Question

【题目】 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 (月球勘测轨道飞行器照相机) . They found that there were lots of faults (断层) 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 (外壳) . the moon’s surface continues to push up, “Some of these quakes can be fairly strong around five on the Richter scale (里氏震级 ) ,” 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】

这是一篇说明文。发表在《自然地球科学》杂志上的一项新研究表明，月球实际上正随着时间慢慢缩小。而国家航空航天博物馆的资深科学家和美国宇航局科学家认为我们并不用担心月球的缩小问题。

【1】细节理解题。根据第二段第一句However, a new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience shows that the moon is in fact slowly shrinking over time.（然而，发表在《自然地球科学》(Nature Geoscience)杂志上的一项新研究表明，月球实际上正随着时间慢慢缩小。）可知月球正在变得越来越小。故选B。

【2】细节理解题。根据第三段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.（根据美国宇航局的说法，月球是由具有热内核的岩石碎片组成的。月球在诞生时继续膨胀。但在这个过程中，它释放能量并冷却下来。）可知月球有一个热的核心，在膨胀的过程中释放能量。故选D。

【3】细节理解题。根据倒数第二段最后一句“This isn’t anything to worry about. The moon may be shrinking, but not by much. It’s not going anywhere,” Watters comforted us.（“这没什么好担心的。月球可能正在缩小，但幅度不大。它哪儿也去不了，” Watters安慰我们。）可知Thomas Watters认为我们不必担心月球。故选B。

【4】推理判断题。根据最后一段“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.（“我们去过月球，也做了一些伟大的科学研究，但仍然有很多我们不知道的。月球正在缩小——直到最近我们才真正意识到这一点。这是一个比我们想象中更加活跃和有趣的地方，我们应该去探索。美国宇航局科学家Nathan Williams说。）可知Nathan Williams认为去月球做更多的科学研究是有价值的。故选C。