单项选择题

EI Nino is the name given to the mysterious and often unpredictable change in the climate of the world. This strange(47) _________ happens every five to eight years. It starts in the Pacific Ocean and is thought to be caused by a failure in the trade winds(信风) , which affects the ocean currents driven by these winds. As the trade winds lessen in (48) _________ , the ocean temperatures rise, causing the Peru current flowing in from the east to warm up by as much as 5℃. The, warning of the ocean has far-reaching effects. The hot, humid (潮湿的) air over the ocean causes severe (49)_________ thunderstorms. The rainfall is increased across South America, (50) _________ floods to Peru. In the West Pacific, there are droughts affecting Australia and Indonesia. So while some parts of the world prepare for heavy rains and floods, other parts face drought, poor crops and (51) _________. EI Nino usually lasts for about 18 months. The 1982-83 EI Nino brought the most (52) _________ weather in modern history. Its effect was worldwide and it left more than 2,000 people dead and caused over eight billion pounds (53) _________ of damage. The 1990 EI Nino lasted until June 1995. Scientists (54) _________ this to be the longest EI Nino for 2,000 years. Nowadays, weather experts are able to forecast when an EI Nino will (55) _________ , but they are still not (56) _________ sure what leads to it or what affects how strong it will be. Word Bank [A] estimate [F] phenomenon [K] starvation [B] strength [G] stable [L] bringing [C] deliberately [H] attraction [M] exhaustion [D] notify [I] completely [N] worth [E] tropical [J] destructive [O] strike