A vast dust storm that blew in from the deserts of Australia’s red centre has blanketed the country’s largest city and eastern coast in a red fog，causing widespread traffic chaos and severe flight delays.

      Residents from Sydney in New South Wales to Canberra inland and towns in southern Queensland awoke to a red sky and greatly reduced visibility after the country’s worst dust storm in 70 years blew in overnight. The Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House were covered in the red fog and hundreds of people were reported to have breathing problems. Children，the elderly and those suffering from asthma (哮喘) or heart or lung diseases were advised to stay indoors ,as even healthy adults reported "itchy throats" and a metallic aftertaste in their mouths after walking through the thick fog.

 Commuters used face masks，originally intended to protect them from the spread of swine flu, to hurry across the blocked streets on their way to work. Some schools were closed and sports activities were called off as the conditions pushed air pollution levels to 1500 times their normal levels – the highest on record.

 Passengers at the busy Sydney Airport faced delays of up to six hours for international flights and three hours for domestic trips，and even some international flights were cancelled as visibility was reduced to just a few feet.

 Locals，phoning radio stations to express their shock at the red dawn.” It’s like a nuclear winter morning，" tourist Peter Wilson told Daily Telegraph, "It is so terrible." adding that when he awoke the sky was "bright red" and "all the cars were covered in dirt".

The dust hanging over Sydney had largely cleared by midafternoon, although national carrier Qantas said severe delays would last all day because of direction-changed and late-running flights.

The sand storm，which measured more than 310 miles wide and 620 miles long， was caused by dust clouds blowing east from Australia’s dry places，which has been attacked by the worst drought on record. It covered dozens of towns and cities in two states as strong winds swept away tons of topsoil threw it high into the sky and carried it hundreds of miles.

1.What was the face mask originally intended for? (No more than 10 words) (2 marks)[

2.When did most residents of Sydney discover the vast storm ? (No more than 3 words) (3 marks)

3.What do you think the underlined word Qantas is? (No more than 3 words)(2 marks)

4.What is the main idea of the last paragraph ? (No more than 10 words) (3 marks)

Sandstorms hit northwestern China's Gansu Province and North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on the first day this year. According to Sun Landong， a meteorologist with the Lanzhou Meteorology Observatory，visibility was less than 100 meters in Minqin， a Gansu county near Inner Mongolia， because of sand. When visibility drops to less than 1 kilometer，it is called a sandstorm. The sandstorm in Minqin blew up dust in neighboring towns， such as Baiyin， Wuwei， Jinchang and Lanzhou， the capital city of Gansu Province. Dust-laden winds also swept into Beijing. Brought by northwesterly blowing at more than 20 meters per second，dust first reached the capital's suburbs at 7 a. m，downtown areas at 9 a. m. The winds，which died down during the night，brought the temperature down to as low as 80C below zero and many flights put off their planned time from the city's airport.

It is quite rare for sandstorms，which are frequent between March and June，to happen in winter，when the earth is frozen. The sandstorms in Gansu and Inner Mongolia do not necessarily mean there will be more of them in the spring than last year，when they were serious，but Beijing is taking it very seriously. It is reported that Beijing will spend 6 billion yuan ( US 725 million) in preventing sandstorms in the capital and has already set up a spe­cial team to make sure what causes them.

1. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Sandstorms took place in Gansu.

B. Sandstorms happened on the first day of the new year.

C. Sandstorms are very serious，compared to last year.

D. Experts are trying their best to determine the cause of the sandstorm formed this year.

2.Suppose the dust was 300 kilometers away from Beijing， it would reach Beijing about

         hours later if it travels at a speed of 20 meters per second?

A. 4. 2     B. 1. 5     C. 2. 0     D. 2. 5

3.Why did sandstorms begin in the winter this year?

A. Because there was little snow this season.

B. Because a lot of trees have been cut down.

C. Because people took few measures to control them.

D. It is not mentioned in the passage.

4. Which of the following doesn't belong to the bad effect the sandstorms have done in Bei­jing?

A. The temperature fell.    B. Flights put off their time to take off.

C. The air is dirty.    D. People had three days off.

5.The author wrote the passage to        .

A. tell us the environments are becoming worse and worse

B. explain what measures people have taken to control sandstorms

C. make people realize the need to protect the environment.

D. call on us to do what we can to save the earth

Sandstorms hit northwestern China's Gansu Province and North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on the first day this year. According to Sun Landong， a meteorologist with the Lanzhou Meteorology Observatory，visibility was less than 100 meters in Minqin， a Gansu county near Inner Mongolia， because of sand. When visibility drops to less than 1 kilometer，it is called a sandstorm. The sandstorm in Minqin blew up dust in neighboring towns， such as Baiyin， Wuwei， Jinchang and Lanzhou， the capital city of Gansu Province. Dust-laden winds also swept into Beijing. Brought by northwesterly blowing at more than 20 meters per second，dust first reached the capital's suburbs at 7 a. m，downtown areas at 9 a. m. The winds，which died down during the night，brought the temperature down to as low as 80C below zero and many flights put off their planned time from the city's airport.
It is quite rare for sandstorms，which are frequent between March and June，to happen in winter，when the earth is frozen. The sandstorms in Gansu and Inner Mongolia do not necessarily mean there will be more of them in the spring than last year，when they were serious，but Beijing is taking it very seriously. It is reported that Beijing will spend 6 billion yuan ( US 725 million) in preventing sandstorms in the capital and has already set up a spe­cial team to make sure what causes them.
【小题1】 What is the main idea of the passage?

A．The temperature fell.	B．Flights put off their time to take off.
C．The air is dirty.	D．People had three days off.

阅读理解

　　Sandstorms hit northwestern China's Gansu Province and North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region(内蒙古自治区) on the first day of the new century. According to Sun Landong, a meteorologist with the Lanzhou Meteorology Observatory, visibility(能见度) was less than 100 meters in Minqin, a Gansu county near Inner Mongolia, because of sand. When visibility, drops to less than 1 kilometer, it is called a sandstorm. The sandstorm in Minqin blew up dust in neighboring towns, such as Baiyin, Wuwei, Jinchang and Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu Province. Dust-laden winds also swept into Beijing. Brought by northwesterlies blowing at more than 20 meters per second, dust first reached the capital's suburbs at 7 am, downtown areas at 9 am. The winds, which died down during the night, brought the temperature down to as low as 8℃ below zero and many flights put off their planned time from the city's airport.

　　It is quite rare for sandstorms, which are frequent between March and June, to happen in winter, when the earth is frozen. The sandstorms in Gansu and Inner Mongolia do not necessarily mean there will be more of them in the spring than last year, when they were serious, but Beijing is taking it very seriously. It is reported that Beijing will spend 6 billion yuan ($ 725 million) in preventing sandstorms in the capital and has already set up a special team to make sure what causes them.

1．What is the main idea of the passage?

[　　]

A．Sandstorms took place in Gansu.

B．Sandstorms happened on the first day of the new century.

C．Sandstorms are very serious, compared to last year.

D．The experts are trying their best to determine the cause of the sandstorm formed this year.

2．Why did sandstorms begin in the winter this year?

[　　]

A．Because there was little snow this season.

B．Because a lot of trees have been cut down.

C．Because people took few measures to control them.

D．It is not mentioned in the passage.

3．Which of the following doesn't belong to the bad effect the sandstorms have done in Beijing?

[　　]

A．The temperature fell.

B．Flights put off their time to take off.

C．The air is dirty.

D．People had three days off.

4．The author wrote the passage to ________.

[　　]

A．tell us the environments are becoming worse and worse

B．explain what measures people have taken to control sandstorms

C．make people realize the need to protect the environment

D．call on us to do what we can to save the earth