【Scientiststodayaremakinggreaterefforttostudyoceancurrents（洋流）．Mostdoitusingsatellitesandotherhigh-techequipment．HoweveroceanexpertCurtisEbbesmeyerdoesitinaspecialway---bystudyingmovementsofrando】

　　Scientiststodayaremakinggreaterefforttostudyoceancurrents（洋流）．Mostdoitusingsatellitesandotherhigh-techequipment．HoweveroceanexpertCurtisEbbesmeyerdoesitinaspecialway---bystudyingmovementsofrandomfloatinggarbage．Ascientistwithmanyyears’experiencehestartedthistypeofresearchintheearly1990swhenheheardabouthundredsofathleticshoeswashingupontheshoresofthenorthwestcoastoftheUnitedStates．Thereweresomanyshoesthatpeopleweresettingupswapmeetstotryandmatchleftandrightshoestosellorwear．

　　Ebbesmeyerfoundoutinhisresearchesthattheshoes—about60000intotal—fellintotheoceaninashippingaccident．Hephonedtheshoecompanyandaskediftheywantedtheshoesback．Asexpectedthecompanytoldhimthattheydidn't．Ebbesmeyerrealizedthiscouldbeagreatexperiment．Ifhelearnedwhenandwheretheshoeswentintothewaterandtrackedwheretheylandedhecouldlearnalotaboutthepatternsofoceancurrents．

　　ThePacificNorthwestisoneoftheworld'sbestareasforbeachcombing（海滩搜寻）becausewindsandcurrentsjoinhereandasaresultthereisagroupofseriousbeachcombersinthearea．Ebbesmeyergottoknowalotofthemandaskedfortheirhelpincollectinginformationaboutwheretheshoeslanded．Inayearhecollectedreliableinformationon1600shoes．Withthisdataheandacolleaguewereabletotestandimproveacomputerprogramdesignedtomodeloceancurrentsandpublishthefindingsoftheirstudy．

　　AstheresultofhisworkEbbesmeyerhasbecomeknownasthescientisttocallwithquestionsaboutanyunusualobjectsfoundfloatingintheocean．Hehasevenstartedanassociationofbeachcombersandoceanexpertswith500subscribersfromWestAfricatoNewZealand．Theyhaverecordedalllostobjectsrangingfrompotatoestogolfgloves．

　　1.TheunderlinedphraseswapmeetsinParagraph1isclosestinmeaningto___________．

　　A．fittingroomsB．tradingfairs

　　C．businesstalksD．groupmeetings

　　2.Ebbesmeyerphonedtheshoecompanytofindout___________．

　　A．whatcausedtheshippingaccident

　　B．whenandwheretheshoeswentmissing

　　C．whetheritwasallrighttousetheirshoes

　　D．howmuchtheylostintheshippingaccident