2014年雅思閱讀模擬試題及答案解析(6.doc

1、1. A European spacecraft took off today to spearhead the search for another Earth among the stars.2. The Corot space telescope blasted off aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan shortly after 2.20pm.3. Corot ， short for convection rotation and planetary transits ins

2、trument capable of finding small rocky planets beyond the solar， issystem.the firstAny suchplanet situated in the right orbit stands a good chance of having liquid water onits surface ， and quite possibly life ， although a leading scientist involved in the project said it was unlikely to find any li

3、ttle green men.4. Developedby theFrenchspace agency ，CNES，andpartneredby theEuropeanSpace Agency (ESA)monitor around 120， Austria， Belgium ， Germany ， Brazil and Spain， Corot will， 000 stars with its 27cm telescope from apolar orbit 514 milesabove theEarth.Over two and a halfyears ，itwillfocuson fiv

4、etosixdifferentareas ofthe sky ，measuringthe brightnessof about 10， 000 starsevery512 seconds.5. At the present moment we are hoping to find out more about the nature of planets around stars which are potential habitats. We are looking at habitableplanets ， not inhabited planets. We are not going to

5、 find any little green men， ProfessorIanRoxburgh ，anESA scientistwho has been involvedwithCorotsinceits inception， told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.6. Prof Roxburgh said it was hoped Corot would find rocky planets that coulddevelopan atmosphereand，iftheyaretherightdistancefromtheirparentstar，the

6、y could have water.7. To searchforplanets，thetelescopewilllookforthedimming ofstarlightcaused when an object passes in front of a star， known as a transit. Althoughit will take more sophisticated space telescopes planned in the next 10 years toconfirm the presence of an Earth-like planet with oxygen

7、 and liquid water，will let scientists know where to point their lenses.Corot8. Measurements of minute changes in brightnesswillenable scientiststo detectgiantJupiter-likegas planetsas wellas smallrockyones. Itis the rockyplanets- that couldbe no bigger than abouttwice the size of the Earth- which wi

8、ll causethe most excitement. Scientists expect to find between 10 and 40 of these smaller planets.9. Corot willalsoprobe intostellarinteriorsby studyingthe acousticwavesthat ripple across the surface of stars， a technique called asteroseismology.10. The natureof the ripplesallowsastronomersto calcul

9、atea star s precisemass， age and chemical composition.11. A planet passing in front of a star can be detected by the fall in light from that star. Small oscillations of the star also produce changes in the lightemitted ， whichrevealwhat the staris made of and how they are structuredinternally.This d

10、ata willprovidea major boost to our understandingof how starsform and evolve ， Prof Roxburgh said.12. Since the discovery in 1995 of the first exoplanet - a planet orbitinga star other than the Sun - more than 200 others have been found by ground-based observatories.13. Until now the usual method of

11、 finding exoplanets has been to detect thewobbletheirgravityimpartson parentstars.But only giantgaseous planetsbiggerthan Jupiter can be found this way， and they are unlikely to harbour life.14. In the 2010s， ESA plans to launch Darwin ， a fleetof four or fiveinterlinkedspace telescopes that will no

12、t only spot small rocky planets， but analyse theiratmospheres for signs of biological activity.15. At around the same time ， theUS space agency ， Nasa ， willlaunch TerrestrialPlanet Finder， another space telescope designed to locate Earth-like planets.Choose the appropriate letter from A-D for quest

13、ion 1.1. Corot is an instrument which(A) can help to search for certain planets(B) is used to find planets in the orbit(C) can locate planets with human beings(D) can spot any planets with water.Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage ？ For questions 2-5 w

14、riteTRUE if the statement agrees with the informationFALSE if the statement contraicts the informationNOT GIVEN if there is no information on this in the passage2. Scientists are trying to find out about the planets that can be inhabited.3. BBC Radio 4 recently focuses on the broadcasting of Corot.4

15、. Passing objects might cause a fall in light.5. Corot can tell whether there is another Earth-like planet.Based on your reading of the passage ， complete the sentences below with words taken from the passage. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.With measurements ， scientists will be able t

16、o search planets. They will be extremely excited if they can discover the expected number of which could be up to 7. _ .forsome gaseous and rockysome small6. _ ，Corot willenable scientiststo study the8. _ of stars.In thisway，a star s mass ， age and chemical composition can be calculated.According to

17、 Prof Roxburgh ， changes in light can be caused by passing planets or star 9. _. The related statistics can gain us a better 10. _ of the star formation and evolvement.Observatorieshave found many exoplanets， whichare 11. _ otherstarsthan the Sun. The common way used in finding exoplanets can only d

18、etect huge gas planets ， which do not 12. _ .With the launching of Darwin ， astronomers will be able to analyse whether those rocky planets have 13. _ for life.Answer keys ：1.答案： A ( 第 3 段第 1 句： Corot ， shortforconvectionrotationand planetarytransits， is the first instrument capable of finding small

19、 rocky planets beyondthe solar system. A項(xiàng)中的 certain planets指 small rocky planets beyond the solarsystem.)2.答案： TRUE (第 5 段第 1、 2 句： At the present moment we are hoping to findout more about the nature of planetsaround stars whichare potentialhabitats. Weare looking at habitable planets， not inhabite

20、d planets.問題中的“ that can beinhabited”意思就是inhabitable.)3.答案： NOT GIVEN (文中沒有提及該信息。)4.答案： TRUE (第7 段第1 句： To search for planets， the telescope will lookforthe dimming ofstarlightcaused when an objectpasses infrontofa star， knownas a transit.)5. 答案： FASLE( 第 7 段第 2、3 句： Although it will take more sophi

21、sticated telescopes planned in the next 10 years to confirm the presence of an Earth-likespaceplanetwithoxygen and liquidwater ， Corotwillletscientistsknow where topointtheir lenses. )6. 答案： rocky planets ( 第 8 段第 2 句： It is the rocky planets - that could be no bigger than about twice the size of th

22、e Earth - which will cause the most excitement.)7.答案： 40 ( 第 8 段第 3 句： Scientistsexpectto findbetween 10 and 40 of thesesmaller planets.問題中短語“ up to ”的意思是“達(dá)到，高達(dá)”，所以應(yīng)該選擇最高的數(shù)字 40。)8.答案： interiors( 第9 段第1 句： Corotwillalso probe intostellarinteriorsby studyingthe acousticcalled asteroseismology.waves thatrippleacrossthe surfaceof stars ， a technique單詞 probe ”的詞義是“探查，探索”。)9.答案：oscillations( 第 11 段第 2 句：Small oscillationsof the staralsoproducechanges in the light emitted， which reveal what the star is made of and how theyare structured internally.)10. 答案： understanding ( 第 11 段第 3 句： Thi