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（海灘搜尋） 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．

1.B

2.C

3.A

4.D

5.C

【解析】

試題分析:文中介紹了海洋科學家Curtis Ebbesmeyer的一種獨特研究洋流的方法——根據(jù)海上的漂浮物來研究洋流。他通過尋問海洋搜尋，請他們幫忙來收集漂浮物的信息，用這些信息資料他做實驗和研究，不斷完善洋流模型的電腦程序設計，然后出版他的研究結果。

1. 詞義猜測題。根據(jù)try and match left and right shoes to sell or wear.可知人們要試穿或賣這些鞋，故推測這是在進行一個交易會。故選B。

2. 推理判斷題。根據(jù)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.可知他打電話問公司要不要這些鞋，公司說不要。他覺得這可能是一個巨大的實驗。如果他能知道這些鞋是何時下水的，何時登陸的，那他就可以推斷洋流的形式。這樣，打電話最根本的目的是確定“能用你們的鞋子嗎？能用我就用來實驗了�！惫蔬xC。

3. 細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)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通過尋問海洋搜尋，請他們幫忙來收集信息，證明他的假設。故選A.

4. 細節(jié)理解題。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是個著名的科學家，專門打電話尋問罕見的海上漂流物。故選D.

5. 推理判斷題。根據(jù)第一段However, ocean expert Curtis Ebbesmeyer does it in a special way -- by studying movements of random floating garbage. 可知本文介紹了一種獨特的研究洋流的方法——通過研究海洋上的漂流物。故選C.

考點：考查說明類短文閱讀

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