同等学力英语每日一练：2017年2月14日

阅读理解：

      El Nino is a disturbance of the world’s normal climate pattern．During El Nino events，the westerly trade winds become slower and the warmer water in the western Pacific moves towards South America．This huge increase in ocean temperatures—as much as eight degrees centigrade—and the  change in atmospheric conditions bring rain to the deserts of South America and the rainforests of  south-east Asia，with drought conditions throughout eastern and southern Africa．There are many  knock-on effects all over the world．

      The home of El Nino is Peru. El Nino，“the Christ Child”, was first named by Peruvian fisher-men one Christmas when they noticed unusual warm currents affecting the Pacific coast of South America. Up and down the country，form desert to highlands，El Nino weather phenomena have  brought destructive floods, costing￡200 million in immediate and long-term damage，and undoing the work of many development projects．

     “The destruction is near total，” Dominic Brain, a worker for Christian Aid reported．“Few of  the houses could withstand the floodwater．Today I visited Acomayo，a shantytown (贫民区) where  17，500 people once live．Now only ten percent of the houses are still standing．The bulk of the population has lost all their possessions．”

      The town of Ica seldom sees rain。Houses for the poor are built of adobe—sun－baked mud—standing side by side in long terraces。When the River Ica burst its banks in late January，15，000　 houses were swiftly flooded．Up to 5，000 houses were destroyed—a sign not only of the force of the　river，which loosened huge rocks and swept them falling down from the Andean mountains, but of the  vulnerability of the homes which hardly ever face rain．“They melted like chocolate,”exclaimed an  eye-witness．“The extent of the damage was terrible!”

      Almost immediately health became a problem．Without proper plumbing (排水)，waste matter  rose to the surface of the floodwaters．People received cuts walking through the floodwater and mud．  Cholera—epidemic in Peru in the early nineties—returned，with 90 reported cases in Ica province   alone．The entire city seems to have drowned　—　first in floodwaters 1．5 meters high，and then in　 mud。Sadly，three people lost their lives，sucked into the floodwaters，but it was a miracle that there  were not more casualties (伤亡者)．

1．E1 Nino is a warm ocean current＿．

A) which centers on America and Africa        B) which was named by an American

C) which kills many people every time      D) which has side-effects all over the world 

2．It can be inferred from the passage that El Nino first appeared in＿．

A) Pacific          B) Peru        C) South America           D) Africa

3．Houses in Ica experienced terrible destruction during the El Nino event because＿.

A) the El Nino event was the strongest      B) the houses couldn’t stand the flood

C) it seldom rained there                   D) E1 Nino was unexpected

4．How did the three people in Ica lose their lives? 

A) They died in the collapsed houses．      B) They died of an epidemic．

C) They were carried away by the flood．    D)They tried to walk in the floodwater．

5．This passage is devoted to introduction to＿．

A) the causes and effects of El Nino weather phenomena

B) the worldwide monitoring network set up to predict El Nino

C) the relationship between the ocean temperatures and climate patterns

D) El Nino phenomena and destructive effects of one El Nino event On Ica