来自：查字典高考网 2014-12-25
Question 1-9
The ocean bottom - a region nearly 2.5 times greater than the total land area of the Earth - is a vast frontier that even today is largely unexplored and uncharted. Until about a century ago， the deep - ocean floor was completely inaccessible，hidden beneath waters averaging over 3，6000 meters deep. Totally without light and subjected to intense pressures hundreds of times greater than at the Earth s surface， the deep - ocean bottom is a hostile environment to humans， in some ways as forbidding and remote as the void of outer space.
Although researchers have taken samples of deep - ocean rocks and sediments for over a century， the first detailed global investigation of the ocean bottom did not actually start until 1968， with the beginning of the National Science Foundation s Deep Sea Drilling Project （DSDP）。 Using techniques first developed for the offshore oil and gas industry， the DSDP s drill ship， the Glomar Challenger， was able to maintain a steady position on the ocean s surface and drill in very deep waters，extracting samples of sediments and rock from the ocean floor.
The Glomar Challenger completed 96 voyages in a 15 - year research program that ended in November 1983. During this time， the vessel logged 600，000 kilometers and took almost 20，000 core samples of seabed sediments and rocks at 624 drilling sites around the world. The Glomar Challenger s core samples have allowed geologists to reconstruct what the planet looked like hundreds of millions of years ago and to calculate what it will probably look like millions of years in the future. Today， largely on the strength of evidence gathered during the Glomar Challenger s voyages， nearly all earth scientists agree on the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift that explain many of the geological processes that shape the Earth.
The cores of sediment drilled by the Glomar Challenger have also yielded information critical to understanding the world s past climates. Deep - ocean sediments provide a climatic record stretching back hundreds of millions of years，because they are largely isolated from the mechanical erosion and the intense chemical and biological activity that rapidly destroy much land - based evidence of past climates. This record has already provided insights into the patterns and causes of past climatic change - information that may be used to predict future climates.
1. The author refers to the ocean bottom as a frontier in line 2 because it
（A） is not a popular area for scientific research
（B） contains a wide variety of life forms
（C） attracts courageous explorers
（D） is an unknown territory
2. The word inaccessible in line 4 is closest in meaning to
（A） unrecognizable
（B） unreachable
（C） unusable
（D） unsafe
3. The author mentions outer space in line 9 because
（A） the Earth s climate millions of years ago was similar to conditions in outer space
（B） it is similar to the ocean floor in being alien to the human environment
（C） rock formations in outer space are similar to those found on the ocean floor
（D） techniques used by scientists to explore outer space were similar to those used in ocean exploration
4. Which of the following is true of the Glomar Challenger？
（A） It is a type of submarine.
（B） It is an ongoing project.
（C） It has gone on over 100 voyages.
（D） It made its first DSDP voyage in 1968.
【1995年8月托福考试阅读理解全真考题（上）】相关文章：
[标签：海外留学,考试,托福,,]
你高考成绩高吗？这道题目怎能成立？高难度奥数，能不能把你难住
高考前必听的5首励志歌曲，《Dream it possible》最能鼓舞人心！
探秘历史 第二季 第211集 此人高考数学考了0分，因作文写3句话被重点大学录取
乾坤已定，组合解读2019高考数学全国3卷理科18题，你是黑马吗？
高考阅卷名师给考生的高考作文密训课 第5集 高考作文审题实操方法精讲（三）
2019全国高考志愿填报攻略 第50集 天津市高考历史三年本科录取排名
创艺第二届：2019届高考录取表彰大会暨“核桃音乐节”合影——你只管努力，剩下的交给创艺
加油吧考生：2019高考咨询大直播 第43集 科学填报志愿 规划精彩人生
