Question

【题目】Experiments aboard the spaceship Columbia have disproved a theory on the human nervous system which won an Austrian professor a Nobel prize 79 years ago.

West German astronaut Ulf Merbold disproved the theory during tests aboard the spaceship yesterday. His discovery is connected with the workings of the inner ear, the body’s balance mechanism(机制).

In l914 Professor Robert Barany won the Nobel prize for Physiology(生理学) and Medicine when he announced that temperature differences affected the inner ear and caused the eyes to blink(眨眼). His theory was accepted by scientists.

But Merbold carried out tests to find if the theory was correct and shocked himself and space officials when he proved it wrong.

According to Barany’s theory the eyes would blink when cold air was blown into one ear and hot air blown into the other.

But if this theory was correct such a movement would be impossible in zero gravity(重力）.

Both Merbold’s eyes continually blinked when the test was carried out.

【1】Tests were carried out in outer space in order to _______.

A. find what causes the eyes to blink

B. shock the world

C. win the prize

D. prove the theory

【2】Barany’s theory declared to prove _______.

A. how our hearing mechanism works

B. why we constantly move our eyes

C. that eye movement is affected by temperature

D. how hearing reacts(反应)

【3】Barany’s theory was proved incorrect in space by the effects of _______.

A. having no weight B. having no air

C. the pull of gravity D. hot and cold air streams

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】C

【3】A

【解析】

试题分析：本文属于新闻类阅读，介绍了天文学家Ulf Merbold通过实验证明Robert Barany关于人体机制的一个理论是错误的，并介绍了这个实验的有关信息。

【1】D 推理判断题。根据文章第一段Experiments aboard the spaceship Columbia have disproved a theory on the human nervous system which won an Austrian professor a Nobel prize 79 years ago可知在宇宙飞船上进行了一项实验来证明之前的一个科学理论是错误的。所以该检测的目的在于证明这个理论。故D正确。

【2】C 细节理解题。根据文章倒数第三段According to Barany’s theory the eyes would blink when cold air was blown into one ear and hot air blown into the other.在这个实验中，当冷热空气被吹进耳朵的时候，人会眨眼。可知Barany认为眨眼是因为温度的变化。故C正确。

【3】A 推理判断题。根据倒数第二段But if this theory was correct such a movement would be impossible in zero gravity(重力）.可知如果Barany的理论正确，那么在失重的情况下，人是不会眨眼的。最后一句Both Merbold’s eyes continually blinked when the test was carried out.告诉我们在这个实验中，在太空中，人仍然在眨眼。故A项正确。