Question

任务型阅读(5小题，共10分) (2014 •北京海淀区九年级上学期期中)

   When we want to find out what the weather will be like tomorrow,we usually turn on the TV. But people also needed to forecast (predict) the weather before they had TVs. How did they do it in the past? They would find an outdoor space,look up,look around,and listen.

                                   Look up

   Red sky at night,sailors’ delight!

   Red sky in the morning,sailors take warning!

   This weather poem was written a long time ago,but it still works today. Weather in many parts of the world moves from west to east. Whatever weather is in the west tonight will probably be with us tomorrow. So a red sky at night,as the sun is setting,usually means a sunny day for the next day.

                                    Look around

   Animals,insects,and plants are natural weather forecasters.

   When a summer storm is coming,you may notice that dogs,cows and horses grow restless. These animals don't have some mysterious sixth sense,but they do have super-sensitive hearing. Scientists think the animals can forecast thunderstorms (雷暴雨) because they can hear the sound waves (声波) made by thunderstorms many miles away.

   When leaves show their undersides,be very certain,rain happens.

                                      Listen

   If you hear a cricket,it can tell you the exact temperature. Just count its chirps (啁啾声) for fourteen seconds and then add forty. This will give you the Fahrenheit temperature of the cricket within a very few degrees. Since crickets are cold-blooded,the temperature of the cricket is about the same as the air around it.

   So learn to predict the weather the way people did in the past. Get outside,look up,look around,and listen. Soon you’ll be your very own weather forecaster.

阅读短文，根据短文内容回答问题。

1. Did people need to forecast the weather before they had TVs?

2. What does a red sky at night mean for the next day?

3. Why can animals forecast thunderstorms?

4. How can we know the temperature from a cricket?

5. What does the passage mainly tell us?

Answer 1

1. Yes. / Yes,they did.

2. It means a sunny day for the next day. / It means the next day is sunny.

3. Because they can hear the sound waves made by thunderstorms many miles away.

4. By listening to its chirps. / By counting its chirps (for fourteen seconds) .

5. We can predict the weather by looking up,looking around and listening.