2014職稱英語考試理工A級真題閱讀理解

　　The northern lights

　　the sun is stormy(狂暴的) and has its own kind of weather. it is so hot and active that even the sun’s gravity cannot hold its atmosphere in check(控制，支配)! energy flows away from the sun toward the earth in a stream of electrified particles(電粒子) that move at speeds around a million miles per hour. these particles are called plasma(等離子體), and the stream of plasma coming from the sun is called the solar wind. the more active the sun, the stronger the solar wind.

　　the solar wind constantly streams toward the earth, but don’t worry because a protective magnetic field(磁場) surrounds our planet.the same magnetic field that makes your compass point north also steer(引向) the particles from the sun to the north and south poles. the charged particles become trapped in magnetic belts around the earth. when a large blast of solar wind crashes into the earth’s magnetic field, the magnetic field first gets squeezed and then the magnetic field lines break and reconnect(斷開又閉合).

　　the breaking and reconnecting of the magnetic field lines can cause atomic particles(原子粒子) called electrons(電子) trapped in the belts to fall into the earth’s atmosphere at the poles. as the electrons fall to the earth, they collide with gas molecules(分子)in the atmosphere, creating flashes of light in the sky. each atmospheric gas glows a different color. oxygen and nitrogen glows red and green and nitrogen glows violet-purple. as these various colors glow and dance in the night sky, they create the northern lights and the southern lights.

　　watching auroras is fun and exciting, but normally you can only see them in places far north like alaska and canada. the movement of the aurora across the sky is usually slow enough to easily follow with your eyes but they can also pulsate(跳動), flicker, or even move like waves. during solar maximum, auroras are seen as far south as florida, even mexico!

　　auroras often seem to be very close to the ground, but the lowest aurora is still about 100 kilometers above the ground, a distance much higher than clouds are formed or airplanes can fly. a typical aurora band can be thousands of kilometers long, a few hundred kilometers high, but only a few hundred meters thick.

　　we hope you are able to travel to far-north places like the arctic circle and see the northern lights at least once during your lifetime. we know you will never forget it!

　　1.the sun’s gravity is too weak to keep its plasma from flowing to the earth.

　　a. right

　　b. wrong

　　c. not mentioned

　　解析：

　　題干的意思是：太陽的重力太弱，等離子逃離太陽，流向地球。這一說法與文章第一段第一句和第二句表達的意思不符。句子表達的重點不是太陽的重力太弱，而是太陽太熱，其活動有太劇烈，造成等離子逃離太陽，流向地球。

　　2.the earth is quite safe with a magnetic field surrounding it to protect it from the attack by the solar wind.

　　a. right b. wrong c. not mentioned

　　解析：

　　題干認為地球安全因為有磁場在高空包圍著地球，將太陽風擋在地球大氣層外。這與文章第二段第一句的意思是一致的。

　　3. some scientists are worrying about the possible disappearance of the earth’s protective magnetic field in the future.

　　a. right b. wrong

　　c. not mentioned

　　解析：

　　題干認為有些科學家擔心包圍地球起防護作用的磁場有一天會消失。這在文章中沒有提到。

　　4.the auroras are formed when the electrons falling into the earth’s atmosphere at the poles and colliding with gas molecules in the atmosphere.

　　a. right b. wrong

　　c. not mentioned

　　解析：

　　文章第二段和第三段解釋極光的成因。當強大的太陽風侵入地球磁場，磁場的磁力線會斷開和閉合，等離子流的電子進入大氣層，流向極地上空，與大氣層的氣體分子發(fā)生碰撞，發(fā)出極光。這個意思與文章相符。

　　5.you cannot see the northern lights unless you are in alaska or canada.

　　a. rightb. wrong

　　c. not mentioned

　　解析：

　　根據(jù)文章表述watching auroras is fun and exciting, but normally you can only see them in places far north like alaska and canada. the movement of the aurora across the sky is usually slow enough to easily follow with your eyes but they can also pulsate(跳動), flicker, or even move like waves. during solar maximum, auroras are seen as far south as florida, even mexico!可見題干是錯誤的表述。

　　6. tens of thousands of tourists take special trips to norway and sweden every year to watch the northern lights.

　　a. right b. wrong

　　c. not mentioned

　　解析：

　　題干的意思是：每年有幾萬游客專程前往挪威和瑞典觀看北極光。文章中找不到這一內容。

　　7. an aurora is generally close to the ground and is very long and thick.

　　a. right

　　b. wrong

　　c. not mentioned

　　解析：

　　題干說極光通常很接近地面，又長又厚。這一說法有兩點與文章第五段的介紹不符。第一點，極光不是接近地面，而是“似乎很接近地面”，事實上，最靠近地面的極光離地面也有100公里。第二點，極光不厚，only a few hundred meters thick.

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