Question

Edmund Halley was an English scientist who lived over 200 years ago. He studied the observations of comets (彗星) which other scientists had made. The orbit（轨道）of one particular comet was a very difficult mathematical problem. He could not figure it out. Neither could other scientists who dealt with such problems.

However, Halley had a friend named Isaac Newton, who was a brilliant mathematician. Newton thought he had already worked out that problem, but he could not find the papers on which he had done it. He told Halley that the orbit of a comet had the shape of an ellipse(椭圆形).

Now Halley set to work. He figured out(解决，计算出)the orbits of some of the comets that had been observed by scientists. He made a surprising discovery. The comets that had appeared in the years 1531, 1607, and 1682 all had the same orbit. Yet their appearance had been 75 to 76 years apart.

This seemed very strange to Halley. Three different comets followed the same orbit. The more Halley thought about it, the more he thought that there had not been three different comets as people thought. He decided that they had simply seen the same comet three times. The comet had gone away and had come back again.

It was an astonishing idea! Halley felt certain to make a prediction(预言)of what would happen in the future. He decided that this would appear in the year 1758. There were 53 years to go before Halley’s prediction could be tested. In 1758 the comet appeared in the sky. Halley did not see it, for he had died some years before. Ever since then that comet had been called Halley’s comet, in his honor.

1.Edmund Halley figured out the orbit of ____.

A. some different comets appearing several times

B. the same comet appearing at different times

C. three different comets appearing at the same time

D. several comets appearing at the same time

2.Halley made his discovery ____.

A. by doing experiments

B. by means of his own careful observation

C. by using the working of other scientists

D. by chance

3.Halley made a surprising, but correct prediction in the year____.

A. 1704      B. 1705     C. 1706     D. 1707

4.This passage in general is about ____.

A. Halley and other scientists  B. the orbit of a comet

C. Newton and Halley            D. Halley and his discovery

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.B

4.D

【解析】

试题分析：文章介绍了哈雷和他的发现哈雷彗星，以及发现验证哈雷彗星的过程。

1.B推理判断题。根据文章的第四段“He decided that they had simply seen the same comet three times”及上文提到的看彗星的时间分别是1531年、1607年、1682年可判断正确答案为B。

2.C细节理解题。根据第一段第二句 “He studied the observations of comets which other scientists had made.” 可知哈雷的发现是在研究其他科学家们的观察中得出来的。故选C.

3.B推理计算题。文中第五段的“He decided that this would appear in the year 1758.There were 53 years to go before Halley's prediction could be tested”这句话告诉我们：他预言彗星出现的时间是1758年，而这个预言还要经过53年才能验证，由此可以推断出哈雷做出这个预言的时间是1705年。故选B.

4.哈雷彗星，故选D.

考点：考查人物故事类短文阅读。