2015年职称英语考试《理工类》完形填空题(5)
Avalanche and Its Safety
An avalanche is a sudden and rapid flow of snow,often mixed with air and water,down a mountainside,Avalanches are____1____ the biggest dangers in the mountains for both life and property.
All avalanches are caused by an over-burden of material,typically snowpack,that is too massive and unstable for the slope____2____ supports it,Determining the critical load,the amount of over-burden which is____3____ cause an avalanche,____4____ acomplex task involving the evaluation of a number of factors.
Terrain slopes flatter than25degrees or steeper than60degrees typically have a low ____5____ of avalanche,Snow does not____6____ significantly on steep slopes;also,snow does not ____7____ easily on flat slopes,Human-triggered avalanches have the greatest incidence when the snow‘s angle of rest1 is____8____ 35 and45 degrees;the critical angle,the angle at which the human incidence of avalanches is greatest,is38degrees,The rule of thumb2 is： A slope that is____9____ enough to hold snow but steep enough to ski has the potential to generate an avalanche,regardless of the angle,Additionally3,avalanche risk increases with ____10____;that is,the more a slope is disturbed by skiers,die more lijkely it is that an avalanche will occur.
Due to the complexity of the subject,winter travelling in the backcountry4 is never 100% safe,Good avalanche safety is a continuous____11____，,including route selection and examination of the snowpack,weather____12____ and human factors,Several well-known good habits can also____13____ the risk,If local authorities issue avalanche risk reports,they should be considered and all warnings should be paid ____14____ to,Never follow in the tracks of others without your own evaluations;snow conditions are almost certain to have changed since they were made,Observe the terrain and note obvious avalanche paths where plants are____15____ or damaged,Avoid traveling below others who might trigger an avalanche.
词汇：
avalanche / '?v?l?nt?,-lɑ?n? / n.雪崩
snowpack / 'sn??p?k / n.积雪场
terrain / te're?n / n.地形，地势
steep / sti?p / adj.险峻的，陆峭的
trigger / 'tr?g?(r) / v.引起，激发
incidence / '?ns?d?ns / n.发生(率)
ski / ski? / v.滑雪
complexity / k?m'pleks?t? / n.复杂性
注释：
1.angle of rest：这里指积雪保持静止的角度。
2.rule of thumb：指“a broadly accurate principle,based on experience or practice rather than theory”，即“通用法则，经验法则'
3.Additionally：是一个副词，用来引人新的事实或论点，意为“此外”。
4.backcountry：人烟稀少的地区