.第4部分：閱讀理解
Oceanography
Oceanography has been defined as "the application of all sciences to the study of the sea".
Before the nineteenth century scientists with an interest in the sea were few and far between. Certainly Newton considered some theoretical aspects of it in his writings but he was reluctant① to go to sea to further his work.
For most people the sea was remote, and with the exception of early intercontinental travelers or others who earned a living from the sea, there was little reason to ask many questions about it, let alone② to ask what lay beneath the surface. The first time that the question "What is at the bottom of the oceans?" had to be answered with any commercial consequence was when the laying of a telegraph cable from Europe to America was proposed. The engineers had to know the depth profile of the route to estimate the length of the cable that had to be manufactured.
It was to Maury of the US Navy that the Atlantic Telegraph Company turned in 1853 for information on this matter. In the 1840s, Maury had been responsible for encouraging voyages during which soundings were taken to investigate the depths of the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Later, some of his findings amused much popular interest in his book The Physical Geography of the Sea.
The cable was laid, but not until 1866 was the connection made permanent and reliable. At the early attempts, the cable failed and when it was taken out for repairs, it was found to be covered in living growths, a fact which defied contemporary scientific opinion that there was no life in the deeper points of the sea.
Within a few years oceanography was under way. In 1872 Thomson led a scientific expedition, which lasted for four years and brought home thousands of samples from the sea. Their classification and analysis occupied scientists for years and led to a five-volume report, the last volume being published in 1895.
Notes：
①reluctant a. 不愿的，勉強的
②let alone 更不用說
41. The passage implies that the telegraph cable was built mainly ______.
A. for oceanography studies
B. for business considerations
C. for military purposes
D. for investigating the depths of the oceans
42. It was ______ that asked Maury for help in oceanography studies.
A. the American Navy
B. some early intercontinental travelers
C. those who earned a living from the sea
D. the company which proposed to lay an undersea cable
43. The aim of voyages Maury encouraged in the 1840s was ______.
A. to make some sound experiments in the oceans
B. to collect samples of sea plants and animals
C. to estimate the length of the cable that was to be made
D. to measure the depths of two oceans
44. "Defied" in the 5th paragraph probably means ______.
A. doubled
B. gave proof
C. to challenged
D. agreed to
45. This passage is mainly about ______.
A. the beginnings of oceanography
B. the laying of the first undersea cable
C. the investigation of ocean depths
D. the early intercontinental communications
6.第5部分：補全短文
Exploration
Landing men on the moon captured the public imagination like few other events this century. It had less to do with science than with demonstrating superiority during the cold war, but the appeal of the adventure meant that the Russians, who retrieved lunar rock samples far more economically using robots, came off very much second best. No one has been back to the moon since the Apollo astronauts left in 1972, so the mission has retained its glamour （魅力）.
（46） ______. Most spacecraft are unmanned these days but missions are still unpredictable; a spacecraft was destroyed on the approach to Mars only last month.
Our sights are set on Mars because people still hope to find life there－not the movie director's idea of a Martian （火星）, but rather microscopic forms of life hidden beneath the surface to protect them from the cold. Another possible home to life is Jupiters moon, Europe, which seems to have slush （雪泥, 爛泥） beneath its ice crust that is kept warm by tides. （47） ______.
Using our near-space environment is the aim for the foreseeable future, people are even setting up businesses to offer trips in space to rich members of the general public. （48） ______ .It builds on the success of the space shuttle （航天飛機）, which proved very flexible and allowed masses of scientific experiments in micro-gravity; and also on Mars, which told us a lot about the physical effects of long duration space flight. The Russians kept it going much longer than anyone expected－you were almost blase （玩膩了的） about the latest crisis.
Beyond our own solar system, we will keep up the search for planets that might sustain life. （49） ______ .You can say: "There are so many stars, some of them with planets, that some of those planets must be conducive （有利的） to live?" But even if that were true, that life might have happened millions of years ago or be going to happen millions of years in the future. （50） ______ .
A. The real excitement surrounds the international space station, which will be built over the next five or six years by countries working collaboratively （共同的） on a spacecraft for the first time.
B. The prospects aren't great.
C. Spacecrafts may help mankind to realize the dream of living on other planets.
D. Although putting people into orbit is now routine, traveling further is not.
E. We now know that stars other than our sun have planets, but there's still a big difference between finding planets and finding life.
F. But exploration is a long way off.
7.第6部分：完形填空
Stars
The old belief that the universe never changes is quite （51） ______. Even （52） ______ the invention of the telescope, astronomers noticed that bright stars suddenly appear in the sky and then later （53） ______. These stats were called "novae" because they were thought to be （54） ______. In fact we now know that they are really old stars which are slowly dying.
Novae are old stars which are slowly dying. （55） ______ they do so, they let out huge clouds of material, sometimes as large as the earth, and these explode into space （56） ______ a speed of about 8,000,000 kilometers per hour. When this happens, the hotter parts of the star become （57） ______, and this is why novae are so bright. Although the explosions are huge on a human scale, they only （58） ______ a small part of the dying star's energy. The death is a slow one and the star may continue to explode for thousands of years. Indeed, there are even some stars which explode once （59） ______ two weeks.
There are other old stars which do not die slowly, but are （60） ______ destroyed by one great explosion. These are known （61） ______ "supernovae". The explosion of a supernova is equivalent （62） ______ about a million hydrogen bombs going off at the same time. Just before the explosion the star's density becomes very great and it spins at a very high speed. A matchbox of materials taken from the star at that time would weigh about 1,000 tons, and the star （63） ______ be turning at about 16,000,000 kilometers per hour. The explosion itself occurs （64） ______, in the interval of a minute, but the supernova continues to shine long （65） ______ the event. One supernova which Chinese astronomers observed in 1054 can still be seen by us today. It has been shining for at least nine hundred years.
51. A. right B. reasonable C. sound D. wrong
52. A. after B. before C. during D. for
53. A. disappear B. lost C. missed D. exploded
54. A. old B. evil C. new D. dying
55. A. When B. While C. After D. As
56. A. in B. at C. with D. on
57. A. invisible B. brilliant C. visible D. noticeable
58. A. consume B. cost C. spend D. lose
59. A. every B. each C. at D. within
60. A. partly B. completely C. clearly D. instantly
61. A. for B. be C. as D. with
62. A. with B. to C. against D. by
63. A. will B. should C. would D. must
64. A. suddenly B. shortly C. simultaneously D. quickly
65. A. before B. with C. during D. after
Oceanography
Oceanography has been defined as "the application of all sciences to the study of the sea".
Before the nineteenth century scientists with an interest in the sea were few and far between. Certainly Newton considered some theoretical aspects of it in his writings but he was reluctant① to go to sea to further his work.
For most people the sea was remote, and with the exception of early intercontinental travelers or others who earned a living from the sea, there was little reason to ask many questions about it, let alone② to ask what lay beneath the surface. The first time that the question "What is at the bottom of the oceans?" had to be answered with any commercial consequence was when the laying of a telegraph cable from Europe to America was proposed. The engineers had to know the depth profile of the route to estimate the length of the cable that had to be manufactured.
It was to Maury of the US Navy that the Atlantic Telegraph Company turned in 1853 for information on this matter. In the 1840s, Maury had been responsible for encouraging voyages during which soundings were taken to investigate the depths of the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Later, some of his findings amused much popular interest in his book The Physical Geography of the Sea.
The cable was laid, but not until 1866 was the connection made permanent and reliable. At the early attempts, the cable failed and when it was taken out for repairs, it was found to be covered in living growths, a fact which defied contemporary scientific opinion that there was no life in the deeper points of the sea.
Within a few years oceanography was under way. In 1872 Thomson led a scientific expedition, which lasted for four years and brought home thousands of samples from the sea. Their classification and analysis occupied scientists for years and led to a five-volume report, the last volume being published in 1895.
Notes：
①reluctant a. 不愿的，勉強的
②let alone 更不用說
41. The passage implies that the telegraph cable was built mainly ______.
A. for oceanography studies
B. for business considerations
C. for military purposes
D. for investigating the depths of the oceans
42. It was ______ that asked Maury for help in oceanography studies.
A. the American Navy
B. some early intercontinental travelers
C. those who earned a living from the sea
D. the company which proposed to lay an undersea cable
43. The aim of voyages Maury encouraged in the 1840s was ______.
A. to make some sound experiments in the oceans
B. to collect samples of sea plants and animals
C. to estimate the length of the cable that was to be made
D. to measure the depths of two oceans
44. "Defied" in the 5th paragraph probably means ______.
A. doubled
B. gave proof
C. to challenged
D. agreed to
45. This passage is mainly about ______.
A. the beginnings of oceanography
B. the laying of the first undersea cable
C. the investigation of ocean depths
D. the early intercontinental communications
6.第5部分：補全短文
Exploration
Landing men on the moon captured the public imagination like few other events this century. It had less to do with science than with demonstrating superiority during the cold war, but the appeal of the adventure meant that the Russians, who retrieved lunar rock samples far more economically using robots, came off very much second best. No one has been back to the moon since the Apollo astronauts left in 1972, so the mission has retained its glamour （魅力）.
（46） ______. Most spacecraft are unmanned these days but missions are still unpredictable; a spacecraft was destroyed on the approach to Mars only last month.
Our sights are set on Mars because people still hope to find life there－not the movie director's idea of a Martian （火星）, but rather microscopic forms of life hidden beneath the surface to protect them from the cold. Another possible home to life is Jupiters moon, Europe, which seems to have slush （雪泥, 爛泥） beneath its ice crust that is kept warm by tides. （47） ______.
Using our near-space environment is the aim for the foreseeable future, people are even setting up businesses to offer trips in space to rich members of the general public. （48） ______ .It builds on the success of the space shuttle （航天飛機）, which proved very flexible and allowed masses of scientific experiments in micro-gravity; and also on Mars, which told us a lot about the physical effects of long duration space flight. The Russians kept it going much longer than anyone expected－you were almost blase （玩膩了的） about the latest crisis.
Beyond our own solar system, we will keep up the search for planets that might sustain life. （49） ______ .You can say: "There are so many stars, some of them with planets, that some of those planets must be conducive （有利的） to live?" But even if that were true, that life might have happened millions of years ago or be going to happen millions of years in the future. （50） ______ .
A. The real excitement surrounds the international space station, which will be built over the next five or six years by countries working collaboratively （共同的） on a spacecraft for the first time.
B. The prospects aren't great.
C. Spacecrafts may help mankind to realize the dream of living on other planets.
D. Although putting people into orbit is now routine, traveling further is not.
E. We now know that stars other than our sun have planets, but there's still a big difference between finding planets and finding life.
F. But exploration is a long way off.
7.第6部分：完形填空
Stars
The old belief that the universe never changes is quite （51） ______. Even （52） ______ the invention of the telescope, astronomers noticed that bright stars suddenly appear in the sky and then later （53） ______. These stats were called "novae" because they were thought to be （54） ______. In fact we now know that they are really old stars which are slowly dying.
Novae are old stars which are slowly dying. （55） ______ they do so, they let out huge clouds of material, sometimes as large as the earth, and these explode into space （56） ______ a speed of about 8,000,000 kilometers per hour. When this happens, the hotter parts of the star become （57） ______, and this is why novae are so bright. Although the explosions are huge on a human scale, they only （58） ______ a small part of the dying star's energy. The death is a slow one and the star may continue to explode for thousands of years. Indeed, there are even some stars which explode once （59） ______ two weeks.
There are other old stars which do not die slowly, but are （60） ______ destroyed by one great explosion. These are known （61） ______ "supernovae". The explosion of a supernova is equivalent （62） ______ about a million hydrogen bombs going off at the same time. Just before the explosion the star's density becomes very great and it spins at a very high speed. A matchbox of materials taken from the star at that time would weigh about 1,000 tons, and the star （63） ______ be turning at about 16,000,000 kilometers per hour. The explosion itself occurs （64） ______, in the interval of a minute, but the supernova continues to shine long （65） ______ the event. One supernova which Chinese astronomers observed in 1054 can still be seen by us today. It has been shining for at least nine hundred years.
51. A. right B. reasonable C. sound D. wrong
52. A. after B. before C. during D. for
53. A. disappear B. lost C. missed D. exploded
54. A. old B. evil C. new D. dying
55. A. When B. While C. After D. As
56. A. in B. at C. with D. on
57. A. invisible B. brilliant C. visible D. noticeable
58. A. consume B. cost C. spend D. lose
59. A. every B. each C. at D. within
60. A. partly B. completely C. clearly D. instantly
61. A. for B. be C. as D. with
62. A. with B. to C. against D. by
63. A. will B. should C. would D. must
64. A. suddenly B. shortly C. simultaneously D. quickly
65. A. before B. with C. during D. after