Passage Three
When Iraqi troops blew up hundreds of Kuwaiti oil wells at the end of the Gulf War, scientists feared an environmental disaster. [33]Would black powder and the smoke from the fires circle the globe and block out the sun? Many said "No way. Rain would wash the black powder from the atmosphere." But in America, air-sampling balloons have detected high concentrations of particles similar to those collected in Kuwait. Now that the fires are out, scientists are turning attention to yet another threat-the oil did not catch fire. It has formed huge lakes in the Kuwaiti deserts. They trap insects and birds and poison a variety of other desert animals and plants. [34]The only good news is that the oil lakes have not affected the underground water resources. So far, the oil has not been absorbed because of the hard sand just below the surface.
Nothing, however, stops the oil from evaporating. The resulting poisonous gases are choking nearby residents. [35]Officials are trying to organize a quick clean-up, but they are not sure how to do it. One possibility is to burn the oil. Get those black powder detectors ready.

Questions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
33. What were the scientists worried about soon after the Gulf War?
正確答案：D
解析：題目詢問海灣戰爭結束之后不久，科學家們擔心什么。關鍵是要聽到“大火產生的黑色粉末和煙會不會環繞全球并遮擋住太陽呢？”可知D為答案。符合短文聽力“聽到什么選什么”的原則。選項A、B、C的內容文中均未提及。
34. What was the good news for scientists?
正確答案：D
解析：題目詢問對于科學家們來說，好消息是什么。關鍵是要聽到“唯一的好消息是，石油形成的湖泊尚未污染地下水資源?！盌是原文的同義表達。A錯在oil；文中說石油毒死了許多沙漠動植物，故B不正確。文中說因為地層下面有堅硬的沙，迄今為止石油仍未被吸收；什么都無法阻止石油的蒸發，故C不正確。
35. What are the officials trying to do at the moment?
正確答案：C
解析：題目詢問目前官員們正試圖做些什么。關鍵是要聽到“官員們正試圖組織一次快速的清潔行動”，C是原文的同義表達。