题文
Three “Great Walls” built around the United States’ Tornado Alley could reduce tornadoes from destroying billions of dollars in property and endangering millions of lives, a physicist has claimed.Professor Rongjia Tao of Temple University, Philadelphia unveiled a proposal this week calling for the construction of three 1,000-foot barriers up to 100 miles long, which would act like hill ranges and soften winds before tornadoes could form, the BBC reports.
The $16.9 billion plan would call for the faux hill ranges in North Dakota, along the border between Kansas and Oklahoma, and in Texas and Louisiana, ostensibly saving billions of dollars in damage every year, Tao said. The walls would not shelter towns, he said, but instead would soften the streams of hot southern and cold northern air that form tornadoes when they clash in the first place.
But critics laughed at Tao’s proposals. Leading tornado experts pointed to areas that are already protected by hill ranges the size of the barriers Tao is proposing, yet still have plenty of tornados, like parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri. And even if the plan did work, it would create more problems than it would solve, scientists said, by creating catastrophic weather side effects.
“Everybody I know is of 100% agreement – this is a poorly conceived idea,” Professor Joshua Wurman of the Center for Severe Weather Research. “From what I can gather his concept of how tornadoes form is fundamentally flawed（有缺陷的）. Meteorologists（气象学家） cringe（尴尬） when they hear about ‘clashing（交锋） hot and cold air’. It’s a lot more complicated than that.”
小题1:What does the underlined word “unveiled”mean in the fourth paragraph？A．remindedB．came up withC．referredD．applied小题2:What’s the main idea of the passage?A．The different opinions on the proposal that the walls will reduce the loss caused by tornadoes.B．How to solve the problems that are caused by tornadoes.C．The proposal mentioned in the paragragh is totally wrong.D．The proposal to reduce tornadoes is effective.小题3: From the passage, we can infer that__________.A．the tornadoes form by clashing（交锋） hot and cold air.B．if the walls are built, they will work well.C．if the plan is carried out, we will have more problems than expected.D．The walls not only soften the winds but also shelter the towns.小题4:Which of following statements is true according to the passage？A．Leading tornado experts think that would soften the streams of hot southern and cold northern air that form tornadoes.B．Professor Joshua Wurman pointed out that the plan will be expensive.C．Professor Rongjia Tao is against the construction of walls to prevent the tornadoes.D．the plan will not be carried out because it will creating serious weather side effects. 题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
小题1:B
小题2:A
小题3:C
小题4:D
解析
本文是一篇报道。文章讲述了美国专家对Professor Rongjia Tao提出的“建高墙”阻止龙卷风计划的不同意见。小题1:考查猜测词义。根据文章第一段中的Professor Rongjia Tao unveiled a proposal this week calling for the construction of three 1,000-foot barriers up to 100 miles long可知，这里是提出的意思。
小题2:考查主旨要义。根据这段话的内容可知，专家对建高墙防止龙卷风的发表的不同意见。故选A。
小题3:考查推理判断。根据文章第四段中的And even if the plan did work, it would create more problems than it would solve, scientists said, by creating catastrophic weather side effects.可知，即使高墙起作用，它会产生无法解决的恶劣气候的副作用。故选C。
小题4:考查细节理解。根据文章中对这个建议的不同意见可知，这个计划实施的可能性不大。故选D。
考点
据考高分专家说，试题“Three “Great Walls” .....”主要考查你对 [新闻报道类阅读 ]考点的理解。新闻报道类阅读
新闻报道类阅读的概念：
阅读理解的选材明显地呈现出关注实际生活的趋势，这种趋势与当前基础教育改革的目标是一致的，而中学生学习语言的根本目标与基础教育学会求知，学会做事，学会合作，学会做人的目标是一致的，真实新颖的选材对基础英语教学课程改革具有重要的反作用。
新闻报道类阅读理解技巧点拨：
新闻报道类类文章有一共同特点，即都是由标题（Headline）、导语（Lead）、主体（Mainbody）、背景（Background）和结尾（End）五部分构成。标题是新闻报道中心思想高度而又精辟的概括；导语位于新闻报道的首段，高度概括新闻事实；主体则对导语概括的新闻事实进行详细叙述；新闻背景是指新闻事实之外，对新闻事实或新闻事实的某个部分进行解释或补充的材料；结尾往往是新闻事件的结果或动态展望，也是中心思想的概括并常常与新闻导语相呼应。
新闻报道中的导语非常重要，它位于文章的第一段，通过它点出新闻的主题，五个W和一个H(When,Where,Who,What,Why和How)通常是构成一则完整消息不可缺少的要素。文章往往呈现出“倒金字塔”的特征，因此读懂首句或首段至关重要。
另外，从句的使用也是此类文章的一大语言特色，因为从句信息量大，适合新闻报道的要求。此外，大量的副词和插入语的使用也是此类文章的特点。为使文章更客观、更具信服力，常用The study said…, Scientists believe that…Experts said…, It's reported that…, According to the survey…等语言。同事在阅读过程中，我们要对材料所提供信息如when, where, who, how, why等进行提问，将信息迅速提炼出来。
新闻报道类阅读应试策略：
【命题趋势】
阅读理解的选材明显地呈现出关注实际生活的趋势，这种趋势与当前基础教育改革的目标是一致的，而中学生学习语言的根本目标与基础教育学会求知，学会做事，学会合作，学会做人的目标是一致的，真实新颖的选材对基础英语教学课程改革具有重要的反作用。时文报道就在文章中体现了这一要求。主要表现在以下几个方面：
1、反映海内外事件，文章结构严谨，内容贴近生活，用现代英语反映现代生活。
2、如果是新闻报道，都有比较固定的写作格式，如文首通常有报道的地点或时间，第一句话常常是文章的导语，有助于了解文章的大致内容和主题。
3、如果是新闻报道则是记叙文，有地点、时间、人物、事物等要素。
4、有许多大量反映当代社会变化的新词汇和表达方式。
5、命题既重细节，又重推理和主旨。
6、大背景中的小事件，大事件中的小插曲往往是选材的热点。
【应试对策】
1、在平时学习中，关注生活，阅读新闻报道和广告类文章、把阅读时事文章作为学习英语的重要途径。
2、了解新的词汇和表达方式。如：tsunami海啸，MP3players(MP3)播放器，well_offsociety小康社会等。
3、抓住文章主题，准确捕捉细节和内涵，进行合理的推理。
4、品味新闻的标题，联系平时所积累的知识，为了解材料大意作铺垫。
5、了解新闻报道的特殊规律，其内容和多含何人、何地、何事、何时等，阅读时要抓住新闻的这一主要特点去理解判断。
6、要注意文中以黑体、大写、下划线等方式加以提示的文字，因为这很有可能是材料的核心或至少是一部分内容的概括。
