Question

 Planet Hunter

  When Geoff Marcy was 14, his parents bought him a telescope. Every night, he would go onto the roof outside his window to see the wonders of the sky.

  "What excited me most was whether there were planets(行星)in other solar(太陽的)systems where life might exist," he says. "I decided to try to find planets orbiting(沿............. 軌道運(yùn)行)other stars like our sun.”

And he did. " My fellow researcher Paul Butler and I found our first planet in 1995 ，”Dr. Marcy says. "We worked for ten years without finding anything！But we stuck with it,and our patience paid off.”

  Since then,the two scientists have discovered 65 of the more than 100 planets found orbit?ing other stars. Dr. Marcy and Dr. Butler also spotted the first " family" of three planets. In June 2002 they announced another discovery：a Jupiter-like(像木星一樣的)planet orbiting star 55 Cancri.

  At first, the two researchers found only planets that orbit close to stars. Recently, the sci?entists found planets farther out. The planet orbiting 55 Cancri is a major breakthrough;it is the first sighting of a large gas planet about the same distance from the star as Jupiter is from the sun.

  Why is this important? Scientists think that life on the earth may exist because of two spe?cial features(特征)in our solar system. The first is Jupiter.

  "Because it's so big,Jupiter pulls comets and asteroids(小行星)，or they all come and hit the earth. " Dr. Marcy explains. " Without Jupiter, life on the earth would likely have been destroyed.”

  A second feature is that the earth is a rocky planet where liquid water，which is necessary for life，can exist. Unlike gas planets，rocky planets like the earth have surfaces where water can gather in pools and seas,which may support life. A huge space exists between the Jupiter?like planet and two other planets that lie close to 55 Cancri. Is there an Earth-like planet in the space, too small for us to notice? If so,says Dr. Marcy, "We would have two striking similarities to our solar system：a Jupiter-like planet and an Earth-like planet. And there may be life!"

(   ) 1. What can we learn about Dr. Marcy from the passage?

A.     He is fond of watching Jupiter.

B.     He is from a scientist family.

 

C.     He dislikes working with Paul Butler.

D.     He is interested in finding life in outer space.

(   ) 2. Which of the following is true of the recent discovery?

A.     The planet is not as protective as Jupiter.

B.     The planet is close to star 55 Cancri.

C.     The planet proves to be a gas planet.

D.     The planet is as large as Jupiter.

(   ) 3. Dr. Marcy thinks that life may exist in the 55 Cancri system because      

A.     he has found the system similar to the solar system

B.     he has discovered an Earth-like planet there

C.     he has discovered a rocky planet there

D.     he has found signs of life in the system

(   ) 4. "But we stuck with it" (in Paragraph 3) means      

A.     they felt discouraged

B.     they carried on with it

C.     they failed in their attempt

D.     they made some progress

Answer 1

1-4 DCAB 

A篇介紹了Mr. Marcy對外太空生命的研究歷程及發(fā)現(xiàn)。

1. D主旨大意題從第二段Marcy所說的話及下文對其研究過程的描述可知該答案。

2. C細(xì)節(jié)理解題從"The planet orbiting 55 Cancri is a major breakthrough：it is the first sighting of a large gas planet about the same distance from the star as Jupiter is from the sun."我們得知，這個行星是氣體行星。

3.A推理判斷題Mr. Marcy首先分析了地球上能夠存在生命是因?yàn)橛辛司薮蟮哪拘恰��?A huge space exists between the Jupiter-like planet and two other planets that lie close to 55 Cancri."我們知道在"55 Cancri"附近也有一個"Jupiter-like planet"，因此他提出"Is there an Earth-like planet in the space, too small for us to notice?"由此我們可以推斷，如果有一個"Earth-like planet "，那么外太空就可能會有生命存在。

4. B句意理解題。從短文中我們知道Mr. Marcy—直堅定不移地尋找外空生命。stick with意為"堅持做……"。因此A、C、D不合題意。