英语六级阅读备考：快速阅读练习(5)_大学英语阅读

英语六级阅读备考：快速阅读练习(5)

　　Hurricanes can also contain very tall clouds called hot towers that stretch up to the ceiling of the troposphere .Hurricanes can continue to grow in size and ferocity as long as they are over warm waters but in reality they rarely persist for more than a few weeks. As soon as they travel inland, their power diminishes rapidly, as they can no longer draw up warm, damp air from the seathey run out of steam, or water vapor at least.

　　Climate Linked

　　The storm season of 2005 was the busiest since records began in 1928: 26 tropical storms formed in the north Atlantic, 12 more than 2004.

　　Fourteen of theseincluding Beta, Dennis, Emily, Epsilon, Ophelia, Rita and Stanbecame hurricanes, setting another record as three developed to category 5. Wilma was the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the north Atlantic.

　　The hurricane season in 2005 was remarkable in other ways too. An unusual south Pacific hurricane battered the coasts of Guatemala and El Salvador in Maythe first ever to strike from the direction of the Pacific. More of a surprise was hurricane Catarina, the first ever known to come from the southern Atlantica place the textbooks claim is too cool for hurricanes to form.

　　Hurricane activity is predicted to be above average in 2006 as well.

　　This burst of activity has fuelled speculation that climate change may be responsible. There has been a string of studies suggesting that hurricanes have become more intense, powerful and unpredictable in the last 30 yearsand that this is not just down to normal decadal variation in storm activity.