A lot of animals are afraid during an eclipse1 of the sun. Birds stop singing. Sometimes people too are afraid. Astronomers2 know the dates of eclipses and they are not afraid. The old astronomers of Babylon and Egypt had no telescopes3; but the sky in those countries is usually clear，and so they could watch the stars easily. They studied everything in the sky and they also noticed both total and partial eclipses.
Because they knew the dates of eclipses，they had great power. People believed that the sky was important. They believed that an eclipse could kill a man.
About 2500 years ago there was a very long war. One battle followed another， and the end never came. During one of the battles， there was a partial eclipse of the sun. The day got very dark，and the soldiers on both sides were filled with fear. They believed that the gods were angry. So they stopped fighting，and ended their long war.
The sun is a star. It appears to be bigger than any other star. That is because it is near us; but the other stars are far away. The sun shines because it is very hot，but the moon shines because it reflects the sun's light. It is like a big mirror. If we visited the moon，we should see the earth. It is also like a mirror and it reflects the light of the sun.
Does the sun ever get dark during the day? It does so when the moon hides it. Sometimes the moon goes in front of the sun. We can watch its edge when it slowly crosses the sun's disc5. Everything gets darker and darker; then，at last，we cannot see any part of the sun's disc. The moon is hiding it completely. That is a total eclipse of the sun; sometimes only part of the sun's disc is hidden; that is not a total eclipse. It is a partial eclipse of the sun.
Questions 1 to 5 are based on the passage above.
1.The passage is mainly about____.
A.the old astronomers
B.eclipse of the sun
C.the eclipses in Babylon and Egypt
D.the correlation between the sun and the earth
2.We can conclude from the passage that_____.
A.all people are afraid of eclipse of the sun
B.the old astronomers could watch the stars easily with telescopes
C.the old astronomers had mo interest in the sky
D.the date of eclipse could be forecast
3.The war mentioned in the third paragraph ended because_____.
A.the astronomers used their great power to stop it
B.an eclipse killed the soldiers on both sides
C.the war took so long time that the soldiers felt tired
D.a partial eclipse of the sun happened during one of the battles
4.Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A.The sun is very hot because it shines.
B.The moon can shine because it is a star.
C.Other stars appear to be smaller than the sun because they are far away.
D.The earth cannot reflect the light of the sun because it isn't a real mirror.
5.It can be concluded that an eclipse of the sun happens because_____.
A.the moon passes between the sun and the earth
B.the sun gets dark during the day
C.the earth's shadow falls on the moon
D.no light from the sun can reach the moon
文章精要
說明文。本文首先介紹了日食對動物和人類的影響，然后解釋了日食發生的原因。
斟詞酌句
eclipse n./vt. (日、月)食;(地位、聲譽登的)消失，黯然失色
*Our happiness was eclipsed by the terrible news. 我們的快樂被可怕的消息蒙上了一層陰影。
試題解析
1.選B。本題為主旨歸納題。本文主要介紹了日食對動物和人類的影響以及日食發生的原因，都和日食有關。所以選B。
2.選D。本題為推斷題。原文第一段說“Astronomers know the dates of eclipses……”，由此可知，日食發生的日期可以推測出。
3.選D。本題為主要細節題。從第三段可知，日偏食發生后，雙方士兵以為天神發怒了，“So they stopped fighting,and ended their long war.”，所以D選項是戰爭結束的原因。
4.選C。本題為文章細節正誤題。第四段說“It appears to be bigger than any other star.That is because it is near us;but the other stars are far away.”，由此可知他星球看上去比太陽小是因為它們離我們很遙遠。
5.選A。本題為主要細節正誤題。聰最后一段可知，當月亮在地球和太陽之間，遮擋住太陽時，太陽就變黑了，這稱為日食，所以A選項為正確答案。B選項為干擾項，它只是日食的現象，而不是原因。
全文翻譯
不少動物在遇到日食時會感到恐懼。比如鳥兒會停止鳴唱。有時人也會感到恐慌。天文學家能預知日食和月食的日期，所以他們沒有恐懼心理。古巴比倫和古埃及的天文學家沒有天文望遠鏡，但這些國家的天空通常晴朗，所以他們能很容易地觀測星體。他們研究星空中的一切現象，他們也觀察到了日全食和月全食以及日偏食和月偏食。
由于這些天文學家能預知日食和月食的日期，他們便有著相當大的權力。當時人們相信天空是重要的，他們還相信一次日食或月食能奪去一個人的生命。
大約2500年以前，有一場曠日持久的戰爭。戰役接連不斷，尾聲遙遙無期。一場戰役中發生了日偏食。天暗下來，雙方士兵都充滿了恐懼，他們深信天神發怒了。結果他們停止戰斗，結束了漫長的戰爭。
太陽是一顆恒星，它看上去比其他星球要大，這是因為它離我們比較近，而其他星球則很遙遠。太陽會發光，這是因為它自身很熱。而月亮發光卻是因為它反射了太陽光。月亮就像一面大鏡子。如果我們能去游覽月球，我們就可以在那里看到地球。地球也像一面大鏡子一樣反射太陽光。
太陽白天也會變黑嗎?答案是當月亮遮擋了它時就會變黑。有時，月亮運轉到太陽的前面。當月亮慢慢地越過日輪時我們還能看到它的邊緣。萬物變得越來越黑，最終，日輪的所有部分從我們的視線消失。月亮把它完全遮擋住了。這就是日全食。有時候，只有部分日輪被遮擋住，那就不是日全食，而是日偏食。
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