Europa's Watery Underworld Europa, one of Jupiter's 63 known moons, looks bright and icy on the surface. But appearances can be deceiving: Miles within its cracked, frigid shell, Europa probably hides giant pools of liquid water. Where scientists find liquid water, they hope to find life as well. Since we can't go diving into Europa's depths just yet, scientists instead have to investigate the moon's surface for clues to what lies beneath. In a new study, scientists investigated one group of strange ice patterns on Europa and concluded that the formations mark the top of an underground pool that holds as much water as the U. S. Great Lakes. Pictures of Europa, which is slightly smaller than Earth's moon, clearly show a tangled, icy mishmash of lines and cracks known as "chaos terrains. " These chaotic places cover more than half of Europa. For more than 10 years, scientists have wondered what causes the formations. The new study suggests that they arise from the mixing of vast underground stores of liquid water with icy material near the surface. For scientists who suspect that Europa also may be hiding life beneath its icy surface, the news about the new lake is exciting. "It would be great if these lakes harbored life," Britney Schmidt, a planetary scientist who worked on the study, told Science News. "But even if they didn't, they say that Europa is doing something interesting and active right now. " Schmidt, a scientist at the University of Texas at Austin, and her colleagues wanted to know how chaos terrains form. Since they couldn't rocket to Europa to see for themselves, they searched for similar formations here on Earth. They studied collapsed ice shelves in Antarctica and icy caps on volcanoes in Iceland. Those features on Earth formed when liquid water mixed with ice. The scientists now suspect something similar might be happening on Europa: that as water and ice of different temperatures mingle and shift, the surface fractures. This would explain the jumbled ice sculptures. "Fracturing catastrophically disrupts the ice in the same way that it causes ice shelves to collapse on Earth," Schmidt told Science News. She and her team found that the process could be causing chaos terrains to form quickly on Europa. The new study suggests that on this moon, elements such as oxygen from the surface blend with the deep bodies of water. That mixture may create an environment that supports life.(2012年)
单选题 The liquid water of an underground pool of Europa is estimated equivalent with that of the US Great lakes.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析：题干：欧罗巴地下水池的液态水估计与美国五大湖区液态水量相当。由关键词liquid water定位到第二段“…an underground pool that holds as much water as the U．S．Great Lakes”，故选A。
单选题 The strange ice patterns on Europa are formed as a result of a giant underground water pool.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析：题干：欧罗巴奇特的冰面模式是地下水池形成的结果。根据关键词ice patterns定位到第三段内容可知，该题干的因果关系与原文内容正好相反。故选B。
单选题 Europa is the most recently discovered one among Jupiter's moons.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析：题干：欧罗巴是新近发现的木星卫星之一。根据关键词Jupiter定位到原文第一段“Europa，one of Jupiter’s 63 known moons，looks bright and icy on the surface．”原文并没有讲到欧罗巴是何时发现的，故答案为C。
单选题 The size of Europa is a bit larger than that of Earth's moon.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析：题干；欧罗巴的体积比地球卫星的体积要大一点儿。根据关键词Earth’S moon定位到第三段首句“Pictures of Europa，which is slightly smaller than Earth’S moon，clearly show a tangled，icy mishmash of lines and cracks known as‘chaos terrains．”’可知欧罗巴的体积比地球卫星的体积略小。故答案为B。
单选题 Schmidt and her colleagues are the first group of scientists discovering Europa.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析：题干：Sehmidt和她的同事是发现欧罗巴的首批科学家。根据关键词Schmidt and her colleagues定位到第六段首句“Sehmidt，a scientist at the University of Texas at Austin，and her colleagues wanted to know how chaos terrains form．”文中并未提及Schmidt和她的同事是否首批发现欧罗巴的科学家，故答案为C。
单选题 The formations on Europa's surface are rather unique.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析：题干：欧罗巴的表面构成是独一无二的。根据关键词the formations定位到文章第六段“Since they couldn’t rocket to Europa to see for themselves，they searched for similar formations here on Earth．”由此可知Schmidt因为无法飞去欧罗巴，只能在地球上研究相似的构成。可见，其formation并不是独一无二的，故答案为B。
单选题 The existence of liquid water is a necessity for a life-support.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析：题干：液态水的存在是支撑生命的必需品。根据关键词life—support定位到文章最后一段“The new study suggests that on this moon，elements such as oxy—gen from the surface blend with the deep bodies of water．That mixture may create an an—vironment that supports life．”可知，氧气和水可以支持生命。故选A。