ThursdayJune102004-AlittleblackspotcrawledacrossthebottomofthesunTuesdaytothedelightofstargazers(天文学家)aroundtheworld.ThespotwasVenusthesecond-closestplanettothesunandEarth'snearestneighb

Question

Thursday June 10 2004-A little black spot crawled across the bottom of the sun Tuesday to the delight of stargazers(天文学家)around the world.

The spot was Venus the second-closest planet to the sun and Earth's nearest neighbor. Venus hadn't passed between Earth and the sun in more than a hundred years.

From Egypt to Australia space fans wore special sunglasses to protect their eyes and prevent blindness while watching the six-hour event. In Preston England schoolchildren went wild when Venus appeared.

"They were literally jumping off the floor with excitement " said Gordon Bromage an astrophysicist or a scientist who studies objects in space at Britain's University of Central Lancashire. "They were yelling 'I've seen it. I've seen it!'"

In Cairo Egypt a group of students visited the ancient pyramids to view the planetary(行星的) passage.

"The pyramids are the perfect place to watch something so rare " said 15-year-old Wissam Adel Kamal.

The spectacular sight was only partially(部分地)visible in North and South America. Unlucky astronomy fans in Japan and Thailand couldn't see it at all because of the lousy (糟糕的) weather.

"We could barely see the sun on and off through breaks in the clouds " said Maki Yanagisawa who tried to watch in Hokkaido Japan.

Venus passes so rarely before the sun because Venus and Earth orbit the sun at slightly different angles. For Venus to be visible on the face of the sun it must pass exactly between Earth and the sun.

Still if you missed the show you may have another chance. Venus will travel back across the sun again in 2012. After that it won't make the trip for another more than a hundred years.

1. It can be inferred that ________ .

A. Venus was a little black spot

B. Venus show takes place every a hundred years

C. The distance is longer from Venus to the sun than that from Earth to the sun

D. The distance is shorter from Venus to the sun than that from Earth to the sun

2. What must take place so that Venus can be seen in the face of the sun?

A. Venus must pass exactly between Earth and the sun.

B. The sky must be very clear.

C. Special sunglasses must be used.

D. Earth must travel in front of Venus.

3. If you miss the Venus show this time you'll have to wait ________ to watch the next show.

A. 8 years B. more than 100 years

C. 15 years D. 2012 years

4. It was reported that ________ .

A. this Venus show could be seen at any time on Tuesday June 8

B. this Venus show could be seen at any place on the earth

C. only school children showed interest in this Venus show

D. some people were not lucky enough to see the sight

Answer 1

1. D。 第二段第一句即本题答案出处。2. A。倒数第二段即本题答案出处。3. A 4. D