The Great Red Spot

      One distinctive feature of the planet Jupiter is the Great Red Spot, a massive oval of swirling reddish-brown clouds. Were Earth to be juxtaposed with the Great Red Spot, our planet would be dwarfed in comparison, with a diameter less than half that of the Great Red Spot. The Spot’s clouds, most likely tinted red as a result of the phosphorus that they contain, circulate in a counterclockwise direction. The outer winds require six Earth days to complete the circumference of the Great Red Spot, a length of time indicative of vastness of the Great Red Spot.

1. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A. The density of the Great Red spot is much higher than that the Earth.

B. If the diameter of the Great Red Spot were doubled, it would equal that of the Earth.

C. By placing the Earth next to the Great Red Spot, one could see the Earth has a much smaller diameter.

D. Because the Earth is close to the Great Red Spot, Earth is influenced by its huge size.

答案： C

2.Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

  A. The Earth’s outer winds move a distance equal to the circumference of the Great Red Spot.

  B. The outer winds of the Great Red Spot move more quickly than do those on Earth.

  C. The Winds moving across the Great Red Spot finally change direction every six Earth days.

  D. The fact that the winds take so long to move around the Great Red Spot proves how big it is.

答案： D

Passage One (Question 1-2)

Camouflage

  Camouflage is one of the most effective ways for animals to avoid attack in the treeless Arctic. However, the summer and winter landscapes there are so diverse that a single protective coloring scheme would, of course, prove ineffective in one season or the other. Thus, many of the inhabitants of the Arctic tundra change their camouflage twice a year. The arctic fox is a clear-cut example of this phenomenon; it sports a brownish-gray coat in the summer which then turns white as cold weather sets in, and the process reverses itself in the springtime. Its brownish-gray coat blends in with the barren tundra landscape in the months without snow, and the white coat naturally blends in with the landscape of the frozen wintertime tundra.

1. Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the first highlighted sentence in the passage?

Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A.       Opposite conditions in summer and in winter necessitate different protective coloration for Arctic animals.

B.       The coloration of the summer and winter landscapes in the Arctic fails to protect the Arctic tundra.

C.       In a single season, protective coloring scheme are ineffective in the treeless Arctic.

D.      For many animals, a single protective coloring scheme effectively protects them during summer and winter months.

答案： A

2. Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the second highlighted sentence in the passage?

Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A.       The arctic fox is unusual in that he color of its coat changes for no reason.

B.       The arctic fox lives in an environment that is brownish gray in the summer and white in the winter.

C.       It is a phenomenon that the coat of the arctic fox turns white I the springtime and gray in the fall.

D.      The arctic fox demonstrates that protective coloration can change during different seasons.

答案： D