When we look at the sky and see a bright light moving quickly across it or coming towards the earth, we talk about seeing a “shooting star” or a “falling star”. These moving lights are not, in fact, stars at all. They are small pieces of matter from outer space, which burn up as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere. The correct name of them is meteoroids. Any pieces that make it to the Earth’s surface without completely burning up are known as meteorites. A meteor is actually the name given to the light we see when a meteoroid is burning up.

When a meteorite hits the Earth at speeds between 11 and 72 kilometers a second, it can do amazing damage. A very large meteorite could knock the earth out of its orbit. If this happened, all life on Earth would probably become extinct(灭绝). The path we follow around the Sun would change and as a result the Earth would become either much hotter or much colder. This change in temperature would affect sea levels and the amount of water in rivers. There would either be huge floods, which would cover most of the land with water, or the oceans would dry up and there would be a drought, which means a long period of time without rain. Either way, nothing could survive. If a large meteorite landed in the sea it would almost certainly cause tsunamis, which would race towards the land, destroying everything in their paths.

Although it is unlikely the Earth will be struck by a meteorite large enough to do that kind of damage, there is evidence of fairly large meteorites hitting the Earth in the past. In 1908 a large area of forest in Tunguska, Siberia was destroyed by a meteorite that came apart just before it hit the ground. The moon, however, has about three billion craters陨石坑caused by meteorites impacting影响 its surface. The reason more meteorites have reached the surface of the moon than the surface of the Earth is that the moon does not have enough atmosphere for the meteorites to burn up in. some of the meteorites that have reached the Earth’s surface have done considerable damage. Some scientists believe it was a change of climate caused by meteorites hitting the Earth that resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs and other large prehistoric animals.

Scientists are especially interested in meteorites because they contain information about the solar system. It is widely believed by scientists that most meteorites are produced by collisions(碰撞) between asteroids (small planets). These collisions probably happened many billions of years ago. This means the physical and chemical structure of a meteorite can give scientists information about the early days of the universe.

【小题1】           The story is about ___.     

A. floods caused by meteors

B. matter from outer space

C. life on Earth millions of years ago

D. meteorites that have damaged the moon

【小题2】           The Earth has ___.                    

A. three billion craters

B. fewer craters than the moon

C. more craters than the moon

D. a thinner atmosphere than the moon

【小题3】           Some scientists believe the dinosaurs became extinct because ___.     

A. they were hit by meteors

B. meteorites landed on their nests

C. meteorites landed and changed the climate

D. they could no longer breathe the atmosphere

【小题4】           Meteors are ___.                                         

A. small planets

B. the same as asteroids

C. from broken parts of asteroids

D. the light we see when meteoroids hit our atmosphere

 

China has become Volvo's third largest market, with more of its car models to go on sale in the world's largest auto(汽车) market this year, Chief Executive Office (CEO) of Volvo Cars China said in Tianjin.

Alexander Klose, CEO of Volvo Cars China, told Xinhua at the Ninth Tianjin International Automobile Trade Show, being held from Friday to Wednesday.

Klose said Volvo Cars had entered a new time of fast development, adding that its sales volume in China roared in 2010.

Up to the end of September, Volvo's global sales volume was up 12.5 percent year on year(同年比), compared with 52 percent year-on-year rise in China, he said.

Two new Volvo sales centers opened in Beijing within merely one week in early October, about two months after east China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co acquired(购得)the Swedish brand from the US auto giant Ford for $1.5 billion in early August.

Klose said he was confident of seeing tremendous(巨大的) growth in China's auto market in the next five years. "As the Chinese government has increased the tax rate for large displacement (排量)cars already, we now have a lot of cars below three liters(升), and I think we'll stick to that strategy, as you can see now the XC60 which was introduced today is just two liters," he said.

"As the technology advances, we'll probably even see 1.6 liter engines or 1.5 liter engines in the future," he added.

Volvo Cars is not the only automaker hoping to take advantage of China's rapidly growing auto market.

Bentley, the famous British luxury(豪华) carmaker, will open a new sales center in China at Tianjin Thursday, which is the 11th one in China, according to a press release(新闻发布) by Shanghai-based Zenith Integrated Communications Corp (Zenith) Saturday at the auto show.

Zenth is the public relations agent of Bentley in China. The automaker has sold 421 limousines(大型豪华轿车) to China in 2009, and the goal for 2010 is 777, the release said.

【小题1】           The word underlined in the third paragraph would probably be___.      

A. shouted loudly                                          B. increased in large numbers

C. reduced rapidly                                           D. burned brightly

【小题2】           From this passage we can infer that ___.                       

A. The Ninth Tianjin International Automobile Trade Show was held from Friday to Wednesday.

B. Volvo Cars is a world-famous carmaker in Britain.

C. Of all the auto sales volume Volvo sales volume is only number one in China

D. Volvo sales centers are developing very fast in China recently

【小题3】           The text is mainly about____.                       

A. China Becomes Volvo's 3rd largest market

B. Volvo Cars in China

C. Volvo Sales Volume in China

D. Carmakers in China

【小题4】           How many carmakers are mentioned in this passage which opened and will open new sales centers in China recently?                                 

A. One                              B. Two                              C. Three                           D. Four

 

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