Ever wonder how much a cloud weighs? What abo...

Ever wonder how much a cloud weighs? What about a hurricane? A meteorologist has done some estimates and the results might surprise you.

Let's start with a very simple white puffy cloud — a cumulus cloud（积云）. How much does the water in a cumulus cloud weigh? Peggy LeMone, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, did the numbers. "The water in the little cloud weighs about 550 tons," she calculates. "Or if you want to convert it to something that might be a little more meaningful … think of elephants."

The thought of a hundred elephants-worth of water suspended in the sky begs another question — what keeps it up there?

"First of all, the water isn't in elephant sized particles（微粒）, it's in tiny tiny tiny particles," explains LeMone. And those particles float on the warmer air that's rising below. But still, the concept of so much water floating in the sky was surprising even to a meteorologist like LeMone. "I had no idea how much a cloud would weigh, actually, when I started the calculations," she says.

So how many elephant units of water are inside a big storm cloud—10 times bigger all the way around than the "puffy" cumulus cloud? Again, LeMone did the numbers: About 200,000 elephants.

Now, ratchet up the calculations for a hurricane about the size of Missouri and the figures get really massive. "What we're doing is weighing the water in one cubic meter theoretically pulled from a cloud and then multiplying by the number of meters in a whole hurricane," she explains.

The result? Forty million elephants. That means the water in one hurricane weighs more than all the elephants on the planet. Perhaps even more than all the elephants that have ever lived on the planet.

1.The weight of ________is NOT mentioned in the passage.

A．a cumulus cloud    B．a tornado          C．a hurricane        D．a storm cloud

2.How did Peggy LeMone feel about the result of her calculations?

A．She found it not convincing.

B．She thought it needed further calculations.

C．She was quite surprised at it.

D．She considered the calculations inaccurate.

3.What can be inferred from the passage?

A．A storm cloud weighs about 200,000 elephants.

B．The water in a hurricane weighs more than that in any other kind of cloud.

C．There are less than forty million elephants living on the earth.

D．The water in the cloud is in very tiny partials.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Ever wonder how much a cloud weighs? What about a hurricane? A meteorologist(气象学者) has done some estimates and the results might surprise you.

Let's start with a very simple white puffy cloud — a cumulus cloud（积云）. How much does the water in a cumulus cloud weigh? Peggy LeMone, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, did the numbers. "The water in the little cloud weighs about 550 tons," she calculates. "Or if you want to convert it to something that might be a little more meaningful … think of elephants."

The thought of a hundred elephants-worth of water suspended(悬浮的) in the sky begs another question — what keeps it up there?

"First of all, the water isn't in elephant-sized particles（微粒）, it's in tiny tiny tiny particles," explains LeMone. And those particles float on the warmer air that's rising below. But still, the concept of so much water floating in the sky was surprising even to a meteorologist like LeMone. "I had no idea how much a cloud would weigh, actually, when I started the calculations," she says.

So how many elephant units of water are inside a big storm cloud—10 times bigger all the way around than the "puffy" cumulus cloud? Again, LeMone did the numbers: About 200,000 elephants.

Now, ratchet up(略微调高) the calculations for a hurricane about the size of Missouri and the figures get really massive(巨大的). "What we're doing is weighing the water in one cubic meter theoretically pulled from a cloud and then multiplying by(乘上) the number of meters in a whole hurricane," she explains.

The result? Forty million elephants. That means the water in one hurricane weighs more than all the elephants on the planet. Perhaps even more than all the elephants that have ever lived on the planet.

1.The weight of ________is NOT mentioned in the passage.

A. a cumulus cloud    B. a tornado

C. a hurricane   D. a storm cloud

2.How did Peggy LeMone feel about the result of her calculations?

A. She found it not convincing.

B. She thought it needed further calculations.

C. She was quite surprised at it.

D. She considered the calculations inaccurate.

3.What can be inferred from the passage?

A. A storm cloud weighs about 200,000 elephants.

B. The water in a hurricane weighs more than that in any other kind of cloud.

C. There are less than forty million elephants living on the earth.

D. The water in the cloud is in very tiny partials.

4.What is the best title for the passage?

A. How Much a Cloud Weighs   B. How Much a Hurricane Weighs

C. Surprising Results           D. Elephants in the Sky

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

What Secrets Your Voice Reveals About You

So, have you ever stepped back and wondered what your voice sounds like to other people?1.. And it turns out, it says a lot about us.

·Your voice hints at how social you are

2.. Extroverts tend to talk loudly, quickly, and excitedly. Introverts tend to speak quietly and more slowly. So, if you're that loud person at a party, you'll probably find that all eyes are on you, whereas introverts won't likely be at that party at all.

·Your voice says something about your height

This may sound strange, but if people close their eyes and hear you speak, they can probably tell if you're tall or short.3., whereas shorter people tend to have a higher voice. This is true for both men and women.

·4.

If you've noticed a lot of changes in a person's voice—the pace at which they talk, the tone and pitch of their voice, or whether their voice has become quieter—they may have Parkinson's disease. These changes can happen in the voice due to the tremors(震颤)that a patient would be experiencing.

·Your voice can tell how successful you are

Successful people's voices tend to be of a lower, warmer tone. Their words come out evenly, and their vocal cords won't be tight.5., but not so loudly that they're unpleasant to listen to.

A.Taller people tend to have a deeper voice

B.Your voice can tell others about your health

C.Your voice reveals how professional you are

D.They'll speak loudly enough to make themselves heard

E.A confident person will have a smooth and steady tone

F.Specifically, people can tell whether you're an extrovert or introvert

G.Your friends and family can probably identify you just by the sound of your voice

高三英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析

Do you ever wonder how some things came about? For instance, who figured out that there was something worth eating inside a banana peel? Or how astonishing do you have to be to discover that an artichoke has edible parts? Well, we may not know how either of those foods was discovered, but we do know how potato chips were invented.

Potato chips originated in New England as one man’s variation on the French-fried potatoes, and their production was the result not of a sudden inspiration of cooking invention but of a fit of annoyance.

It was the summer of 1853 and Commodore Vanderbilt, a wealthy railroad magnate, was vacationing at a hotel named Moon Lake Lodge in New York. On the restaurant menu were French-fried potatoes, prepared in the thick-cut French style that was popularized in France in the 1700s and enjoyed by Thomas Jefferson as ambassador to that country.

At dinner one night, Vanderbilt complained that his French-fried potatoes were cut too thick and sent them back to the kitchen. Offended by his snobby guest, chef George Crum decided he would give Mr. Vanderbilt exactly what he asked for! He decided to annoy the guest by producing French fries too thin and crisp. The chef angrily gathered up some potatoes and sliced them paper-thin. He threw the slices into hot oil to fry, drained and salted them and then personally served the new dish to Mr. Vanderbilt.

Surprised to see the chef in the dining room, the other diners fell into silence and everyone held their breath, waiting for Vanderbilt’s reaction.

Vanderbilt immediately popped a crisp potato slice into his mouth and the loud “Crunch” broke the silence. He continued to crunch away, delighted with his new dish. The plan backfired. Vanderbilt was interested in the browned, paper-thin potatoes. Clapping a surprised Chef Crum on the back, Vanderbilt praised him on the impressive potatoes. And other diners requested Crum’s potato chips, which began to appear on the menu as “Saratoga Chips”, a house specialty. Soon they were packaged and sold, first locally, then throughout the New England area. Crum eventually opened his own restaurant, featuring chips. At that time, potatoes were peeled and sliced by hand. It was the invention of the mechanical potato peeler in the 1920s that paved the way for potato chips to rise quickly from a small specialty item to a top-selling snack food.

1..

The author wrote the first paragraph to ________.

A. tell us how potato chips were invented

B. introduce the topic dealt with in the passage

C. give examples of how some things came about

D. explain why we do know how those foods were discovered

2..

. According to the passage, chef George Crum ________.

A. invented potato chips by accident

B. opened his own restaurant, featuring potatoes

C. served the new dish to Mr. Vanderbilt in private

D. helped promote potato chips to a top-selling snack

3..

. The production of potato chips was the result of ________.

A. Mr. Vanderbilt’s praise for the new dish

B. Thomas Jefferson’s appreciation of the French Fries

C. George Crum’s anger at Mr. Vanderbilt

D. the invention of the mechanical potato peeler

4..

The underlined word “backfired” in the 6^th paragraph probably means ________.

A. developed in a successful way         B. made a big difference

C. happened in a particular way          D. had an opposite result

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Now, perhaps, more than ever before, people are wondering what life is all about, and what it is for. Seeking material success is beginning to trouble large numbers of people around the world. They feel that the long-hour work culture to make more money to buy more things is eating up their lives, leaving them very little time or energy for family or hobbies. Many are turning to other ways of living and downshifting is one of them.

Six percent of the workers in Britain took the decision to downshift last year. One couple who downshifted are Daniel and Liz. They used to work in central London. He was a newspaper reporter and she worked for an international bank. They would go to work by train every day from their large house in the suburbs, leaving their two children with a nanny. Nearly twice a month Daniel had to fly to New York for meetings. They both earned a large amount of money but began to feel that life was passing them by.

Nowadays, they run a farm in the mountains of Wales. “I always wanted to have one here,” says Daniel, “and we took almost a year to make the decision to downshift. it's taken some time getting used to, but it's been worth it. We have to think twice now about spending money on car repairs and we no longer have any holidays. However, I think it's made us stronger as a family, and the children are a lot happier.”

Liz, however, is not quite sure. “I used to enjoy my job, even though it was hard work and long hours. I'm not really a country girl, but I suppose I'm gradually getting used to looking after the animals. One thing I do like, though, is being able to see more of my children. My advice for other people wanting to do the same is not to think about it too much or you might not do it at all.”

1.What do the first two paragraphs tell us?

A.People seldom work long hours to make money.

B.People hardly buy more things than necessary.

C.People are sure everything they own is in the right place.

D.People realized there is more to life than just making money.

2.When Daniel was a reporter he _____.

A.was well paid B.disliked his job C.missed his children D.lived in central London.

3.Daniel and Liz both agree that the move to the farm ______.

A.was easy to organize B.has improved family life

C.was extremely expensive D.has been a total success

4.What does the underlined "it" in the last paragraph refer to?

A.Child-caring B.Liz’s advice C.Downshifting D.Liz' job.

5.The underlined word "downshifting" in the second paragraph means ____.

A.repairing your car by yourself

B.spending money carefully

C.moving out to the countryside to live a simple and better life

D.living in a big house in the suburbs and dining out once a week

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Did you ever wonder how some of your favorite foods, products or toys came about? Believe it or not, they may have been an accident, or a failure of some other intention．Below, we found three mistakes we're thankful for turned out to be what they are.

.1．Most historians hold that the Chinese invented fireworks in the 9th century when they discovered how to make gunpowder．Story has it that a Chinese cook accidentally mixed together what were then considered common kitchen items and noticed they burnt．When put tightly in a bamboo tube and lit, it blew up．

.2．In May of 1886, a law led John Pemberton, a pharmacist（药剂师）, to rewrite the formula（配方） for "Pemberton's French Wine Coca,” his popular headache treatment．Containing sugar instead of wine as a sweetener, the outcome became something for Coke, which was later mixed with carbonated water．His bookkeeper suggested the name Coca-Cola because he thought the two C’s would look good together, which is how what we call Coca-Cola, a world –wide drink came into being.

.3．During World War II, scientists at the University of Birmingham invented the magnetron—an important heat-producing part of the microwave oven（微波炉）．While working for Raytheon Corporation after the war, the American engineer Percy Spencer was testing the magnetron when a chocolate bar in his pocket melted．He went on to test other foods including popcorn kernels, and found it to be a much more efficient way to cook．In 1947 Raytheon came out with the first restaurant microwave oven, which was six feet tall and weighed 750 lbs．

1.The right time order of the three inventions, according to the passage, should be    _________.

A．fireworks, the microwave and Coca-Cola

B．fireworks ,Coca-Cola and the microwave

C．Coca-Cola , fireworks and the microwave

D．the microwave, Coca-Cola and fireworks

2.Percy Spencer found the microwave efficient in cooking when he was _______.

A．looking for a way to melt his chocolate

B．trying to know how a magnetron could cook

C．working to know how the magnetron works

D．asked to invent a restaurant microwave oven

3.What can we learn from the above invention stories?

A．Experiments make great inventors of our time.

B．Nothing is impossible if one tries each day.

C．Inventors come out of hard work at any time.

D．A small incident may lead to a great invention.

4.What’s the best title for the passage?

A．What great inventions they are!            B．Inventions from Three Countries.

C．Stories of Accidental Inventions.           D．The Human Inventions of time.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Wonderful Friends, a show on Hunan TV, is about _________people get along with animals．

A．how　　　　　 B．what　　　　　 C．why　　　　　 D．who

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Mary kept weighing herself to see how much______ she was getting.

A. heavy           B. the heaviest    C. heavier          D. the heavier

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。

1.How much did Ron Wallace’s pumpkin weigh?

A.1,200 kilograms. B.1,026 kilograms. C.1,011 kilograms.

2.Whose pumpkin was the champion in an event in California?

A.A teacher’s. B.A farmer’s. C.A gardener’s.

3.From where do we know a person in Belgium produced the heaviest pumpkin?

A.A newspaper. B.A magazine. C.A website.

4.What seeds are most popular?

A.Those of smart farmers.

B.Those of champion pumpkins.

C.Those of magazine ads.

高三英语短文困难题查看答案及解析

Mary kept weighing herself to see how much ______ she was getting.

A. heavier       B. heavy        C. the heavier     D. the heaviest

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析