Predicting (预测) something in the future seems as if it would need supernatural powers—which doesn’t sound very scientific! But there’s no magic here. Instead, scientists who study the weather use special tools to help make their predictions.

Weather science is called meteorology. That may sound as if it’s about studying meteors (流星), but it’s not. The name comes from an ancient Greek word and means “the study of things that are up high.” And, to study those high-up things, scientists put tools up there to help. Now let’s see how these tools are used to help predict the weather.

First of all, a small tool called the weather station is connected to a weather balloon. And then scientists send both the weather station and the weather balloon high into the sky. There, the weather station takes important information about the things like air pressure and temperature. What’s happening way up there can influence what happens in our part of the sky.

After that, the weather stations on the ground throughout the world give correct, real-time information, which help scientists see how the weather is changing from moment to moment. At the same time, the satellites (卫星), both far above our atmosphere and within it, are other tools that also collect facts or important information for weather scientists. After receiving information from weather stations and satellites, radar (雷达) shows rainfall and where it’s moving, as well as wind speed and direction.

Finally, all the information is sent into supercomputers, which can tell what might most probably happen next (according to what has happened under those conditions before).

Scientists combine all of this with their own knowledge and experience to let you know what kind of weather might be on the way. Since a change in any factor (因素) can change the final result, weather predictions are more precise for upcoming hours and days, rather than weeks. That’s why scientists need to change their predictions often-and can’t tell you today whether it will rain when you’re at camp in July!

【小题1】The writer thinks predicting the weather ______.

A．needs supernatural powers	B．is all about studying meteors
C．requires some special tools	D．was popular in ancient Greece

【小题2】Which is the correct order of predicting the weather?
①The information like temperature is recorded.
②Supercomputers tell what is going to happen.
③Radar tells information about rainfall and wind.
④The weather station is connected to a weather balloon.

A．①④③②

B．①③④②

C．④②③①

D．④①③②

【小题3】What does the underlined word “more precise” in Para.6 probably mean?

A．cheaper

B．safer

C．more exact

D．more convenient

【小题4】What’s the best title for the passage?

A．How do satellites help predict the weather?	B．How do scientists know about the weather?
C．How does nature tell secrets about the weather?	D．How does the weather station influence the weather?