Question

Scientists today are making greater effort to study ocean currents （洋流） ．Most do it using satellites and other high-tech equipment．However, ocean expert Curtis Ebbesmeyer does it in a special way --- by studying movements of random floating garbage．A scientist with many years’ experience, he started this type of research in the early 1990s when he heard about hundreds of athletic shoes washing up on the shores of the northwest coast of the United States．There were so many shoes that people were setting up swap meets to try and match left and right shoes to sell or wear．

Ebbesmeyer found out in his researches that the shoes — about 60,000 in total — fell into the ocean in a shipping accident．He phoned the shoe company and asked if they wanted the shoes back．As expected, the company told him that they didn't．Ebbesmeyer realized this could be a great experiment．If he learned when and where the shoes went into the water and tracked where they landed, he could learn a lot about the patterns of ocean currents．

The Pacific Northwest is one of the world's best areas for beachcombing（海滩搜寻） because winds and currents join here, and as a result, there is a group of serious beachcombers in the area．Ebbesmeyer got to know a lot of them and asked for their help in collecting information about where the shoes landed．In a year he collected reliable information on 1, 600 shoes．With this data, he and a colleague were able to test and improve a computer program designed to model ocean currents, and publish the findings of their study．

As the result of his work, Ebbesmeyer has become known as the scientist to call with questions about any unusual objects found floating in the ocean．He has even started an association of beachcombers and ocean experts, with 500 subscribers from West Africa to New Zealand．They have recorded all lost objects ranging from potatoes to golf gloves．

1.The underlined phrase swap meets in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ___________．

A．fitting rooms   B．trading fairs

C．business talks   D．group meetings

2.Ebbesmeyer phoned the shoe company to find out ___________．

A．what caused the shipping accident

B．when and where the shoes went missing

C．whether it was all right to use their shoes

D．how much they lost in the shipping accident

3.How did Ebbesmeyer prove his assumption?

A．By collecting information from beachcombers．

B．By studying the shoes found by beachcomber．

C．By searching the web for ocean currents models．

D．By researching ocean currents data in the library．

4.Ebbesmeyer is most famous for _________________．

A．traveling widely the coastal cities of the world

B．making records for any lost objects on the sea

C．running a global currents research association

D．phoning about any doubtful objects on the sea

5.What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?

A．To call people's attention to ocean pollution．

B．To warn people of shipping safety in the ocean．

C．To explain a unique way of studying ocean currents．

D．To give tips on how to search for lost objects on the beach．

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.A

4.D

5.C

【解析】

试题分析:文中介绍了海洋科学家Curtis Ebbesmeyer的一种独特研究洋流的方法——根据海上的漂浮物来研究洋流。他通过寻问海洋搜寻，请他们帮忙来收集漂浮物的信息，用这些信息资料他做实验和研究，不断完善洋流模型的电脑程序设计，然后出版他的研究结果。

1. 词义猜测题。根据try and match left and right shoes to sell or wear.可知人们要试穿或卖这些鞋，故推测这是在进行一个交易会。故选B。

2. 推理判断题。根据第二段As expected, the company told him that they didn't. Ebbesmeyer realized this could be a great experiment. If he learned when and where the shoes went into the water and tracked where they landed, he could learn a lot about the patterns of ocean currents.可知他打电话问公司要不要这些鞋，公司说不要。他觉得这可能是一个巨大的实验。如果他能知道这些鞋是何时下水的，何时登陆的，那他就可以推断洋流的形式。这样，打电话最根本的目的是确定“能用你们的鞋子吗？能用我就用来实验了。”故选C。

3. 细节理解题。根据第三段Ebbesmeyer got to know a lot of them and asked for their help in collecting information about where the shoes landed. 可知Ebbesmeyer通过寻问海洋搜寻，请他们帮忙来收集信息，证明他的假设。故选A.

4. 细节理解题。由第四段第一句Ebbesmeyer has become known as the scientist to call with questions about any unusual objects found floating in the ocean可知Ebbesmeyer是个著名的科学家，专门打电话寻问罕见的海上漂流物。故选D.

5. 推理判断题。根据第一段However, ocean expert Curtis Ebbesmeyer does it in a special way -- by studying movements of random floating garbage. 可知本文介绍了一种独特的研究洋流的方法——通过研究海洋上的漂流物。故选C.

考点：考查说明类短文阅读