单选题 A storm surge is a mound of water produced when a hurricane moves across a large body of water. Driving wind "pushes" the water so quickly that it "piles up" on the water in front of it, producing a mound of water that is higher than normal sea level. As the storm approaches land, the storm surge can be pushed up the beach and deep into inland areas. It arrives as a rush of water and can be capped by large, strong, pounding waves. Storm surge flooding is often the most deadly and damaging impact of a hurricane.
Storm surges are capable of causing total inundation(淹没) of entire coastal areas. A powerful hurricane can produce a storm surge of 15 feet or more. Storm surges of 20, 30 and 40 feet have been experienced in extreme storms. Portions of many important coastal cities and resort areas have thousands of people living on land that is less than 10 feet above sea level. Storm surges can knock down buildings, move trains off of their tracks, carry ships and docks inland, fill subways and do many other types of damage. People who live in vulnerable areas should heed evacuation orders. If they wait for the water to arrive, escape can be impossible. This is because the surge arrives suddenly, and quickly covers a very broad area. Less than two feet of water can drown out a car. Walking through moving water is very difficult. The water can be very cold and the wind chill will cut right through wet clothing! People who cannot escape quickly to higher ground or second stories can easily die of hypothermia in under an hour.
Forecasting a storm surge and its characteristics is difficult because there are so many variables. It is difficult to predict the time of arrival, and that makes it impossible to know if high tide or low tide will be contributing to the height of the surge or detracting from it. It is also difficult to know the windspeed at the time of landfall, how much water will be contributed by rainfall, the exact location of landfall and how topography(地形) will influence the movement of water. If you live in an area where an evacuation is ordered, obey that order and leave promptly.
单选题 Why is it extremely difficult to escape when the storm surge arrives?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题，答案为C。由extremely difficult to escape可定位到第二段第六句。第七句紧接着解释了原因：风暴潮来势凶猛、迅速，所以等到风暴潮来临后再企图逃离是极其困难的。
单选题 What might cause death if people fail to eascape to higher place in case of storm surge?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 推理判断题，答案为C。由cause death可定位到第二段最后一句。第二段最后两句提到，由于潮水冰冷刺骨，不能逃至高处的人不得不呆在水中，导致体温过低，最终死亡，故可以推断出hypothermia一词的含义为“体温过低”。
单选题 What is the difficulty in predicting a storm surge?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题，答案为D。由difficulty in predicting a storm surge可定位到第三段。可看出，风暴潮的预报困难是由于多种变量的存在，选项A，B，C均为困难所在，故答案为D。
单选题 What is the passage mainly about?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 主旨大意题，答案为B。浏览全文可知，第一段是对风暴潮的总体介绍，第二段主要介绍风暴潮的危险性，第三段阐述了难以预测风暴潮的原因，故答案为B。
单选题 Which of the following best describes the author"s tone in this passage?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 推理判断题，答案为C。本文为说明文，全文旨在客观地描述风暴潮这种自然现象，选项A意为“乐观的”，选项B意为“批评的”，选项D意为“任意的”，故答案为C。