meteorologist keio james works for the weather service.
norah: keio, what can i expect in homestead?
keio: well, norah, hurricane haley is about 70 miles off the coast, with winds reported to be up
to 100 miles per hour. it has already damaged islands in the caribbean, notices warning residents
and visitors to evacuate have been issued in several counties in southern florida.
norah: so local residents and visitors are being warned to evacuate. they are going to leave. but
some say they are staying here to protect their houses. they say, “we’ll be all right, hurricanes are
not usually as bad as they predict. everyone panics and gets ready, but it’s never really a big deal.”
keio: but authorities say people should stay informed and not second-guess the authorities.
despite reconnaissance aircraft, a sophisticated satellite and radar used by the national weather
service, forecasting the path of a hurricane is not an easy task. we input a lot of data into the
computer to get the forecast but there is still an element of interpretation. often, the storm will
change route or intensity unexpectedly. folks have to realize that they can be very, very vulnerable.
the worst thing is to be caught off guard.
norah: what can people do to prepare?
keio: well, they can stock up on supplies. people should have plenty of water on hand, at least a
couple of gallons per person and more if possible. sewers can back up and water gets
contaminated. you need food for at least three days, more, (if) possible.
norah: keio, you also said people need a sturdy pair of work boots, why?
keio: yes, if your place has been damaged, you don’t want to be walking into anything dangerous
when you come back. snakes, for instance, get dislocated by the hurricane, just like people and
end up in unexpected places.
norah: a nasty surprise. one of my friends has her own plan. well, they don’t live here. they are
down for a vocation with the kids from minnesota. no hurricanes there. her husband and the kids
are pretty excited. but honestly i’m scared stiff, if we have to evacuate. i’ll be relieved.
keio: most tourists aren’t prepared to face a hurricane, but if you plan to visit a coastal spot in the
late summer, then you could hit some very foul weather.
norah: that’s right. the main thing for tourists is to know what plans or provisions the hotel has
and what they can do if there’s a power outage or if the water is bad. you need to know where you
are going if you have to leave because roads get flooded and highways get backed up. and, what
about money?
keio: sure. you might need additional cash. people forget that atms won’t work without power.
norah: so, what’s your further advice for local residents?
keio: well, whether you plan to stay or leave, all you can do is watch, wait and try not to panic.
question11: how are the beaches in southern florida at the present moment?
question12: according to the interview, in which of the following places has the hurricane already
cause damage?
question13: according to the interview, people need to prepare some things in face of a hurricane.
which of the following is not one of these things?
question14: what does sophisticated equipment help hurricane forecasters to predict?
question15: if tourists are going to a coastal place, what should they do?
question 16 to 20 are based on the following talk.
modern life is full of nasty noises especially in the cities. sirens can shatter serenity at any
moment. and jackhammers, loud music, and useless mufflers can all send us over the edge. for
many people in new york city, there is one form of sonic pollution at the top of the list. they are
calling for its banning. even though, some nervous new yorkers savor the sound for security
reasons. it’s late. you’re tired. finally, after an exhausting day, you are ready to surrender to the
world of dreams. your head sinks into your pillow. then, a big alarm. after being awakened at
night many times, so that you have just gotten to sleep, and then the alarm goes off. each night,
hundreds of people who live in brooklyn are jolted out of their sleep by the nagging wail of car
alarm. you just waited it out but you don’t know if that’s gong to happen again. you don’t know
when you are gong to be reawakened for a second or third time even. and sometimes, the effect of
the alarm will go on for hours. a music producer and composer who is a resident of manhattan’s
upper west side got fed up with car alarm disturbing his sleep and his work. he got together with
some similarly frazzled neighbors and formed a posse of sorts. they start off with a note saying:
“fix your car alarm! it disturbed hundreds of people last night!” if that doesn’t help, they quite
often use some minor retaliatory step by breaking an egg on their windshield or on the front hood,
which doesn’t hurt anything but it’s a little bit of the mess to clean up. the “egg man” who prefers
to remain anonymous says some vigilantes take even more drastic action, like smearing axle
grease on door handles. another classic is to smear vaseline all over the windshield, which is
incredibly hard to get off. in other neighborhoods, there might be even broken windshields and
things like that .a young lady was a target of vigilante retribution. it happened one night, when
unannounced to her, the car alarm malfunctioned. in the worst case, a car owner notice that on the
passenger front-door, there were a lot of dent marks. it looked like the heel of someone’s shoe as if
someone had kicked the innocent car, because the alarm hadn’t even been going off on night. the
repairs cost her a couple of hundred dollars. most people i talked to believe that the car alarm
produces no effect it has been intended to. to test the theory, a woman set off her alarm in the
restaurant parking lot. not a single person bothered to see if a car was being broken into. are car
alarms really effective? she says absolutely not. not even when she called the police. one night,
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