【正文】 s rainfall in a single day would satisfy the entire electrical needs of the United States for six months. M: Wow! How much rain does a hurricane bring? W: A typical hurricane brings 612 inches downpours傾盆大雨 , resulting in sudden flood. The water level rises at 15 feet above the normal as it moves toward shore. M: And there, it causes millions of dollars of damage and brings death to large number of people. W: Yeah. M: Thank you very much! W: You’re wele! Questions: 1. When do hurricanes often occur? 2. When is a tropic storm considered to be a hurricane? 3. In what motion do hurricanes usually begin to swirl as the heat increases? 4. On an average how long does a hurricane exist？ 5. What a rainfall does a hurricane bring? III. Understanding Passages Listening Task 1 Directions: Listen to the following passage and choose the best answers to the questions you hear. The Atlantic Ocean is only half as big as the Pacific Ocean, but it is still very large. It is more than 4,000 miles wide where Columbus crossed it. Even its narrowest is about 2,000 miles wide. Two things make the Atlantic rather unusual. For so large an ocean it has very few islands. Also it is the world’s saltiest ocean. There is so much water in the Atlantic that it is hard to imagine how much water there is. But suppose no more rain fell into it and no more water were brought to it by rivers, it would take the ocean about 4,000 years to dry up. One of the largest mountain ranges山脈 of the world rises from the floor of the Atlantic. This mountain range runs north and south down the middle of the ocean. The tops of a few mountains reach up露出來(lái) above the sea and make islands. Ocean currents海洋洋流 are sometimes called “rivers in the sea”. One of these “rivers” in the Atlantic is called “the Gulf Stream”. It is a current of warm water. Another is “Labrador Current拉布拉多寒流 ”. It is a current of cold water. The cold water es from the Arctic Ocean current北冰洋洋流 . Today the Atlantic is a great highway交通干線 . However it is not always a smooth and safe one. Storms暴風(fēng)雨 sweep across it and pile up積累 great waves. Icebergs float down from the north across of the path of ships. Questions: 1. How wide is the Atlantic Ocean where Columbus crossed? 2. Which of the following makes the Atlantic Ocean unusual? 3. Which of the following is sometimes called “River in the sea”? 4. Where does one of the largest mountain ranges of the world rise from? 5. What does the “High Way” mean in this passage？ Listening Task 2 Directions: Listen to the passage and fill in the blanks with the words you have heard. The Arctic Ocean is located in the Northern Hemisphere, and almost in the Arctic North polar region. It’s the smallest and shallowest of the world’s five major oceans. The Arctic Ocean is almost pletely surrounded by Eurasia, North America, Greenland, and by several islands. It occupies a roughly circular basin and covers an area of 14 million sq. km, almost the size of Russia. The coast line is over 45 thousand km. The Arctic Ocean’s salinity varies seasonally as the ice cover melts and freezes. Its salinity is the lowest on average of the five major oceans, due to the low evaporation, heavy freshwater inflow from rivers and streams, and limited connection and outflow to surrounding oceanic water with higher salinity. The Arctic Ocean holds 25% or more of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas resources. Fish, seals, whales hares, polar bears, sea gulls can be found in abundance in the area. However, it has a fragile ecosystem which is slow to change and slow to recover from disruption or damage. Unit 4 Environmental Protection Part I Inclass Listening I. Understanding Basic Skills Listening Task Directions: Listen to the following short conversations and choose the best answers to the questions you hear. 1. M: Do sit down, please. Would you like something to drink? W: Yes, please. That’ll be nice. Q: What is the probable relationship between the two speakers? 2. M: A terrible day again, I wonder when this will end. W: Well, the weatherman predicts it won’t last long. Better weather is on the way. Q: What will the weather be like in the near future? 3. W: I wonder if I could use your phone. M: Oh, I’m sorry. You see, it’s out of order again. Q: What can we learn from the conversation? 4. M: Your power of concentration is amazing. Didn’t you hear me e in? W: Are you talking to me? Q: What can be inferred from this conversation about the woman? 5. W: I’ve got time to buy a magazine, haven’t I? M: The train is about to leave. Q: What does the man mean? 6. M: Aren’t we supposed to have a literature test this afternoon? W: It’s postponed because the teacher has to attend a conference. Q: What can we learn from this conversation? 7. W: I am afraid this research work is really beyond me. M: Oh, why not e to Dr. Scott? Q: What does the man mean? 8. W: I wonder if a problem like this can be solved by Linda. M: Well, if she can’t solve it, no one can. Q: What can be concluded from the conversation? 9. M: The play should have begun ten minutes ago. What’s holding things up? W: The main actor is caught in a traffic jam. Q: What can we learn from the conversation? 10. M: Do you like Professor Zhang’s class? W: I never miss her class, you know. Q: What can we learn from the conversation? II. Understanding a Conversation Listening Task Directions: Listen to the conversation and plete the following sentences. (Emma and Michael are talking about tropical rain forests.) W: Hi, Michael, how did you enjoy your trip to Brazil? M: Oh, very well. We’ve been to different parts of the country. W: What do you like most about Brazil? M: Its forests. Brazil has one of the largest tropical