Question

【題目】 Many of us think, wrongly, that the moon doesn’t change. For example, the Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Ruoxu once wrote that “Generations have come and passed away; From year to year the moons took alike, old and new.”

However, a new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience shows that the moon is in fact slowly shrinking over time. For the study, a group of US scientists examined and analyzed thousands of photographs taken by the NASA orbiter Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (月球勘測軌道飛行器照相機) . They found that there were lots of faults (斷層) on the surface of the moon. These faults were formed by recent movement on the moon.

According to NASA, the moon is made up of pieces of rocks with a hot core (核) .The moon continued to expand as it was born. But in this process, it released energy and cooled down. Then it began to shrink, in a way comparable to the shrinking of a grape into a raisin (葡萄干) . Over the past several hundred million years, it has become 46 meters “skinnier”. But due to its hard and rocky crust (外殼) . the moon’s surface continues to push up, “Some of these quakes can be fairly strong around five on the Richter scale (里氏震級 ) ,” said Thomas Watters, a senior scientist at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in the US.

But does that mean the moon is a dangerous place that human shouldn’t try to explore and live on in the future? Maybe not, reported the Telegraph, “This isn’t anything to worry about. The moon may be shrinking, but not by much. It’s not going anywhere,” Watters comforted us.

The new discovery proves that the idea that the moon is a dead, boring place is wrong. “We have been to the moon and we’ve done some great science, but there is still a lot we don’t know. The moon is shrinking — we didn’t really realize that until recently. It’s a much more active and interesting place than we thought and we should explore that,” NASA scientist Nathan Williams said.

【1】Which point of view about the moon may the writer agree to?

A.It stays the same as before.B.It is becoming lightly smaller.

C.It is getting older and older.D.It has passed away.

【2】What can we learn about the moon from the third paragraph?

A.It has become 46 meters fatter due to expanding.

B.It has changed from a grape into a raisin in recent years.

C.It quakes even at seven on the Richter scale.

D.It has a hot core and releases energy during expanding.

【3】Who thinks that we needn’t worry about the moon?

A.Zhang Ruoxu.B.Thomas Watters.

C.Nathan Williams.D.The journalist.

【4】What does Nathan Williams think of the moon?

A.It is a dead and boring place.B.It has lots of faults on the surface.

C.It is valuable to do more science.D.It isn’t a place where we can live.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】D

【3】B

【4】C

【解析】

這是一篇說明文。發(fā)表在《自然地球科學(xué)》雜志上的一項新研究表明，月球?qū)嶋H上正隨著時間慢慢縮小。而國家航空航天博物館的資深科學(xué)家和美國宇航局科學(xué)家認(rèn)為我們并不用擔(dān)心月球的縮小問題。

【1】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段第一句However, a new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience shows that the moon is in fact slowly shrinking over time.（然而，發(fā)表在《自然地球科學(xué)》(Nature Geoscience)雜志上的一項新研究表明，月球?qū)嶋H上正隨著時間慢慢縮小。）可知月球正在變得越來越小。故選B。

【2】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段According to NASA, the moon is made up of pieces of rocks with a hot core. The moon continued to expand as it was born. But in this process, it released energy and cooled down.（根據(jù)美國宇航局的說法，月球是由具有熱內(nèi)核的巖石碎片組成的。月球在誕生時繼續(xù)膨脹。但在這個過程中，它釋放能量并冷卻下來。）可知月球有一個熱的核心，在膨脹的過程中釋放能量。故選D。

【3】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)倒數(shù)第二段最后一句“This isn’t anything to worry about. The moon may be shrinking, but not by much. It’s not going anywhere,” Watters comforted us.（“這沒什么好擔(dān)心的。月球可能正在縮小，但幅度不大。它哪兒也去不了，” Watters安慰我們。）可知Thomas Watters認(rèn)為我們不必?fù)?dān)心月球。故選B。

【4】推理判斷題。根據(jù)最后一段“We have been to the moon and we’ve done some great science, but there is still a lot we don’t know. The moon is shrinking — we didn’t really realize that until recently. It’s a much more active and interesting place than we thought and we should explore that,” NASA scientist Nathan Williams said.（“我們?nèi)ミ^月球，也做了一些偉大的科學(xué)研究，但仍然有很多我們不知道的。月球正在縮小——直到最近我們才真正意識到這一點。這是一個比我們想象中更加活躍和有趣的地方，我們應(yīng)該去探索。美國宇航局科學(xué)家Nathan Williams說。）可知Nathan Williams認(rèn)為去月球做更多的科學(xué)研究是有價值的。故選C。