In January, 2003，the eastern two．thirds of the United States was at the mercy of a bitterly cold air mass that has endangered Florida’s citrus trees，choked northern harbors with ice and left bewildered residents of North Carolina’s Outer Banks digging out of up to a foot of snow．
The ice chill deepened as temperatures fell to the single digits。in most of me。South,with all unfamiliar dip below the freezing mark as far south as parts of interior South Florida．Temperatures in Florida plunged，with West Palm Beach dropping to a record low of 2 degrees．
“We couldn’t believe how cold it was，”said Martin King，who arrived this week in Orlando。from England．“We brought shorts，T?shirt，and I had to go out and buy another coat．”
The temperature plunge posed a threat to Florida’s US$9.1 billion-a-year citrus crop．More of which is still on the trees．Growers were hurrying to harvest as much of the fruit as possible before it was damaged by cold．
“Time is of the essenceⅢin getting fruit to the plant，”said Tom Rogers，a citrus grower who expected to see damage to oranges and grapefruit at that time．
In Florida，Governor Jeb Bush signed an emergency order to eliminate the weight limit Oil trucks SO citrus growers could get as much fruit to market as possible．
Casey Pace，a spokeswoman for Florida Citrus Mutual，said growers had sprayed trees with sprinklers。which created a layer of ice and helped maintain a temperature near freezing．Citrus trees are considered in danger of damage if the temperature drops below minus 2 degrees Celsius for four hours or more．Snow ranging from a dusting to up to 30 centimeters “blanketed“ the Carolinas，Tennessee and parts of Virginia．
1.Which．of the following statements is not meant in the first two paragraphs?
A)The cold air mass was a threat to Florida’s citrus crop．
B)The temperature in the United States except the South dropped below the freezing mark．
C)The northern harbors were blocked with ice．
D)The eastern two thirds of the United States was hit by cold air mass．
2.According to the second paragraph，in which area(s)did the temperature fall below zero?
A)Most of the South．
B)Parts of interior South Florida．
C)West Palm Beach．
D)All of the above．
3.King’s statement that “we brought shorts，T-shirt，and I had to go out and buy another coat．”shows that
A)he was caught by the sudden cold．
B)he needed formal clothes．
C)fashion in Florida is tempting．
D)Florida is hot compared with England．
4.Governor Jeb issue the emergency order because he
A)thought speed limit for trucks was unreasonable．
B)tried to improve the traffic condition of the expressways．
C)wanted to encourage trucks to transport as much fruit to market as possible
D)wanted to stop trucks from carrying too much fruit to market．
5.Which statement is NOT true according to the last paragraph?
A)Sprinklers were used to protect citrus trees from being damaged．
B)Citrus trees would be damaged if the temperature drops below minus 2~C for four hours．
C)The Carolinas，Tennessee and parts of Virginia were covered with snow．
D)Florida Citrus Mutual sprayed trees with sprinklers for citrus growers．
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The World’s Longest Bridge
Rumor has it that a legendary six—headed monster lurks in the deep waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea between Italy and the island of Sicily．——(1)——When completed in 2010，the world’s longest bridge will weigh nearly 300，000 tons—equivalent to the iceberg that sank the Titanic—and stretch 5 kilometers long．“That’s nearly 50 percent longer than any other bridge ever built，”says structural engineer Shane Rixon．
——(2) ——They’re suspension bridges，massive structures built to span vast water channels or gorges．A suspension bridge needs just two towers to shoulder the structure’s mammoth weight，thanks to hefty supporting cables slung between the towers and anchored firmly in deep pools of cement at each end of the bridge．The Messina Strait Bridge will have two 54，100-ton towers，which will support most of the bridge’s load．The beefy cables of the bridge．each 1.2 meter in diameter, will hold up the longest and widest bridge deck ever built．
When construction begins on the Messina Strait Bridge in 2005，the first job will be to erect two 370 meter-tall steel towers．——(3)——Getting these cables up will be something．It’s not just their length—totally 5.3 kilometers—but their weight． ——(4)——
After lowering vertical“suspender”cables from the main cables．builders will erect a 60 meter-wide 54.630-ton steel roadway, or deck——wide enough to accommodate 12 lanes of traffic．The deck’s weight will pull down on the cables with a force of 70，500 tons．In return，the cables yank up against their firmly rooted anchors with a force of 1 39。000 tons—equivalent to the weight of about 100，000 cars．Those anchors are essential．——(5)——
A Some environmentalists are against the project on biological grounds．
B What do the world’s longest bridges have in common?
C If true，one day you might spy the beast while zipping(呼啸而过)across the Messina Strait Bridge．
D They’re what will keep the bridge from going anywhere．
E The second job will be to pull two sets of steel cables across the strait，each set being a bundle of 44,352 individual steel wires．
F They will tip up the scales at 166,500 tons—more than half the bridge’s total mass．
