A mysterious illness, referred to as “ a typical phenomena”, has been brought under control, the government said on Wednesday, ______ no cause of it has been made public.

A. though       B. when        C. that        D. because

A mysterious illness, referred to as “ a typical phenomena”, has been brought under control, the government said on Wednesday, ______ no cause of it has been made public.

A. though       B. when        C. that        D. because

A mysterious illness, referred to as “ a typical phenomena”, has been brought under control, the government said on Wednesday, ______ no cause of it has been made public.

A. though       B. when        C. that        D. because

D
A mysterious machine found in a 2,000-year-old Greek shipwreck may have been used to calculate the positions of planets, predict when eclipses (日、月蚀) were to occur, and study other parts of astronomy (天文学). When it was found underwater about 100 years ago, the machine was in poor shape. Its metal pieces had become one mass (堆), and then broke into pieces.
When the researchers began to study what was left of the machine, they thought it might have something to do with astronomy. To find out more, they recently used advanced imaging methods, including X-ray computer tomography (断层摄影术), to look inside the metal parts and to check for ancient writing on the machine.
According to their research, the researchers believed that this machine could have been used to compute eclipses of the sun and moon and was also able to show the movements of planets. A user could pick a day in the future and, work out a planet’s position on that date by moving some sort of crank (曲柄) on the machine.
Besides, the researchers discovered that the machine had at least 30 bronze gears (齿轮) with as many as 225 teeth, likely all cut by hand.
With all the collected information, the researchers came up with a new model for how the machine operated. The model has 29 of the 30 known gears and five more that were probably there but never found. Also，the new picture adds a previously undiscovered spiral dial (螺旋刻度盘) to the back of the machine near the bottom. A hand moving around the dial could have pointed to eclipses over a period of 18 years.
71. The passage is most probably taken from _____.
A. a short-story collection
B. a popular science magazine
C. a political report
D. an old personal diary
72. What is the passage mainly about?
A. New research on calculating the positions of planets.
B. A popular way of computing eclipses of the sun and moon.
C. Scientists’ interest in the secrets of a 2,000-year-old Greek shipwreck.
D. A mysterious machine which could be used for astronomical research.
73. What do we learn from the third paragraph of the passage?
A. The machine might have been used to calculate the positions of the planets.
B. Scientists made great progress in predicting eclipses of the sun and moon.
C. The researchers discovered some secrets in the Greek shipwreck.
D. The machine can be of great help for people working out the sizes of planets.
74. The researchers made a new model because they____.
A. wished to repair the broken machine
B. wanted to study the shipwreck more conveniently
C. hoped to know how the machine worked
D. expected it to be used in modern scientific research
75. Which of the following statements is TRUE about the old machine?
A. It has 35 gears on it.
B. It has a spiral dial.
C. It was invented about 100 years ago.
D. Its gears have many teeth.

The Mysterious Universe

By Ellen Jackson and Nic Bishop

How did the universe begin? How big is it? What is dark matter? Cosmologist（宇宙哲学家）and expert supernova（超新星）hunter Alex Filippenko hopes that supernovas can help us answer some of these questions. But first we’ve got to find them! Join Alex and his team as they go on the hunt with huge telescopes and banks of computers.

The Time and Space of Uncle Albert

By Russell Stannard

What would you say if your uncle asked you whether you would like to go into space? You’d say, “When do I leave?”, just like the girl in this story. Gedanken is speeding across the universe trying to help her uncle answer some questions, such as “How big is space?” and “Where does gravity come from?” Along the way she also discovers how to get heavier without getting fat, how to live forever without knowing it, and the strange things that can happen when you go really fast.

George’s Secret Key to the Universe

By Lucy Hawking and Stephen Hawking

When George chases his pet pig through a hole in the fence, little does he expect that he will soon be riding a comet（彗星）around Saturn（土星）. But just as he discovers the joys of space exploration with the computer Cosmos, which can open doors anywhere in the universe, everything starts to go wrong. When George’s lest-favorite teacher steals Cosmos and traps his friend’s dad in a black hole, can George set things right in time?

A Child’s Introduction to the Night Sky

By Michael Driscoll

With a telescope or without one, this book can get you started exploring planets, stars and even strange stuff like time, space, and black holes. The universe is a big place, but this book comes with a handy star finder that you can take out with you at night to help you find your way around the stars. Look up and discover the universe!

1.According to the text, Alex Filippenko ______.

A. invented huge telescopes

B. is looking for supernovas

C. doesn’t need many computers

D. knows a lot about dark matter

2.What do we know about George’s Secret Key to the Universe？

A. It is a sad story

B. It is about a pet pig

C. It is a co-authored book

D. It is based on a real life story.

3.Which book would you read if you want to know about gravity?

A. The Mysterious Universe

B. The Time and Space of Uncle Albert

C. George’s Secret Key to the Universe

D. A Child’s Introduction to the Night Sky.

4.What do the four books have in common?

A. They have the same topics?

B. They are intended for adults.

C. They have the same number of characters

D. They leave many questions to the readers