Question

Have you ever wondered?

1. Why do airplanes take longer to fly west than east?

It can take five hours to go west-east from New York (NY) to London but seven hours to travel east-west from London to NY. The reason for the difference is an atmospheric phenomenon known as the jet (噴射) stream. The jet stream is a very high altitude wind which always blows from the west to the east across the Atlantic. The planes moving at a constant air speed thus go faster in the west-east direction when they are moving with the wind than in the opposite direction.

2. What would happen if the gravity on Earth was suddenly turned off?

Supposing we could magically turn off gravity. Would buildings and other structures (建筑物) float away? What happened would depend on how strongly the things were attached to the Earth. The Earth is moving at quite a speed, moving at over a thousand miles per hour. If you turn something around your head on a string (細繩), it goes around in a circle until you let go of the string. Then it flies off in a straight line. ‘Switching off’ gravity would be like letting go of the string. Things not attached to the Earth would fly off in a straight line. People in buildings would suddenly shoot upwards at a great speed until they hit the ceiling. Most things outside would fly off into space.

1.What information can we get from the first passage?

A．It is the jet stream that affects how fast airplanes fly.

B．Planes go slower when they are moving with the wind.

C．It takes more time to fly from NY to London than from London to NY.

D．The jet stream always blows from the east to the west across the Atlantic.

2.The word “shoot” underlined in the 2nd passage probably means “__________”.

A．send for                              B．move quickly

C．come out                             D．grow quickly

3.It can be inferred that without gravity __________.

A．buildings and other structures would float away

B．trees and buildings would not so easily fly off

C．something around your head would not float away

D．everything outside buildings would fly off into space

4.Which of the following statements is not mentioned in the passage?

A．It takes seven hours to travel from London to New York.

B．The earth is moving at a high speed

C．Everything on the earth will float away if there’s no gravity.

D．Everything not attached to the earth would fly off in a straight line.

5.Where can we most probably read this text?

A．In a research paper.

B．In a short story.

C．In a travel magazine.

D．In a student’s book.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.A

2.B

3.B

4.C

5.A

【解析】

試題分析：這篇短文主要通過兩個問題——為什么飛機向西飛行比向東飛行用時間長，如果地球引力突然消失，會發生什么事，來告訴我們地球引力對于我們生活的重要作用。

1.根據第一段The reason for the difference is an atmospheric phenomenon known as the jet (噴射) stream. 及下文描述,可知選A.

2.聯系下文at a great speed until they hit the ceiling. 可知此處指的是快速移動的意思,故選B.

3.根據短文最后一段描述,可知樹木和建筑物由于與地球相連,故不是能夠很容易的飄走,故選B.

4.根據短文最后一段Things not attached to the Earth would fly off in a straight line. 描述,可知沒有與地球聯系的事物會飄走,故選C.

5.這篇短文主要探討了地球引力的問題,故最有可能來自一篇研究論文. 故選A.

考點：關于地球引力的說明文閱讀

點評：對于文章中的細節題，要注意文章中的細節的理解。推斷題測試考生在閱讀基礎上的邏輯推理能力，要求考生根據文章所述事件的邏輯關系，對未說明的趨勢或結局作出合理的推斷；或根據作者所闡述的觀點理論，對文章未涉及的現象、事例給以解釋。考生首先要仔細閱讀短文，完整了解信息，準確把握作者觀點。