Question

      In July 1994 Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, was struck by 21 pieces of  comet(彗星).When the fragments(碎片)landed in the southern part of the giant planet, the explosions were watched by scientist here on earth. But what if our own planet was hit by a comet?

       The year is 2094. It has been announced that a comet is heading towards the earth. Most of it will miss our planet, but two fragments will probably hit the southern part of the earth. The news has caused panic.

       On 17 July, a fragment four kilometers wide enters the earth’s atmosphere with a huge explosion. About half of the fragment is destroyed. But the major part survives and hits the South Atlantic at 200 times the speed of sound. The sea boils and an enormous wave is created and spreads. The wall of water rushes towards southern Africa at 800 kilometers an hour. Cities on the African coast are totally destroyed and millions of people are drowned. The waves moves into the Indian Ocean and heads towards Asia.

       Millions of people are already dead in the southern part of the earth, but the north won’t escape for long. Tons of broken pieces are thrown into the atmosphere by the explosions. As the sun is hidden by clouds of dust, temperatures around the world fall to almost zero. Crops are ruined. Wars break out as countries fight for food. A year later civilization has collapsed. No more than 10 million people have survived.

       Could it really happen? In fact, it has already happened more than once in the history of the earth. The dinosaurs(恐龍)were on the earth for over 160 million years. Then 65 million years ago they suddenly disappeared. Many scientists believed that the earth was hit by a space fragment. The dinosaurs couldn’t survive in the cold climate that followed and they became extinct. Will we meet the same end?

 

1. Which of the following in NOT true according to the author’s description of the disaster in 2094?

       A. The whole world becomes extremely cold.

       B. All the coastal cities in Africa are destroyed.

       C. The whole mankind becomes extinct.

       D. The visit of the comet results in war.

2. Why does the author mention dinosaur at the end of the passage?

       A. Because they could only live in the warm climate.

       B. Because they once dominated the earth.

       C. Because their extinction indicates future disasters.

       D. Because dinosaurs and humans never live in the same age

3. In writing the passage, the author intends to ____.

       A. give an accurate description of the possible disaster in the future

       B. prove that humans will sooner or later be destroyed

       C. tell the historical development of the earth

       D. warn of a possible disaster in the future

4. It can be concluded that the passage is most probably part of a(n) ____.

       A. horror story                                   B. news report

       C. research paper                               D. article of popular science

Answer 1

1. C

解析：這是一道正誤判斷題。在倒數第二段中作者寫道“A year later civilization has collapsed. No more than 10 million people have survived.”說明人類文明滅絕了，

而不是人類滅絕了。

2. C

解析：這是一道主旨推斷題。為了證明這種災難發生的可能性，作者列舉了恐龍的例子。曾經在地球上生活了1億6千萬年，但是在6千5百萬年前突然消失，以此證明未來地球上可能發生災難。

3. D

解析：這是一道主旨推斷題。在這篇短文中，作者講述了2094年彗星碎片撞擊地球后可能產生的災難，其目的是警告人們在地球的未來可能會發生災難。

4. D

解析：這是一道推理判斷題。根據短文講述的內容可以判斷，這是一篇科幻小說，所以它可能是某篇科普文章的一部分。