2015职称英语理工类阅读理解复习必备精选练习题(5)

　　How the First Stars in the Universe Came into Existence

　　Researchers believe that our universe began with the Big Bang1 about 13 billion years ago, and that soon after that event, matter began to form as small dust grains and gases. How the first stars formed from this dust and gas has been a burning question2 for years, but a state-of-the-art3 computer simulation now offers the most detailed picture yet of how these first stars in the universe came into existence.

　　The result is a detailed description of the formation of a protostar4 the early stage of a massive primordial star of our universe -and the researchers computer simulation sets the bar5 for further investigation into the star formation process. The question of how the first stars evolved is so important because their formations and eventually explosions provided the seeds for subsequent stars to come into being.

　　This general picture of star formation, and the ability to compare how stellar objects form in different time periods and regions of the universe, will eventually allow investigation into the origins of life and planets, said Lars Hernquist, a Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University. The abundance of elements in the universe has increased as stars have accumulated, he says,and the formation and destruction of stars continues to spread these elements further across the universe. So when you think about it, all of the elements in our bodies originally formed from nuclear reactions in the centers of stars, long ago.

　　词汇：

　　protostar n.原恒星 stellar adj.恒星的;星球的 primordial adj. 原始的

　　the Big Bang：宇宙大爆炸，创始大爆炸。这是天体物理学关于宇宙起源的理论。根据 大爆炸理论，大约在 130 亿年前，宇宙所有的物质都高度密集在一点，有着极高的温度 ， 因而发生了巨大的爆炸。大爆炸以后，物质开始向外大膨胀，就形成了我们今天看到的 宇宙。但是，宇宙大爆炸仅仅是一种学说，是根据天文观测研究之后得到的一种设想。

　　state-oe-the-art：形容词，意思是最新的、达到最高技术水平的、代表当前科 技发展水平。

　　 sets the bar：制定标准

　　What can the state-of-the-art computer simulation tell us about?

　　B How the Big Bang marked the beginning of our universe.

　　D How dust grains and gases form after the Big Bang.

　　A The early universe. B Cosmic dark ages.

　　What does the word minute mean in the expression minute density variations?

　　C Exceptionally large. D Exceptionally small.

　　A It had a mass of one percent of the sun.

　　C It began to combine heavy elements after it evolved into a massive star.

　　 All except one of the following indicate the goals of the simulation project. Which one is it?

　　B To apply the simulation to the study of nuclear reaction initiation.

　　D To obtain a detailed picture of the early universe before the Big Bang.

　　 A 第一段最后一句告诉我们说，最先进的计算机模拟能详细描述 how these first stars in the universe came into existence。该段第一和第二句告诉我们，大爆炸 后，粉尘和气体开始聚集成物质，这些物质形成了宇宙中的星球。其他三选项都是错误 的理解。

　　D minute 在这里是形容词，意思是极其细微的，读作：。

　　D A 是最后一段第一句句子的表述内容，B 和 C 是文章最后一句的表述内容。D 是对文 章的错误理解。