500 years ago in Britain, the burning of coal (煤) was increasing in cities like London. Coal was used in factories and also used to heat homes. Coal, when burnt makes a lot of smoke, which makes the air very dirty.
About 200 years ago, the Industrial Revolution (工业革命) began in Britain. Factories were built, and even more coal was burnt. Air pollution was becoming a really big problem.
Smoke and fog together make smog (烟雾). Smog was a big problem in London's winter. Because of the cold weather, more coal was burnt to warm houses and this made more smoke.
When smog stayed over a city, it became really hard to breathe and see clearly. In 1952, the Great London Smog happened and more than 4,000 people died because of the smog.
New laws (法律) were made in 1956 and 1968 to stop such sad things from happening again. These laws were called the Clean Air Acts.
These laws were made so that air would become cleaner. The laws encouraged people to use less coal or switch to other fuels such as gas. Factories started using tall chimneys (烟囱) so that the smoke would go high up in the sky and no longer cover cities, and new factories were built in the countryside. Smog appeared less often and the air became cleaner.
小题1:From the passage, we learn that smog was a big problem in ______ in London.
A．spring
B．summer
C．autumn
D．winter小题2:The underlined words "switch to" mean "______" in Chinese.
A．发明
B．换用
C．拒绝
D．节省小题3:Which was NOT a way people in Britain used to make the air cleaner, according to the passage?
A．Factories built higher chimneys.
B．People began to use less coal.
C．More People began to ride bikes.
D．New factories were built outside cities.小题4:Which is the best title for the passage?
A．Air Pollution in Britain in the Past.
B．How to Make the Air Cleaner.
C．Smog Is Bad for the Environment.
D．New Laws to Stop Air Pollution.
小题1:D
小题2:B
小题3:C
小题4:D
题目分析：500年以前，英国的环境污染由煤炭引起，200年以前，由于工业革命，英国的空气污染已经成了非常严重的社会问题，现在国家采取的对策以减少或杜绝对环境的污染。
小题1:细节理解题，根据文中语句“Smog was a big problem in London's winter.”理解可知。在英国，空气污染在冬天最严重，故选D。
小题2:词义理解推断题，根据文中语句“The laws encouraged people to use less coal or switch to other fuels such as gas.”理解可知。Switch是换用之意，故选B。
小题3:细节理解题，根据文中语句“Factories started using tall chimneys (烟囱) so that the smoke would go high up in the sky and no longer cover cities, and new factories were built in the countryside.”理解可知。选择C，没有涉及到，人们骑自行车。
小题4:标题归纳题，通读全文中语句理解可知。在英国新的法律已出台，来阻止空气污染，故选D。
点评：阅读短文时，可以先通读全文，了解文章大意，并对于其中的词汇根据句意进行猜测；然后，带着问题，在文中找答案，应该注意同义句型的不同表述方式。