题目内容
On Sept 24, an earthquake struck the southwest of Pakistan, taking more than 300 lives and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. But after the horrible disaster, people living by the coast received another shock – they saw a new island, which seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, in the sea just over a kilometer from the shore, reported BBC News.
“I stepped out and was flabbergasted,” local journalist Bahram Baloch told the BBC. “I could see this gray, dome-shaped body in the distance, like a giant whale swimming near the surface. Hundreds of people gathered to watch it in disbelief.”
This island has become a global curiosity. How was it formed in just a few minutes?
As you might already know, many islands in the sea are formed by volcanoes. There are numerous volcanoes under the sea. As the hot lava (岩浆) erupts and cools down, it piles up and forms the shape of a mountain. When the mountain “grows” to higher than the sea level, the part that’s above the water is what we call an “island”.
This is how the island was formed after the Pakistan earthquake, except that instead of an ordinary volcano, it was a “mud volcano” that brought about this island.
Lava is not the only thing that’s locked under the Earth’s crust(地壳) – there is also gas. When an earthquake happens and breaks part of the crust, the gas is released at an extremely high speed, pushing mud up to the surface, according to National Geographic.
But only earthquakes that are extremely powerful can cause mud volcanoes to push up enough mud to produce islands – and this 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Pakistan was strong enough. The island is about 20 meters high, up to about 90 meters wide and 30 meters long, nearly the size of a soccer field.
In fact, mud volcano islands aren’t new. This is the fourth island of this kind in the region since 1945. But those islands usually didn’t last long.
“It will probably be gone within a couple of months,” said Bill Barnhart, a researcher with the US Geological Survey. After all, “it’s just a big pile of mud that was on the seafloor that got pushed up”.
67. What is the article mainly about?
A. the effects of the earthquake on Sept.24
B. the differences between mud volcanoes and ordinary volcanoes
C. the reasons for the formation of the new island
D. the suggestions about preventing an earthquake
68. The underlined word “flabbergasted” (in Para.2) is closest in meaning to “______”.
A. surprised B. anxious C. worried D. delighted
69. We can infer from the article that ______.
A. the new island formed within a few months
B. scientists know little about volcanoes
C. another earthquake is likely to happen in Pakistan
D. not all earthquakes produce new islands
70. According to the passage, mud volcano islands .
A. are quite difficult to locate
B. usually won’t exist a long time
C. are formed only by hot lava from volcanoes
D. used to be part of the Earth’s crust
CADB
Looking back on China’s road to outer space, people can easily find it has not been very smooth. In the past years, Chinese people have made hard and determined efforts to realize the dream their ancestors had for thousands of years.
After China’s first satellite into the Earth’s orbit in 1970 came four flights of unmanned Shenzhou missions(飞行) from 1999 to 2002. The country carried out its first one-piloted space flight in October, 2003, making China the third country in the world to have independent human spaceflight ability after the Soviet Union and the United States. Then came another breakthrough on October 12, 2005, when Shenzhou 6, China’s second human spaceflight, was launched, with a crew of two astronauts. What’s more, the landmark(里程碑)spacewalk done by Zhai Zhigang, one of the three boarding Shenzhou 7, launched on Sept. 25, 2008, leads the country further in its space exploration.
Meanwhile, China’s moon exploration project, started in 2004, has also been progressing satisfactorily. Fifty years after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world’s first man-made satellite, China’s first circumlunar(绕月的)satellite Chang’e 1 took off on Oct.24, 2007, which became the third landmark in China’s space achievements after the above-mentioned manned flights. Chang’e 1 was expected to fulfill four scientific goals, one of which was to expore mineral elements on the moon, especially those not existent on Earth. It’s said that the lunar regolith(月壤) is abundant in helium-3, a clean fuel that may support the Earth’s energy demands for more than a century. Nearly 3 years later, Oct. 1, 2010 witnessed the launching of Chang’e 2, China’s 2nd unmanned lunar probe(勘探),marking another step forward in moon exp
loration. This time the aim is to test the key techniques of Chang’e 3 and Chang’e 4, as a preparation for a soft lunar landing in the future.
With great expectations, people all over the world are looking forward to China’s greater space achievements.
【小题1】 According to the text, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．China sent its first satellite into the Moon’s orbit in 1970. |
| B．China is the third country in Asia to make human spaceflight. |
| C．By now, altogether 5 astronauts have made successful spaceflight by Shenzhou spaceship. |
| D．The launching of Chang’e 1 became the third landmark in China’s space achievements. |
| A．landmark spacewalk | B．manned Shenzhou missions |
| C．first circumlunar satellite | D．unmanned Shenzhou missions |
| A．China’s road to outer spacehas not been very smooth for a long time |
| B．the lunar regolith is believed to be rich in a clean fuel called helium-3 |
| C．China’s lunar exploration project was started in 2004 and completed in 2007 |
| D．China’s scientists are researching into techniquesfor soft lunar landing |
| A．Ancient Chinese’s Dream | B．China’s Major Space Achievements |
| C．China’s Moon Exploration | D．The World’s Great Expectations |
| A．negative | B．positive | C．critical | D．indifferent |
下面是对几部电视剧的介绍。阅读下面的简介和相关信息，并按要求匹配信息。
B. Journeyman
F. Criminal Minds