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
2021-03-28
69
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.
【R4】
选项
答案
D
解析
此题通过上下文词语的共现关系来确定。上一段中出现了“sub-millimeter”和“millimeter”,而D项第一句就含有“sub-millimeter”和“millimeter”与上一段的关键词对应,故选D。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/DZWd777K
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
Whydidthemangotoseehisdoctor?
LincolnUniversity,beginningasaschoolofagriculture,istheoldestinstitutioninthecommonwealth.
AndrenaGravidaisthenameofawildbeedecliningintheUnitedKingdomandtheNetherlands.A(31)ofmonthsagotherecentd
Large,multinationalcorporationsmaybethecompanieswhoseupsanddownsseizeheadlines.Buttoafargreaterextentthanmos
______hotweathermaycauseserioushealthproblemsassociatedwithairpollution?______hotweatherWillhaveitseffectsonc
Inrecentyears,therehasbeenasteadyassaultonsaltfromthedoctors:Saltisbadforyou—regardlessofyourhealth.Politi
Notlongago,amysteriousChristmascarddroppedthroughourmailslot.TheenvelopewasaddressedtoamannamedRaoul,who,I
Millionsofman-hoursarelosttoindustrythroughemployeessufferingbackacheorstraincausedbyoperatingpoorlydesignedma
Therearetwobasicwaystoseegrowth:oneasaproduct,theotherasaprocess.Peoplehavegenerallyviewedpersonalgrowtha
Therearetwobasicwaystoseegrowth:oneasaproduct,theotherasaprocess.Peoplehavegenerallyviewedpersonalgrowtha
随机试题
美国管理学家彼得.德鲁克认为,管理者的第一个责任是()
低铜饮食适用于()。
关于因果关系,下列哪些选项是错误的?(2008—卷二—52,多)
项目决策分析与评价一般分为三个阶段,下面不属于其阶段内容的是()。
采购部应立足于生产要求编制预算,而生产预算应当基于销售预期,说明预算的目的是()。
下列各项中,按照有关规定可以免征个人所得税的有()。
音乐教育搭载移动互联网技术。正在实现音乐培训线上与线下资源的整合。互联网为音乐教育提供了新形式,在通过线上服务提供音乐教育的交流平台,整合垂直领域学习资源等方面________。然而,目前真正能够满足音乐学习者所需的音乐教育平台却________。填入画横
盲人的听觉、触觉非常灵敏,说明人的身心发展具有()。
未来政府财政预算改革的基本取向是建立公共财政,预算资金安排要体现公共性、政策性的客观要求。由手节能具有鲜明的公益性特征,属于社会共同需要的范畴,因此,公共预算设立节能项目与公共预算的改革方向是吻合的。在我国财政经济实力不断增强的背景下,加之必要的预算结构调
大学刚毕业那会儿,我被分配到一个偏远的林区小镇当教师,工资低得可怜。其实我有着不少优势呢,教学基本功不错,还擅长写作。于是,我一边抱怨命运不公,一边羡慕那些拥有一份体面的工作、一份优厚薪水的同窗。这样一来,不仅对工作没了热情,而且连写作也没兴趣。我整天琢磨
最新回复
(
0
)