Question

三、阅读理解。(20分)

                                A

   Is there intelligent (有智力的) life on other planets? For years,scientists said “No." or “We don't know." But today this is changing. Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are astronomers (天文学家) . They believe intelligent life exists (存在) somewhere in the universe. They also think we will soon contact these beings (人;生物) .

   Why do Shostak and Barnett think intelligent life exists on other planets? The first reason is time. Scientists believe the universe is about 12 billion years old.

“This is long enough for other planets to have intelligent life ,” say Shostak and Barnett. The second reason is size —the universe is huge. Tools like the Hubble Telescope (哈勃望远镜) have shown that there are at least 100 billion galaxies,” says Shostak. “And our galaxy,the Milky Way,has at least 100 billion stars. Some planets going around these stars might be similar to Earth.

  In the past,it was hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe But now, powerful telescopes (高倍望远镜) allow scientists to discover smaller planets—the size of Mars or Earth—in other solar systems. These planets might have intelligent life.

  Have beings from space already visited Earth?" Probably not,says Shostak.“It's a long way away. However,intelligent beings may contact us in other ways,such as radio signals (信号) . In fact,they may be trying to communicate with us now,but we don't have the right tools to receive their messages. However,this is changing. By 2025,we could make contact with other life forms in our universe and we might help each other. ”

() 1. Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are  .

   A. astronomers   B. farmers   C. singers   D. drivers

() 2. What is the best title for Paragraph 2 ?

   A. The Age and Size of Earth.

   B. Our Galaxy： The Milky Way.

   C. Why Intelligent Life Might Exist.

   D. Earth： The Only Planet with Intelligent Life.

() 3. Why was it hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe in the past?

   A. There were not any smaller planets.

   B. There were not any powerful telescopes.

   C. The astronomers were not interested in it.

   D. The Milky Way didn't exist at that time.

() 4. Why haven’t beings from space visited us yet according to Shostak?

   A. They’re afraid of us.

   B. It's a long way away.

   C. They don't want to see us.

   D. They don't know how to use radio signals.

() 5. What does the underlined phrase “life forms” in the last paragraph mean?

   A. Messages.           B. Tools.

   C. Intelligent beings. D. Radio signals.

Answer 1

2. C 3. B 4. B 5. C

1. A 

(关键词为Seth Shostak和Alexandra Barnett两个名字，由文章第一段第四句话 Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are astronomers ,可知选 A. )

2. C 

(根据第二段第一 句话 Why do Shostak and Barnett think intelligent life exists on other planets?判断本段的核心为阐述为何这两名天文学家相信其他星球上存在智力物种，因此选  C. )

3. B 

(关键词为 hard to look for signs." in the past ,根据第三段第二句话 But now,powerful telescopes allow scientists to discover smaller planets ,因此判断出主要原因是过去没有高倍望远镜，因此选   B. )

4. B 

(关键词为beings from space visited us,根据文章最后一段第三句话It's a long way away.因此选B.)

5. C 

(画线词life forms出现在最后一段，根据we could make contact with other life forms in our universe 中 life forms 前的contact及other这两个词，对比本段第四句话intelligent beings may contact us in other ways ,因此判断 life forms 就是指intelligent beings,因此选 C.)