Question

Greece declared a national state of emergency on Saturday as scores of forest fires that have killed at least 46 people continued to burn out of control, leaving some villages trapped within walls of flames, cut off from firefighters.

Although most of the fires have been on the Peloponnesian Peninsula, some broke out on the outskirts of Athens on Saturday, forcing the evacuation of homes and closing a major road linking the capital to the main airport for several hours. The national fire brigade said that by evening it had brought those blazes under control, including one that came within about six miles of the city.

The country has been vulnerable to fire this summer because of drought and three consecutive heat waves that sent temperatures soaring over 100 degrees. More than 3,000 forest fires have destroyed thousands of acres of wooded areas since June; the earlier fires killed nine people. The latest spate of fires on the peninsula started Friday. Strong, hot winds have spread the flames.

Firefighters expect the death toll to rise, because they have not yet been able to search some areas that had been overrun by flames.

Hardest hit by the fires were a dozen small villages t around the town of Zaharo in the western peninsula, where at least 12 people, including some who may have been trying to flee by car, were killed. Scores of other residents, including elderly and disabled people, remained trapped in their homes, phoning in to local television and radio stations, crying for help.

Late Saturday, Mr. Karamanlis, Prime Minister of Greece appeared on national television and declared that he was mobilizing all of the country’s resources to control the fire. Mr. Karamanlis also suggested that the recent fires might have been purposely set. “So many fires sparked simultaneously in so many regions is no coincidence,” he said, “We will get to the bottom of this and punish those responsible.”

The overstretched national fire services are being helped by an estimated 6,000 soldiers mobilized for the operation. A fleet of water-dumping aircraft was expected from France, Germany and Norway, after Greece appealed to the European Union for “urgent assistance.”

51.The writer mainly wants to tell us that ______ in the passage.

A. firefighters battles fearlessly in Greece to control the fire

B. constant fires in Greece have caused great life and wealth lose

C. Greece is facing great danger as forest fires continue to break out

D. Greek government is investigating the cause of recent forest fires

52. We can know from the passage that ______.

A. Athens, capital of Greece was not threatened in the fire

B. Greek government did not take effective measures to control the fire

C. many people had to leave their homes to avoid fire

D. all people endangered by the fire have already got immediate and proper help

53. According to the passage, which of the following might not contribute to the recent forest fires in Greek?

A. Storm thunders in summer

B. Lack of rainfall

C. Extremely hot weather this summer

D. Hot and strong wind

54. We can learn from the passage that ______.

A. now the fire crisis in Greece has come to an end

B. assistance from EU members is expected to come to help Greece

C. firefighters in Greece so far can still manage the situation

D. the number of people who die in the fire is expected not to rise any more

55. Mr. Karamanlis believes the forest fires in Greece _______.

A. is a happening by chance                              B. is a natural disaster

C. might be caused by human       on purpose             D. is a punishment of nature

Answer 1

51. C  52. C  53. A  54. B 55. C

解析:

51. 主旨大意题。首段“Greece declared a national state of emergency on Saturday as scores of forest fires…..”是全文中心句，全文信息皆围绕这一事件展开，包括救援，伤亡等。

52. 细节理解题。由第二段 “forcing the evacuation of homes”可知，很多家庭被迫迁移，选项C正确。第二段提到希腊首都雅典受到威胁，所以首都与重要机场之间的道路封闭了几小时，排除选项A；由倒数第二段第一句首相的话“he was mobilizing all of the country’s resources to control the fire”可知，政府已经采取了措施，排除选项B；由第五段可知，而还有人电话求救，可知并不是所有人都得到及时救援，排除D。

53. 细节理解题。第三段提及了造成火灾的各种因素，没有提到雷暴的影响。

54. 细节理解题。希腊全国处于紧急状态，而且需要更多外援，所以A错，national fire services已经处于overstretched的状态(最后一段)，所以不能说他们can still manage the situation，C错；“Firefighters expect the death toll to rise, …...”（第四段）可知死亡人数还将增加，D错。

55. 细节理解题。由Mr. Karamanlis所说的那一段话的可知，他相信这是人为操纵的并且