Question

　　A rising moon seems larger because it appears farther away. Why does the moon seem so much larger when it's on the horizon than when it's overhead? The question has perplexed us for millennia(千年).

　　Known as the “moon illusion,” the effect has produced some studies that show when the moon hangs low in the sky it appears twice as big as when it reaches its zenith (顶峰). Yet the moon remains constant, both in size and distance from the earth.

　　Lloyd Kaufman, professor of psychology and neural science at New York University, has pondered the problem for more than 40 years, and he thought he knew the answer but couldn't prove it. “It became increasingly clear that there was no way we were going to convince the critics without date,” he said.

　　So he teamed up with his son, James Kaufman, a physicist at IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif. Both thought that the illusion was caused by our perception(感觉) of how far away we thought the moon was－its apparent distance. “I asked, can't we just measure the perceived distance that the brain uses in calculating the size of the moon?” the younger Kaufman says. “An experiment was the logical thing to do.”

　　Aided by a few wizards at IBM, he came up with just the tool, a computerized moon simulator that allows the scientists to determine what people think they're seeing when they look at the moon. The result is surprising, and like any good illusion, the answer itself is a bit baffling(困惑). We think the horizon moon is bigger, the study shows, because we think it's farther away. That seems to defy commonsense. When the moon rises over the snowcapped mountain outside my office window in Alaske, it looks close enough to be just the other side of the mountain. But the study shows that isn't what my brain perceives. But don't let the science take the romance out of moonlit walks.

1．In the third line of the first paragraph, the word “perplexed” probably means ________.

[　　]

A．surprised

B．shocked

C．feared

D．confused

2．The best title for this passage is ________.

[　　]

A．It's How You Look At It

B．Father and Son Collaborate

C．How Big Is The Rising Moon

D．The Moon Can't Be With A．Cue

3．Professor Llyod Kaufman cooperated with his son ________.

[　　]

A．to carry out an experiment on the “moon illusion”

B．to continue their research

C．to convince the critics

D．to make a further experiment on the moon

4．The result of the experiment on the topic turned out to be ________.

[　　]

A．surprising

B．excellent

C．sad

D．encouraging

5．The passage tells us when the moon rises over a high mountain, it looks ________.

[　　]

A．smaller than before

B．near to the mountain

C．the same as usual

D．bigger than before

Answer 1

答案：D;A;C;A;B
解析：

本篇科普文章是关于月亮看上去距离我们有多远的奥秘。 　　1．这是一道猜测词义题。根据短文第一段中“为什么月亮位于地平线时要比直接位于我们头上显得要大得多？”此问题令我们含糊、费解，故答案选D。 　　2．这是一道主旨大意题。从短文第二段著名的“月球幻觉说”可知，挂在天空的月亮位置越低，就会比高处的月亮显得大。短文第四段中，两者都认为这种幻觉来自我们的感觉，我们认为月亮距离我们多远，就走多远。文章最后一段中表明，我们认为位于地平线的月亮较大，是因为我们认为月亮距离我们较远。综上所述，看上去月亮距离我们远或者近的真正原因与我们的感觉有关，故答案选A。 　　3．这是一道细节题。短文第三段最后一句说明劳埃德·考夫曼教授认为他已经得到了答案，显然只有用实验数据才能向批评家们证明他自己的观点；第四段开头表明他同儿子合作，进行对“月亮幻觉说”的实验，但最终是要向反对者证明他们的正确性，所以C是正确选项。 　　4．从短文第五段中The result is surprising，and like any good illusion，the answer itself is a bit baffling．可知，考夫曼教授的实验结果令人吃惊，而且这一结果本身令人有点困惑，故答案为A。 　　5．这是一道细节题。短文尾段中When the moon rises over the snowcapped mountain outside my office window in Alaska，it looks close enough to be just the other side of the mountain。表明，当月亮升到山顶时，它看上去距离此山很近，故答案选B。