Question

Edmund Halley was an English scientist who lived over 200 years ago. He studied the observations of comets (彗星) which other scientists had made. The orbit of one particular comet was a very difficult mathematical problem. He could not figure it out. Neither could other scientists who dealt with such problems. However, Halley had a friend named Newton, who was a brilliant (有才华的) mathematician. Newton thought he had already worked out that problem, but he could not find the papers on which he had done it. He told Halley that the orbit of a comet had the shape of an ellipse (椭圆) .

Now Halley set to work. He figured out the orbits of some of the comets that had been observed by scientists. He made a surprising discovery. The comets that had appeared in the years 1531, 1607, and 1682 all had the same orbit. Yet their appearances had been 75 to 76 years apart (相隔).

This seemed very strange to Halley. The different comets followed the same orbit. The more Halley thought about it, the more he thought that there had not been three different comets, as people thought. He decided that they had simply seen the same comet three times. The comet had gone away and had come back again.

It was an astonishing idea! Halley felt certain enough to make a prediction of what would happen in the future. He decided that this comet would appear in the year 1758. There were 53 years to go before Halley’s prediction could be tested.

In 1758 the comet appeared in the sky. Halley did not see it, for he had died some years before. Ever since then that comet has been called Halley’s comet, in his honor.

1.Edmund Halley figured out the orbit of ______.

A. some different comets appearing several times

B. three different comets appearing three times

C. the same comet appearing at different times

D. several comets appearing at the same time

2. Halley made his discovery______.

A. by doing experiments

B. by means of his own careful observation

C. by using the work of other scientists

D. by chance

3.Halley made a surprising, but correct prediction in the year ______.

A. 1707      B. 1706       C. 1705      D. 1704

4.This passage in general is about ______.

A. Halley and other scientists

B. The orbit of a comet

C. Newton and Halley

D. Halley and his discovery

5.According to the passage, which of the flowing is NOT true ?

A. Halley figured out the orbit of the comet first.

B. Newton figured out the orbit of the comet.

C. Newton gave Halley some help.

D. Halley died before 1758.

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.B

4.D

5.A

【解析】

试题分析：本文讲述哈雷及他的发现；

1.C考查推理判断题。根据文章的第四段“He decided that they had simply seen the same comet three times.”及上文提到的看彗星的时间分别是1531年、1607年、1682年可判断正确答案为选项B

2.B 考查细节理解题。根据文章第一段“He studied the observations of comets which other scientists had made.”可知，哈雷的发现是在研究其他科学家们的观察中得出来的，故选B项。

3.B考查推理判断题文中的“He decided that this would appear in the year 1758. There were 53 years to go before Halley’s prediction could be tested.”这句话告诉我们：他预言彗星出现的时间是1758年，而这个预言还要经过53年才能验证，由此可以推断出哈雷做出这个预言的时间是1705年，故选B项。

4.D考查文章的主旨大意纵观全文，不难看出，文章的中心就是哈雷以及他的发现，故选D项。

5.A考查推理判断题。根据第一段提到He studied the observations of comets (彗星) which other scientists had made.他研究其它科学家所发现的彗星，故可知他不是第一个发现彗星的人，故A错误。

考点：人物类阅读。