阅读理解

　　HUMANS have spent years exploring space, but how much do we know about deep inside the planet on which we live? The idea of exploring the earth's core (地核)was detailed in an article called“Modest Proposal (建议)”. It was written in May by American scientist David Stevenson. It is similar idea to an American sci-fi movie that was released in March, The Core.

　　So, because they deal with the same topic, it wouldn't be too strange to compare a scientific report with a sci-fi movie.

　　Why explore

　　The report: The solid inner core of the earth is fluid(不固定的)and responsible for the earth's magnetic field (磁场). * Scientists don't know exactly why all this is so, nor do they know the exact make-up or temperature of the core. *

　　The movie: An unknown force has caused the earth's inner core to stop rotating (旋转). With the planet's magnetic field rapidly decreasing, our atmosphere starts to come apart.

　　The result is deadly: birds lose their ability to fly in the right direction and the earth eventually (最终)becomes like a microwave oven (微波炉), cooked by the sun.

　　How explore

　　The report: A nuclear explosion (核爆炸)would be the best way to create a hole big enough to enter the earth. The crack (裂缝)needs to be as long and as deep as several football fields, but only about 30era wide. * The event would be as powerful as an earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter Scale (里氏震级).*

　　At least 100,000 tons of hot iron would be poured into the crack, along with a metal probe (探测器)the size of a grapefruit (柚子).

The weight of the iron, which is much denser than earth' s outer regions, would open a gap all the way to the planet core, about 3,000kin below. The probe would fall at about 16kin per hour as the crack doses up behind it. * Stevenson said the amount of iron needed is equal to what' s produced in factories around the world in a week. *

　　The movie: Send a manned vehicle that looks like a windowless subway (地铁)train into the earth's core. Virgil, the ship, is made of a metal that can stand the extreme temperature and pressure found in the core.

　　Virgil began its journey when it was dropped in the middle of the ocean because this is where the crust (地壳)is thinnest.

　　What to do

　　The report: The weeks-long mission would measure the temperature and chemical composition (make-up)of the core.

　　The movie: Blow up five 200-megaton (兆吨)nuclear bombs to restart the core.

Choose the best choice according to the story________.

(1)What do the report and the movie have in common?

[　　]

A．Both deal with exploring space.

B．Both deal with going deep to the inside of the earth.

C．Both offer the same reason to explore the earth's core.

D．Both consider it possible for the core to stop rata- ring.

(2)In the movie, a nuclear explosion would ________.

[　　]

A．help man enter the earth

B．create a big crack that leads to the earth's core

C．produce hot iron

D．make the earth's core work again

(3)How long would it take the probe to reach the core according to the report? ________.

[　　]

(4)What does the underlined word“stand”mean? ________

[　　]

(5)We can infer from the passage that the core________.

[　　]

A．is in the danger of stopping rotating

B．still has a lot for us to explore

C．controls the birds' sense of directions

D．might blow up