Alaska lies in the ______ of North America, stretching southward from the Arctic Ocean to
A.northwestern part
B.southwestern part
C.northeastern part
D.southeastern part
A.northwestern part
B.southwestern part
C.northeastern part
D.southeastern part
When did Seward buy Alaska from the Russians?
A.In 1869.
B.In 1959.
C.In 1867.
D.In 1872.
听力原文: Alaska, which was called Russian America before it was sold to the United States, joined the Union as the forty-ninth state in 1959. (Hawaii was the fiftieth state to join the Union. ) Alaska is now the largest of all the 50 states in the U.S.
It was in 1867 that President A. Johnson's Secretary of State, Seward, bought Alaska from the Russians at a cost of $ 7.2 million. The buying of the huge northern land mass seemed at first something foolishly done. Nor only was Alaska difficult to reach, but it was also hard to live in, and it appeared to have no importance in times of war. Besides, there are volcanoes there as Alaska lies on the Pacific "ring of fire." In Alaska, large treeless areas are covered with snow all the year round. For these reasons the buying of Alaska was called "Seward's Folly" at that time.
However, in 1896 gold was found in Alaska, and people poured into the land quickly. Since then other important natural resources were discovered, including oil. Soon, people changed their thinking about "Seward's Folly".
But most people visit Alaska in order to see the endless beauty of nature that the northern land discloses to them. For instance, there are about 11,000 islands in Alaska. And in a certain area of Alaska, the sun does not set for 82 days every year.
(33)
A.In 1959.
B.In 1867.
C.In 1896.
D.In 1872.
Antarctica differs fundamentally from the Arctic regions. The Arctic is an ocean,(55)with drifting packed ice and surrounded by the land masses of Europe, Asia, and North America. The Antarctic is a continent nearly as(56)as Europe and Au stralia combined, centered roughly(57)the South Pole and(58)by the most unobstructed water areas of the world—the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.
The continental ice(59)is more than two miles high at its center; thus, the air over the Antarctic is far more refrigerated than it is over the Arctic regions. This(60)air cascades off the land with such(61)that it makes the nearby seas the stormiest in the world and renders(62)those regions whose counterparts at the opposite end of the(63)are inhabited. Thus, more than a million persons live within 2,000 miles of the North Pole in an area that(64)most of Alaska, Siberia, and Scandenavia—a region(65)in forest and mining industries. Except for a handful of weather stations, within the same distance of the South Pole there is not a single tree, industry, or settlement.
A.valleys
B.villages
C.paths
D.ranges
Is there enough oil beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge(保护区)(ANWR)to help secure America's energy future? President Bush certainly thinks so. He has argued that tapping ANWR' s oil would help ease California' s electricity crisis and provide st major boost to the country' s energy independence. But no one knows for sure how much crude oil lies buried beneath the frozen earth, with the last government survey, conducted in1998, projecting output anywhere from 3 billion to 16 billion barrels.
The oil industry goes with the high end of the range, which could equal as much as 10% of U. S. consumption for as long as six years. By pumping more than 1 million barrels a day from the reserve for the next two to three decades, lobbyists claim, the nation could cut back on imports equivalent to all shipments to the U.S. from Saudi Arabia. Sounds good. An oil boom would also mean a multibillion - dollar windfall(意久之财)in tax revenues, royalties(开采权使用费)and leasing fees for Alaska and the Federal Government. Best of all, advocates of drilling say, damage to the environment Would be in significant. "We' ve never had a documented case of an oil rig chasing deer out onto the pack ice," say Alaska State Representative Scott Ogan.
Not so fast, say environmentalists. Sticking to the low end of government estimates the National Re sources Defends Council says there may be no more than 3.2 billion barrels of economically recoverable oil in the coastal plain of ANWR, a drop in the bucket that would do virtually nothing to ease America' s energy problems. And consumers would wait up to a decade to gain any benefits, because drilling could begin only after mush bargaining over leases, environmental permits and regulatory review. As for AN WR's impact on the California power crisis, environmentalists point out that oil is responsible for only 1% of the Golden State' s electricity output--and just 3 % of the nation' s.
What does President Bush think of tapping oil in ANWR?
A.It will increase America' s energy consumption.
B.It will exhaust the nation' s oil reserves.
C.It will help reduce the nation' s oil imports.
D.It will help secure the future of ANWR.
Is there enough oil beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (保护区) (ANWR)to help secure America's energy future? President Bush certainly thinks so. He has argued that tapping ANWR's oil would help ease California's electricity crisis and provide a major boost to the country's energy independence. But no one knows for sure how much crude oil lies buried beneath the frozen earth, with the last government survey, conducted in 1998, projecting output anywhere from 3 billion to 16 billion barreis.
The oil industry goes with the high end of the range, which could equal as much as 10% of U.S. consumption for as long as six years. By pumping more than 1 million barreis a day from the reserve for the next two to three decades, lobbyists claim, the nation could cut back on imports equivalent to all shipments to the U.S. from Saudi Arabia. Sounds good. An oil boom would also mean a multibillion-dollar windfall (意外之财) in tax revenues, royalties (开采权使用费) and leasing fees for Alaska and the Federal Government. Best of all, advocates of drilling say, damage to the environment would be insignificant. "We've never had a documented case of an oil rig chasing deer out onto the pack ice," says Alaska State Representative Scott Ogan.
Not so fast, say environmentalists. Sticking to the low end of government estimates, the National Resources Defense Council says there may be no more than 3.2 billion barreis of economically recoverable oil in the coastal plain of ANWR, a drop in the bucket that would do virtually nothing to ease America's energy problems. And consumers would wait up to a decade to gain any benefits, because drilling could begin only after much bargaining over leases, environmental permits and regulatory review. As for ANWR's impact on the California power crisis, environmentalists point out that oil is responsible for only 1% of the Golden State's electricity output-and just 3% of the nation's.
What does President Bush think of tapping oil in ANWR?
A.It will increase America's energy consumption.
B.It will exhaust the nation's oil reserves.
C.It will help reduce the nation's oil imports.
D.It will help secure the future of ANWR.
Alaska is the largest state on the continuous continent.()
Before America purchased it,Alaska was belong to Mexico.()
A.Colorado
B.Indiana
C.Alabama
D.Alaska