Unit 7 What’s the highest mountain in the world-八年级下册英语同步分级阅读(人教版)

难度：容易 【语篇来自二十一世纪学生英文报·试题原创】 Exploding mountains Boom! You hear a distant explosion. Then suddenly, the air is filled with thick smoke and dust. In the distance, you can see red-hot lava flowing down the side of a hill. What is going on? You just saw a volcanic eruption. That’s when a volcano, which is basically a hole in Earth’s surface, sends out hot ash, gas, and rocks into the air.  These eruptions can be quite dangerous. They can destroy houses and burn or choke people to death. A volcano in New Zealand called White Island recently erupted, killing 16 people and injuring many others. How do volcanoes form? As you may know, Earth’s surface is actually broken up into 17 parts, which are called tectonic plates. These plates move around sometimes. When they separate from or crash into each other, they usually form valleys or mountains. But sometimes, a volcano forms instead. Volcanoes can be either dormant or active. If a volcano is dormant, it is “asleep”. There is little to no risk that it will erupt. But if it’s active, it is “awake”. It could erupt at almost any time! White Island is an active volcano. It is located along the “Ring of Fire”, which refers to the chain of volcanoes that circles the Pacific Ocean.  The outside of the volcano has many cracks in it that allow water to get inside. Once water goes in, it is heated by the super-hot lava inside and turns into steam. But then, the steam becomes trapped. It has nowhere to go. This causes the volcano to violently erupt, sending out clouds of superheated steam, hot ash and rocks. Many eruptions occur in this way. 【导语】本篇是一篇说明文。文章讲述了火山的形成和火山喷发是如何产生的。 【单选】 1. The air is filled with ____ after a volcanic eruption. A. small stones and dust B. thick smoke and dust C. thick smoke and water D. dust and water 【答案】B 【解析】细节理解题。根据“Boom! You hear a distant explosion. Then suddenly, the air is filled with thick smoke and dust.”可知，火山喷发后空气中充斥着浓烟和灰尘。故选B。 2. The eruption of White Island killed ____ people. A. 16 B. 17 C.