Florida Hit by Cold Air mass　
    In January, 2003，the eastern two．thirds of the United States was at the mercy of a bitterly cold air mass that has endangered Florida’s citrus trees，choked northern harbors with ice and left bewildered residents of North Carolina’s Outer Banks digging out of up to a foot of snow．
    The ice chill deepened as temperatures fell to the single digits。in most of me。South,with all unfamiliar dip below the freezing mark as far south as parts of interior South Florida．Temperatures in Florida plunged，with West Palm Beach dropping to a record low of 2 degrees．
    “We couldn’t believe how cold it was，”said Martin King，who arrived this week in Orlando。from England．“We brought shorts，T·shirt，and I had to go out and buy another coat．”
    The temperature plunge posed a threat to Florida’s US$9.1 billion-a-year citrus crop．More of which is still on the trees．Growers were hurrying to harvest as much of the fruit as possible before it was damaged by cold．
    “Time is of the essenceⅢin getting fruit to the plant，”said Tom Rogers，a citrus grower who expected to see damage to oranges and grapefruit at that time．
    In Florida，Governor Jeb Bush signed an emergency order to eliminate the weight limit Oil trucks SO citrus growers could get as much fruit to market as possible．
    Casey Pace，a spokeswoman for Florida Citrus Mutual，said growers had sprayed trees with sprinklers。which created a layer of ice and helped maintain a temperature near freezing．Citrus trees are considered in danger of damage if the temperature drops below minus 2 degrees Celsius for four hours or more．Snow ranging from a dusting to up to 30 centimeters “blanketed“ the Carolinas，Tennessee and parts of Virginia．
    练习：
    1.Which．of the following statements is not meant in the first two paragraphs?
    A)The cold air mass was a threat to Florida’s citrus crop．
    B)The temperature in the United States except the South dropped below the freezing mark．
    C)The northern harbors were blocked with ice．
    D)The eastern two thirds of the United States was hit by cold air mass．
    2.According to the second paragraph，in which area(s)did the temperature fall below zero?
    A)Most of the South．
    B)Parts of interior South Florida．
    C)West Palm Beach．
    D)All of the above．
    3.King’s statement that “we brought shorts，T-shirt，and I had to go out and buy another coat．”shows that
    A)he was caught by the sudden cold．
    B)he needed formal clothes．
    C)fashion in Florida is tempting．
    D)Florida is hot compared with England．
    4.Governor Jeb issue the emergency order because he
    A)thought speed limit for trucks was unreasonable．
    B)tried to improve the traffic condition of the expressways．
    C)wanted to encourage trucks to transport as much fruit to market as possible
    D)wanted to stop trucks from carrying too much fruit to market．
    5.Which statement is NOT true according to the last paragraph?
    A)Sprinklers were used to protect citrus trees from being damaged．
    B)Citrus trees would be damaged if the temperature drops below minus 2~C for four hours．
    C)The Carolinas，Tennessee and parts of Virginia were covered with snow．
    D)Florida Citrus Mutual sprayed trees with sprinklers for citrus growers．