Question

    Humanity has begun wrestling with the dangers of global threats such as climate change.But few authorities are planning for catastrophic solar storms -huge eruptions of mass and energy from the sun that destroy Earth’s magnetic field. In a recent paper,two Harvard University scientists estimate the potential economic damage from such an event will increase in the future and could equal the current U.S.GDP-about＄20 trillion-150years from now.

This kind of storm has happened before.The so-called Carrington Event in 1859,the most intense magnetic storm ever recorded on Earth,caused auroras(极光）in the atmosphere and even delivered electric shocks to telegraph operators.But a Carrington-scale storm today would cause far more harm because society now depends so heavily on electrical power grids,communications satellites and GPS.

In an effort to quantify that threat,astrophysicists Abraham Loeb and Manasvi Lingam of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics developed a mathematical model that assumes society's vulnerability(脆弱性）to solar storms will grow with technological advances.Under this model,during the next 50 years the potential for economic damage will depend primarily on the rising odds of a strong solar storm over time.Beyond 50 years our vulnerability will increase dramatically with technological progress until the latter levels off.

Some scientists question the model’s predictions. “Estimating the economic impact is challenging now, let alone in over a century,” says Edward Oughton, a research associate at the University of Cambridge's Center for Risk Studies.Yet he warns that uncertainty should not stop us from practical preparations, such as making power grids stronger and improving early-warning systems.

Loeb and Lingam think up a much wider strategy:$100-billion magnetic deflector shield(导流板）, positioned between Earth and the sun. This idea seems “pretty preposterous, ”however, given that solar particles arrive at Earth from all directions,says Daniel Baker,director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder.

A better understanding of"space weather"-the changing condition in Earth's outer space environment, including solar radiation and particles-could help find the best strategies for confronting a dangerous solar storm,says Stacey Worman,a senior analyst at consulting firm Abt Associates."This is a challenging but important question,"Worman says,"that we need more eyes on."

1.According to Edward Oughton,which of the following about solar storms is right?

A.They will become much stronger in 150 years.

B.Technology makes their potential damage grow.

C.Space weather forecast can effectively help deal with them.

D.It's difficult to predict their possible economic damage.

2.The underlined word “preposterous” in Paragraph 5 means

A.innovative B.practical

C.unreasonable D.inflexible

3.The author writes the passage mainly to_

A.remind people to guard against solar storms

B.report the damage of solar storms

C.introduce the characteristics of solar storms

D.analyze the possible cause of solar storms

Answer

1.D

2.C

3.A

【解析】

这是一篇说明文，作者主要介绍了人类已经开始与气候变化等全球威胁进行斗争，灾难性的太阳风暴的定义以及带来的经济危害和太阳风暴的形成原因并提醒人们提前做好准备。

1.细节理解题。根据Edward Oughton定位到第四段中 Some scientists question the model’s predictions. “Estimating the economic impact is challenging now, let alone in over a century,”以及Yet he warns that uncertainty should not stop us from practical preparations, such as making power grids stronger and improving early-warning systems.可知 “一些科学家质疑该模型的预测。 “现在估计经济影响是一项挑战，更不用说一个多世纪之后了，” 但他警告说，不确定性不应该阻止我们进行实际的准备工作，比如加强电网建设和改进预警系统。”因此D选项，很难预测它们可能造成的经济损失。为正确选项。A选项，150年后，他们将变得更加强大。B选项，科技使得它们潜在的危害增加。C选项，太空天气预报可以有效地帮助处理这些问题。都是对文章的误解，没有涉及，故选D。

2.词义猜测题。根据后句的转折 however, given that solar particles arrive at Earth from all directions, says Daniel Baker, director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder. 不过，科罗拉多大学博尔德分校大气与空间物理实验室主任丹尼尔·贝克说，考虑到太阳粒子从各个方向到达地球，所以猜测，这个想法似乎“相当不合理”。A. innovative创新的; B. practical实际的；实践的；C. unreasonable不合理的；D. inflexible不灵活的。Preposterous荒谬的，反理性的。根据句意，故选C。

3.推理判断题。询问文章的写作目的。根据第一段But few authorities are planning for catastrophic solar storms -huge eruptions of mass and energy from the sun that destroy Earth’s magnetic field.(但很少有权威机构计划应对灾难性的太阳风暴——来自太阳的巨大质量和能量爆发，破坏地球磁场。)以及最后一段中A better understanding of “space weather”-the changing condition in Earth's outer space environment, including solar radiation and particles-could help find the best strategies for confronting a dangerous solar storm(更好地理解“太空天气”——地球外层空间环境的变化状况，包括太阳辐射和粒子——有助于找到应对危险的太阳风暴的最佳策略)。可知推断，该文章的目的是提醒人们应对太阳风暴的危害。选项A正确，故选A。