Question

【題目】Have you ever wondered?

（1）Why do airplanes take longer to fly west than east?

It can take five hours to go west-east from New York (NY) to London but seven hours to travel east-west from London to NY. The reason for the difference is an atmospheric phenomenon known as the jet(噴射) stream. The jet stream is a very high altitude wind which always blows from the west to the east across the Atlantic. The planes moving at a constant air speed thus go faster in the west-east direction when the air moving with the wind than in the opposite direction.

（2）What would happen if the gravity on Earth was suddenly turned off?

Supposing we could magically turn off gravity. Would buildings and other structures float away? What happened would depend on how strongly the things were attached to the Earth. The Earth is moving at quite a speed moving at over a thousand miles per hour. If you turn something round your head on a string, it goes around in a circle until you let go of the string. Then it flies off in a straight line. “Switching off” gravity would be like letting go of the string. Things not attached to the Earth would fly off in a straight line. People in buildings would suddenly shoot upwards at a great speed until they hit the ceiling. Most things would fly off into space.

【1】What information can we get from the first passage?

A. It is the jet stream that affects how fast airplanes fly.

B. Planes go slower when they are moving with the wind.

C. It takes more time to fly from NY to London than from London to NY.

D. The jet stream always blows from the east to the west across the Atlantic.

【2】The word “shoot” underlined in the 2nd paragraph probably means“________”.

A. send for B. move quickly C. come out D. grow quickly

【3】It can be inferred that without gravity ________.

A. buildings and other structures would float away

B. trees and buildings would not so easily fly off

C. something around your head would not float away

D. everything outside buildings would fly off into space

【4】Where can we most probably read this text?

A. In a research paper. B. In a short story.

C. In a travel magazine. D. In a students’ book.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】B

【3】B

【4】D

【解析】本篇是說明文，介紹了航天飛機(jī)從東往西比從西往東飛行花的時(shí)間久的原因和地球引力消失后將要發(fā)生的事情。

【1】A 細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第一段中“The reason for the difference is an atmospheric phenomenon known as the jet(噴射) stream.”以及上一句可知，影響航天飛機(jī)飛行速度的快慢的原因是噴射氣流現(xiàn)象。故選A。

【2】B 詞義猜測(cè)題。根據(jù)“Things not attached to the Earth would fly off in a straight line. People in buildings would suddenly shoot upwards at a great speed until they hit the ceiling. Most things would fly off into space.”可知，失去地球引力后，地球表面的大多數(shù)事物（沒有依附于地球的）和人都將要快速離開地面。故選B項(xiàng)，move quickly意為“快速移動(dòng)”。

【3】B 推理判斷題。根據(jù)第二段中“Things not attached to the Earth would fly off in a straight line.”可推斷出，失去地球引力后，樹木和建筑物這類的依附于地球的事物是不會(huì)輕易漂浮，故選B。

【4】D 推理判斷題。本文介紹了一些基礎(chǔ)的科普知識(shí)，很可能選自學(xué)生的課本，不可能來自專業(yè)性較強(qiáng)的研究論文，趣味性的短篇故事或者旅行雜志。