单选题 As Venus is the brightest, it is the most conspicuous of the planets. It is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty, and is probably more nearly like the earth than any other planet. During the late summer and early autumn it may be seen as a bright evening "star" at a point in the sky near the place where the sun sets. Its brightness is probably due to the reflection of sunlight from great banks of vapor or clouds that surround the planet. Perhaps you have, after sundown, noticed the effect produced by sunlight reflected upon a white cloud.
Although Venus when nearest to the earth is 27.5 million miles away, it is always much nearer to the earth than any other planet. Its diameter (直径) is about 7726 miles. Venus revolves in its orbit (沿轨道旋转) around the sun in seven and one-half of our months, that is 225 of our days. Because of its dense atmosphere, its brightness, and the absence of fixed markings, astronomers have not been able to agree upon the length of its day; observations support the view that the same hemisphere (半球) of Venus is always toward the sun.
单选题 The word "conspicuous" in Paragraph 1 most probably means "______".
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 根据文章第一段对金星的描述，金星是最明亮的，它在夏末和初秋的晚上看上去像是一颗明亮的星星，可知金星应该是很显眼的，很容易被看到的，所以推断conspicuous应该与noticeable“引人注意的，显著的”意思相近，故选D。
单选题 Venus may be seen as an "evening "star"" around the month of ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 根据文章第一段第三句可知，在夏末和初秋的晚上金星看上去像是一颗明亮的星星，8月符合夏末和初秋的时节，故选C。
单选题 Which of the following can be learned from Paragraph 2?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 根据文章第二段第一句后半句“...it is always much nearer to the earth than any other planet.”可知，金星与地球的距离要比其他行星都近，故选项D为正确答案。地球绕太阳一周的时间为365天或366天，而文中第二段第三句说金星绕太阳一周为225天，所以，金星绕太阳一周的时间要短于地球绕太阳一周的时间，故选项A错误；根据文章第二段第四句“Because of its dense atmosphere, its brightness, and the absence of fixed markings, astronomers have not been able to agree upon the length of its day”，即由于金星浓厚的大气层，明亮度和缺少固定标记，天文学家对金星上的一天的长度并没有达成统一的意见，故排除B。根据文章第二段第一句话前半句，“即使当行星离地球最近的时候是27,500,000英里……”，可知行星离地球的距离是变化的，故C选项错误。故选D。