首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station made headlines in April when the doctor for that remote science facility was taken serious
The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station made headlines in April when the doctor for that remote science facility was taken serious
admin
2014-06-20
40
问题
The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station made headlines in April when the doctor for that remote science facility was taken seriously ill in the middle of the dark, frigid Antarctic winter. Thankfully, Canadian pilots successfully evacuated the stricken physician—but he was not all that was ailing at the bottom of the world. The station itself has been deteriorating for years, prompting the National Science Foundation to begin this past year a $153 million modernization, which should be completed by early 2006.
【R1】______
But construction at this remote site is no small task. All materials have to be carried in by air from McMurdo Station on the coast using special ski-equipped transport planes. And workers have to contend with temperatures that average around -32 degrees Celsius over the summer months.
【R2】______
The South Pole also provides astrophysicists with a remarkable laboratory to study high-energy neutrinos: AMANDA(Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array)uses deeply buried sensors at the South Pole to register the rare interactions between these particles and the ice itself.
Such rationale for a base at the South Pole do not, however, hold up very well under scrutiny. AMANDA could, for example, be installed at any Antarctic site where the glacial ice is thick and free of dust.
【R3】______
Indeed, these problems make the South Pole appropriate for only a limited number of astronomical observations, primarily those in the sub-millimeter to millimeter regime. Shorter wavelengths(infrared and optical)can be better studied in places like Mauna Kea in Hawaii, which lacks a troublesome inversion layer. And longer wavelengths(centimeter and longer-wave radio frequencies)are so little bothered by atmospheric absorption that siting the receiving antennas at the ends of the earth is not necessary. 【R4】______
So some astronomers are quite keen to set up their instruments in Antarctica to take advantage of the thin, cold air. Still, the South Pole is probably not the best place to conduct these operations from a purely scientific perspective, because higher elevations on the Antarctic Plateau offer even thinner and colder air.
【R5】______
Peter Timbie, a physicist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who plans to study the microwave background radiation from Antarctica, says that although Dome C might be a slightly better place to deploy his instrument, he plans to use South Pole Station because he is reluctant to ask the NSF for money to do astronomy at a French-Italian base: " My guess is that they would not be real excited about that. " Timbie notes that there is really very little difference between the two sites for his research, but he points out that the turbulent inversion layer may be absent at Concordia, making it superior to the Pole for optical and infrared astronomy.
A. One such place is Dome C(located in the Australian sector, at roughly 73 degrees South latitude), where French and Italian scientists are now setting up a permanent base, called Concordia Station.
B. The logistical difficulties and great expense prompt one to ask: Why maintain a permanent science base at the South Pole at all ? One answer is that certain kinds of research can be done in no other spot. In particular, the South Pole is said to offer an ideal setting for astronomers, because the air is exceptionally cold, thin and dry, making this locale the next best place for sitting a telescope.
C. European and Australian astronomers are indeed quite interested in the opportunities that Dome C affords. Still, U. S. participation will probably not amount to much, because, as Bally notes, "the U. S. has put all its eggs in the South Pole. " This strategy is hard to defend on the basis of doing the best astronomy, the discipline most often cited in official statements about the scientific importance of Amundsen-Scott Station.
D. The submillimeter to millimeter-scale observations are, however, critical to the study of the cosmic microwave background radiation, and they are useful, too, for examining molecular clouds in stellar nurseries.
E. Also, the air at the South Pole is, in fact, not so perfect for astronomy, because it is colder at the surface than a few hundred meters above. John Bally, an astronomer now at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who was responsible for site testing at the South Pole, points out that this temperature inversion combined with the stiff winds there give rise to a turbulent layer of air that blurs optical and infrared images. Bally also notes that there is a perpetual ice fog at the South Pole in winter and that the base is situated on the auroral circle, the locus where charged particles in the upper atmosphere light up the sky most intensely: " You would not go about picking astronomical sites the way this was done. "
F. Built in the 1970s to replace an even older South Pole base(which is now buried under nine meters of snow), the Amundsen-Scott Station consists of a large geodesic dome and several smaller outbuildings. The dome is half-buried in drifts and suffers from an unstable foundation that threatens its integrity. Many other parts of the infrastructure—from fuel distribution to waste disposal—are also in dire need of refurbishment.
【R5】
选项
答案
C
解析
这一段要根据对下一段的理解。下一段提到彼得将把南极作为自己的研究基地,因此上一段还是围绕南极作为研究基地展开。故选C。
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/UPKsFFFM
本试题收录于:
公共英语五级笔试题库公共英语(PETS)分类
0
公共英语五级笔试
公共英语(PETS)
相关试题推荐
Howmanylanguagesareusedthroughouttheworldtoday?
Whatisyourresponsibilitywhenyou,asaschoolprincipal,gettheteacher’sreport?
Whatisyourresponsibilitywhenyou,asaschoolprincipal,gettheteacher’sreport?
______caresmostaboutpoliticsandsocialproblems.______wasfirstplayedmostlyfordancingthenforlistening?
TherecentsocialandeconomicchangesintheU.S.havegreatimpactonalltheAmericanhousingsystem.
Biologicalrhythmsmakeusadifferentpersonat9AMfromweareat3PM.Here’saguidetowhenyouworkbetter,feelbetter,
Thereisadifferencebetweenscienceandtechnology.Scienceisamethodofansweringtheoretical(31);technologyisamethod
Thereisadifferencebetweenscienceandtechnology.Scienceisamethodofansweringtheoretical(31);technologyisamethod
______heywerethrownintotheairbecauseoftheviolentshakingandtheywereunabletoknowwhattodo?______themosturgen
Thefitnessmovementthatbeganinthelate1960sandearly1970scentered(31)aerobicexercise.Millionsofindividualsbecame
随机试题
深基坑工程的有支护结构挖土方案主要有()。
[*]
A.益火补土法B.金水相生法C.抑木扶土法D.培土制水法E.泻火补水法肾阴不足,心火偏亢,以致心肾不交,其治疗宜采用
脉搏与病情不符的是
某患者,因工作问题服毒自杀,入院时已昏迷,给予洗胃时最合适的体位应该是
主要从项目发起人和项目本身着手的项目分析属于()。
事业部制结构的不足在于()。
我国中小学实行的六三三学制首次规定是在()年颁布的()中。()
刘某因生活琐事与邻居邓某争吵,邓某不堪刘某辱骂,击打刘某面部,致刘某鼻骨等部位受伤。刘某向人民法院提起自诉,要求追究邓某的刑事责任。在该案审理过程中,邓某对刘某以侮辱、诽谤罪提起反诉。下列哪些说法是正确的?()
Forthispart,youareallowed30minutestowriteanessay.Supposeyouhavetwooptionsuponeating:oneistoeatathomeand
最新回复
(
0
)