國北部地區(qū)的煤礦失火情況。

遠程感應以及其他技術(shù)最終將能夠允許科學家們估計出究竟這些大火釋放出多少一氧化碳。Goodson工程公司的Gary Colaizzi提出了一種控制火勢的方法。他們公司已開發(fā)出一種隔熱水泥漿(一種稀灰漿用來填充裂縫)，它可以被灌注到失火的煤礦中以切斷氧氣來源。