{{B}}Underground Coal Fires A Looming
Catastrophe{{/B}} Coal burning deep underground in China, India
and Indonesia is threatening the environment and human life, scientists have
warned. These large-scale underground blazes cause the ground temperature to
heat up and kill surroundings vegetation, produce greenhouse gases and can even
ignite forest fires, a panel of scientists told the annual meeting of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science in Denver. The resulting
release of poisonous elements like arsenic and mercury can also pollute local
water sources and soils, they warned. "Coal fires are a global
catastrophe," said Associate Professor Glenn Stracher of East Georgia College in
Swainsboro, USA. But surprisingly few people know about them.
Coal can heat up on its own, and eventually catch fire and burn, if there
is a continuous oxygen supply. The heat produced is not caused to disappear and
under the right combinations of sunlight and oxygen, can trigger spontaneous
catching fire and burning. This can occur underground, in coal stockpiles,
abandoned mines or even as coal is transported. Such fires in China consume up
to 200 million tones of coal per year, delegates were told. In comparison, the
US economy consumes about one billion tons of coal annually, said Stracher,
whose analysis of the likely impact of coal fires has been accepted for
publication in the International Journal of coal ecology, once underway, coal
fires can burn for decades, even centuries. In the process, they release large
volumes of greenhouse gases; poisonous gases fumes and black particles in to the
atmosphere. The members of the panel discussed the impact these
fires may be having on global and regional climate change, and agreed that the
underground nature of the fires makes them difficult to protect. One of the
members of the panel, Assistant Professor Pan1 Van Dijk of the International
Institute for Goo-Information Science' and Earth Observation in the Netherlands,
has been working with the Chinese government to detect and monitor fires in the
northern regions of the country. Ultimately, the remote sensing
and other techniques should allow scientists to estimate how much carbon dioxide
theses fires are emitting. One suggested method of containing the fires was
presented by Cary Colaozzi, of the engineering firm Goodson,' which bas
developed a heat-resistant grout (a thin mortar used to fill cracks and
crevices,) which is designed to be pumped into the coal fire to cut off the
oxygen supply.
单选题
According to the first paragraph, one of the warnings given by the scientists is that ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 利用题干中出现的核心词/结构(one of the warnings和scientists)作为答案线索，同时
注意到备选项C和D有关系：都提到了对水资源污染的问题，但比较来看C成为答案的叫能性更大，因为C与文章中心相关，这样发现答案相关句：These large-scale underground blazes．(火焰)cause the ground temperature to heat up and kill surroundings vegetation，produce greenhouse gases and can even ignite (点燃) (排除A：因为A说地下火在森林中显得突出，而原文说“会甚至点燃森林大火”)，a panel of scientists told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Denver．The resulting release of poisonous elements like arsenic and mercury can also pollute local water sources and soils,． they warned．该句的含义(释放有毒元素，如：种和汞，可能会污染水资源和土壤)与C一致。
单选题
According to the third paragraph, what will happen when the underground heat does not disappear?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 利用题干中的核心词(新信息词)under ground heat作为答案线索，注意备选项中出现的核心词/特征词(A：coal heats up；B：underground oxygen；C：poisonous fumes and greenhouse gases；D： abandoned mines)，这样发现答案相关句：Coal can heat up on its own, and eventually catch fire and bum(与 A有关系)，if there is a continuous oxygen supply.(该句没有提到地下氧气被用光，所以排除B) the heat (该句说“所产生的热没有消失，在太阳光和氧气的作用下，能诱发自燃。”显然这与A的内容一致o)This can occur under ground, in coal stockpiles, abandoned mines or even as coal is transported．(该句没有提到被废弃的矿井的增加，所以排除D)。
单选题
What did Stracher analyze in his article published in the International Journal of Coal Ecology?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 利用题干中的特征词Stracher和International Journal of Coal Ecology作为答案线索，同时发现A和B结构相似，所以重点注意，备选项都涉及了“煤/煤火”，而D与文章中心最接近，所以推测D可能是答案。也可以考虑同时利用“coal/coal fims”作为答案线索，这样发现答案相关句，(划线句)： Such fires in China consllme up to 200million tones of coal per year, delegates were told．In comparison，the US economy consumes about one billion tons of coal annually, said Straeher，whose analysis of the likely impact of fires ean burn for decades, even cen turies.该句内容直接揭示D是答案。而前文中也有相关的内容：“Coal East Georgia College in Swainsboro， USA，But surprisingly few people know about them．该句也暗示“煤引起的大火会产生巨大的影响”，因此也判断D是答案。
单选题
Which of the following statements about Paul Van Dijk is Not true?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 利用题干中出现的特征词Paul Van Dijk作为答案线索，同时注意利用备选项中的核心词作为答案线索，发现B和D在用词上有关系，重点注意，这样发现答案相关句：(前文相关内容：) a panel of scientists told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Denver． The members of the panel discussed the impact these fires may be having on global and regional climate change，and agreed that the underground nature of the fires makes them difficult to protect．One lf the members of the panel(划线结构揭示A的说法正确)，Assistant Professor Paul Van Diik of the International lnstitute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation in the Netherlands(划线结构揭示D的说法正确)，has been working with the Chinese government to detect and monitor fires in the northern regions of the country(该句揭示B不正确：原文说Paul Van Dijk研究的是中国的地下火)。
单选题
According to the fifth paragraph, what is the suggested method to control underground fires?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 该题可以借助常识(没有氧气就火就不能燃烧)直接判断D是答案，也可以借助原文，题干中说“suggested method(被建议的方法)”，所以考虑利用suggested method作为答案线索，找找答案相关句:One suggested method of contining thefires was presented by Cary Colaozzi,of the engmeenng firm Goodson，which has developed a oxygen supply该划线结构的含义表明“使用隔热的水泥浆的最终日的是为了切断氧气的供应”，因此判断D是答案。