E

　　　Astronomers recently found another ring around the planet Saturn (土星) — and it’s the biggest one yet. This newly discovered ring stretches about 15 million miles across, which makes a loop big enough to fit a billion Earths inside. It may be even bigger and reach 22 million miles across at its diameter (直径). Saturn’s new ring is now the biggest known ring in the solar system. 

　　　This ring, like Saturn’s other rings, is not one solid piece of rock. Instead, it is made up of millions or billions of tiny rocks that orbit (绕轨道飞行) the planet all together and give the appearance of a unified (统一的) ring. Unlike the more visible rings, however, this big one is mysterious — the pieces are far apart, and the ring cannot be seen from the surface of the Earth. If all the pieces were stuck together, they’d be slightly bigger than a rock a half-mile wide.

　　　Astronomers suspect that the newly discovered ring gets its material from Saturn’s outermost (最远离中心的) moon, Phoebe. For example, the dust in the ring circles Saturn in the same path and the same direction as Phoebe. Plus, the surface of Phoebe is marked with holes and places where rock has been knocked away, the result of collisions between Phoebe and other moons and rocks. These collisions could have sent dust out into space to become part of the big ring.

　　　The discovery of the ring could help explain other mysteries surrounding Saturn and its dozens of moons. The moon called Iapetus, for example, is two-toned: one side is gray; the other more reddish. Iapetus is within the newly discovered ring, but it orbits in the opposite direction. As a result, some researchers say, debris (残骸) from the ring may have coated and colored one side of Iapetus as it moved through space, and left the other side alone.

　　　“The cause of Iapetus’ strange color distribution … has been a puzzle that now seems solved,” said Joseph Burns, a scientist. But not everyone agrees. Some think the ring alone may not be able to explain Iapetus’ funny coloring.

72. Which of the following is NOT true about the newly found ring?

  A. It is the biggest ring around Saturn.          B. It can contain a billion Earths.

  C. Its diameter is about 22 million miles.     D. It can be seen from the Earth.

73. The rocks of the newly discovered ring may be from __________.

  A. Saturn    B. Phoebe     C. Earth       D. Iapetus

74. The main reason why one side of Iapetus is gray may be that _________.

  A. Saturn’s moons move in the same direction

  B. there are many moons circling around Saturn

  C. debris from the biggest ring covers one side of Iapetus

  D. Iapetus strikes against other moons while moving

75. The purpose of the passage is to __________.

  A. compare the moons of Saturn

  B. analyze why Saturn has so many rings

  C. describe a newly discovered ring of Saturn

  D. explain Iapetus’ funny coloring

福州一中2013-2014学年高考模拟英语试卷  

第二卷 （非选择题  满分35分）

注意事项：用0.5毫米黑色签字笔在答题卡上作答。在试卷上作答，答案无效。

第四部分  写作 （共两节， 满分35分）

第一节 短文填词（共10题小题，每小题1分，满分10分）

　　　阅读下面短文，根据以下要求：1）汉语提示, 2）首字母提示, 3）语境提示, 在每个空格内填入一个适当的英语单词，并将该词完整地写在右边相对应的横线上，所填单词要求意义准确，拼写正确。

　　Visitors to Britain often wonder why the British are the only people who still drive on the left side of the road. Actually, the British are not a  76    . Over two billion people in over 70 countries drive on the left. 

　　　Some experts believe that in the Middle Ages most people in Europe    77      (骑) their horses on the left because it was safer. Staying on the left made    78       easier to use their swords if robbers attacked them from the o   79           direction.

　　　So when did many people in Europe decide to change sides? One of the    80      (解释) is that during the 1800s Napoleon forced countries to change to the right. The countries he did not    81       over continue to drive on the left. That’s why half of Europe drove on the right, w   82     the other half drove on the left. 

　　　Europe remained    83      (同样) divided until the 20th century,      84       most countries changed to the right. The last country to change sides was Sweden in 1967. Britain, Ireland, New Zealand and other over 70 countries c    85       to drive on the left today. 

第二节：书面表达（满分25分）

最近你们学校正在开展“建设绿色校园”活动，请你以“Creating a Green Campus”为题为校报写一篇文章，号召同学们积极参与到活动中来。文章应包括以下要点：　　1. 建设绿色校园的重要性

　　　2. 绿色校园的定义

　　　3. 建设绿色校园所应采取的措施

注意：

1.短文开头已给出，不计入总词数；

2.考生可适当发挥，使文章内容充实、连贯；

3.词数120左右；

4.文中不能出现考生的具体信息

Recently, our school has called on us to join in the “Create a Green Campus” activity, ______
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