Indonesia’s air force has seeded clouds with salt in an effort to stop rain from falling on the flooded capital, Jakarta. The seeding operation follows deadly flash floods and landslides that hit the capital after some of the heaviest rain ever recorded. Indonesian officials said that as of Friday, at least 43 people had been killed in the disaster. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced.

Cloud seeding is a process that involves shooting salt into clouds in an attempt to create artificial rain. It is often used in Indonesia to help put out forest fires. The current operation aims to get the clouds to drop water and break up before they reach Jakarta.

Indonesia’s air force teamed up with the country’s technology agency to carry out three rounds of cloud seeding on Friday. Officials said more cloud seeding would take place as needed.

The latest flooding followed heavy rainfall on December 31 and into the early hours of New Year’s Day. The water covered large areas of Jakarta and nearby towns. The start of 2020 weather was one of the most extreme rainfall events since record keeping began in 1866, Indonesia’s weather agency said on Friday. The officials said climate change had increased the risk of extreme weather. They warned that heavy rainfall could reach a high point in mid-January and should be expected to last until mid-February.

News videos showed floodwaters spreading across Jakarta. Images showed groups of people walking through water and mud-covered cars, some of them sitting on top of each other. President Joko Widodo blamed delays in flood control projects for the disaster. Among the projects is the building of a canal that has been delayed since 2017 because of property right issues.

Jakarta has been slowly sinking. A main cause is the amount of ground water being drawn out from under the city. Rising sea levels have made the threat of flooding even worse. Last year, Widodo announced he would move Indonesia’s capital to East Kalimantan province on Borneo island to reduce the burden on overpopulated Jakarta.

【小题1】What did the extremely heavy rainfall result in?

A．The seeding operation failed.	B．Forty-three people were missing.
C．An airplane carrying salt crashed.	D．A great many people lost their homes.

【小题2】Why was the cloud seeding operated on Friday?

A．To put out forest fires.	B．To reduce natural rain.
C．To test the country’s technology.	D．To stop rain from flooding the capital.

【小题3】What does the underlined word “them” refer to in paragraph 5?

A．Videos.

B．People.

C．Cars.

D．Projects.

【小题4】What can be learned from the passage?

A．Jakarta is facing great challenges.	B．The artificial rain resulted in floods.
C．The flood control projects worked well.	D．The continuous rain would become weak.