Underground Coal Fires

　　Coal burning deep underground in China, India and Indonesia is threatening the environment andhuman life, scientists have warned. These large-scale __________(51) blazes cause the ground temperature to heat up and kill surrounding vegetation, produce greenhouse gases and can __________(52) ignite forest fires, a panel of scientists told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Denver. The resulting__________ (53) of poisonous elements like arsenic and mercury can also pollute local water sources and soils,they warned.

　　"Coal fires are a global catastrophe," said Associate Professor Glenn Stracher of East Georgia College in Swainsboro, USA. But __________ (54) few people know about them.

　　Coal can heat up on its own, and eventually catch fire and burn, if there is a continuous oxygen supply. The heat produced is not caused to __________ (55) and under the right combinations of sunlight and oxygen, can trigger spontaneous catching fire and burning. This can occur underground, in coal stockpiles, abandoned mines or even as coal is transported.__________ (56) fires in China consume up to 200 million tones of coal per year, delegates were told. In __________(57), the U.S. economy consumes about one billion tones of coal annually, said Stracher,.__________ (58)analysis of the likely impact of coal fires has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Coal Ecology. __________(59) underway, coal fires can bum for decades, even centuries. In the process, they release large__________(60) of greenhouse gases, poisonous fumes and black particles into the atmosphere.

　　The members of the panel discussed the__________(61) these fires may be having on global and regional climate change, and agreed that the underground nature of the fires makes them difficult to __________(62).

　　Ultimately, the remote sensing and other techniques should allow scientists to __________(63)how much carbon dioxide these fires are emitting. One suggested__________ (64) of containing the fires was presented by Gary Colaizzi, of the engineering firm Goodson, which has developed a heat-resistant grout (a thin mortar used to fill cracks and crevices), which is designed to be pumped into the coal fire to__________(65) the oxygen supply.

　　51.A. house B. undergroundC. skyD. water

　　52.A. only

　　B. even

　　C. just

　　D. then

　　53.A. release

　　B. paste

　　C. consumption

　　D. elimination

　　54.A. happily

　　B. traditionally

　　C. surprisingly

　　D. fashionably

　　55.A. exchange

　　B. regenerate

　　C. disappear

　　D. transfer

　　56.A. Most

　　B. Such

　　C. Some

　　D. Many

　　57.A. comparison

　　B. case

　　C. time

　　D. turn

　　58.A. which

　　B. who

　　C. whose

　　D. what

　　59.A. Yet

　　B. Unless

　　C. Although

　　D. Once

　　60.A. data

　　B. volumes

　　C. figures

　　D. images

　　61.A. attack

　　B. impact

　　C. identification

　　D. implication

　　62.A. develop

　　B. relieve

　　C. detect

　　D. supply

　　63.A. estimate

　　B. experiment

　　C. gather

　　D. illustrate

　　64.A. cause

　　B. method

　　C. treatment

　　D. rule

　　65.A. take up

　　B. back up

　　C. run out

　　D. cut off