Many children love to play with snow in winter. But Long Chuan has come to hate it.
This year his hometown suffered from snowstorms (遭受暴风雪) for nearly a month. The heavy snow stopped cars and trains, broke the electricity (电) tower and turned tap water to ice.
Every day Long Chuan had to walk several kilometers to carry drinking water. “I couldn’t ride a bike and it took me 3 hours to walk to school. I can’t remember how many times I slipped (滑倒) on the hard ice, ” said Long Chuan.
Long is not alone. This year millions of people in central and southern China had a freezing winter without enough water and electricity. The biggest snowstorms in 50 years killed more than 100 people. They also cost the country 111.1 billion yuan.
Experts (专家) say a special type of climate condition (气候条件), La Nina, caused the storms. During a La Nina, the water in the Pacific Ocean (太平洋) near the equator (赤道) becomes colder than usual. It changes the weather around the world.
Besides China, Canada, the US and Middle Eastern countries also met with heavy snowstorms this winter. The special climate caused the recent flooding (洪水) in Australia, too.
However, experts say that people have destroyed the environment (环境). Global warming (全球变暖) may be causing these terrible weather events to happen more and more often.
【小题1】What took place in Long Chuan’s hometown last winter?

Many children love to play with snow in winter. But Long Chuan has come to hate it.
This year his hometown suffered from snowstorms (遭受暴风雪) for nearly a month. The heavy snow stopped cars and trains, broke the electricity (电) tower and turned tap water to ice.
Every day Long Chuan had to walk several kilometers to carry drinking water. “I couldn’t ride a bike and it took me 3 hours to walk to school. I can’t remember how many times I slipped (滑倒) on the hard ice, ” said Long Chuan.
Long is not alone. This year millions of people in central and southern China had a freezing winter without enough water and electricity. The biggest snowstorms in 50 years killed more than 100 people. They also cost the country 111.1 billion yuan.
Experts (专家) say a special type of climate condition (气候条件), La Nina, caused the storms. During a La Nina, the water in the Pacific Ocean (太平洋) near the equator (赤道) becomes colder than usual. It changes the weather around the world.
Besides China, Canada, the US and Middle Eastern countries also met with heavy snowstorms this winter. The special climate caused the recent flooding (洪水) in Australia, too.
However, experts say that people have destroyed the environment (环境). Global warming (全球变暖) may be causing these terrible weather events to happen more and more often.

1. 1.

   What took place in Long Chuan’s hometown last winter?

   1. A.
      Earthquake.
   2. B.
      Flooding.
   3. C.
      Traffic Accident.
   4. D.
      Heavy snowstorms.
2. 2.

   During the snowstorms this year, Long Chuan  __________.

   1. A.
      had to walk to carry drinking water
   2. B.
      had to ride a bike to school
   3. C.
      couldn’t go to school on foot
   4. D.
      couldn’t play with snow
3. 3.

   The heavy snow ____________ this year.

   1. A.
      killed millions of Chinese
   2. B.
      cost China 111.1 billion yuan
   3. C.
      used too much electricity
   4. D.
      lasted more than three hours
4. 4.

   We can tell from the story that __________ .

   1. A.
      China is the only country which suffered from the heavy snow
   2. B.
      La Nina is said to have caused the snowstorms
   3. C.
      La Nina also caused hot summer in Australia
   4. D.
      the snowstorms have nothing to do with global warming
5. 5.

   The passage tells people around the world ___________.

   1. A.
      to wear more clothes in winter
   2. B.
      to stop riding bikes on the hard ice
   3. C.
      to protect (保护) the environment
   4. D.
      to save water and electricity

Mount Qomolangma（珠穆朗玛峰）is the highest mountain in the world. It is in the Himalayan Mountains（喜玛拉雅山）between Nepal（尼泊尔）and China, and it is 8900 meters high. Sir Edmund Hillary from New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay from Nepal were the first persons ever to climb Mount Everest in 1953. Men from several different countries climbed it after that.

Junko Tabei, a Japanese was the first woman to make this difficult climb. A Japanese newspaper-television company chose the fifteen women from mountaineering clubs to climb Mount Qomolangma in 1975. The group climbed for several days. Then there was an accident. The heavy ice and snow hurt ten of the women. They had to stop climbing. The other five went on climbing.

Only Ms Tabei was able to climb the last 70 meters. She was standing on the top of the world. She was the first woman there. Ms Tabei was 35 years old at the time. She started climbing mountains in 1960. She still climbs mountains now. She is not an ordinary Japanese housewife. Ms Tabei makes money for her trips by teaching English and piano to children. She climbs a mountain about every three years. She has climbed some of the highest mountains in six countries. Finally, she wants to climb the highest mountain in every country in the world. When she reaches the top of a mountain, she thinks, “I’m glad that I’m at the top.”

81. Mount Qomolangma is ___________.

A. an ordinary mountain                  B. the highest mountain in the world

C. in China                              D. closed to Nepal

82. Two men from _______ climbed Mount Qomolangma in 1953.

A. Japan                 B. Nepal        C. New Zealand        D. B and C

83. What happened to ten of the women climbers on the way to the top of Mount Qomolangma?

A. They were too tired to climb to it.  B. There was no air for them.

C. The heavy snow stopped them.      D. They were hurt by heavy ice and snow.

84. How many women climbed up to Mount Qomolangma in 1975?

   A. One.          B. Five.          C. Ten.           D. Fifteen.

85. What kind of person is Ms Tabei?

A. She is a Japanese housewife who has climbed many high mountains in the world.

B. She teaches children English and piano to make money.

C. She’s a usual housewife.

D. She climbed the highest mountain in the world many times.