1.AEuropeanspacecrafttookofftodaytospearheadthesearchforanother"Earth"amongthestars.

2.TheCorotspacetelescopeblastedoffaboardaRussianSoyuzrocketfromtheBaikonurcosmodromeinKazakhstanshortlyafter2.20pm.

3.Corot,shortforconvectionrotationandplanetarytransits,isthefirstinstrumentcapableoffindingsmallrockyplanetsbeyondthesolarsystem.Anysuchplanetsituatedintherightorbitstandsagoodchanceofhavingliquidwateronitssurface,andquitepossiblylife,althoughaleadingscientistinvolvedintheprojectsaiditwasunlikelytofind"anylittlegreenmen".

4.DevelopedbytheFrenchspaceagency,CNES,andpartneredbytheEuropeanSpaceAgency(ESA),Austria,Belgium,Germany,BrazilandSpain,Corotwillmonitoraround120,000starswithits27cmtelescopefromapolarorbit514milesabovetheEarth.Overtwoandahalfyears,itwillfocusonfivetosixdifferentareasofthesky,measuringthebrightnessofabout10,000starsevery512seconds.

5."Atthepresentmomentwearehopingtofindoutmoreaboutthenatureofplanetsaroundstarswhicharepotentialhabitats.Wearelookingathabitableplanets,notinhabitedplanets.Wearenotgoingtofindanylittlegreenmen,"ProfessorIanRoxburgh,anESAscientistwhohasbeeninvolvedwithCorotsinceitsinception,toldtheBBCRadio4Todayprogramme.

6.ProfRoxburghsaiditwashopedCorotwouldfind"rockyplanetsthatcoulddevelopanatmosphereand,iftheyaretherightdistancefromtheirparentstar,theycouldhavewater".

7.Tosearchforplanets,thetelescopewilllookforthedimmingofstarlightcausedwhenanobjectpassesinfrontofastar,knownasa"transit".Althoughitwilltakemoresophisticatedspacetelescopesplannedinthenext10yearstoconfirmthepresenceofanEarth-likeplanetwithoxygenandliquidwater,Corotwillletscientistsknowwheretopointtheirlenses.

8.MeasurementsofminutechangesinbrightnesswillenablescientiststodetectgiantJupiter-likegasplanetsaswellassmallrockyones.Itistherockyplanets-thatcouldbenobiggerthanabouttwicethesizeoftheEarth-whichwillcausethemostexcitement.Scientistsexpecttofindbetween10and40ofthesesmallerplanets.

9.Corotwillalsoprobeintostellarinteriorsbystudyingtheacousticwavesthatrippleacrossthesurfaceofstars,atechniquecalled"asteroseismology".

10.Thenatureoftheripplesallowsastronomerstocalculateastar’sprecisemass,ageandchemicalcomposition.

11."Aplanetpassinginfrontofastarcanbedetectedbythefallinlightfromthatstar.Smalloscillationsofthestaralsoproducechangesinthelightemitted,whichrevealwhatthestarismadeofandhowtheyarestructuredinternally.Thisdatawillprovideamajorboosttoourunderstandingofhowstarsformandevolve,"ProfRoxburghsaid.

12.Sincethediscoveryin1995ofthefirst"exoplanet"-aplanetorbitingastarotherthantheSun-morethan200othershavebeenfoundbyground-basedobservatories.

13.Untilnowtheusualmethodoffindingexoplanetshasbeentodetectthe"wobble"theirgravityimpartsonparentstars.ButonlygiantgaseousplanetsbiggerthanJupitercanbefoundthisway,andtheyareunlikelytoharbourlife.

14.Inthe2010s,ESAplanstolaunchDarwin,afleetoffourorfiveinterlinkedspacetelescopesthatwillnotonlyspotsmallrockyplanets,butanalysetheiratmospheresforsignsofbiologicalactivity.

15.Ataroundthesametime,theUSspaceagency,Nasa,willlaunchTerrestrialPlanetFinder,anotherspacetelescopedesignedtolocateEarth-likeplanets.

ChoosetheappropriateletterfromA-Dforquestion1.

1.Corotisaninstrumentwhich

(A)canhelptosearchforcertainplanets

(B)isusedtofindplanetsintheorbit

(C)canlocateplanetswithhumanbeings

(D)canspotanyplanetswithwater.

Dothefollowingstatementsagreewiththeinformationgiveninthereadingpassage?Forquestions2-5write

TRUEifthestatementagreeswiththeinformation

FALSEifthestatementcontraictstheinformation

NOTGIVENifthereisnoinformationonthisinthepassage

2.Scientistsaretryingtofindoutabouttheplanetsthatcanbeinhabited.

3.BBCRadio4recentlyfocusesonthebroadcastingofCorot.

4.Passingobjectsmightcauseafallinlight.

5.CorotcantellwhetherthereisanotherEarth-likeplanet.

Basedonyourreadingofthepassage,completethesentencesbelowwithwordstakenfromthepassage.UseNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSforeachanswer.

Withmeasurements,scientistswillbeabletosearchforsomegaseousandrockyplanets.Theywillbeextremelyexcitediftheycandiscoversomesmall6.__________,theexpectednumberofwhichcouldbeupto7.__________.

Corotwillenablescientiststostudythe8.__________ofstars.Inthisway,astar’smass,ageandchemicalcompositioncanbecalculated.

AccordingtoProfRoxburgh,changesinlightcanbecausedbypassingplanetsorstar9.__________.Therelatedstatisticscangainusabetter10.__________ofthestarformationandevolvement.

Observatorieshavefoundmanyexoplanets,whichare11.__________otherstarsthantheSun.Thecommonwayusedinfindingexoplanetscanonlydetecthugegasplanets,whichdonot12.___________.

WiththelaunchingofDarwin,astronomerswillbeabletoanalysewhetherthoserockyplanetshave13.__________forlife.

Intheearlieststagesofman'sdevelopmenthehadnomoreneedofmoneythananimalshave.Hewascontentwithverysimpleformsofshelter,madehisownroughtoolsandweaponsandcouldprovidefoodandclothingforhimselfandhisfamilyfromnaturalmaterialsaroundhim.Ashebecamemorecivilized,however,hebegantowantbettershelter,moreefficienttoolsandweapons,andmorecomfortableandmorelastingclothingthancouldbeprovidedbyhisownneighborhoodorbytheworkofhisownunskilledhands.Forthesethingshehadtoturntotheskilledpeoplesuchassmiths,leatherworkersorcarpenters.Itwasthenthatthequestionofpaymentarose.

Atfirsthegotwhathewantedbyasimpleprocessofexchange.Thesmithwhohadnotthetimetolookafterlandorcattlewasgladtotakemeatorgrainfromthefarmerinexchangeforanaxeoraplough.Butasmoreandmoregoodswhichhadnofixedexchangevaluecameonthemarket,exchangebecametoocomplicatedtobesatisfactory.Anotherproblemarosewhenthosewhomadethingswantedtogetstocksofwoodorleather,oriron,buthadnothingtoofferinexchangeuntiltheirfinishedgoodswereready.Thusthedifficultiesofexchangeledbydegreestotheinventionofmoney.Insomecountrieseasilyhandledthingslikeseedsorshellsweregivenacertainvalueandthefarmer,insteadofpayingthesmithforanewaxebygivinghimsomemeatorgrain,gavehimsomanyshells.Ifthesmithhadanyshellsleftwhenhehadboughthisfood,hecouldgetstocksoftherawmaterialsofhistrade.Insomecountriesquitelargethingssuchascowsorcamelsorevenbigflatstoneswereusedfortrade.Later,piecesofmetal,bearingvaluesaccordingtotherarityofthemetalandthesizeofthepieces,orcoinswereused.Moneyasweknowithadarrived.

1.Exchangeofgoodsbecamedifficultbecause_________.

Amanbecamemorecivilized

Bsmithsbegantolookafterlandorcattleintheirsparetime

Cmoreandmoregoodswhichhadnofixedexchangealuescametothemarker

Dfarmershadn'tenoughgrainormeattoprovidefor

skilledworkers

2.Moneywasnotuseduntil_______.

Apaperwasinvented

Bpeoplepracticedasimpleprocessofexchange

CnothingcouldbeofferedinexchangeDtheexchangeofonethingforanotherbecametoocomplicated

3.Thebesttitleforthispassageis_____.

AWhatismoney

BWhataremoney'sfunctions.

CTheimportanceofmoney

DThebeginningofmoney

Tobeginwith,"muzak"(音乐广播网)wasintendedsimplytocreateasoothing(安慰)atmosphere.Recently,however,it'secomebigbusiness—thanksinparttorecentresearch.Dr.RonaldMilliman,anAmericanmarketingexpert,hasshownthatmusiccanboostsalesorincreasefactoryroductionbyasmuchasathird.But,ithastobelightmusic.Afastonehasnoeffectatallonsales.Slowmusiccanincreasereceiptsby38%.Thisisprobablybecauseshoppersslowdownandhavemoreopportunitytospotitemstheyliketobuy.Yet,slowmusicisn'talwaysanswer.Dr.Millimanfound,forexample,thatinrestaurantsslowmusicmeantcustomerstooklongertoeattheirmeals,whichreducedoverallsales.Sorestaurantsownersmightbewelladvisedtoplayup-tempomusictokeepthecustomersmoving—unlessofcourse,theresultingindigestionleadstocomplaints!

练习：

1.Thereasonwhybackgroundmusicissopopularisthat______.

A.itcanhaveapowerfuleffectonthosewhohearit

B.itcanhelptocreateasoothingatmosphere

C.itcanboostsalesorincreasefactoryproductionerywhere

D.itcanmakecustomerseattheirmealsquickly

2.Backgroundmusicmeans________.

A.lightmusicthatcustomersenjoymostB.fastmusicthatmakespeoplemovefast

C.slowmusicthatcanmakecustomersenjoytheirmeals

D.themusicyouarelisteningtowhileyouaredoingomething

3.Restaurantownerscomplainaboutbackgroundmusicbecause______.

A.itresultsinindigestion

B.itincreasestheirsales

C.itkeepscustomersmoving

D.itdecreasestheirsales

4.Theword"up-tempomusic"probablymeans_____.

A.slowmusic

B.fastmusic

C.lightmusic

D.classicalmusic

Dadwenttobuysome__________as__________formycousin.

-----Wouldyoumindmyusingyourpen?

-----_______________.