Could you check your reading skills(阅读能力知多少）？

靳京

   lease read the passages and identify the statements as T(true) or F (false) according to your understanding.（以下是三篇小文章，您能试着检验一下自己的阅读能力，将正确的填入T，错误的填入F吗？（试试吧，看看 if they are hard to you.）

1.    Tomas Newcomen built the 1^st steam engine in London with the help of his co-workers and engineers in 1705. It was first used to pump water out of coal mines and keep them from flooding. However, Mr.Newcomen’s steam engine was very slow.

In 1769, a Scotsman named James Watt built an improved steam engine. His steam engine used coal as fuel. As result of this invention, factory machines and trains could run on the power of steam.

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1) [     ] The first steam engine was built in England.

2) [     ] The new steam engine flooded the coal mines with water.

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3) [      ] The steam engine Tomas invented was slow.

4) [      ] Coal is a fuel.

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5) [     ] The new invention started to help factory machines and trains to run with steam as power.

 

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2.    The steamboat was an important source of transportation along American rivers from the early 1800s – 1930s. The steam boats were very critical to the settlement of immigrants and towns along the Mississippi River. Because the steamboats could travel against the river and wind currents, passengers and freights (cargo) could move quickly from New Orleans in the South to St. Paul in the North, and back again.

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Mark Twin wrote about great adventure on the steamboats of Mississippi River. He was famous for his own experience as a steamboat captain. At one time there were 9,000 of these boats traveling the Mississippi at his time, however, there are very few steamboats nowadays still in use.

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6) [      ] Steamboat could go against the Mississippi Rive and wind current and was one of the important way of transportation till 1930s.

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7) [       ] The steamboat could take passengers ONLY but not the freight.

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8) [      ] Mark Twin, a famous American writer, was once a captain of the boat and traveled on the Mississippi River.

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9) [       ] New Orleans has been an important city up on the North of the US.

10) [        ] There is almost no steamboat traveling on the River any more today.

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3.    Weather changes from day to day. However, the weather in any area tends to follow a pattern throughout the year. This is called climate.

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The climate of a region often determines which outdoor activity you can do. If you could choose, what kind of climate would you prefer? Would you like a warm and dry climate for swimming in the ocean? Or would you prefer a cold climate for snow skiing? In some regions, you can do both activities during different seasons of the year.

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You can talk about the climate of a region by describing the typical season there. For example, northern Canada tends to have cold winters and mild summers. The southern US tends to have hot summers and mild winters. How would you describe the seasons where you live?

11 [      ] Weather changes from day to day, but climate follows a pattern throughout the year.

12 [      ] The climate changes from day to day.

13 [     ] During different seasons of the year, most regions provide some snow for skiing.

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14 [      ] A cold climate is actually good for ocean swimming.

15 [     ] Ocean swimming is an outdoor activity.

16 [     ] You can do any outdoor activity in any region or climate.

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17 [     ] You can predict the climate without knowing the typical seasons of a region.

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18 [     ] Hot summer stays in the North of Canada.

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19 [     ] Summer in the Southern US tends to be hot and mild in the winter time.

20 [     ] You can certainly tell the climate situation to the place you live now.

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Good luck to you. Catch you later.