Question

【題目】 Astronomers have taken the first ever image of a black hole, which is located in a distant galaxy (星系). It measures 40 billion km across – three million times the size of the Earth – and has been described by scientists as “a monster”.

The black hole is 500 million trillion km away and was photographed by a network of eight telescopes across the world. Details have been published today in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Prof Heino Falcke, who proposed the experiment, told BBC News that the black hole was found in a galaxy called M87. “What we see is larger than the size of our entire Solar System,” he said. “It has a mass 6.5 billion times that of the Sun. It is an absolute monster, the heavyweight champion of black holes in the Universe.” The image shows an intensely bright “ring of fire”, as Prof Falcke describes it, surrounding a perfectly circular dark hole. Some scientists assumed that the bright ring is caused by superheated gas falling into the hole. The light is brighter than all the billions of other stars in the galaxy combined – which is why it can be seen at such distance from Earth. The edge of the dark circle at the centre is the point at which the gas enters the black hole, which is an object that has such a large gravitational pull (引力) that even light can’t escape.

The image matches what theoretical physicists and indeed, Hollywood directors, imagined black holes would look like, according to Dr Ziri Younsi, of University College London. “Although they are relatively simple objects, black holes raise some of the most complex questions about the nature of space and time, and finally of our existence,” he said. “It is surprising that the image we observe is so similar to that which we obtain from our theoretical calculations (計算). So far, it looks like Einstein is correct once again.” But having the first image will enable researchers to learn more about these mysterious objects. They will be keen to look out for ways in which the black hole leaves from what’s expected in physics. No one really knows how the bright ring around the hole is created. Even more interesting is the question of what happens when an object falls into a black hole.

【1】What made the scientists call the black hole a “monster”?

A. The hole’s larger size.B. Its distance from the earth.

C. The gravitational pull.D. The bright ring of the hole.

【2】Why can the black hole be seen from the Earth?

A. The superheated gas falling into the hole makes it brighter.

B. An intensely bright “ring of fire” surrounds the black hole.

C. The gravitational pull of the hole is so large that no light escapes.

D. The light of the other stars combined can’t match that of the hole.

【3】About the image of the black hole, which of the following is CORRECT?

A. Eight telescopes in the USA cooperated to take the image.

B. It will help researchers to learn more about black holes.

C. It is different from what Hollywood directors imagined.

D. It enables scientists to know the nature of our existence.

【4】What might be the best title for the passage?

A. The Heaviest Black HoleB. First Black Hole Image Released

C. A Surprising MonsterD. Einstein is Correct Once Again

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】D

【3】B

【4】B

【解析】

這是一篇說明文。天文學(xué)家首次拍攝到位于遙遠(yuǎn)星系中的黑洞的圖像，它因為其尺寸比太陽系還要大被科學(xué)家們稱為“怪物”。過熱的氣體落入黑洞而形成了一到光環(huán)，因此使得這個黑洞比銀河系中所有其他數(shù)十億顆恒星加起來還要亮，這就是為什么在離地球這么遠(yuǎn)的地方也能看到它。有了第一張圖像，研究人員就能對這些神秘的物體有更多的了解。

【1】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第一段 It measures 40 billion km across – three million times the size of the Earth – and has been described by scientists as “a monster”.和第三段第二句“What we see is larger than the size of our entire Solar System,” he said. “It has a mass 6.5 billion times that of the Sun.可知科學(xué)家所看到的黑洞比整個太陽系的大小還要大，它的質(zhì)量是太陽的65億倍�！奔纯茖W(xué)家們稱其為“怪物”是因為黑洞的尺寸比太陽系還大，故選A。

【2】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段倒數(shù)第二句The light is brighter than all the billions of other stars in the galaxy combined – which is why it can be seen at such distance from Earth.可知黑洞發(fā)出的這束光比銀河系中所有其他數(shù)十億顆恒星加起來還要亮，這就是為什么在離地球這么遠(yuǎn)的地方也能看到它。即我們能從地球上看到黑洞的原因是其他恒星的光加起來不能與黑洞的光相匹配。故選D。

【3】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。最后一段中But having the first image will enable researchers to learn more about these mysterious objects.可知有了第一張圖像，研究人員就能對這些神秘的物體有更多的了解。B選項正確，故選B。

【4】主旨大意題。根據(jù)第一段第一句Astronomers have taken the first ever image of a black hole, which is located in a distant galaxy.以及文章主要內(nèi)容都是圍繞著天文學(xué)家首次拍攝到位于遙遠(yuǎn)星系中的黑洞的這張圖像展開的，故選B。