单选题
The ocean bottom (a region nearly 2.5 times greater
than the total land area of the Earth) is a vast frontier that even today is
largely unexplored and uncharted. Until about a century ago, the deep-ocean
floor was completely inaccessible, hidden beneath waters averaging over 36,000
meters deep. Totally without light and subjected to intense pressures hundreds
of times greater than at the Earth's surface, the deep-ocean bottom is a hostile
environment to humans, in some ways as forbid- ding and remote as the void of
outer space. Although researchers have taken samples of
deep-ocean rocks and sediments for over a century, the first detailed global
investigation of the ocean bottom did not actually start until 1968, with the
beginning of the National Science Foundation's Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP).
Using techniques first developed for the offshore oil and gas industry, the
DSDP's drill ship, the Glomar Challenger, was able to maintain a steady position
on the ocean's surface and drill in very deep waters, extracting samples of
sediments and rocks from the ocean floor. The Glomar Challenger
completed 96 voyages in a 15-year research program that ended in November 1983,
During this time, the vessel logged 600,000 kilometers and took almost 20,000
core samples of seabed sediments and rocks at 624 drilling sites around the
world. The Glomar Challenger's core samples have allowed geologists to
reconstruct what the planet looked like hundreds of millions of years ago and to
calculate what it will probably look like millions of years in the future.
Today, largely on the strength of evidence gathered during the Glomar
Challenger's voyages, nearly all earth scientists agree on the theories of plate
tectonics and continental drift that explain many of the geological processes
that shape the Earth. The cores of sediment drilled by the
Glomar Challenger have also yielded information critical to understand the
world's past climates. Deep-ocean sediments provide a climatic record tracing
back hundreds of millions of years, because they are largely isolated from the
mechanical erosion and the intense chemical and biological activies that rapidly
destroy much land-based evidence of past climates. This record has already
provided insights into the patterns and causes of past climatic change
information that may be used to predict future climates.
单选题
The author compare the ocean bottom to a "frontier" in paragraph 1
because it______.
A. is a quite promising place.
B. is out of the understanding of many scientists.
C. attracts courageous explorers.
D. is an unknown research area to the scientists.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 本题是一个推断题，即给出一个单词，要求考生理解该词在上下文中的意思和作用。解答这种推断题要建立在对段落乃至全文的主题有—个总领的看法上，分析具体句子：“The ocean bottoma region nearly 2.5 times greater than the total land area of the Earthis a vast frontier that even today is largely unexplored and uncharted．”在这个句子中frontier 后面接一个that 引导的限定性定语从句，补充修饰frontier．
A．是一个非常有希望的地方。一般来说，frontier 含有“具有开发潜力”的意思，但是在本题中，只是强调“没有人研究过”。
B．不被很多的科学家理解。原文的意思是“海底还没有被开发”，而不是该选项中所谓的“开发了却不被科学家理解”，所以本选项是错误选项。
C．吸引了很多勇敢的探险者。这是出题人自己的臆断，原文中没有提到。
D．是一个科学家没有涉足的领域。和原文的意思一致，正确答案是D。
从正确选项D看，对词义的推测一定要联系上下文找到最接近的意思。
单选题
The word "yield" in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to ______.
A. give up.
B. produce.
C. release.
D. unpack.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 本题是一个词义理解题，给出一个超纲或者多义的词，要求考生理解该词在上下文中的意思和作用。解答这种推断题要求考生能够联系上下文语境，分析具体句子：“The cores of sediment drilled by the Glomar Challenger have also yielded information critical to understanding the world's past climates．”很明显yield 在这里是作谓语，动词词性，后面接宾语“information”。
A．放弃，yield 有这个含义，但是在这里“沉积物放弃信息”肯定说不通。
B．产生。“沉积物产生信息”，似乎和原文意思有一点联系，但是仔细察看原文可以发现，其实并不是沉积物本身产生信息，所以这个选项错了。
C．泄露。很多考生知道release 有“释放”的意思，其实release 也有“泄露(秘密)”的意思，参照原文不难看出，这就是yield 在这里的意思。
D．打开(包裹等)。虽然说这个单词比较形象，但是却不是这里yield 的本意。
正确选项为C，yield 除了“生产，投降”之外，“泄露”也是比较常见的词义。
单选题
Which of the following is true of the Glomar Challenger?
A. It is a type of submarine made especially for a project.
B. It is as ongoing project to explore the earth.
C. It provides such strong evidence that all earth scientists agree on the
theories of plate tectonics and continental drift.
D. It makes great contribution to the understanding of the earth's
structure.
单选题
The Deep Sea Drilling Project was of great significance because it
was______.
A. the first attempt to use a special technique.
B. the first extensive exploration of the ocean bottom.
C. attracting many geologists from all over the world.
D. of great importance to funds of the gas and oil industry.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题是一个推断题，要求考生对一个推断的理由作出解释。解答这种类型的推断题要求考生能够理解这句话在整个段落中的作用，分析具体句子：“The first detailed global investigation of the ocean bottom did not actually start until 1968，with the beginning of the National Science Foundation's Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP)．Using techniques first developed for the offshore oil and gas industry，the DSDP's drill ship，the Glomar Challenger，was able to maintain a steady potation on the ocean's surface and drill in very deep waters，extracting samples of sediments and rock from the ocean floor．”注意这里前后两句话的关系。第二句话并没有对前面的论述作一个解释，而是对这个项目作一个一般性的说明。
A．第一次使用一种新技术。原文中有提到，但是这并不是这个项目在这里被作者引用的原因。
B．第一次大规模的海底钻探。该选项为正确选项，也是作者在这里引用这个项目要说明的东西。
C．吸引了很多科学家。理由同A，是这个项目的特征，但不属于重点。
D．对油气工业的基金具有很大的影响。很明显，原文中并没有这个意思。
从选项和干扰项可以看出，考生一定要把握文章的主题和中心思想，不要凭自己的主观推理臆断，也不要选偏离主题的选项。
单选题
Tire author's attitude towards the research of ocean bottom might be
best summarize as one of______.