单选题Without the sun’s light ______ the earth’s surface, it would be so cold that life could not exist on the earth.A warmsB warmedC warmingD to warm

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第三篇

“Life Form Found" on Saturn ' s Titan

Scientists say they have discovered hints of alien life on the Saturn'5 moon.The discovery of a sort of
life was announced after researchers at the US space agency,NASA,analyzed data from spacecraft Cassini,
which pointed to the existence of methane-based form of life on Saturn's biggest moon.
Scientists have reportedly discovered clues showing primitive alien beings are"breathing"in Titan's
dense atmosphere filled with hydrogen.
They argue that hydrogen gets absorbed before hitting Titan's planet-like surface covered with methane
lakes and rivers.This,they say,points to the existence of some"bugs"consuming the hydrogen at the surface
of the moon less than half the size of the Earth.
"We suggested hydrogen consumption because it's the obvious gas for life to consume on Titan,similar
to the way we consume oxygen on Earth,"says NASA scientist Chris McKay."If these signs do turn out to be
a sign of life,it would be doubly exciting because it would represent a second form of life independent from
water-based life on Earth."
To date,scientists have not yet detected this form of life anywhere,though there are liquid-water-based
microorganisms on Earth that grow well on methane or produce it as a waste product. On Titan,where
temperatures are around minus 17 Kelvin(minus 290 degrees Farenheit),a methane-based organism would
have to use a substance that is liquid as its medium for living processes,but not water itself. Water is frozen
solid on Titan'5 surface and much too cold to support life as we know it.
Scientists had expected the Sun'5 interactions with chemicals in the atmosphere to produce a coating of
acetylene on Titan'5 surface.But Cassini detected no acetylene on the surface.
The absence of detectable acetylene on the Titan's surface can very well have a non-biological explana-
tion,said Mark Allen,a principal investigator of the NASA Titan team.
"Scientific conservatism suggests that a biological explanation should be the last choice after all non-
biological explanations are addressed,"Allen said."We have a lot of work to do to rule out possible non-bio-
logical explanations.It is more likely that a chemical process,without biology,can explain these results."

What do scientists claim to have found about Saturn?
A: Water-based life on it.
B: Methane-based life on its biggest moon.
C:A new moon moving around it.
D:Earthlike life on its biggest moon.

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第三篇

“Life Form Found" on Saturn ' s Titan

Scientists say they have discovered hints of alien life on the Saturn'5 moon.The discovery of a sort of
life was announced after researchers at the US space agency,NASA,analyzed data from spacecraft Cassini,
which pointed to the existence of methane-based form of life on Saturn's biggest moon.
Scientists have reportedly discovered clues showing primitive alien beings are"breathing"in Titan's
dense atmosphere filled with hydrogen.
They argue that hydrogen gets absorbed before hitting Titan's planet-like surface covered with methane
lakes and rivers.This,they say,points to the existence of some"bugs"consuming the hydrogen at the surface
of the moon less than half the size of the Earth.
"We suggested hydrogen consumption because it's the obvious gas for life to consume on Titan,similar
to the way we consume oxygen on Earth,"says NASA scientist Chris McKay."If these signs do turn out to be
a sign of life,it would be doubly exciting because it would represent a second form of life independent from
water-based life on Earth."
To date,scientists have not yet detected this form of life anywhere,though there are liquid-water-based
microorganisms on Earth that grow well on methane or produce it as a waste product. On Titan,where
temperatures are around minus 17 Kelvin(minus 290 degrees Farenheit),a methane-based organism would
have to use a substance that is liquid as its medium for living processes,but not water itself. Water is frozen
solid on Titan'5 surface and much too cold to support life as we know it.
Scientists had expected the Sun'5 interactions with chemicals in the atmosphere to produce a coating of
acetylene on Titan'5 surface.But Cassini detected no acetylene on the surface.
The absence of detectable acetylene on the Titan's surface can very well have a non-biological explana-
tion,said Mark Allen,a principal investigator of the NASA Titan team.
"Scientific conservatism suggests that a biological explanation should be the last choice after all non-
biological explanations are addressed,"Allen said."We have a lot of work to do to rule out possible non-bio-
logical explanations.It is more likely that a chemical process,without biology,can explain these results."

Which of the following statements about Titan is true?
A:It is as large as the Earth.
B:There is acetylene on its surface.
C:Water on it acts as a life supporting medium.
D:Hydrogen consumption is reported to be on it.

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So Many"Earths"
The Milky Way（银河）contains billions of Earth-sized planets that could support life.That's the finding of a new study.It draws on data that came from NASA's top planet-hunting telescope.
A mechanical failure recently put that Kepler space telescope out of service.Kepler had played a big role in creating a census of planets orbiting some 170,000 stars.Its data have been helping astronomers predict how common planets are in our galaxy.The telescope focused on hunting planets that might have conditions similar to those on Earth.
The authors of a study,published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,conclude that between 14 and 30 out of every 100 stars,with a mass and temperature similar to the Sun,may host a planet that could support life as we know it.Such a planet would have a diameter at least as large as Earth's,but no more than twice that big.The planet also would have to orbit in a star's habitable zone.That's where the surface temperature would allow any water to exist as a liquid.
The new estimate of how many planets might fit these conditions comes from studying more than 42,000 stars and identifying suitable worlds orbiting them.The scientists used those numbers to extrapolate（推算） to the rest of the stars that the telescope could not see.
The estimate is rough,the authors admit.If applied to the solar system,it would define as habitable a zone starting as close to the Sun as Venus and running to as far away as Mars.Neither planet is Earthlike (although either might have been in the distant past).Using tighter limits,the researchers estimate that between 4 and 8 out of every 100 sunlike stars could host an Earth-sized world.These are ones that would take 200 to 400 days to complete a yearly orbit.
Four out of every 100 sunlike stars doesn't sound like a big number.It would mean,however,that the Milky Way could host more than a billion Earth-sized planets with a chance for life.

The main task of the Kepler space telescope is to find out planets with similar conditions to Earth's.
A:Right
B:Wrong
C:Not mentioned

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Weight on and off the Earth We are so used to.our life on the surface of the earth that it can be quite an effort for our mind to break free of all the ideas that we take for granted.Because we can feel that things are heavy,we think of "weight"as being a fixed quality in an object,but it is not really fixed at all.If you could take a one-pound packet of butter 4,000 miles out from the earth,it would weigh only a quarter of a pound. Why would things weigh only a quarter as much as they do at the surface of the earth if we took them 4,000 miles out into space?The reason is this:all objects have a natural attraction for all other objects;this is called gravitational attraction.But this power of attraction between two obects gets weaker as they get farther apart.When the butter was at the surface of the earth,it was 4,000 miles from the center.When we took the butter 4,000 miles out,it was 8,000 miles from the center,which is twice the distance.If you double the distance between two objects,their gravitational attraction decreases two times two.If you treble the distance, it gets nine times weaker(three times three)and so on. So this is one of the first things we need to remember that the weight of an object in space is not the same as its weight on the surface of the earth. What about the weight of our pound of butter on the surface of the moon?At the distance the puii of the earth is about 4,000 times smaller than it is here on the surface,so we can forget all about the earth-pull on our butter. On the other hand,on the moon there will be an attraction between the butter and the moon,but the butter will weigh only about one-sixth as much as it does on the earth.This is because the moon is so much smaller than the earth.The amount of gravitational pull that a body produces depends on the amount of material in it.A packet of butter has a gravitational pull of its own;but this is very small in relation to the pull of something as large as the moon,or the earth,or the sun.

According to the passage,"weight"should be understood in the sense that
A:it is fixed if it is outside the earth's gravitational puli
B:it decreases four times when it is 4,000 miles from the earth's center
C:it varies with the change of the gravitational attraction between two objects
D:things increase in amount as they are closer to the earth's surface

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第一篇

A Sunshade（遮阳伞）for the Planet

Even with the best will in the world,reducing our carbon emissions is not going to prevent global warming. It has become clear that even if we take the most strong measures to control emissions, the uncertainties in our climate models still leave open the possibility of extreme warming and rises in sea level. At the same time,resistance by governments and special interest groups makes it quite possible that the actions suggested by climate scientists might not be implemented soon enough.
Fortunately,if the worst comes to the worst,scientists still have a few tricks up their sleeves. For the most part they have strongly resisted discussing these options for fear of inviting a sense of complacency that might thwart efforts to tackle the root of the problem. Until now,that is a growing number of researchers are taking a fresh look at large-scale"geoengineering"projects that might be used to counteract global warming."I use the analogy of methadone,"says Stephen Schneider,a climate researcher at Stanford University in California who was among the first to draw attention to global warming."If you have a heroin addict,the correct treatment is hospitalization,and a long rehab. But if they absolutely refuse,methadone is better than heroin."
Basically the idea is to apply"sunscreen"to the whole planet. One astronomer has come up with a radical plan to cool Earth:launch trillions of feather-light discs into space,where they would form a vast cloud that would block the sun's rays.It's controversial,but recent studies suggest there are ways to deflect just enough of the sunlight reaching the Earth's surface to counteract the warming produced by the greenhouse effect. Global climate models show that blocking just 1.8 percent of the incident energy in the sun's rays would cancel out the warming effects produced by a doubling of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.That could be crucial,because even the most severe emissions control measures being proposed would leave us with a doubling of carbon dioxide by the end of this century,and that would last for at least a century more.

What is Stephen Schneider's idea of preventing global warming?
A:To ask governments to take stronger measures.
B:To increase the sunlight reaching the Earth.
C:To apply sunscreen to the Earth.
D:To decrease greenhouse gases.

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So Many"Earths"
The Milky Way（银河）contains billions of Earth-sized planets that could support life.That's the finding of a new study.It draws on data that came from NASA's top planet-hunting telescope.
A mechanical failure recently put that Kepler space telescope out of service.Kepler had played a big role in creating a census of planets orbiting some 170,000 stars.Its data have been helping astronomers predict how common planets are in our galaxy.The telescope focused on hunting planets that might have conditions similar to those on Earth.
The authors of a study,published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,conclude that between 14 and 30 out of every 100 stars,with a mass and temperature similar to the Sun,may host a planet that could support life as we know it.Such a planet would have a diameter at least as large as Earth's,but no more than twice that big.The planet also would have to orbit in a star's habitable zone.That's where the surface temperature would allow any water to exist as a liquid.
The new estimate of how many planets might fit these conditions comes from studying more than 42,000 stars and identifying suitable worlds orbiting them.The scientists used those numbers to extrapolate（推算） to the rest of the stars that the telescope could not see.
The estimate is rough,the authors admit.If applied to the solar system,it would define as habitable a zone starting as close to the Sun as Venus and running to as far away as Mars.Neither planet is Earthlike (although either might have been in the distant past).Using tighter limits,the researchers estimate that between 4 and 8 out of every 100 sunlike stars could host an Earth-sized world.These are ones that would take 200 to 400 days to complete a yearly orbit.
Four out of every 100 sunlike stars doesn't sound like a big number.It would mean,however,that the Milky Way could host more than a billion Earth-sized planets with a chance for life.

The Earth is a planet orbiting in the Sun's habitable zone.
A:Right
B:Wrong
C:Not mentioned

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第三篇

“Life Form Found" on Saturn ' s Titan

Scientists say they have discovered hints of alien life on the Saturn'5 moon.The discovery of a sort of
life was announced after researchers at the US space agency,NASA,analyzed data from spacecraft Cassini,
which pointed to the existence of methane-based form of life on Saturn's biggest moon.
Scientists have reportedly discovered clues showing primitive alien beings are"breathing"in Titan's
dense atmosphere filled with hydrogen.
They argue that hydrogen gets absorbed before hitting Titan's planet-like surface covered with methane
lakes and rivers.This,they say,points to the existence of some"bugs"consuming the hydrogen at the surface
of the moon less than half the size of the Earth.
"We suggested hydrogen consumption because it's the obvious gas for life to consume on Titan,similar
to the way we consume oxygen on Earth,"says NASA scientist Chris McKay."If these signs do turn out to be
a sign of life,it would be doubly exciting because it would represent a second form of life independent from
water-based life on Earth."
To date,scientists have not yet detected this form of life anywhere,though there are liquid-water-based
microorganisms on Earth that grow well on methane or produce it as a waste product. On Titan,where
temperatures are around minus 17 Kelvin(minus 290 degrees Farenheit),a methane-based organism would
have to use a substance that is liquid as its medium for living processes,but not water itself. Water is frozen
solid on Titan'5 surface and much too cold to support life as we know it.
Scientists had expected the Sun'5 interactions with chemicals in the atmosphere to produce a coating of
acetylene on Titan'5 surface.But Cassini detected no acetylene on the surface.
The absence of detectable acetylene on the Titan's surface can very well have a non-biological explana-
tion,said Mark Allen,a principal investigator of the NASA Titan team.
"Scientific conservatism suggests that a biological explanation should be the last choice after all non-
biological explanations are addressed,"Allen said."We have a lot of work to do to rule out possible non-bio-
logical explanations.It is more likely that a chemical process,without biology,can explain these results."

It can be inferred from Mark Allen's address that_____________.
A:scientists are trying to confirm these is life on Titan
B:scientists agree that a chemical process is a convincing explanation
C:scientists share the opinion that a biological explanation is reasonable
D:scientists are arguing over whether there is life on Titan

Mercury’s（ ）is so much greater than the Earth’s that it completes more than four revolutions around the Sun in the time it takes the Earth to complete one.

A.velocity
B.orbit
C.weight
D.diameter

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Where Did the Earth's Water Come From?

Earth is located within the"snow line"of the solar system,the region closest to the Sun where H2 0 is primarily in liquid or gaseous form,if at all.______(46)The snow line phenomena is reflected in the water content of planets like Mercury,Venus,and Mars. Water is absent on Mercury.On Venus,H₂O only exists as a trace element in the atmosphere.Mars only has a thin veneer of ice in its polar regions.In general,water is rare within the snow line.
Why does Earth have so much water relative to the other inner planets?71%of the surface is covered in the oceans,more than half of which is deeper than 3,000 meters,with an approximate total volume of 1.3 billion cu km.______(47)
There are various theories as to where all the Earth's water came from,but several theories have fared better than the others.______(48)When the Earth was in the process of forming,with a radius just 40%smaller than at present,it would have had enough gravity to hold on to a tenuous atmosphere with water vapor. The first water vapor on the planet would have come from the planet's internals,where volatile(low weight)chemicals would have a tendency to float to the top,and heavy chemicals(iron and nickel)would sink.
Though the first of Earth's water came about through volcanism,this alone probably didn't produce enough to form stable pools on the surface.______(49)Comparing the isotope ratios of water on Earth and water from comets and asteroids has revealed that the majority of the Earth's water comes from asteroids.
Throughout its history,Earth's water has increased in volume due to biological processes. In the early seas of Earth,hydrogen sulfide would have been in great supply,which,when reacted with carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis in sulfide-reducing bacteria,would have produced hydrogen,sulfur,and water.______(50)

________（49）
A: More water was added to the planet during several hypothesized large impacts from asteroids from the outer asteroid belt.
B:We know that the oceans existed as early as 100 million years after the formation of the Earth.
C:Still,the oceans only make up 0.023%of the Earth's total mass.
D:Astronomers say Earth s water may have come from space.
E:The snow line is located in the outerasteroid belt,between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
F: Many geologists believe that the majority of Earth's water generated through this process.

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第一篇

A Sunshade（遮阳伞）for the Planet

Even with the best will in the world,reducing our carbon emissions is not going to prevent global warming. It has become clear that even if we take the most strong measures to control emissions, the uncertainties in our climate models still leave open the possibility of extreme warming and rises in sea level. At the same time,resistance by governments and special interest groups makes it quite possible that the actions suggested by climate scientists might not be implemented soon enough.
Fortunately,if the worst comes to the worst,scientists still have a few tricks up their sleeves. For the most part they have strongly resisted discussing these options for fear of inviting a sense of complacency that might thwart efforts to tackle the root of the problem. Until now,that is a growing number of researchers are taking a fresh look at large-scale"geoengineering"projects that might be used to counteract global warming."I use the analogy of methadone,"says Stephen Schneider,a climate researcher at Stanford University in California who was among the first to draw attention to global warming."If you have a heroin addict,the correct treatment is hospitalization,and a long rehab. But if they absolutely refuse,methadone is better than heroin."
Basically the idea is to apply"sunscreen"to the whole planet. One astronomer has come up with a radical plan to cool Earth:launch trillions of feather-light discs into space,where they would form a vast cloud that would block the sun's rays.It's controversial,but recent studies suggest there are ways to deflect just enough of the sunlight reaching the Earth's surface to counteract the warming produced by the greenhouse effect. Global climate models show that blocking just 1.8 percent of the incident energy in the sun's rays would cancel out the warming effects produced by a doubling of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.That could be crucial,because even the most severe emissions control measures being proposed would leave us with a doubling of carbon dioxide by the end of this century,and that would last for at least a century more.

What is NOT true of the effectiveness of"sunscreen",according to the last paragraph?
A:It deflects sunlight reaching the Earth to counteract the warming.
B:It blocks the incident energy in the sun's rays.
C:It is a controversial method.
D:It decreases greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.