Question

4．Do you ever wish for a little more time to do everything you need to do？Well，on July 1 you'll be getting it--but only one more second．
  On July 1 at exactly 7：59：59 a．m．Beijing time （or on June 30 at 23：59：59 UTC，Coordinated Universal Time），the world's atomic（原子的） clocks will pause for a single second，or，more precisely，change to the unusual time of 7：59：60，according to theverge．com．The addition of a leap second（閏秒），announced by the Paris Observatory，is to keep our clocks in time with the slowing of Earth's rotation（旋轉(zhuǎn)） and astronomical time as measured by the sun．
   Just one extra second could cause big problems and affect the way computers and websites work，however．When the last leap second was added back in 2012，more than a few websites had some trouble．As reported by Phys．org，popular sites like the community website Reddit crashed when the leap second was added．
  For Reddit，the problem was eventually found to be with a Linux system that got confused when it checked the network time and found an extra second．
  Speaking to Wired about the problem back in 2012，Linux creator Linus Torvalds commented："Almost every time we have a leap second，we find something．It's really annoying，because it's code （代碼）that is almost never used，and thus not tested by users under their normal conditions．"
  Companies have had to think of their own solutions，and Google's"leap smear"may be the best-known example．As company engineer Christopher Pascoe explains in a blog post，companies usually try to fix the problem by turning back the clocks by one second at the end of the day so that they play that second again．
  However，Pascoe believes this creates problems．He asked："What happens？Does e-mail that comes in during that second get stored correctly？"
  Google has a solution：Cut the extra second into milliseconds and then put these tiny amounts of time into the system throughout the day．"This means that when it became time to add an extra second at midnight，"says Pascoe．"Our clocks have already taken into account over the course of the day．"
  For many companies without Google's money，however，the leap second will likely still cause some crashes．Don't worry，though-at least it won't last long!

51．Why do we need to add a leap second？C
A．The world's atomic clocks are set to do so．
B．To keep in time with the world's computers．
C．To keep atomic clocks in time with the slowing of Earth's rotation．
D．To record the changes to astronomical time．
52．What happened to the website Reddit when the leap second was added in 2012？D
A．It crashed because of a virus attack．
B．Its network time added two extra seconds．
C．All of the code in its Linux system went wrong．
D．One of its software systems got confused and the site broke down．
53．What does the underlined word"something"refer to in the 5^th paragraph？A
A．The code not working properly．
B．The extra second．
C．The problem．
D．Normal conditions．
54．How do companies usually deal with the problem of the extra second？C
A．By shutting down computers at the end of the day．
B．By stopping receiving emails that come in during that second．
C．By turning the clocks back by one second at the end of the day．
D．By cutting the extra second into milliseconds throughout  the day．
55．What's Christopher Pascoe's attitude toward Google's solution to the problem？C
A．Unfavorable   
B．Doubtful  
C．Approving  
D．Cautious．

Answer 1

分析 文章講述了閏秒是由于地球自轉(zhuǎn)的變慢性引起的，為了和由太陽測量的天文時(shí)間一致而增加的一秒，它對電腦和網(wǎng)站工作的影響以及現(xiàn)有的一些解決方法．

解答 51．C  細(xì)節(jié)理解題．根據(jù)The addition of a leap second（閏秒），announced by the Paris Observatory，is to keep our clocks in the time with the slowing of Earth's rotation（旋轉(zhuǎn)） and astronomical time as measured by the sun．可知閏秒是由于地球自轉(zhuǎn)的變慢引起的，為了和由太陽測量的天文時(shí)間一致而增加的一秒．故選C．
52．D  細(xì)節(jié)理解題．根據(jù)第三段最后一句和the problem was eventually found to be with a Linux system that got confused when it checked the network time and found an extra second．可知閏秒發(fā)生時(shí)，網(wǎng)站崩潰，運(yùn)行系統(tǒng)混亂．故選D．
53．A  推理判斷題．根據(jù)we find something．It's really annoying，because it's code （代碼）that is almost never used，and thus not tested by users under their normal conditions．可知something是指代后文的出現(xiàn)一些從沒使用過和測試過的代碼，即代碼不正常地工作．故選A．
54．C  細(xì)節(jié)理解題．根據(jù)companies usually try to fix the problem by turning back the clocks by one second at the end of the day so that they play that second again．可知是在一天結(jié)束時(shí)將時(shí)鐘往回調(diào)一秒．故選C．
55．C   推理判斷題．根據(jù)．"This means that when it became time to add an extra second at midnight，"says Pascoe．"Our clocks have already taken into account over the course of the day．"午夜時(shí)分多一秒時(shí)，時(shí)鐘已經(jīng)在白天將這一秒考慮在內(nèi)了，可知Pascoe認(rèn)同這個(gè)方法．故選C．

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