第二十四篇 Underground Coal Fires — a Looming Catastrophe
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Coal burning deep underground in China， India and Indonesia is threatening the environment and human life,
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scientists have warned. These large-scale underground blazes cause the ground temperature to heat up and kill surrounding vegetation, produce greenhouse gases and can even ignite forest fires, a panelof scientists told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Denver. The resulting release of poisonous elements like arsenic and mercury can also pollute local water sources and soils, they warned. “Coal fires are a global catastrophe,” said Associate Professor Glenn Stracher of East Georgia College in Swainsboro , USA. But surprisingly few people know about them. Coal can heat up on its own, and eventually catch fire and burn, if there is a continuous oxygen supply. The heat produced is not caused to disappear and under the right combinations of sunlight and oxygen, can trigger spontaneous catching fire and burning. This can occur
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underground, in coal stockpiles, abandoned mines or even as coal is transported. Such fires in China consume up 9
to 200 million tones of coal per year, delegates were told. In comparison, the U. S. economy consumes about one billion tones of coal annually, said Stracher, whose analysis of the likely impact of coal fires has been accepted for publication in the International journal of Coal Ecology. Once underway, coal fires can burn for decades, even centuries. In the process, they release large volumes of greenhouse gases, poisonous fumes and black particles into the atmosphere.
The members of the panel discussed the impact these fires may be having on global and regional climate change, and agreed that the underground nature of the fires makes them difficult to detect. One of the members of the panel, Assistant Professor Paul Van Dijk of the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation in the Netherlands, has been working with the Chinese government to detect and monitor fires in the northern regions of the country.
Ultimately, the remote sensing and other techniques should allow scientists to estimate how much carbon dioxide these fires are emitting. One suggested method of containing the fires was presented by Gary Colaizzi, of the engineering firm Goodson, which has developed a beat-resistant grout (a thin mortarused to fill cracks and crevices) , which is designed to be pumped into the coal fire to cut off the oxygen supply. 词汇: loom / lu:m /v.迫近 fume / fju:m /n.烟，气，汽 greenhouse / 5^ri:nhaus /n.温室 soot / sut /n.煤烟，油烟 arsenic / 5B:sEnik /n.砷 carbon dioxide二氧化碳 underway / 5QndE5wei /adj.在进行中的 grout / ^raut /n.灰浆，水泥浆crevice/ 5krevis /n.裂缝. 注释:
1. looming catastrophe: loom意为“to seem imminent; to impend”(看似即将发生；迫近 )。looming catastrophe: 即将来临的灾难。
2. Coal burning deep underground in China, India and Indonesia is threatening the environment and human life, scientists have warned：句子的前半句 Coal burning deep … is threatening the environment and human life, 是后半句 scientists have warned的宾语。正常语序是 : Scientists have warned that coal burning deep underground in China, India and Indonesia is threatening the environment and human life.同段第二句、第三句都是这种结构。 3. a panel：意为“a group of people gathered to plan or discuss an issue” (专门小组，聚在一起策划或讨论一个问题的一群人 )。
4. Denver：丹佛，美国科罗拉多州首府和昀大的城市，位于该州中北部。 5. on its own：意为“ independent or outside help (独立于外来的帮助 )。
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6. spontaneous：意为“ happening or arising without apparent external cause”(自然产生的，非由显然的外力诱发或产生的 )。
7. coal stockpiles：煤堆
8. consume：意为“to destroy totally”(毁灭)。下面一句中的 consume，意为“ use up” (消耗，花费 )。 9. up to：相当于
10. Once underway…：一旦燃烧起来……； underway：正在进行 (工作)中的。 11. contain：意为“to hold or keep within limits” (抑制，控制 )。 12. thin mortar：稀砂浆，稀灰浆 13. cut off：切断，隔绝练习:
1. According to the first paragraph, one or the warnings given by the scientists is that A underground fire loom large in the forests. B coal burning deep underground is round in China. C poisonous elements released by the underground fires can pollute water sources. D arsenic and mercury arc the most poisonous elements to water sources.
2. According to the third paragraph, what will happen when the underground heat does not disappear? A Coal heats up on its own and catches fire and burns. B The underground oxygen will be used up. C Poisonous fumes and greenhouse gases will be accumulated underground. D There will be an increase of abandoned mines.
3. What did Stracher analyze in his article published in the International Journal of Coat Ecology? A Annual consumption of coal in US. B Annual consumption of coal in China. C How long coal fires has lasted in the northern region of China. D Coal fires can have an impact on the environment.
4. Which of the following statements about Paul Van Dijk is NOT true? A He was one of the scientists who have warned against the threats of underground fires. B He has detected and monitored underground fires in the Netherlands. C He has worked with the Chinese government on the underground fires issue. D He works for a research institute in the Netherlands.
5. According to the fifth paragraph, what is the suggested method to control underground fires? A Using remote sensing technique. B Controlling the release of carbon dioxide. C Making the soil heat resistant. D Cutting off the oxygen supply.
答案与题解 :
1. C 第一段昀后一句提供了答案。 A是错误的选项，因为第一段第二句只是说 : These large-scale underground blazes … can even ignite forest fires.而不是在森林中越演越烈。 B只是事实陈述，而不是警告。 D在文中未提到，因此也不是答案。
2. A第三段第一句和第二句提供了答案。 B、C、D文章中都没有提到，而且内容也不合常理。
3. D第三段中的句子：… Stracher, whose analysis of the likely impact of coal fires has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Coal Ecology是问题的答案。
4. B Paul Van Dijk是 One of the members of the panel; the panel指第一段中提到的 a panel of scientists。第四段的昀后一句告诉我们，他是荷兰一家研究所的教授，一在中国的北方地区帮助中国政府观察并控制燃煤发热引起的地下火，所以 A、C、D都是关于 Paul Van Dijk的正确描述，所以， B是答案。
5. D A是错误的选项，因为 Using remote sensing techniques是 estimate how much carbon dioxide these fires are emitting的方法，而不是控制地下火的技术。该段中没有提到 B、C的内容。从句 which is designed to be pumped into the coal fire to cut off the oxygen supply中的 which指 a heat-resistant grout.将它注入地下可切断氧气供给，达到控制地下火燃烧的目的。所以， D是答案。 第二十四篇地下煤着火——即将来临的灾难
科学家们警告说，中国、印度和印度尼西亚的地下煤矿着火将严重威胁自然环境和人身安全。在丹佛举行
的美国科学促进协会的会议上，一个专家小组的科学家们表示，大规模的地下大火将会提高地面温度，烧死周围的植物，由此产生的气体将会导致温室效应，甚至有可能引起森林大火。他们还警告说，大火释放出来的砷、汞等有毒物质还会污染当地的水源和土壤。
美国东佐治亚大学 Swainsboro分校的副教授 Glenn Stracher说：“煤矿失火是一个全球性的灾难。”但令人惊奇的是，很少有人知道这一点。
煤能够自己提高温度，存在充足的氧气时，它能够自燃。它产生的热量并不会消失，在合适的阳光和氧气条件下，就会自燃。这种情况可能发生在地下煤矿的煤堆、废弃的煤矿，甚至在煤的运输过程中。 Stracher教授告诉与会代表们，每年在中国，这种情况会消耗掉 12亿吨的煤。相比之下，美国每年的用煤量为 10亿吨。 Stracher教授关于由煤引起的大火的影响的分析已经在《国际煤生态学期刊》上发表。煤一旦燃烧越来，就可能燃烧几十年，甚至几百年。在这个过程中，会排出大量的温室气体、有毒气体和黑色的灰粒到大气中。
专家们讨论了这些大火对全球和地区气候变化的影响，一致认为火灾地点发生在地下，使得火灾不容易被发现。小组的一个成员，来自荷兰国际地质信息科学和地球观测研究院的 Paul Van Dijk助理教授已经同中国政府合作探测和控制中国北部地区的煤矿失火情况。
远程感应以及其他技术昀终将能够允许科学家们估计出究竟这些大火释放出多少二氧化碳。 Goodson工程公司的 Gary Colaizzi提出了一种控制火势的方法。他们公司已开发出一种隔热水泥浆（一种稀灰浆用来填充裂缝），它可以被灌注到失火的煤矿中以切断氧气供给。
年职称英语 阅读理解(24) -underground coal fires -- a looming catastrophe
