We can infer from the article that the decision to apply new definition to “planet . A. has won universal support from scientists. B. has been severely criticized by many astronomers C. has not been made inconsiderately. D. has been banned by the International Astronomical Union C Greece declared a national state of emergency on Saturday as scores of forest fires that have killed at least 46 people continued to burn out of control, leaving some villages trapped within walls of flames, cut off from firefighters. Although most of the fires have been on the Peloponnesian Peninsula, some broke out on the outskirts of Athens on Saturday, forcing the evacuation of homes and closing a major road linking the capital to the main airport for several hours. The national fire brigade said that by evening it had brought those blazes under control, including one that came within about six miles of the city. The country has been vulnerable to fire this summer because of drought and three consecutive heat waves that sent temperatures soaring over 100 degrees. More than 3,000 forest fires have destroyed thousands of acres of wooded areas since June; the earlier fires killed nine people. The latest spate of fires on the peninsula started Friday. Strong, hot winds have spread the flames. Firefighters expect the death toll to rise, because they have not yet been able to search some areas that had been overrun by flames. Hardest hit by the fires were a dozen small villages t around the town of Zaharo in the western peninsula, where at least 12 people, including some who may have been trying to flee by car, were killed. Scores of other residents, including elderly and disabled people, remained trapped in their homes, phoning in to local television and radio stations, crying for help. Late Saturday, Mr. Karamanlis, Prime Minister of Greece appeared on national television and declared that he was mobilizing all of the country’s resources to control the fire. Mr. Karamanlis also suggested that the recent fires might have been purposely set. “So many fires sparked simultaneously in so many regions is no coincidence, he said, “We will get to the bottom of this and punish those responsible. The overstretched national fire services are being helped by an estimated 6,000 soldiers mobilized for the operation. A fleet of water-dumping aircraft was expected from France, Germany and Norway, after Greece appealed to the European Union for “urgent assistance. 查看更多

 

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The world’s astronomers came to their senses yesterday and approved a new definition of the word “planet” that would drop tiny Pluto from the club and relegate it instead to a lesser realm of “dwarf planets.” It was a welcome step away from a proposal that would have kept Pluto as a planet but meantime opened the door for dozens of small, icy bodies on the fringes of the solar system.

The important vote came after fierce debate at a meeting of the International Astronomical Union, which had been considering a proposal to define a planet as any object that orbits a star and is large enough for its own gravity to pull it into a spherical (球形的) shape. That definition was scientifically precise but led to results that offended common sense. An asteroid, a small moon, and another icy ball like Pluto would suddenly have risen to planet-hood, swelling the number of planets to 12, with many more icy rocks likely to qualify as more was learned about them.

Fortunately, the astronomers have now added another requirement to the definition. Planets must not only be large enough to be round, they must also have cleared out the neighborhood around their orbits. Pluto would not qualify — it orbits in a belt of icy debris on the edge of the solar system. Neither would an icy rock nicknamed Xena, which orbits in that same zone, nor Ceres, a big asteroid that marches in the company of other asteroids. Pluto’s moon, Charon, which had qualified under the first proposal, is also out of the running.

Pluto, with its small size and oddball orbit, should never have been deemed a planet in the first place. Henceforth there will be eight planets, at least three dwarf planets, and tens of thousands of “smaller solar system bodies,” like comets and asteroids. Our only regret is that the astronomers chose the name “dwarf planets” for Pluto’s new category instead of abandoning the word entirely when discussing these less-than-planetary bodies.

46. We can know from the passage that the new definition of planet __________.

A. has been welcomed by all walks of life

B. will kick the Pluto out of the planet group in the solar system

C. still makes the Pluto as a planet

D. will enlarge the number of planets in our solar system into permanently 12

47. After the new definition of “planet” was put forward, all of the following are regarded as planet except________.

A. Venus        B. Ceres                C. Mars          D. Jupiter

48. The writer’s attitudes towards the new definition of “planet” is________.

   A. welcome             B. indifferent                C. hostile               D. neutral

49 If the original definition of “planet” had not been changed, there would be the following consequences except that ________.

   A. thousands of icy rocks in space will be classified as planets

   B. some asteroids big enough to pull itself into a spherical shape will be regarded as planets.

   C. the Pluto will be relegated to “dwarf planet”

   D. there will be at least twelve or even more planets in the solar system.

50. We can infer from the article that the decision to apply new definition to “planet”________.

   A. has won universal support from scientists.

   B. has been severely criticized by many astronomers

   C. has not been made inconsiderately.

   D. has been banned by the International Astronomical Union

查看答案和解析>>

The world’s astronomers came to their senses yesterday and approved a new definition of the word “planet” that would drop tiny Pluto from the club and relegate it instead to a lesser realm of “dwarf planets.” It was a welcome step away from a proposal that would have kept Pluto as a planet but meantime opened the door for dozens of small, icy bodies on the fringes of the solar system.

The important vote came after fierce debate at a meeting of the International Astronomical Union, which had been considering a proposal to define a planet as any object that orbits a star and is large enough for its own gravity to pull it into a spherical (球形的) shape. That definition was scientifically precise but led to results that offended common sense. An asteroid, a small moon, and another icy ball like Pluto would suddenly have risen to planet-hood, swelling the number of planets to 12, with many more icy rocks likely to qualify as more was learned about them.

Fortunately, the astronomers have now added another requirement to the definition. Planets must not only be large enough to be round, they must also have cleared out the neighborhood around their orbits. Pluto would not qualify — it orbits in a belt of icy debris on the edge of the solar system. Neither would an icy rock nicknamed Xena, which orbits in that same zone, nor Ceres, a big asteroid that marches in the company of other asteroids. Pluto’s moon, Charon, which had qualified under the first proposal, is also out of the running.

Pluto, with its small size and oddball orbit, should never have been deemed a planet in the first place. Henceforth there will be eight planets, at least three dwarf planets, and tens of thousands of “smaller solar system bodies,” like comets and asteroids. Our only regret is that the astronomers chose the name “dwarf planets” for Pluto’s new category instead of abandoning the word entirely when discussing these less-than-planetary bodies.

46. We can know from the passage that the new definition of planet __________.

A. has been welcomed by all walks of life

B. will kick the Pluto out of the planet group in the solar system

C. still makes the Pluto as a planet

D. will enlarge the number of planets in our solar system into permanently 12

47. After the new definition of “planet” was put forward, all of the following are regarded as planet except________.

A. Venus               B. Ceres                       C. Mars                 D. Jupiter

48. The writer’s attitudes towards the new definition of “planet” is________.

   A. welcome             B. indifferent         C. hostile               D. neutral

49 If the original definition of “planet” had not been changed, there would be the following consequences except that ________.

   A. thousands of icy rocks in space will be classified as planets

   B. some asteroids big enough to pull itself into a spherical shape will be regarded as planets.

   C. the Pluto will be relegated to “dwarf planet”

   D. there will be at least twelve or even more planets in the solar system.

50. We can infer from the article that the decision to apply new definition to “planet”________.

   A. has won universal support from scientists.

   B. has been severely criticized by many astronomers

   C. has not been made inconsiderately.

   D. has been banned by the International Astronomical Union

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