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  When Geoff Marcy was 14, his parents bought him a telescope. Every night, he would go onto the roof outside his window to see the wonders of the sky.

  “What excited me most was whether there were planets in other solar systems where life might exist,” he says. “I decided to try to find planets orbiting (沿……轨道运行) other stars like our Sun.” And he did. “My fellow researcher, Paul Butler, and I found our first planet in 1995,”Dr. Marcy says. “We worked for ten years without finding anything! But we stuck with it, and our patience paid off.”

  Since then, the two scientists have discovered 65 of the more than 100 planets found orbiting other stars. Dr. Marcy and Dr. Butler also spotted the first “family” of three planets. In June 2002 they announced another discovery: a Jupiter-like (像木星一样的) planet orbiting star 55 Cancri.

  At first, the two researchers found only planets that orbit close to stars. Recently, the scientists found planets farther out. The planet orbiting 55 Cancri is a major breakthrough: it is the first sighting of a large gas planet about the same distance from the star as Jupiter is from the Sun.

  Why is this important? Scientists think that life on Earth may exist because of two special features in our solar system. The first is Jupiter. “Because it's so big, Jupiter pulls comets and asteroids(小行星), or they all come and hit the Earth.”Dr. Marcy explains. “Without Jupiter, life on Earth would likely have been destroyed.”

  A second feature is that Earth is a rocky planet where liquid water, which is necessary for life, can exist. Unlike gas planets, rocky planets like Earth have surfaces where water can gather in pools and seas, which may support life. A huge space exists between the Jupiter-like planet and two other planets that lie close to 55 Cancri. Is there an Earth-like planet in the space, too small for us to notice? If so, says Dr. Marcy, “We would have two striking similarities to our solar system: a Jupiter-like planet and an Earth-like planet. And there may be life!”

1.What can we learn about Dr. Marcy from the passage?

[  ]

A.He is fond of watching Jupiter.

B.He is from a scientist family.

C.He dislikes working with Paul Butler.

D.He is interested in finding life in outer space.

2.Which of the following is true of the recent discovery?

[  ]

A.The planet is not as protective as Jupiter.

B.The planet is close to star 55 Cancri.

C.The planet proves to be a gas planet.

D.The planet is as large as Jupiter.

3.How many planets orbiting other stars have the two scientists discovered so far?

[  ]

A.100.
B.69.
C.66.
D.65.

4.Dr. Marcy thinks that life may exist in the 55 Cancri system because ________.

[  ]

A.he has found the system similar to the solar system

B.he has discovered an Earth-like planet there

C.he has discovered a rocky planet there

D.he has found signs of life in the system

5.“But we stuck with it”(in Paragraph 3) means ________.

[  ]

A.they felt discouraged

B.they carried on with it

C.they failed in their attempt

D.they made some progress

答案:D;C;D;A;B
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How Long Can People Live?

  She took up skating at age 85, made her first movie appearance at age 114, and held a concert in the neighborhood on her 121st birthday.

  Whe n it comes to long life, Jeanne Calment is the world’s recordholder.She lived to the ripe old age of 122.So is 122 the upper limit to the human life span(寿命)?If scientists come up with some sort of pill or diet that would slow aging, could we possibly make it to 150-or beyond?

  Researchers don’t entirely agree on the answers.“Calment lived to 122, so it wouldn’t surprise me if someone alive today reaches 130 or 135,”says Jerry Shay at the University of Texas.

  Steve Austad at the University of Texas agrees.“People can live much longer than we think,”he says.“Experts used to say that humans couldn’t live past 110.When Calment blew past that age, they raised the number to 120.So why can’t we go higher?”

  The trouble with guessing how old people can live to be is that it’s all just guessing.“Anyone can make up a number,”says Rich Miller at the University of Michigan.“Usually the scientist who picks the highest number gets his name in Time magazine.”

  Won’t new anti-aging techniques keep us alive for centuries?Any cure, says Miller, for aging would probably keep most of us kicking until about 120.Researchers are working on treatments that lengthen the life span of mice by 50 percent at most.So, if the average human life span is about 80 years, says Miller,“adding another 50 percent would get you to 120.”

  So what can we conclude from this little disagreement among the researchers?That life span is flexible(有弹性的),but there is a limit, says George Martin of the University of Washington.“We can get flies to live 50 percent longer,”he says.“But a fly’s never going to live 150 years.”

  “Of course, if you became a new species(物种),one that ages at a slower speed, that would be a different story,”he adds.

  Does Martin really believe that humans could evolve(进化)their way to longer life?“It’s pretty cool to think about it,”he says with a smile.

(1)

What does the story of Jeanne Calment prove to us?

[  ]

A.

People can live to 122.

B.

Old people are creative.

C.

Women are sporty at 85.

D.

Women live longer than men.

(2)

According to Steve Austad at the University of Texas, ________.

[  ]

A.

the average human life span could be 110

B.

scientists cannot find ways to slow aging

C.

few people can expect to live to over 150

D.

researchers are not sure how long people can live

(3)

Who would agree that a scientist will become famous if he makes the wildest guess at longevity?

[  ]

A.

Jerry Shay.

B.

Steve Austad

C.

Rich Miller

D.

George Martin

(4)

What can we infer from the last three paragraphs?

[  ]

A.

Most of us could be good at sports even at 120.

B.

The average human life span cannot be doubled.

C.

Scientists believe mice are aging at a slower speed than before.

D.

New techniques could be used to change flies into a new species.

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