問題詳情：
Many of us think, wrongly, that the moon doesn't change. For example, the Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Ruoxu once wrote that “Generations have come and passed away; From year to year the moons look alike, old and new.”
However, a new study published in the journal NatureGeoscience shows that the moon is in fact slowly shrinking over time. For the study, a group of US scientists examined and analyzed thousands of photographs taken by the NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (月球勘測軌道飛行器照相機). They found that there were lots of faults (斷層) on the surface of the moon. These faults were formed by recent movement on the moon.
According to NASA, the moon is made up of pieces of rocks with a hot core. The moon continued to expand as it was born. But in this process, it released energy and cooled down. Then it began to shrink, in a way comparable to the shrinking of a grape into a raisin. Over the past several hundred million years, it has become 46 meters “skinnier”. But due to its hard and rocky layer, the moon's surface continues to push up. “Some of these quakes can be fairly strong, around five on the Richter scale (里氏震級)，” said Thomas Watters, a senior scientist at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in the US.
But does that mean the moon is a dangerous place that human shouldn't try to explore and live on in the future? Maybe not, reported TheTelegraph.“This isn't anything to worry about. The moon may be shrinking, but not by much. It's not going anywhere，” Watters comforted us.
The new discovery proves that the idea that the moon is a dead, boring place is wrong. “We have been to the moon and we've done some great science, but there is still a lot we don't know. The moon is shrinking—we didn't really realize that until recently. It's a much more active and interesting place than we thought and we should explore that，” NASA scientist Nathan Williams said.
篇章導讀：本文是一篇說明文。一項最新的科學研究表明，月球正在隨着時間慢慢地縮小。此外，這項研究還表明月球還有許多我們不瞭解的東西，它是一個比我們認爲的更活躍、更有意思的地方，我們應該探索它。
9．Which point of view about the moon may the writer agree to?
A．It stays the same as before.
B．It is becoming slightly smaller.
C．It is getting older and older.
D．It has passed away.
10．What can we learn about the moon from the third paragraph?
A．It has become 46 meters fatter due to expanding.
B．It has changed from a grape into a raisin in recent years.
C．It quakes even at seven on the Richter scale.
D．It has a hot core and releases energy during expanding.
11．Who thinks that we needn't worry about the moon?
A．Zhang Ruoxu. B．Thomas Watters.
C．Nathan Williams. D．The journalist.
12．What does Nathan Williams think of the moon?
A．It is a dead and boring place.
B．It has lots of faults on the surface.
C．It is valuable to do more science.
D．It isn't a place where we can live.
【回答】
9.B 細節理解題。根據第二段第一句“However, a new study ... shows that the moon is in fact slowly shrinking over time.”可知，一項新的發表在《自然·地球科學》上的研究表明，月球正在隨着時間慢慢地縮小，據此可知B項正確。
10.D 細節理解題。根據第三段前三句中的“the moon is made up of pieces of rocks with a hot core” “The moon continued to expand as it was born. But in this process, it released energy”可知，月球由帶有一個熱核的岩石塊組成，自它形成時月球就在持續膨脹，在這個過程中它會釋放能量，故D項正確。
11.B 細節理解題。根據第四段中Thomas Watters說的話“This isn't anything to worry about ... It's not going anywhere”可知，Thomas Watters認爲我們不必擔心月球，儘管月球在縮小，但它並沒有縮小很多，故B項正確。
12.C 推理判斷題。根據尾段中Nathan Williams說的話“We have been to the moon and we've done some great science ... we should explore that”可知，Nathan Williams認爲月球有許多我們不瞭解的東西，值得我們去探索。據此可推知，他認爲研究月球是有價值的，故C項正確。
知識點：新聞報道類閱讀
題型：閱讀理解
