2020考研英語(yǔ)閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 61

Unit 61

Launching people into space may make headlines but it does little useful science. So when George Bush redirected America’s space agency, NASA, away from scientific research and towards a manned return to the moon in 2004, many scientists were disappointed. Now the agency has finally offered some small morsels of comfort in the form of four projects that could accompany efforts for a lunar return.

The most exciting of these is the plan for a radio telescope that could be placed on the far side of the moon. Such a device would look back at the early universe to the time when large-scale structures such as galaxies and stars formed. A lunar-based radio telescope would be able to detect long wavelengths that cannot be sensed on Earth because they are absorbed by the outermost layers of the planet’s atmosphere. Moreover by pointing the telescope away from the din of shorter-wavelength radio waves that are used for communication on Earth, astrophysicists would be able to see the early universe in unprecedented detail.

Finding alien life might also be possible with such a telescope. It would be able to map the magnetic fields of stars and exoplanets（planets that circle stars outside the solar system）. It is the magnetic field of the Earth that protects its inhabitants from being bombarded by high-energy particles from space that would otherwise leave the planet sterile. Detecting a magnetic field surrounding an Earth-like exoplanet would prove a promising sign for finding extraterrestrial life. The proposal, led by Joseph Lazio, of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington. D.C., is to create an array of three arms arranged in a Y-shape, each of which would be 500 metres long and contain 16 antennae. Each arm would be made of a plastic film that could be rolled out onto the surface of the moon, either by robots or by astronauts.

A second project, headed by Michael Collier, of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre, would examine how the solar wind—a stream of charged particles ejected from the sun—interacts with the tenuous lunar atmosphere close to the moon’s surface. Such bombardment produces low-energy X-rays that would be detected on the surface of the moon. The third and fourth projects are similar both to each other and to earlier ventures dropped on the moon by the Apollo and the Soviet Luna missions in the late 1960s and 1970s. Some 35 years on, reflectors placed on the lunar surface are still used by scientists interested in geophysics and geodesy（for example, how the moon’s gravitational field shifts over time）. Most of the reflectors are clustered close to the lunar equator. The proposals, led by Stephen Merkowitz, also of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre, and Douglas Currie, of the University of Maryland, are to sprinkle some more sophisticated versions over more of the moon’s surface.

Such efforts may attract little attention compared with the launch of the space shuttle Endeavour this week. Nevertheless, when NASA argues that putting people into space inspires young people to study science, it is precisely these endeavours that it wishes to encourage.

注（1）：本文選自Economist；

注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對(duì)象為2004年真題Text 3（題目順序稍微調(diào)整）。

1. By saying “Launching people into space may make headlines but it does little useful science” （Line 1, Paragraph 1）, the author means that _______.

A) launching people into space is very important in terms of the future development of science

B) newspaper only cares about eyecatching news such as whether humans can travel into space

C) human’s travel to outside space is against scientific rules, and the effort will be wasting and futile

D) launching people into space is of little scientific value but would arouse great public enthusiasm

2. The most distinctive feature of a lunar-based radio telescope mentioned in the second paragraph is that _______.

A) it is able to capture long wavelengths

B) it possesses better functions than those telescopes on Earth

C) it can escape from the magnetic field of the Earth

D) it can avoid the influence of the short-wavelength radio waves

3. How does the author feel about the four new moon plans?

A) Objective.

B) Affirmative.

C) Carefree.

D) Panicked.

4. Which of the following is NOT a feature of the last two projects discussed in the fourth paragraph?

A) The two projects are of less importance than the other two.

B) The two plans are of similar nature with each other.

C) The purpose of the plans is to add some equipment on the moon.

D) These plans are a continuance of previous studies carried out decades ago.

5. To which of the following is the author likely to agree?

A) The radio telescope will be able to find extraterrestrial life.

B) The second project focuses on the interaction between solar wind and Earth atmosphere.

C) Joseph Lazio’s proposal is part of the radio telescope project.

D) The four projects are closely related to the recently launched space shuttle Endeavour.

篇章剖析

本文主要介紹了美國(guó)宇航局的四項(xiàng)新的月球計(jì)劃的主要內(nèi)容。文章開頭首先指出了載人登月在科研的價(jià)值上不如其他科研項(xiàng)目，從而引出話題。第二、三段介紹了第一個(gè)月球計(jì)劃的詳細(xì)內(nèi)容；第四段簡(jiǎn)要介紹了另外三項(xiàng)計(jì)劃的內(nèi)容及其負(fù)責(zé)人；第五段總結(jié)全文，并指出了實(shí)施月球計(jì)劃所包含的一種精神所在。

詞匯注釋

morsel /?m??s?l/ n. 小量；一點(diǎn)

lunar /?lju?n?/ adj. 月的，月亮的

galaxy /?ɡ?l?ksi/ n. 星系，銀河

wavelength /?we?vle?θ/ n. 【物】波長(zhǎng)

bombard /b?m?bɑ?d/ vt. 炮轟；轟擊

sterile /?stera?l/ adj. 貧脊的，不育的

extraterrestrial /?ekstr?t??restr??l/ adj. 地球外的

array /??rei/ n. 天線陣

antenna /?n?ten?/ n. 天線

eject /??d?ekt/ v. 驅(qū)逐；噴射

tenuous /?tenj??s/ adj. 纖細(xì)的

geophysics /?d?????f?z?ks/ n. 地球物理學(xué)

geodesy /d?i???d?si/ n. 測(cè)地學(xué)

gravitational /?ɡr?v??te???n?l/ adj. 重力的

sprinkle /?spr??kl/ v. 灑，噴灑

難句突破

The proposal, led by Joseph Lazio, of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington. D.C., is to create an array of three arms arranged in a Y-shape, each of which would be 500 metres long and contain 16 antennae.

主體句式：The proposal is to creat an array.

結(jié)構(gòu)分析：這個(gè)句子可以以is為界分為前后兩個(gè)部分。其中前一個(gè)部分的主體內(nèi)容是主語(yǔ)the proposal，led by Joseph Lazio是用來(lái)形容主語(yǔ)的分詞結(jié)構(gòu)，而of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington. D.C.是補(bǔ)充說明Joseph Lazio這個(gè)人的身份。后一部分包含了一個(gè)以each of which引導(dǎo)的定語(yǔ)從句。

句子譯文：該計(jì)劃由美國(guó)華盛頓特區(qū)海軍研究實(shí)驗(yàn)室的約瑟夫·拉齊奧領(lǐng)導(dǎo)，目標(biāo)是創(chuàng)造出一個(gè)以三臂狀構(gòu)成Y字形的天線陣，其中每只臂長(zhǎng)500米，含16根天線。

題目分析

1. D 語(yǔ)義題。文章第一句話的意思是，把人送入太空也許能成為頭條新聞，引發(fā)大眾的熱切關(guān)注，但是對(duì)科學(xué)研究卻沒有多大幫助和價(jià)值。headline這里是指報(bào)紙的頭條新聞。

2. A 細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第二段提到，該無(wú)線電天文望遠(yuǎn)鏡的最大特點(diǎn)在于能夠探測(cè)到那些在地球表面無(wú)法檢測(cè)到的長(zhǎng)波。D選項(xiàng)的錯(cuò)誤在于文章第二段最后一句話提到的“shorter-wavelength radio wave”與選項(xiàng)中的“short-wavelength radio wave”并不是同義詞，前者指比長(zhǎng)波短的無(wú)線電波，如中波或者短波等。

3. B 情感態(tài)度題。文章第二段作者用“the most exciting”來(lái)形容其中的一項(xiàng)月球計(jì)劃，說明了作者的支持態(tài)度。同樣，最后一段中作者對(duì)這些月球計(jì)劃所代表的“奮進(jìn)”精神大加贊賞，同樣表達(dá)了一種支持的態(tài)度。

4. A 細(xì)節(jié)題。文章中沒有特別說明各個(gè)項(xiàng)目的重要性有大小之分，相反，縱觀全文，我們可以看出這幾個(gè)項(xiàng)目具有同等的重要性，只是作者在描述的時(shí)候有的較為具體，有的則比較簡(jiǎn)單而已。

5. C 推理題。A選項(xiàng)的錯(cuò)誤原因在于尋找外星人只是一種可能性，結(jié)果是不確定的。B選項(xiàng)的錯(cuò)誤原因在于該研究定位于太陽(yáng)風(fēng)和月球稀薄的大氣層之間的關(guān)系，而不是和地球大氣層的關(guān)系。D選項(xiàng)的錯(cuò)誤原因在于這四項(xiàng)研究與“奮進(jìn)”號(hào)航天飛機(jī)并沒有很大的關(guān)系。

參考譯文

把人送入太空也許能成為頭條新聞，但是對(duì)科學(xué)研究卻沒有多大幫助。因此，當(dāng)喬治·布什在2004年要求美國(guó)宇航局將重點(diǎn)從科學(xué)研究轉(zhuǎn)移到載人回歸月球時(shí)，很多科學(xué)家都備感失望?，F(xiàn)在，美國(guó)宇航局為回歸月球計(jì)劃增加了四項(xiàng)科研項(xiàng)目，總算給大家?guī)?lái)了些許安慰。

這些項(xiàng)目中最激動(dòng)人心的是一種可以安裝在月球背面的無(wú)線電天文望遠(yuǎn)鏡。通過這種望遠(yuǎn)鏡，人們可以了解到從宇宙早期直到大規(guī)模天體結(jié)構(gòu)如星云和恒星形成的時(shí)期。安裝在月球上的無(wú)線電天文望遠(yuǎn)鏡可以探測(cè)到那些無(wú)法在地球表面被檢測(cè)到的長(zhǎng)波，因?yàn)檫@些長(zhǎng)波都被地球大氣層的最外層吸收了。此外，天體物理學(xué)家們使該望遠(yuǎn)鏡遠(yuǎn)離在地球上頻繁地用于通信的較短波長(zhǎng)的無(wú)線電波，從而能夠史無(wú)前例地細(xì)致觀察早期的宇宙。

使用這臺(tái)望遠(yuǎn)鏡也許還可以尋找外星生物。因?yàn)樗軌蛎枥L出恒星和太陽(yáng)系外行星（太陽(yáng)系之外圍繞恒星運(yùn)動(dòng)的行星）的磁場(chǎng)圖。正是由于地球磁場(chǎng)的保護(hù)，地球上居住著的生物才能幸免于來(lái)自太空中高能量粒子的襲擊，否則這個(gè)星球就會(huì)變成一片不毛之地。如果能夠檢測(cè)到某個(gè)太陽(yáng)系外行星也像地球一樣被磁場(chǎng)包圍，就有希望找到地球以外的生命。該計(jì)劃由美國(guó)華盛頓特區(qū)海軍研究實(shí)驗(yàn)室的約瑟夫·拉齊奧領(lǐng)導(dǎo)，目標(biāo)是創(chuàng)造出一個(gè)以三臂狀構(gòu)成Y字形的天線陣，其中每只臂長(zhǎng)500米，含16根天線，用塑料薄膜制成，以便由機(jī)器人或宇航員平鋪在月球表面。

第二項(xiàng)計(jì)劃的負(fù)責(zé)人是美國(guó)宇航局戈達(dá)德太空飛行中心的邁克爾·克里爾，該計(jì)劃將研究太陽(yáng)風(fēng)——太陽(yáng)噴發(fā)出的一束帶電粒子流——如何與月球表面附近稀薄的大氣相互作用。這種作用產(chǎn)生的低能量X射線可以在月球表面探測(cè)到。第三和第四項(xiàng)計(jì)劃相似，并與早前于20世紀(jì)60年代末和70年代進(jìn)行的阿波羅計(jì)劃和前蘇聯(lián)的登月計(jì)劃大同小異?，F(xiàn)在那些放置于月球表面的反射器已差不多工作了35年，且仍然為那些對(duì)地球物理學(xué)和測(cè)地學(xué)（如研究月球引力場(chǎng)如何隨時(shí)間而變化）感興趣的科學(xué)家們服務(wù)著。大多數(shù)反射器都安裝在靠近月球赤道的地方。這兩項(xiàng)計(jì)劃的主管人是美國(guó)宇航局戈達(dá)德太空飛行中心的史蒂芬·默克維茨以及馬里蘭大學(xué)的道格拉斯·奎瑞，其目標(biāo)是在月球上更大范圍地布置一些更加尖端的反射器。

與本周發(fā)射的奮進(jìn)號(hào)航天飛機(jī)相比，這些月球計(jì)劃可能不會(huì)引起多大關(guān)注，但是，當(dāng)美國(guó)宇航局極力主張載人航天可以激勵(lì)年輕人學(xué)習(xí)科學(xué)時(shí)，為月球計(jì)劃而“奮進(jìn)”的精神也正是它所要鼓舞的。