El Nifio, a Spanish term for “the Christ child”, was named by South American

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El Nifio, a Spanish term for “the Christ child”, was named by South American fisherman who noticed that the global weather pattern, which happens every two to seven years, reduced the amount of fishes caught around Christmas. El Nifio sees warm water, collected over several years in the western Pacific, flow back eastwards when winds that normally blow westwards weaken, or sometimes the other way round.
The weather effects both good and bad, are felt in many places. Rich countries gain more from powerful Nifio, on balance, than they lose. A study found that a strong Nifio in 1997 helped American’s economy grow by 15 billion, partly because of better agricultural harvest, farmers in the Midwest gained from extra rain. The total rise in agricultural in rich countries in growth than the fall in poor ones.
But in Indonesia extremely dry forests are in flames. A multi-year drought (干旱）in south-east Brazil is becoming worse. Though heavy rains brought about by El Nino may relieve the drought in California, they are likely to cause surface flooding and other disasters.
The most recent powerful Nino, in 1997-98, killed around 21,000 people and caused damage worth $36 billion around the globe. But such Ninos come with months of warning, and so much is known about how they happen that governments can prepare. According to the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), however, just 12% of disaster-relief funding in the past two decades has gone on reducing risks in advance, rather than recovery and rebuilding afterwards. This is despite evidence that a dollar spent on risk-reduction saves at least two on reconstruction.
Simple improvements to infrastructure (基础设施）can reduce the spread of disease. Better sewers (下水道）make it less likely that heavy rain is followed by an outbreak of the disease of bad stomach. Stronger bridges mean villages are less likely to be left without food and medicine after floods. According to a paper in 2011 by Mr Hsiang and co-authors, civil conflict is related to El Nino’s harmful effects—and the poorer the country, the stronger the link. Though the relationship may not be causal, helping divided communities to prepare for disasters would at least reduce the risk that those disasters are followed by killing and wounding people. Since the poorest are least likely to make up for their losses from disasters linked to El Nino, reducing their losses needs to be the priority.
【小题1】What can we learn about El Nino in Paragraph 1?

A．It is named after a South American fisherman.

B．It takes place almost every year all over the world.

C．It forces fishermen to stop catching fish around Christmas.

D．It sees the changes of water flow direction in the ocean.

【小题2】What may El Ninos bring about to the countries affected?

A．Agricultural harvests in rich countries fall.

B．Droughts become more harmful than floods.

C．Rich countries’ gains are greater than their losses.

D．Poor countries suffer less from droughts economically.

【小题3】The data provided by ODI in Paragraph 4 suggest that_________.

A．more investment should go to risk reduction

B．governments of poor countries need more aid

C．victims of El Nino deserve more compensation

D．recovery and reconstruction should come first

【小题4】What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

A．To introduce El Nino and its origin.

B．To explain the consequences of El Nino.

C．To show ways of fighting against El Nino.

D．To urge people to prepare for El Nino.

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Here’s everything you need to know about writing cover letters (说明信) to stand out from the competition and catch employers’ attention.

Writing a great letter can feel like a daunting task to a lot of job seekers. In fact, usually, when I start to talk with clients about this topic, the first thing people ask is, “Do I really have to write a cover letter?” When I say yes, the next question people normally ask is, “Why?”

If you’re going to spend your time working on a challenging task, it’s wise to know exactly why you’re doing it. It is true that some employers never read cover letters. Instead, they look directly at a candidate’s resume (简历). However, plenty of employers find a lot of value in a cover letter. They see it as a way of getting to know more about you, your personality and your ability to communicate outside of the structural limitations of a resume. Some employers will only read your resume if they are impressed with your cover letter.

Other employers will not read a resume if it is not accompanied by a cover letter. They feel that it is a part of a complete job application package. If you have only sent a resume, these employers believe that you have only done half of the job in the application process. They view that as a negative reflection on the way you would do the job at their company. You don’t know the employer’s preference each time you submit (提交) a resume, so you must submit a cover letter with your resume every time you apply for a job.

People sometimes ask whether writing cover letters is necessary when they respond to job ads that say “Submit your resume to…”. The answer is yes, absolutely. Even if the letter is not specifically requested in the ad, it is assumed that you will submit one along with your resume.

【小题1】What is the purpose of writing a cover letter according to the text?