题目内容
NASA-s New Horizons probe(宇宙探测器)flew by Pluto(冥王星)this morning, sending back history's first up-close looks at the vast freezing-cold world. Closest approach came at 7:49 a.m. EDT. To celebrate, NASA gave out the latest photo of Pluto. It showed a reddish world with an amazing heart-shaped feature on its surface.
After today's close encounter, all the nine solar system's traditionally recognized planets have now been visited by a spaceship-a huge project begun in 1962 when NASA's Mariner 2 probe flew past Venus, a planet in the solar system. More than l,200 scientists, NASA guests and important persons, including 200 reporters, watched the flyby live at New Horizons' mission control center.
That close encounter has been a long time coming. The$723 million New Horizons mission launched in January 2006 but began taking shape in 1989. "New Horizons is'a capstone mission'," Glen Fountain, mission project manager told Space, com. "It is the first completion of the observations of our solar system. It-s giving us a new idea about how we human beings fit into the universe."
New Horizons "faced a crazy number of challenges," Stern, a driving force behind New Horizons said, "So many people stuck with this for so long. They got knocked down; they stood up. They got knocked down again; they stood up again.”
In a coincidence, today's close approach falls on the 50th anniversary of the first flyby of Mars, another planet, which was completed by NASA-s Mariner 4 spaceship.
There are no longer nine officially recognized planets, of course. The International Astronomical Union regarded Pluto as “a dwarf planet" in 2006 in a decision that remains controversial(有争议的)today.
1.Which statement is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Ideas still vary in the identity of Pluto.
B. Only scientists could watch the flyby live.
C. Mars is the first planet visited by a spaceship.
D. New Horizons mission aimed to observe the solar system.
2.Glen Fountain may probably agree that _____________________.
A. it is the most difficult to land on Pluto in the solar system
B. New Horizons mission is a long and troublesome project
C. their strong determination leads to the successful flyby
D. people are likely to find new ways to fit into space
3.Which is the best title for the passage?
A.A New Horizons Probe
B. NASA's Huge Project
C. Pluto,a Controversial Planet
D. A Close Approach to Pluto
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Why Blue LED Lights Won the Nobel
The 2014 Nobel Prize in physics went to three scientists who gave lighting a big change by inventing blue LED lights. A big change in lighting efficiency is under way around the world.
Save and green
LEDs use less energy than other forms of lighting. A typical LED bulb(灯泡) can produce around 83 lumens per watt — a measure of how much brightness you can get from a unit of electrical power — much more efficient than other lighting facilities.
LEDs produce light by passing electric current through a semiconductor, while traditional bulbs pass current through a wire. The wasted heat energy is chiefly why traditional bulbs are so much less efficient.
LEDs also last about 30 times longer than traditional bulbs, and many LED bulb products promise up to 25,000 hours of use — more than 17 years if you used one for about four hours a day.
Lighting the world
The lighting transformation is not only in homes. LEDs are also being used for street lights, public holiday and decorative displays, commercial buildings, and other large energy users.
Car lighting is another application where LEDs are making progress. LEDs used to be used only for daytime running lights, but now many new cars have LED headlights for night-time use.
LEDs also hold promise for bringing light to the more than 1.5 billion people around the world without access to electricity, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences noted. Indeed, several proposed solutions to energy poverty include the distribution of LED lights, particularly solar-powered ones.
Digital displays
Without blue LEDs, the world wouldn’t have back-lit smart phones, TV and computer LCD screens, blu-ray(蓝光) players, many forms of lighting, and countless other products.
In the electronics industry, LEDs provide back lighting for LCD screens in many smart phones, laptops, and televisions. The LEDs are more energy efficient and allow for very thin displays.
Blu-ray players use blue LED lasers(激光) to read data off a digital optical disc. When these systems switched from using an infrared(红外线) laser to a blue LED laser, it became possible to store five to 10 times as much data.
LEDs are now being explored for their potential uses to transmit(传送) data from the Internet across open space, similar to WiFi. Such a system could transmit a lot more data than WiFi alone. This high bandwidth is possible because LEDs can turn on and off millions of times per second.
The rise of LED lighting came at a time when people were just starting to be concerned about global warming. Because of LEDs’ energy efficiency, using them for the world’s lighting would affect environmental protection in a positive way.
Why Blue LED Lights Won the Nobel
The reason why blue LED lights won the 2014 Nobel Prize in physics is that they are to 1.______ in big changes in lighting. | |
Save and green | 2._______ with other forms of lighting, LEDs are much more efficient because of the different ways they pass electric current. What’s more, LED bulbs can be 3._______ 30 times longer than traditional bulbs. |
Lighting the world | 4._______ from household applications of LED bulbs, they can also be used as street lights and car headlights. |
Because of their high efficiency, LEDs, especially solar-powered ones, 5._______ to light areas without access to electricity. | |
Digital displays | Many smart phones, laptops and televisions use LEDs to back-light their LCD6._______. |
By using blue LED lasers, blu-ray players are likely to store 7.________ data. | |
People are now exploring more 8._______ uses of LEDs such as transmitting data. | |
9._______ | LED lighting will have a positive 10.________ on environmental protection. |