The Mystery of Dark MatterIf you look at the ...

The Mystery of Dark Matter

If you look at the night sky, you'll often see stars moving very quickly. In fact, they move much more quickly than they should according to their size and the laws of physics. Scientists do not completely understand why the speed of these stars is so high. But many believe the reason is that much of the universe is made up of something called "dark matter". Groups of stars called galaxies, such as the Milky Way, might even consist of ninety per cent dark matter.

How much something weighs depends on where it is. The same object weighs only half as much on Mars as it does on Earth and almost three times as much on Jupiter. So scientists prefer to talk about the mass of something rather than how much it weighs, because mass does not change. They can work out the mass of galaxies by measuring the distance between them and the speed they move.　 Recently, Dr. Jorge Penarrubia and a team from Edinburgh University discovered something interesting. The mass of the Milky Way is only half as much as the mass of another nearby galaxy, Andromeda. This seems strange, but dark matter may explain why.

Finding out more about dark matter could help us understand how the universe began, but this is not easy. Lots of scientists with different types of expert knowledge are working on the problem. The Edinburgh team is working with many other universities like the University of British Columbia.

We can't see dark matter, it's very difficult to measure and we can't find out its mass. Unlike stars, dark matter doesn't produce or reflect light. But we can make a good guess that it is there because of the way things move and the way light bends. Experts now think dark mater may be very different from the mater which we find on Earth. There may also be five times as much dark matter in the universe as ordinary matter.

The Swiss scientist Fritz Zwicky first gave dark matter its name in the nineteen-thirties. Researchers have been looking for it ever since.　 Today, technology such as the Large Hadron Collider is collecting more and more information but this technology cannot tell us everything.　 New ways of finding dark matter will be needed.　 Investigating dark matter may even mean we will need to start asking questions about the way we look at the universe, including the ideas of Albert Einstein.

1.In what way do scientists find out the mass of galaxies？

A.Depending on where they are.

B.Depending on how much they weigh.

C.According to the way they move and the laws of physics.

D.By calculating how far between them and how fast they move.

2.Which of the following statements about dark matter is NOT TRUE？

A.It can't be seen.

B.It doesn't reflect light.

C.It is not unlike ordinary matter.

D.It affects the movement of things.

3.What may get researchers looking for dark matter？

A.To change the way light bends.

B.To prove the ideas of Albert Einstein.

C.To collect more and more information.

D.To help understand the origin of the universe.

4.How is the article organized？

(P: Paragraph)

A. B.

C. D.

5.Which heading best matches Paragraph 5?

A.It's there but we can't see it.

B.Sharing ideas leads to success.

C.We may need to change the way we think.

D.What your eyes can see can't be fully explained,

高一英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

Do you want to know something about the history of weather? Don’t look at the sky. Don’t look for old weather reports. Looking at tree rings is more important. Correct weather reports date back only one century, but some trees can provide an exact record of the weather even further back.

It is natural that a tree would grow best in a climate with plenty of sunlight and rainfall. It is also expected that little sunlight and rainfall would limit the growth of a tree. The change from a favorable to an unfavorable climate can be determined by reading the pattern of rings in a tree trunk. The find the weather of ten years ago, count the rings of a tree trunk from the outside to the inside. If the tenth ring is far from the other rings, then it is certain that plenty of sunny and rainy weather occurred. If the rings are closed together, then the climate was bad for the tree.

Studying tree rings is important not only for the history of weather, but also for the history of man. In a region of New Mexico you can find only sand---no trees and no people. However, many centuries ago a large population lived there. They left suddenly. Why?

A scientist studied patterns of dead tree rings which had grown there. He decided that the people had to leave because they had cut down all the trees. Trees were necessary to make fires and buildings. So, after the people destroyed the trees, they had to move. In this instance studying tree rings uncovers an exciting fact about the history of man.

1.It is understood that in a favorable climate ________.

A. tree rings grow together

B. tree rings grow far apart

C. trees in New Mexico will grow big and tall

D. people can cut down most of the trees in New Mexico

2.The scientists are interested in studying tree rings because they can tell ________.

A. whether in that area the climate was favorable or not

B. whether a particular tree was healthy or not

C. whether people took good care of the trees or not

D. how old the trees were

3.By studying the dead tree rings, the scientist discovered ________.

A. where the people had left

B. what the people used to eat

C. how the people left

D. why the people had to leave

4.The main idea of the passage is ________.

A. tree rings reflect the history of weather and the history of man

B. destroying tree will do man no good

C. studying tree ring is the only way to know the history of weather

D. man shouldn’t cut so many trees

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

In most situations, light helps us see. But when it comes to looking at the night sky, light is actually a kind of pollution. It prevents our view of some of life’s most striking sights: stars, planets, and even galaxies.

“When I was a little boy, I loved the night sky. I remember looking up and the sky was filled with stars. I became an astronomer because I was amazed by their beauty,” says Robert gent, “Now in most big cities kids can’t see the stars like I did.”

Normally, about 2,500 individual stars are visible to the naked eye without using any special equipment. But because of light pollution, you actually see just 200 to 300 and fewer than a dozen from some cities. Only one in three Americans can see our own galaxy (星系) with the naked eye. Those people live far away from the lights of big cities, office building, and shopping malls.

Fortunately, there’s an inexpensive and useful way. If we shine lights down at the ground instead of up into the sky, and use lower brightness levels, we can save big amounts of energy and keep the beauty of the night skies. Many cities and towns have passed laws limiting lights at night, making sure enough shine for safety without creating much light pollution.

Light pollution affects more than our view of the heavens and can harm wildlife. Migrating (迁移) birds sometimes fly over cities and become confused by the brightness, flying in circles until they drop from exhaustion. Sea turtles need dark beaches for nesting and won’t approach bright lights. Too much light at night may even affect human health. For all these reasons, researchers are working on ways to use light only when and where they are truly needed. Everyone deserves to look up at the sky.

1.According to the text, using our naked eyes, ______________.

2.Many cities and towns have passed laws limiting lights at night mainly to _________.

3.In how many ways will the light pollution do harm?

4.The underlined word “exhaustion” in the last paragraph means “_________”.

高一英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

In most situations, light helps us see. But when it comes to looking at the night sky, light is actually a kind of pollution. It prevents our view of some of life’s most striking sights: stars, planets, and even galaxies(银河系).

“When I was a little boy, I loved the night sky. I remember looking up and the sky was filled with stars. I became an astronomer because I was amazed by their beauty,” says Robert Gent, “Now in most big cities kids can’t see the stars like I did.”

　　　 Normally, about 2,500 individual (单个的) stars are visible to the human eyes without using any special equipment. But because of light pollution, you actually see just 200 to 300 and fewer than a dozen from some cities. Only one in three Americans can see our own galaxy with the naked eyes. Those people live far away from the lights of big cities, office buildings, and shopping malls.

　　　 Fortunately, there’s an inexpensive and useful way. If we shine lights down at the ground instead of up into the sky, and use lower brightness levels, we can save big amounts of energy and keep the beauty of the night sky. Many cities and towns have passed laws limiting lights at night, making sure enough shine for safety without creating much light pollution.

　　　 Light pollution affects more than our view of the heavens and can harm wildlife. Migrating birds(候鸟) sometimes fly over cities and become confused by the brightness, flying in circles until they drop from exhaustion.　 Sea turtles need dark beaches for nesting and won’t approach bright lights. Too much light at night may even affect human health. For all these reasons, researchers are working on ways to use lights only when and where they are truly needed. Everyone deserves to look up at the sky.

1.According to the text, using our naked eyes, ________.

A. people in remote areas can see more stars than those in big cities

B. over one third Americans can see our own galaxy　

C. about one in three Americans in big cities can see our own galaxy　　

D. Americans can only see 200 to 300 stars

2.Many cities and towns have passed laws limiting lights at night mainly to ____________.

A. save the electricity

B. make sure of migrating birds’ safety　　

C. let you count the number of stars

D. avoid much light pollution

3.What does the fourth paragraph mainly talk about?

A. The cause of light pollution.

B. The way to reduce light pollution.

C. The effect of light pollution.

D. People’s attitude towards light pollution.

4.The underlined word “exhaustion” in the last paragraph means _______ .

A. air pollution 　　      B. tiredness　　     　 C. breath　　 　　 D. brightness

5.Which would be the best title for the text?

A. Light Pollution　　 B. Seeking the Sky 　 C. Stars in the Sky　　　　 D. City Pollution

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

In most situations, light helps us see. But when it comes to looking at the night sky, light is actually a kind of pollution. It prevents our view of some of life's most striking sights: stars, planets, and even galaxies（银河系）.

“When I was a little boy, I loved the night sky. I remember looking up and the sky was filled with stars. I became an astronomer because I was amazed by their beauty，” says Robert Gent，“Now in most big cities kids can't see the stars like I did.”

Normally, about 2，500 individual (单个的) stars are visible to the human eyes without using any special equipment. But because of light pollution, you actually see just 200 to 300 and fewer than a dozen from some cities. Only one in three Americans can see our own galaxy with the naked eyes. Those people live far away from the lights of big cities, office buildings, and shopping malls.

Fortunately, there's an inexpensive and useful way. If we shine lights down at the ground instead of up into the sky, and use lower brightness levels, we can save big amounts of energy and keep the beauty of the night skies. Many cities and towns have passed laws limiting lights at night，making sure enough shine for safety without creating much light pollution.

Light pollution affects more than our view of the heavens and can harm wildlife. Migrating birds （候鸟）sometimes fly over cities and become confused by the brightness, flying in circles until they drop from exhaustion. Sea turtles need dark beaches for nesting and won't approach bright lights. Too much light at night may even affect human health. For all these reasons, researchers are working on ways to use lights only when and where they are truly needed. Everyone deserves to look up at the sky.

1.According to the text, using our naked eyes, ________．

A. people in remote（遥远的） areas can see more stars than those in big cities

B. over one third Americans can see our own galaxy

C. about one in three Americans in big cities can see our own galaxy

D. Americans can only see 200 to 300 stars

2.Many cities and towns have passed laws limiting lights at night mainly to ________．

A. save the electricity

B. make sure of cities' safety

C. let you count the number of stars

D. avoid much light pollution

3.The underlined word “exhaustion” in the last paragraph means ________．

A. air pollution　　 B. tiredness

C. breath　　 D. brightness

4.What would be the best title for the text?

A. Light Pollution　　 B. Seeking the Sky

C. Stars in the Sky　　 D. City Pollution

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Wouldn’t it be great if you could just look up at the sky and read the weather forecast right away? Well, you can. The forecast is written in clouds. If you can read that writing, you can tell something about the atmosphere. With some practice, you can become a pretty good weather forecaster. Who knows, you might even do as well as meteorologists（气象学家）.

Meteorologists use much more information than just the appearance of the clouds to make their forecast. They collect data（数据）from all over the world. Then they put it into powerful, high speed computers. This does give the meteorologists an advantage, because they can track（追踪）weather patterns as they move from west to east across the country. But you have an advantage, too. You can look at the sky and get your data directly. A meteorologist uses a computer forecast that’s several hours old to make a local forecast.

What are you seeing when you look at a cloud? “A picture of moisture(水汽)is doing in the atmosphere,” says meteorologist Peter Leavitt. There’s moisture throughout the atmosphere. Most of the time you don’t see it, because it’s in the form of an unseeable gas called water vapor. Sometimes, the temperature of the air gets cold enough to cause the waster vapor to change to liquid water. It’s called condensation(凝结), and we see it happen all the time (for example, when humid air from the shower hits the cold glasses of a mirror). When enough water vapor condenses（冷凝）, droplets(小滴）come in the air. These droplets scatter(分散) light. A cloud is seen.

Watching clouds over a day or two tells you a lot more than a single cloud about the weather to come. Changes in clouds show changes in the atmosphere. You should begin to notice patterns. Certain clouds, following each other in order, can signal an approaching storm. But don’t take our word for it; see for yourself.

1.According to the passage, an ordinary person might read the weather forecast as well as meteorologists _________.

A. with some simple practice looking up at the sky

B. with the help of the high-speed computers

C. through complex (复杂的) instruments

D. by visiting a weather station

2.Meteorologists can make their weather forecast　　　　 .

A. by using information of the appearance of the clouds only

B. by collecting data from parts of the world

C. by collecting and analyzing（分析）the data

D. by watching the sky

3.According to the passage, your advantage in weather forecast is that　　　　 .

A. you have a high-speed computer

B. you observe the sky and get your data directly

C. you have more instruments at home

D. you can track weather patterns as they move from west to east across the country

4.This passage mainly tells us about how to　　　 .

A. train ourselves as meteorologists

B. be an assistant to a meteorologist

C. forecast the weather by ourselves

D. broadcast the weather forecast

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

For years，the giant squid (大王乌贼) had remained a modern mystery.Living in the dark depths of the ocean，the creature is difficult for scientists to observe directly.It had also managed to avoid all attempts to film it.That changed last July：for the first time ever，scientists were able to catch the giant squid on video in its natural habitat.They were amazed by what they saw.The scientists filmed the squid in the North Pacific Ocean，south of Tokyo，Japan.They followed it down to a depth of 2，952 feet.They shot more than 23 minutes of video before the squid swam off into even darker depths.The video footage will be released to the public later this month on The Discovery Channel.

Tsunemi Kubodera，a zoologist at Japan's National Museum of Nature and Science，led the team that filmed the squid.The team went into the ocean in a small submarine with lights invisible to both humans and squid.Since giant squid eat smaller squid，the scientists released a small squid as bait (诱饵)．Then the scientists waited in the pitch black for the giant squid to approach.

The color video shows the creature floating vertically，eating the bait squid.The giant squid is 9 to 10 feet long and is missing its two longest tentacles (触须)．With those tentacles，it could have measured up to 26 feet long.It has huge black eyes，the size of dinner plates，“It was shining and so beautiful，” Kubodera said.

Because the deep ocean is so unfriendly to humans，little is known about the giant squid.Scientists say catching the mysterious creature on video is an important step toward understanding it.For centuries，sailors had reported seeing a huge，ocean－dwelling beast，thought to be the giant squid.The creature is also believed to be the subject of the Nordic myth of the kraken，a sea creature that supposedly attacked ships in Scandinavian waters over the past thousands of years.

1.Why is it difficult to film the giant squid?

A.Because it is illegal to film the giant squid.

B.Because it is too expensive to make such a film.

C.Because the giant squid lives in the dark deep ocean.

D.Because the giant squid is dangerous to humans.

2.We can learn from the first paragraph that scientists　 ________．

A.first saw the giant squid in the ocean

B.discovered a new sea creature in the ocean

C.have the ocean bottom secretly recorded on video

D.have first caught the legendary giant squid on video

3.According to the passage，the giant squid's longest tentacles can be　 ________．

A.16 to 17 feet long

B.9 to 10 feet long

C.more than 26 feet long

D.about 36 feet long

4.The scientists released a small squid in the ocean to　 ________．

A.increase the number of the giant squid

B.trick the giant squid into coming out

C.make an educational film about it

D.show concern for the giant squid

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Have you ever complained why life is so tiring? Does the sky sometimes seem dark to you? Are your studies sometimes not successful? Well, friends, cheer up and smile all the time. If you see the world with your warm heart, you’ll find that the whole world smiles to you.

While in school, sometimes you are tired of your lessons, but have you ever noticed the happy smile on your teacher’s face when you did a good job?

One day it is fine. Just before you go out, it suddenly starts to rain. Maybe you would feel very sad and start to complain about the weather. But dear friends, why don’t you sit down and listen to the free concerts that the nature offers you? And with the timely rain, crops in the fields will grow better and better and farmers will have a good harvest.

Although everyone wants to succeed in what he tries to do, sometimes failure can’t be avoided. I think failure is not terrible, and the terrible thing is that we are afraid of it and give up hope. When we face failure, we must be confident in ourselves, draw a useful lesson from it and try our best to finish what we have decided to do. As a popular saying goes, “Failure is the mother of success”.

Attitude decides everything. With an optimistic attitude life is easy and pleasant. Let’s smile to whatever we meet and the whole world will smile to us.

1. People sometimes complain _________.

A. the sky is always dark

B. their studies are successful

C. they see the world with their heart

D. life is tiring

2.When we face failure, we ___________.

A. must be confident in ourselves

B. shouldn’t be afraid of it

C. shouldn’t give up hope

D. All of the above

3.The best title for the passage is_______.

A. Smile and the World Smiles to You

B. Complaining about Life

C. Failure is the Mother of Success

D. It is Very Hard to Succeed

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

It was dark, so we decided to ______ for the night at the farmhouse.

A. put up       B. build up           C. set up         D. stay up

高一英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

A man was on the side of the road hitchhiking(搭便车) on a very dark night in the middle of a terrible rainstorm, with no cars on the road. The storm was so strong that the man could hardly see a few feet ahead of him. Suddenly, he saw a car come towards him and stop. The man, without thinking about it, got in the car and closed the door and only then did he realize that there was nobody behind the steering wheel(方向盘)!

The car started to move very slowly. The man looked at the road and saw a curve(拐弯处) coming his way. Terrified, he started to pray, begging for his life. He had not come out of shock when, just before the car hit the curve, a hand suddenly appeared through the window and moved the wheel. The man, paralyzed with fear, watched how the hand appeared every time the car was drawing near a curve. Finally, although terrified, the man managed to open the door and jump out of the spooky(怪异的) car. Without looking back, the man ran through the storm all the way to the nearest town. In a state of complete horror, the man walked into a nearby bar and asked for two glasses of Scotch whisky.

Then, still shaking with fright, he started telling everybody in the bar about the horrible experience he just went through in the spooky car. Everyone in the bar listened in silence and became frightened, with hair standing on end, when they realized the man was telling the truth because he was crying and he was certainly not drunk!

About half an hour later, two other young men walked into the same bar and one said to the other,“Hey, there’s a stupid man who jumped into the car while we were pushing it!”

1.When the car was first drawing near a curve, the man________.

A．felt very curious                        B．was extremely frightened

C．cried for help                          D．remained as calm as possible

2.According to the passage, what made the man’s experience believable?

A．His reasonable behavior.                  B．His vivid description.

C．His simple appearance.                   D．His honest attitude.

3.We can infer from the passage that________.

A．it is unsafe for people to take a free ride

B．the man was telling a lie to his listeners

C．the car probably broke down on the way

D．the two young men were familiar with the man

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析