Whichissafer-stayingathome，travelingtoworkonpublictransport，orworkingintheoffice?Surprisingly，eachofthesecarriesthesamerisk，whichisverylow.However，whataboutflyingcomparedtoworkinginthechemicalindustry?Unfortunately，theformeris65timesriskierthanthelatter!Infact，theaccidentrateofworkersinthechemicalindustryislessthanthatofalmostanyofhumanactivity，andalmostassafeasstayingathome.

Thetroublewiththechemicalindustryisthatwhenthingsgowrongtheyoftencausedeathtothoselivingnearby.Itisthiswhichmakeschemicalaccidentssonewsworthy.Fortunately，theyareextremelyrare.ThemostfamousoneshappenedatTexasCity(1947)，Flixborough(1974)，Seveso(1976)，Pemex(1984)andBhopal(1984)。

Someofthesearealwaysinthemindsofthepeopleeventhoughthelossoflifewassmall.NoonediedatSeveso，andonly28workersatFlixborough.TheworstaccidentofallwasBhopal，whereupto3，000werekilled.TheTexasCityexplosionoffertilizerkilled552.ThePemexfireatastorageplantfornaturalgasinthesuburbsofMexicoCitytook542lives，justamonthbeforetheunfortunateeventatBhopal.

Someexpertshavediscussedtheseaccidentsandusedeachaccidenttoillustrateaparticulardanger.ThustheTexasCityexplosionwascausedbytonsofammoniumnitrate(硝酸铵)，whichissafeunlessstoredingreatquantity.TheFlixboroughfireballwasthefaultofmanagement，whichtookriskstokeepproductiongoingduringessentialrepairs.TheSevesoaccidentshowswhathappensifthelocalauthoritieslackknowledgeofthedangerontheirdoorstep.Whenthepoisonousgasdriftedoverthetown，localleaderswereincapableoftakingeffectiveaction.ThePemexfirewasmadeworsebyanoverloadedsiteinanovercrowdedsuburb.Thefiresetoffachainreactionosexplodingstoragetanks.Yet，byamiracle，thetwolargesttanksdidnotexplode.Hadthesecaughtfire，then3，000strongrescueteamandfirefighterswouldallhavedied.

1.Chemicalaccidentsareusuallyimportantenoughtobereportedasnewsbecause____.

A.theyareveryrare

B.theyoftencauselossoflife

C.theyalwaysoccurinbigcities

D.theyarousetheinterestofallthereaders

2.Whichofthefollowingstatementsistrue?

A.Workingattheofficeissaferthanstayingathome.

B.Traverllingtoworkonpublictransportissaferthanworkingattheoffice.

C.Stayingathomeissaferthanworkinginthechemicalindustry.

D.Workinginthechemicalindustryissaferthantravelingbyair.

3.Accordingtopassage，thechemicalaccidentthatcausedbythefaultofmanagementhappenedat____.

A.TexascityB.FlixboroughC.SevesoD.MexicoCity

4.Fromthediscussionamongsomeexpertswemaycocludethat____.

A.toavoidanyaccidentsweshouldnotrepairthefacilitiesinchemicalindustry

B.thelocalauthoritiesshouldnotbeconcernedwiththeproductionofthechemicalindustry

C.alltheseaccidentscouldhavebeenavoidedorcontrolledifeffectivemeasurehadbeentaken

D.naturalgasstoredinverylargetanksisalwayssafe

5.Fromthepassageweknowthatammoniumnitrateisakindof____.

A.naturalgas，whichcaneasilycatchfire

B.fertilizer，whichcan'tbestoredinagreatquantity

C.poisonoussubstance，whichcan'tbeusedinovercrowdedareas

D.fuel，whichisstoredinlargetanks

Wecanconcludefromthepassagethat________.

Themotheralmost____whenshelearnedthathersonwasshotdead.

Whiledoingcalculationfortheproject,thedesigners____anewsolutiontoageologicalproblem.

Passage4

Questions16to20arebasedonthefollowingpassage:

Cultureshockisanoccupationaldisease(职业病)forpeoplewhohavebeensuddenlytransplantedabroad.

Cultureshockiscausedbytheanxietythatresultsfromlosingallfamiliarsignsandsymbolsofsocialintercourse.Thosesignsareasfollowing:whentoshakehandsandwhattosaywhenmeetpeople,whenandhowtogivetips,howtomakepurchases,whentoacceptandrefuseinvitations,whentotakestatementsseriouslyandwhennot.Thesesigns,whichmaybewords,gestures,facialexpressions,orcustoms,areacquiredbyallofusinthecourseofgrowingupandasmuchapartofourcultureasthelanguagewespeakorthebeliefsweaccept.Allofusdependonhundredsofthesesignsforourpeaceofmindandday-to-dayefficiency,butwedonotcarrymostatthelevelofconsciousawareness.

Nowwhenanindividualentersastrangeculture,allormostofthesefamiliarsignsareremoved.Nomatterhowbroadmindedorfullofgoodwillyoumaybeaseriesofsupportshavebeenknockedfromunderyou,followedbyafeelingoffrustration.Whensufferingfromcultureshockpeoplefirstrejecttheenvironmentwhichcauseddiscomfort.Thewaysofthehostcountryarebadbecausetheymakeusfeelbad.Whenforeignersinastrangelandgettogetherincomplainaboutthehostcountryitspeople,youcanbesurethattheyaresufferingfromcultureshock.

16.Accordingtothepassage,cultureshockis.

A.anoccupationaldiseaseofforeignpeopleB.mayleadtoveryserioussymptoms

C.actuallynotadiseaseD.incurable

17.Accordingtothepassage,cultureshockresultfrom.

A.thesuddenchangeofsocialatmosphereandcustoms

B.thesuddenchangeofourdailyhabits

C.thesuddenlossofourownsignsandsymbols

D.thediscomfortthatwefeelwhenfacedwithaforeigner

18.Whichoneofthefollowingmaynotbeasymptomofcultureshock?

A.Youdon’tknowhowtoexpressyourgratitude.

B.Youdon’tknowhowtogreetotherpeople.

C.Yousuddenlyforgetwhatawordmeans.

D.Youdon’tunderstandwhyaforeignershrugs.

19.Accordingtothepassage,howwouldapersonwhostaysabroadmostprobablyreactwhenheisfrustratedbythecultureshock?

A.Heismostlikelytorefusetoabsorbthestrangeenvironmentatfirst.

B.Heisreallytoacceptthechangeandadapthimselftothenewenvironment.

C.Althoughhetakestheculturedifferenceforgranted,hestilldoesn’tknowhowtodowithit.

D.Hemaybegintohatethepeopleorthingsaroundhim.

20.Themainideaofthispassageisthat.

A.cultureshockisanoccupationaldisease

B.cultureshockiscausedbytheanxietyoflivinginastrangeculture

C.cultureshockhaspeculiarsymptoms

D.itisveryhardtocopewithlifeinanewsetting