A distant, oversize world causes cosmic confusion

The discovery of planets around distant stars has become like space-shuttle launches--newsworthy but just barely. With some 50 extrasolar planets under their belt, astronomers have to announce something really strange to get anyone's attention.

Last week they did just that. Standing in front of colleagues and reporters at the American Astronomical Society's semiannual meeting in San Diego, the world's premier planet-hunting team--astronomer Geoffrey Marcy of the University of California, Berkeley, and his colleagues--presented not one but two remarkable finds. The first is a pair of planets, each about the mass of Jupiter, that whirl around their home star 15 light-years from Earth in perfect lockstep. One takes 30 days to complete an orbit, the other exactly twice as long. Nobody has ever seen such a configuration. But the second discovery is far stranger--a solar system 123 light-years away, in the constellation Serpens, that harbors one "ordinary" planet and another so huge--17 times as massive as Jupiter--that nobody can quite figure out what it can be. It is, says Marcy, "a bit frightening."

What's frightening is that these discoveries make it clear how little astronomers know about planets, and they add to the dawning realization that our solar system--and by implication Planet Earth--may be a cosmic oddball. For years theorists figured that other stars would have planets more or less like the ones going around the sun. But starting with the 1995 discovery of the first extrasolar planet--a gassy monster like Jupiter but orbiting seven times as close to its star as Mercury orbits around our sun--each new find has seemed stranger than the last. Searchers have found more "hot Jupiters" like that first discovery. These include huge planets that career around their stars not in circular orbits but in elongated ones; their gravity would send any Earthlike neighbors flying off into space. Says Princeton astronomer Scott Tremaine: "Not a single prediction for what we'd find in other systems has turned out to be correct."

Last week's giant was the most unexpected discovery yet. Conventional theory suggests that it must have formed like a star, from a collapsing cloud of interstellar gas. Its smaller companion, only seven times Jupiter's mass, is almost certainly a planet, formed by the buildup of gas and dust left over from a star's formation. Yet the fact that these two orbs are so close together suggests to some theorists that they must have formed together--so maybe the bigger one is a planet after all.

Or maybe astronomers will have to rethink their definition of "planet." Just because we put heavenly objects into categories doesn't mean the distinctions are necessarily valid. And as Tremaine puts it, "When your classification schemes start breaking down, you know you're learning something exciting. This is wonderful stuff."

By Michael D. Lemonick Time; 01/22/2001, Vol. 157 Issue 3, p51, 2/3p, 1 diagram

注（1）：本文選自Time; 01/22/2001, p51；

注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對象：第1題模仿1998年text5第1題；第2題模仿text4第2題；第3題模仿1993年text2第1題；第4題模仿1999年text1第3題；第5題模仿1997年text4第4題；

1. The author believes that ____________.

[A] the discovery of planets is as important as the launch of space shuttles

[B] astronomers have been making a lot of discoveries of planets

[C] the public have no interest in astronomical discoveries

[D] there is little for astronomers to discover now

2.The two finds are remarkable in that ___________.

[A] the planets are far from our solar system

[B] the sizes of the plants are too huge.

[C] astronomers have never seen similar orbiting pattern and size before

[D] scientists can not figure out what they can be

3. By saying that our solar system “may be a cosmic oddball”, the author intends to render

the idea that ______________.

[A] other stars have planets more or less like the one going around the sun

[B] the orbits of extrasolar planets around their stars are elongated ones

[C] the way planets orbiting around the sun in our solar system is quite unique

[D] planets in other systems are generally huger than the ones in ours

4. The case of the giant heavenly body demonstrates that _________.

[A] conventional theory can not explain such astronomical phenomenon satisfactorily

[B] it is either a star or a planet

[C] it was formed like a star and orbits like a planet

[D] theorists give a wrong definition of “planet”

5. The best title for this passage could be ___________.

[A] New Planetary Puzzlers

[B] Two Remarkable Finds

[C] A Redefinition of “Planet”

[D] “Hot Jupiters” Challenging Conventional Theory

答案：B C C A A

篇章剖析：

本篇文章講述了安第斯山區(qū)的最新考古發(fā)現(xiàn)以及這一發(fā)現(xiàn)的重大意義。第一段想象了當(dāng)年印加人參加活人祭祀前后的場景，引出話題；第二段簡要介紹考古學(xué)家萊茵哈德及他這次發(fā)現(xiàn)的三具印加兒童遺體。第三段、第四段描述了同時(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)的陪葬品，最后一段則說明這次發(fā)現(xiàn)對于考古學(xué)家的重要意義。文章層次分明，結(jié)構(gòu)清晰。

詞匯注釋：

semiannual: [5semi5AnjuEl] adj. 半年一次的

premier: [5premjE] adj. 第一的, 首要的

Jupiter: [5dVu:pitE] n. 木星

lockstep: [`lCkstep] n. 前后緊接, 步伐一致

configuration: [kEn7fi^ju5reiFEn] n. 【天】（行星等的）相對位置， 方位

constellation: [kCnstE5leiFEn] n. [天]星群, 星座

Serpens: [5sE:penz] n. [天]巨蛇座

oddball:[ 5RdbC:l] n. 古怪的人；古怪的事物

Mercury: [5mE:kjuri] n.〈天〉水星

elongate: [5i:lCN^eit] v. 拉長, (使)伸長, 延長

interstellar: [5intE(:)5stelE] adj. 星際的

orb: [C:b] n. 球, 天體, 圓形物

難句突破：

What’s frightening is that these discoveries make it clear how little astronomers know about planets, and they add to the dawning realization that our solar system --- and by implication Planet Earth --- may be a cosmic oddball.

主體句式：what’s frightening is that …

結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句是個(gè)復(fù)雜句，包含主語從句（what’s frightening），表語從句（is 后面的部分），賓語從句（how little引導(dǎo)的部分），同位語從句（realization后面that引導(dǎo)的部分），插入語等，另外一些成語詞組的出現(xiàn)也增加了句子的難度，比如dawning realization（漸漸認(rèn)識到），by implication（含蓄地, 用寓意）等。閱讀本句的時(shí)候應(yīng)該先看各個(gè)分句在句中的成分以及相互之間的關(guān)系，然后再看各部分具體的意義。

句子譯文：真正令人震驚的是，這些發(fā)現(xiàn)說明天文學(xué)家對于行星的了解十分有限，并且讓人們清醒地認(rèn)識到我們的太陽---不言而喻，還有地球這顆行星---也許是宇宙中的異數(shù)。

題目分析：

1. 答案是B，屬事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。文章中提到“with some 50 extrasolar planets under their belt” 來說明為什么天文發(fā)現(xiàn)已經(jīng)很多，難以吸引公眾，所以應(yīng)該選B。

2. 答案是C，屬事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。文中第二段指出第一個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)里的兩顆行星的運(yùn)行軌道排列方式前所未見，第二個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)里面有一顆是木星體積17倍的巨大星體。其它各項(xiàng)在原因方面都羅列的過于簡單，只有C把這兩點(diǎn)都包括了，所以是正確答案。

3. 答案是C，屬推理判斷題。文中第三段舉了幾個(gè)例子說明1995年之后天文發(fā)現(xiàn)的太陽系外行星圍繞母星運(yùn)行的方式跟太陽系行星的運(yùn)行方式大不相同，由此解釋我們的太陽系是一個(gè)宇宙中的異數(shù)。

4. 答案是A，屬推理判斷題。文中介紹了傳統(tǒng)理論解釋該天文發(fā)現(xiàn)時(shí)所面臨的困境。它看似像恒星，但運(yùn)行軌道又接近行星，因此難以確定它究竟是什么。顯然，傳統(tǒng)理論無法令人滿意地解釋這種天體。

5. 答案是A，屬推理判斷題。文章重點(diǎn)寫這次天文發(fā)現(xiàn)的奇異之處，以及它們帶給天文學(xué)家的困惑。文章最后一段說maybe astronomers will have to rethink their definition of "planet."，所以答案A最為合適。

參考譯文：

對圍繞著遙遠(yuǎn)的恒星運(yùn)行的行星的發(fā)現(xiàn)就好像發(fā)射航天飛機(jī)一樣---有新聞價(jià)值但僅此而已?，F(xiàn)在天文學(xué)家已經(jīng)在太陽系之外發(fā)現(xiàn)了50多顆行星，他們只有發(fā)現(xiàn)一些真正奇怪的東西才能吸引人們的注意力。

上周的發(fā)現(xiàn)就屬于此類。在圣迭戈舉行的美國天文學(xué)會(huì)半年一度的會(huì)議上，來自加州大學(xué)伯克利分校的世界頂級行星搜尋小組天文學(xué)家杰弗里·馬西和他的同事們向同行和新聞?dòng)浾哒故玖藘身?xiàng)驚人的發(fā)現(xiàn)。第一項(xiàng)是一對行星，每個(gè)大小和木星相仿，它們一前一后繞著距離地球15光年的一顆恒星運(yùn)行。其中一顆三十天沿軌道運(yùn)行一周，而另一顆所需時(shí)間恰好是它的運(yùn)行周期的兩倍。這種相對位置以前從未有人見過。但第二項(xiàng)發(fā)現(xiàn)更令人稱奇---在巨蛇座內(nèi)距離地球123光年的地方有一個(gè)太陽系，它擁有一顆“普通”行星和一顆體積足有木星的17倍那么大的行星---這么巨大的體積叫人不知道它會(huì)是什么。馬西說它“有點(diǎn)驚人?！?

真正令人震驚的是，這些發(fā)現(xiàn)說明天文學(xué)家對于行星的了解十分有限，并且讓人們開始認(rèn)識到我們的太陽---不言而喻，還有地球這顆行星---也許是宇宙中的異數(shù)。很多年來理論學(xué)家們都一直認(rèn)為其它恒星的行星和圍繞太陽運(yùn)行的行星多少有些相似。但1995年發(fā)現(xiàn)了第一顆太陽系之外的行星---一顆像木星一樣的巨大氣態(tài)星球，它圍繞自己的母星運(yùn)行的距離比水星繞著太陽運(yùn)行時(shí)的距離還近7倍。從這一發(fā)現(xiàn)開始，每一個(gè)新發(fā)現(xiàn)似乎都比上一次發(fā)現(xiàn)更令人驚奇。搜尋者們已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)了更多第一次發(fā)現(xiàn)中的那種“熱木星”。這些發(fā)現(xiàn)中有一些巨大的行星，它們圍繞母星運(yùn)行的軌道不是圓形的，而是延長的；它們的重力會(huì)讓周圍像地球這樣的星體逃逸到太空中去。普林斯頓的天文學(xué)家斯科特·特里梅因說：“我們對于會(huì)在其它星系里的發(fā)現(xiàn)所作的預(yù)測沒有一次是準(zhǔn)確的?！?

上周發(fā)現(xiàn)的這顆巨星是目前為止最出人意料的發(fā)現(xiàn)。傳統(tǒng)的理論認(rèn)為它一定像一顆恒星那樣是由一團(tuán)星際氣體形成的壓縮星云組成的。它那體積較小的伴侶只有木星體積的7倍，幾乎可以確定是一顆行星，是由恒星形成時(shí)留下的氣體和灰塵累積形成的。不過這兩個(gè)天體如此接近，一些理論家認(rèn)為它們一定是一起形成的---那樣的話，較大的那一顆也是一顆行星。

也許天文學(xué)家們必須重新思考他們對于“行星”的定義。我們把天體進(jìn)行分類并不意味著我們的這種區(qū)分必然有效。正如特里梅因所說：“當(dāng)你的分類模式開始不起作用的時(shí)候，你就知道你正在了解某些令人激動(dòng)的事情。這是很有趣的?！?/FONT>

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