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On September 7, 1991, the costliest hailstorm (雹暴) in Canadian history hit Calgary’ southern suburbs. As a result, since 1996 a group of insurance companies have spent about $2 million per year on the Alberta Hail Suppression Project. Airplanes seed threatening storm cells with a chemical to make small ice crystals fall as rain before they can grow into dangerous hailstones. But farmers in east-central Alberta — downwind of the hail project flights — worry that precious moisture (水分) is being stolen from their thirsty land by the cloud seeding.翻譯：1991年9月7日，加拿大歷史上最昂貴的冰雹襲擊了卡爾加里的南郊。因此，自1996年以來(lái)，一組保險(xiǎn)公司每年在艾伯塔省冰雹抑制項(xiàng)目上花費(fèi)約200萬(wàn)美元。飛機(jī)在有威脅的風(fēng)暴細(xì)胞中播撒一種化學(xué)物質(zhì)，使小冰晶在變成危險(xiǎn)的冰雹之前像雨一樣落下。但是阿爾伯塔省中東部的農(nóng)民——冰雹項(xiàng)目飛行的順風(fēng)——擔(dān)心寶貴的水分正在被云播從他們干旱的土地上偷走。解析：文章第一段通過(guò)1991年的冰雹災(zāi)害引出了為了應(yīng)對(duì)冰雹而出現(xiàn)的項(xiàng)目。本段的最后一句用一個(gè)“but”引出本文討論的主題——這個(gè)項(xiàng)目對(duì)部分地區(qū)可能造成負(fù)面的影響——干旱。涉及本段的試題為28題——項(xiàng)目的目的。根據(jù)文中的as a result因果關(guān)系可以看出這個(gè)項(xiàng)目的產(chǎn)生原因即是那場(chǎng)冰雹，所以答案為B項(xiàng)。28. What does the project aim to do?A. Conserve moisture in the soil. B. Prevent the formation of hailstones.C. Forecast disastrous hailstorms. D. Investigate chemical use in farming.Costly: 昂貴的；值錢(qián)的；代價(jià)大的As a result of: 因?yàn)?/span>Insurance company: 保險(xiǎn)公司Seed: 在本文中作動(dòng)詞，用晶粒物質(zhì)使冷凝（結(jié)晶）（尤指促云化雨）Downwind: 順風(fēng)的；upwind 逆風(fēng)的Norman Stienwand, who farms in that area, has been addressing public meetings on this issue for years. “Basically, the provincial government is letting the insurance companies protect the Calgary-Edmonton urban area from hail,” Mr. Stienwand says, “but they’re increasing drought risk as far east as Saskatchewan.”翻譯：Norman Stienwand是該地區(qū)的農(nóng)場(chǎng)主，多年來(lái)一直在公開(kāi)會(huì)議上就這個(gè)問(wèn)題發(fā)表演講。“基本上，省政府正在讓保險(xiǎn)公司保護(hù)卡爾加里-埃德蒙頓市區(qū)免受冰雹的影響，”斯蒂恩萬(wàn)德說(shuō)，“但他們?cè)黾恿诉h(yuǎn)至薩斯喀徹溫省東部的干旱風(fēng)險(xiǎn)?！?/span>解析：這一段以農(nóng)場(chǎng)主的直接引語(yǔ)來(lái)說(shuō)明有人反對(duì)這個(gè)項(xiàng)目并說(shuō)明其原因。29. Who are opposed to the project?A. Farmers in east-central Alberta. B. Managers of insurance companies.C. Provincial government officials. D. Residents of Calgary and Edmonton.Address: 這個(gè)單詞的多詞性和多詞義在不同語(yǔ)境中出現(xiàn)的頻率較高，需要掌握。在本文中address public meetings， 意為發(fā)表演說(shuō)。Basically: 基本上，大體上；從根本上說(shuō)，總的說(shuō)來(lái)Protect...from...: 保護(hù)...免受Increase drought risk: 增加干旱的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)The Alberta hail project is managed by Terry Krauss, a cloud physicist who works for Weather Modification Inc. of Fargo, North Dakota. “We affect only a very small percentage of the total moisture in the air, so we cannot be causing drought.” Dr. Krauss says. “In fact, we may be helping increase the moisture downwind by creating wetter ground.”翻譯：艾伯塔省冰雹項(xiàng)目由特里·克勞斯管理，他是北達(dá)科他州法戈市人工影響天氣公司的云物理學(xué)家。“我們只影響了空氣中水分總量的很小一部分，所以我們不可能造成干旱?！笨藙谒共┦空f(shuō)?！笆聦?shí)上，我們可能會(huì)通過(guò)創(chuàng)造更濕潤(rùn)的地面來(lái)幫助增加下風(fēng)的濕度?！?/span>解析：本段是項(xiàng)目的管理員就上文農(nóng)場(chǎng)主提出的反對(duì)意見(jiàn)進(jìn)行的反駁。A small percentage of: 少部分的One doubter about the safety of cloud seeding is Chuck Doswell, a research scientist who just retired from the University of Oklahoma. “In 1999, I personally saw significant tornadoes (龍卷風(fēng)) form from a seeded storm cell in Kansas,” Dr. Doswell says. “Does cloud seeding create killer storms or reduce moisture downwind? No one really knows, of course, but the seeding goes on.”翻譯：查克·多斯韋爾(Chuck Doswell)是一位剛剛從俄克拉何馬大學(xué)退休的研究科學(xué)家，他對(duì)人工降雨的安全性持懷疑態(tài)度。“1999年，我在堪薩斯州親眼目睹了由種子風(fēng)暴細(xì)胞形成的重大龍卷風(fēng)，”多斯韋爾博士說(shuō)?！叭斯そ涤陼?huì)制造致命風(fēng)暴還是減少順風(fēng)處的水分?”當(dāng)然，沒(méi)有人真正知道，但是播種還在繼續(xù)。”解析：這一段是從一個(gè)科學(xué)家的觀點(diǎn)說(shuō)明這個(gè)項(xiàng)目的安全性。他引用了自己的親身經(jīng)歷的龍卷風(fēng)來(lái)反駁這個(gè)項(xiàng)目。涉及本段的題目為30題，為什么Dr.Doswell要提到1999年的風(fēng)暴，根據(jù)上下文可知，這個(gè)例子是為了證明通過(guò)播種的形式來(lái)降低龍卷風(fēng)的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，結(jié)果造成了重大龍卷風(fēng)，那么通過(guò)播種的形式來(lái)降低冰雹的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)難道不會(huì)造成更嚴(yán)重的冰雹嗎？所以選擇C項(xiàng)。30. Why does Dr. Doswell mention the tornadoes he saw in 1999?A. To compare different kinds of seeding methods.B. To illustrate the development of big hailstorms.C. To indicate a possible danger of cloud seeding.D. To show the link between storms and moisture.Killer storm: 殺手風(fēng)暴；致命龍卷風(fēng)Given the degree of doubt, Mr. Stienwand suggests, “it would be wise to stop cloud seeding.” In practice, doubt has had the opposite effect. Due to the lack of scientific proof concerning their impacts, no one has succeeded in winning a lawsuit against cloud-seeding companies. Hence, private climate engineering can proceed in relative legal safety.翻譯：考慮到質(zhì)疑的程度，斯廷旺德建議，“停止播云是明智的?！痹趯?shí)踐中，懷疑產(chǎn)生了相反的效果。由于缺乏有關(guān)其影響的科學(xué)證據(jù)，沒(méi)有人成功地贏得了對(duì)人工降雨公司的訴訟，因此，私人氣候工程可以在相對(duì)法律安全的情況下進(jìn)行。解析：本段作為對(duì)這個(gè)項(xiàng)目安全是否的爭(zhēng)議的結(jié)尾。因?yàn)槿狈茖W(xué)依據(jù)，所以并沒(méi)有阻止。所以31題選擇D項(xiàng)。31. What can we infer from the last paragraph?A. Scientific studies have proved Stienwand right.B. Private climate engineering is illegal in Canada.C. The doubt about cloud seeding has disappeared.D. Cloud-seeding companies will continue to exist.It would be wise to do sth: 做某事是明智的Have the opposite effect: 有反效果 課外閱讀：
A new hail suppression project was started in Alberta in 1996. Weather Modification Inc. (WMI) of Fargo, North Dakota was awarded a five year contract by the Alberta Severe Weather Management Society of Calgary, Alberta to conduct cloud seeding to reduce urban property damage from hail, particularly for the Calgary and Red Deer areas. The operational program runs from June 15th to September15th. This project is rather unique because it is funded entirely by private insurance companies with the sole intent to mitigate the damage of property by hail storms. The seeding program is based upon the hailstorm conceptual model, seeding methods, and storm forecasting techniques of the previous long-term hail research project conducted by the Alberta Research Council from the late 1960’s through 1985. In 1996, a C-band weather radar with computer recording and communications systems and three cloud seeding aircraft were dedicated to the project. The aircraft and radar crews provided 24 hr coverage, seven days a week throughout the period. The program has been welcomed by the local communities and has rekindled much interest in cloud seeding.
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