A meteorite (陨石) flew fast across the sky and exploded over central Russia on Friday, raining fireballs over a vast area and causing a shock wave that smashed windows, damaged buildings and injured l,200 people.
People heading to work in Chelyabinsk heard what sounded like an explosion, saw a bright light and then felt the shock wave.
According to Russian space agency Roscosmos, the fireball, travelling at a speed of 30km per second, had burnt very brightly across the horizon, leaving a long white trail that could be seen as far as 200km away. Car alarms went off, thousands of windows shattered and mobile phone networks were disrupted.
“I was driving to work, it was quite dark, but it suddenly became as bright as if it were day,” said Viktor Prokofiev, 36, a resident of Yekaterinburg in the Urals Mountains. “I felt like I was blinded by headlights.”
The meteorite, which weighed about 20 tons and may have been made of iron, entered Earth’s atmosphere and broke apart 30-50km above ground, according to Russia’s Academy of Sciences.
The energy released when it entered the Earth’s atmosphere was about several thousand tons, the academy said, the power of a small atomic weapon exploding.
No deaths were reported, but the Emergencies Ministry said 20,000 rescue and clean-up workers were sent to the region after President Vladimir Putin told Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov to ease the disruption and help the victims.
The Interior Ministry said about l,200 people had been injured, at least 200 of them children, and most from broken pieces of glass.“While events this big are rare, an impact that could cause damage and death could happen every century or so. Unfortunately there is absolutely nothing we can do to stop impacts.”
【小题1】When did the meteorite incident happen?
A．At midnight.
B．In the early morning.
C．In the late morning.
D．In the evening.
【小题2】According to the text, the meteorite explosion caused .
A．some deaths
B．road accidents
C．munication problems
D．building collapse
【小题3】The Russian government’s response to the incident was .
A．a little slow but effective
B．quick and serious
C．cold and slow
D．quick but ineffective
【小题4】It can be inferred that the loss caused by meteorites .
A．is nearly unavoidable
B．happens every few years
C．can be avoided
D．is hard to estimate
B
网友回答
(答案→)B
解析：文章报道俄罗斯发生的陨石撞击地球的事件，文章介绍这次事故给当地造成的危害和损失，以及政府做出的迅速的反应。
【小题1】推理题：从第四段的句子：“I was driving to work, it was quite dark, but it suddenly became as bright as if it were day,” 可知是在人们上班的时候，天还很黑，所以是一大早，选B
【小题2】推理题：从第三段的句子：Car alarms went off, thousands of windows shattered and mobile phone networks were disrupted.可知陨石爆炸导致手机网络中断，也就是信息交流出现问题。选C
【小题3】推理题：从倒数第二段的句子：but the Emergencies Ministry said 20,000 rescue and clean-up workers were sent to the region after President Vladimir Putin told Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov to ease the disruption and help the victims.可知俄罗斯政府对这个事故的反应是很快的而且是严肃的，选B。
【小题4】推理题：从最后一段的句子：Unfortunately there is absolutely nothing we can do to stop impacts.”可知陨石造成的损失几乎是无法避免的。选A。