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 (喷射) 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 (细绳), 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.
【小题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.

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

A．send for	B．move quickly
C．come out	D．grow quickly

【小题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

【小题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.

【小题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

【小题1】A
【小题2】B
【小题3】B
【小题4】C
【小题5】A

解析试题分析：这篇短文主要通过两个问题——为什么飞机向西飞行比向东飞行用时间长，如果地球引力突然消失，会发生什么事，来告诉我们地球引力对于我们生活的重要作用。
【小题1】根据第一段The reason for the difference is an atmospheric phenomenon known as the jet (喷射) stream. 及下文描述,可知选A.
【小题2】联系下文at a great speed until they hit the ceiling. 可知此处指的是快速移动的意思,故选B.
【小题3】根据短文最后一段描述,可知树木和建筑物由于与地球相连,故不是能够很容易的飘走,故选B.
【小题4】根据短文最后一段Things not attached to the Earth would fly off in a straight line. 描述,可知没有与地球联系的事物会飘走,故选C.
【小题5】这篇短文主要探讨了地球引力的问题,故最有可能来自一篇研究论文. 故选A.
考点：关于地球引力的说明文阅读
点评：对于文章中的细节题，要注意文章中的细节的理解。推断题测试考生在阅读基础上的逻辑推理能力，要求考生根据文章所述事件的逻辑关系，对未说明的趋势或结局作出合理的推断；或根据作者所阐述的观点理论，对文章未涉及的现象、事例给以解释。考生首先要仔细阅读短文，完整了解信息，准确把握作者观点。