Severe rain hit Australia’s east coast on Thursday with Sydney receiving nearly a month’s rain overnight, turning suburban roads into rivers and forcing evacuations(撤离) as authorities warn of more rain through the day.

A man swept away by floodwaters in the city’s northwest was rescued by emergency crews, media reported, while television footage(片段) showed vehicles struggling to cross waterlogged streets, fallen power lines and trees, and debris floating in rivers. Residents of a nursing home were evacuated overnight as emergency crews urged the harbor city’s 5 million residents to avoid unnecessary travel and prepare for possible evacuations.

Sydney has received 1,227 mm of rain so far this year, more than its average annual rainfall of 1,213 mm. Over the next 24 hours, many coastal towns could get up to 180 mm, the Bureau of Meteorology said. The tourist hot spot of Bondi recorded around 170 mm over the 24-hour period to 9 a.m. Thursday, official data showed.

Thousands have been ordered to evacuate their homes while businesses cleared essentials to help mitigate their losses. “All hands are on deck to try and save some furniture...so we have been pretty busy lifting things up...moving things away, and things like that,” Nicola Gilfillan, a cafe owner said.

A severe weather warning stretched along the south coast of New South Wales over a distance of more than 600 km but conditions are expected to ease from Thursday evening, the weather bureau(局) said.

Australia’s east coast summer has been dominated by the La Nina weather phenomenon, typically associated with increased rainfall, for the second straight(连续的) year, with most rivers at capacity(满负荷) even before the latest rainfall. Three intense weather systems in six weeks have hit eastern Australia, with several parts of northern New South Wales and southeast Queensland clocking record rains and Sydney registering its wettest March on record. Climate change is also widely believed to be a contributing factor to the severe weather, which has raised questions about how prepared Australia is. 

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1.What could people see from the television footage?

A Smooth streets.

B Rushing vehicles.

C Fallen trees.

D Evacuated officials.

解析：选C。C细节理解题。根据第二段第一句的“...television footage showed vehicles struggling to cross waterlogged streets, fallen power lines and trees, and debris floating in rivers.”可知电视画面显示车辆艰难地开在被水淹的街道上、电线和树木落得满地、垃圾碎片漂浮在河流中。故选C。

2.The data mentioned in paragraph 3 is _________.

A to show how heavy the rain was

B to urge people to leave their homes

C to show the damage caused by floods

D to stop residents from travelling

解析：选A。A推理判断题。根据第三段第一句“Sydney has received 1,227 mm of rain so far this year, more than its average annual rainfall of 1,213 mm.”可知作者列出那些数据是为了说明雨下得很大，超过了年平均量。故选A。

3.The underlined word “mitigate” may mean _________.

A clear

B get

C lift

D reduce

解析：选D。D词义猜测题。根据第四段第二句的“All hands are on deck to try and save some furniture...we have been pretty busy lifting things up...moving things away”可知全体出动尽量拯救一些家具……一直忙着搬东西……，即他们一直在努力“减少”损失。故选D。

4.All of the following are causes of the severe rain in Australia EXCEPT _________.

A the La Niva phenomenon

B intense weather systems

C the low temperature

D the climate change

解析：选C。C细节理解题。根据最后一段可知长期以来，澳大利亚东海岸的夏季一直受拉尼娜天气现象的影响(这种天气现象通常与降雨增多有关)，这已经是连续第二年了，所以澳大利亚东部很多河流在本次暴雨之前就已经饱和了。然后六周内三次强天气系统(强暴雨)袭击了澳大利亚东部，创下了降雨记录，悉尼经历了有史以来最潮湿的三月。气候变化也是导致此次洪灾的原因之一。可知，拉尼娜现象、强天气系统和气候变化都是本次澳大利亚洪灾的形成原因。故选C。