The disasters worldwide this year caused more than $170 billion in damage, $20 billion more than in 2020, a British aid group said Monday. Each year, U.K. charity Christian Aid calculates the cost of weather incidents like flooding, fires and heat waves based on insurance claims and reports the results.

In 2020, it found the world’s ten costliest weather disasters caused $150 billion in damage, making this year’s total an increase of 13 percent. Christian Aid said the upward trend reflects the effects of man-made climate change and added that the ten disasters in question also killed at least 1,075 people and displaced 1.3 million.

The most expensive disaster in 2021 was Hurricane Ida, which lashed the eastern United States and caused around $65 billion in damages. After crashing into Louisiana at the end of August, it made its way northward and caused extensive flooding in New York City and the surrounding area. Spectacular and deadly flooding in Germany and Belgium in July was next on the list at $43 billion in losses. A cold snap(寒潮) and winter storm in Texas that took out the vast state’s power grid cost $23 billion, followed by flooding in China’s Henan province in July that cost an estimated $17.6 billion. Other disasters costing several billion dollars included flooding in Canada, a late spring freeze in France that damaged vineyards(葡萄园), and a cyclone(旋风) in India and Bangladesh in May.

The report acknowledged its evaluation mainly covers disasters in rich countries where infrastructure is better insured, and that the financial loss of disasters on poor countries is often incalculable. It gave the example of South Sudan, where flooding affected around 800,000 people. “Some of the most devastating extreme weather events in 2021 hit poorer nations, which have contributed little to causing climate change,” the report’s press release noted.

1.What is the best title of the passage?

A The 10 most expensive weather disasters in 2021.

B The wonderful jobs of U.K. charity Christian Aid.

C The great reports and results based on insurance.

D The main task that the British aid group takes up.

解析：选A。A。标题概括题。根据第一段和第二段第一句可以得知本文主要讲述的是2021年损失惨重的气象灾害。故选A。

2.What caused the increase in the damage of weather disasters?

A The effects of the sun.

B The better environment.

C Human activities.

D The lack of money.

解析：选C。C。推理判断题。根据第二段第二句的Christian Aid said the upward trend reflects the effects of man-made climate change可以得知人类活动的影响加剧了自然灾害。故选C。

3.Which place suffered from the power failure?

A New York City.

B Germany.

C Belgium.

D Texas.

解析：选D。D。细节理解题。根据第三段第四句的A cold snap(寒潮) and winter storm in Texas that took out the vast state’s power grid cost $23 billion可以得知寒潮和冬季风暴袭击了德克萨斯州，导致电网瘫痪，造成230亿损失。故选D。

4.What is the disadvantage of the report?

A It lacked of completeness in data.

B It only focused on poor places.

C It didn’t mention the climate change.

D It just gave the example of South Sudan.

解析：选A。A 推理判断题。根据最后一段第一句可以得知该报告主要涵盖了基础设施较好的地方，而未包含那些无法给基础设施购买保险的贫困国家和地区，因此给出的数据是不全面的。故选A。