Underground Coal Fires—— a Looming Catastrophe¹

　　Coal burning deep underground in China, India and Indonesia is threatening the environment and human life, scientists have warned.² these large-scale underground blazes cause the ground temperature to heat up and kill surrounding vegetation, produce greenhouse gases and can even ignite forest first, a panel³ of scientists told the annual meeting of the American Association For the Advancement of Science in Denver⁴. 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 own⁵, and eventually catch fire and burn, if there is a continuous oxygen supply. The heat produced is not cause to disappear and under the right combinations of sunlight and oxygen, can trigger spontaneous⁶ catching fire and burning. This can occur underground, in coal stockpiles⁷, abandoned mines or even as coal is transported. Such fires in China consume⁸ up to⁹ 200 million tones of coal per year, delegates were told. In comparison, the U.S. economy consumes about one billion tones 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,¹⁰ coal fires can burn for decades, even centuries. In the process, they release large volumes of greenhouse gases poisonous fumes and black particles into 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 Paul Van Dijk of the International Institute for Geo-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 these fires are emitting. One suggested method of containing¹¹ the fires was presented by Gary Colaizzi, of the engineering firm Goodson, which has developed a heat-resistant grout (a thin mortar¹² used to fill cracks and crevices), which is designed to be pumped into the coal fire to cut off¹³ the oxygen supply.

词汇：

loom  / lu:m / vi. 迫近

fume / fju:m / n.. 烟，气，汽
greenhouse / "ɡri:nhaʊs / n. 温室

soot / sʊt /  煤烟，油烟
arsenic / ˈɑ:snɪk / n. 砷

carbon dioxide  二氧化碳
underway / ˌʌndəˈweɪ / adj. 在进行中的

grout /ɡraʊt / n. 灰浆，水泥浆
crevice /ˈkrevɪs/ n. 裂缝

注释：

1.looming catastrophe：loom意为“to seem imminent；to impend”（看似即将发生；迫近）。looming catastrophe：即将来临的灾难。
2.Coal burning deep underground in China, India and Indonesia is threatening the environment and human life, scientists have warned：句子的前半句Coal burning deep…is threatening the environment and human life，是后半句scientists have warned的宾语。正常的语序是：Scientists have warned that coal burning deep underground in China，India and Indonesia is threatening the environment and human life.同段第二句、第三句都是这种结构。
3.a panel：意为“a group of people gathered to plan for or discuss an issue”（专门小组，聚在一起策划或讨论一个问题的一群人）

4.Denver：丹佛，美国科罗拉多州首府和最大的城市，位于该州中北部。
5.on its own：意为“independent of outside help”（独立于外来的帮助）
6.spontaneous：意为“happening or arising without apparent external cause”（自然产生的，非由显然的外力诱发或产生的）。
7.coal stockpiles：煤堆
8.consume：意为“to destroy totally”（毁灭）。下面一句中的consume，意为“use up”（消耗，花费）
9.up to：相当于
10.Once underway…：一旦燃烧起来……；underway：正在进行（工作）中的。
11.contain：意为“to hold or keep within limits”（抑制，控制）
12.thin mortar：稀砂浆，稀灰浆
13.cut off：切断，隔绝。

According to the fifth paragraph, what is the suggested method to control under ground fires?

A:Using remote sensing technique. B:Controlling the release of carbon dioxide. C:Making the soil heat resistant D:Cutting off the oxygen supply.

Few scientific fields are as full of risk as that of research into human intelligence. The two questions that (1) over and over again are "is it a result of nature or nurture" and "does race make a difference"
Making (2) comments about the second question can be a (3) move, as James Watson, a co-discoverer of DNA structure, recently found. He suggested that he was " (4) about the prospect of Africa" (5) "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours (white people) (6) all the testing says not really". Such (7) are not merely (8) , they are scientifically weird. If the term race has any useful scientific meaning, then Africa, the continent where modern (9) began, is most racially diverse. The resulting (10) forced Dr Watson to leave his laboratory.
(11) , the study of (12) between intelligence and genetics has some wiser practitioners. One of them, Terrie Moffitt, of King’s College, has just (13) a project (14) the relative importance of nature and nurture. Dr Moffitt’s team (15) the effect on intelligence of breastfeeding, but in a genetic context. Previous studies have shown that breastfed children are more intelligent, (16) about six IQ points, than those given baby formulas.
The team, however, (17) the involvement of a gene called FADS2, which comes in two varieties, known as C and G. The researchers (18) if these two varieties (19) differently with breast milk. (20) on data two groups of people, they found that the intelligence increase associated with breastfeeding only happened to people having inherited at least one copy of the C variety. The effect did not depend on the social classes or IQs of the parents.

A:had B:examined C:discovered D:suggested

Few scientific fields are as full of risk as that of research into human intelligence. The two questions that (1) over and over again are "is it a result of nature or nurture" and "does race make a difference"
Making (2) comments about the second question can be a (3) move, as James Watson, a co-discoverer of DNA structure, recently found. He suggested that he was " (4) about the prospect of Africa" (5) "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours (white people) (6) all the testing says not really". Such (7) by Dr. Watson are not merely (8) , they are scientifically weird. If the term (9) has any useful scientific meaning, then Africa, the continent where modern humanity began, is most racially diverse. The resulting (10) among the public forced Dr. Watson to leave his laboratory.
(11) , the study of the first question (12) between intelligence and genetics— has some wiser practitioners. One of them, Terrie Moffitt, of King’s College, has just (13) a project judging the relative importance of nature and nurture. Dr. Moffitt’s team (14) the effect on intelligence of breastfeeding, but in a genetic context. Previous studies have shown that breastfed children are more intelligent, (15) about six IQ points, than those given baby formulas.
The team, however, (16) the involvement of a gene called FADS2, which comes in two varieties, known as C and G. The researchers (17) if these two varieties interacted differently with breast milk. (18) on data from two groups of people, they found that the intelligence increase associated with breastfeeding only happened to people having (19) at least one copy of the C variety. The effect did not. (20) on the social classes or IQs of the parents.

A:had B:examined C:discovered D:suggested

It is suggested in the third paragraph that ______.

A:the Dani's thought was strongly restricted by their language B:the Dani could recognize more than they could name C:it is doubtful language influences what people think about D:there is considerable proof indicating language's decisive role

In the last paragraph, the author suggested that

A:piracy to some extent be advocated. B:content providers promote tech innovation. C:all entertainment firms protect the copyright. D:better fee-based services be offered to combat piracy.

The doctor suggested that he ______ there.

A:not to go B:hadn’t gone C:not go D:wouldn’t go

He (suggested) that she (met) with her lawyer (before) signing the (final) agreement.

A:suggested B:met C:before D:final

He (suggested) that she (met) with her lawyer (before) signing the (final) agreement.

A:suggested B:met C:before D:final