Scientists know of more than 1,000 volcanoes on the surface of Venus, Earth’s “sister” planet. A big question has been: Are they still active? The scientists say yes.
Their evidence for recent volcanic activity on Venus es from a lava(熔岩) flow in the planet’s northern hemisphere. The flow is hotter than the rocks around, which means the lava might still be cooling off. “The flow we studied seems to be very young---it is still warm inside,” Nataliya Bondarenko said.
Venus is a difficult planet to study from Earth because it is surrounded by thick clouds. Telescopes on Earth can’t see through these clouds, so the best information about Venus es from spacecraft orbiting it.
Bondarenko and her colleagues studied the lava flow using data from NASA’s Magellan mission. That spacecraft spent four years in orbit around Venus and used radar to make a map of 98 percent of the planet’s surface. On October 11th, 1994, the mission ended, and the spacecraft plunged (跌落) through Venus’ heavy cloud cover and crashed onto the planet below.
While in orbit, the Magellan craft sent microwaves, which can go through Venus’ clouds, to the surface. Microwaves are invisible and can be as long as three feet. These waves are a kind of energy, like light. And like light, they bounce off surfaces. The way the waves bounced off the Venus’ surface and back to the craft supplied information that the scientists used to estimate the temperature of various parts of the planet’s surface. Bondarenko’s team found that the lava flow was hotter than its surroundings---which may mean the lava flow is in the process of cooling.
The scientists say the lava flow can’t be very old because if it were, it would have cooled off enough that Magellan wouldn’t have noticed the difference in microwaves. She adds that the flow appears in a 1978 view of the surface that a craft called the Pioneer Venus Orbiter captured.
【小题1】What happened to Magellan in the end?A．It was floating in space forever.B．It flew into heavy clouds.C．It returned to the Earth.D．It fell onto Venus.【小题2】How could Bondarenko judge the temperature of the Venus?A．By looking at it with a powerful telescope.B．By measuring the thickness of clouds over Venus.C．By calculating the microwave bouncing off Venus’s surface.D．By orbiting Venus for 4 years in a spacecraft.【小题3】The best title for the passage may be “ ”.A．Warm lava on VenusB．More volcanic eruptions on VenusC．Venus is just like a big active volcanoD．Lava flows are first found on VenusD
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(答案→)D
解析：文章的大意为：科学家说在金星的表面上有1000多座活火山，并且也找到了证据。是从火山喷发出的溶岩中得到证明的，因为这些溶岩还是热的处于冷却的状态。在地球获取金星的信息是不容易的，因为从地球上的望远镜上是看不清金星，有很厚的去层遮挡。科学家的这些有关金星的信息是从美国国家航空航天局的飞行器那里采集的信息。
【小题1】D细节理解题。On October 11th, 1994, the mission ended, and the spacecraft plunged (跌落) through Venus’ heavy cloud cover and crashed onto the planet below.1994年10月11日，使命结束了，飞行器穿过金星厚厚的云层跌落在落在了这个行星的表面上。故答案应为D。
【小题2】C细节理解题。The way the waves bounced off the Venus’ surface and back to the craft supplied information that the scientists used to estimate the temperature of various parts of the planet’s surface.大意为：波从金星的表面反弹回来到达航天器的这种方式提供了信息，科学家用这种信息去估计金星表面不同地方的温度。故答案应为C。
【小题3】A文章大意题。这篇文章从火山周围的溶岩推测出这些火山还很活跃的，接着陈述了金星的信息很难获得，科学家通过航天器获得的信息推测出金星表面不同部分的温度。所以文章的题目应是金星上温暖的熔岩。故答案应为A. B选项金星上更多的火山爆发，文中是没有介绍的；C选项金星就像一个大大的活火山，文中并未涉及到这个话题；D选项熔岩首先在金星上被发现，文中并未指出是首次发现。
【考点】考查科学类文章的阅读理解。