Giant meteorite strike may have helped life thrive on Earth（阅读任务单）高一时文阅读说明文挑战

高一时文阅读说明文挑战 Giant meteorite strike may have helped life thrive on Earth 陨石大撞击或有助于地球生命繁荣 走进语篇 话题 体裁 题型 字数 建议阅读时间 难度 陨石大撞击或有助于地球生命繁荣 说明文 选择题 366 8分钟 挑战 The S2 meteorite, which is four times the size of Mount Everest, crashed into our planet around 3.26 billion years ago and such impacts are usually considered disastrous for life. But experts suggest the conditions caused by the impact of the space rock, which had a diameter of 37-58km, might have caused certain life forms to bloom. “We think of impact events as being disastrous for life,” said Nadja Drabon, an early-Earth geologist and assistant professor in the department of Earth and planetary sciences at the University of Harvard in the US. “But what this study is highlighting is that these impacts would have had benefits to life, especially early on ... these impacts might have actually allowed life to flourish.” S2 is estimated to have been up to 200 times larger than the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs. Analysis, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, suggests it triggered a tsunami that mixed up the ocean and flushed debris from the land into coastal areas. The top layer of the ocean boiled off due to the heat from the impact, which also heated the atmosphere, experts said, while a thick cloud of dust blanketed everything. But bacterial life rebounded quickly, according to the research, bringing sharp spikes in the populations of single-celled organisms that feed off phosphorus and iron. Iron was likely stirred up from the deep ocean into shallow waters by the tsunami, while phosphorous was brought to the planet by the meteorite itself and from an increase of erosion on land, the scientists suggest. Iron-metabolising bacteria would have flourished in the immediate aftermath of the impact, Prof Drabon's findings indicate. Experts suggest such a shift towards iron-favouring bacteria could provide a snapshot of early life on Earth. Evidence of the impact of S2 can be found in South Africa's Barberton Greenstone belt today. “Picture yourself standing off the coast of Cape Cod, in a shelf of shallow water,” Dr Drabon said. “It's a low-energy environment, without strong currents. Then all of a sudden, you have a giant tsunami, sweeping by and ripping up the sea floor.” -from news.sky.com 有删减 牛刀小试 ( ) 1. The word “bloom” in Paragraph 1 shows that certain life forms would ______. A. be rebuilt B. become numerous C. barely stay alive D. get back to normal ( ) 2. Which of the following is NOT a result caused by the S2 meteorite impact according to Paragraph 3? A. A tsunami mixed up the ocean and flushed debris from the land into coastal areas. B. The top layer of the ocean boiled off and the impact also heated the atmosphere. C. A thick cloud of dust blanketed everything and all bacterial life died out forever. D. The populations of single-celled organisms grew sharply after the impact. ( ) 3. Why did the S2 meteorite impact bring benefits to early life on Earth? A. S2 meteorite killed the dinosaurs and made space for primitive life forms. B. S2 meteorite created new types of bacterial life living in the ocean. C. S2 meteorite supplied abundant iron and phosphorus for single-celled organisms. D. S2 meteorite carried iron to oceans that made iron-favouring bacteria flourish. ( ) 4. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage? A. S2 meteorite caused the extinction of the dinosaurs on Earth. B. The S2 impact is not merely destructive to life as most people believe. C. High heat after the impact completely wiped out all marine bacteria forever. D. Phosphorus that fed ancient single-celled organisms only came from the S2 meteorite. 词汇聚焦 1. diameter ['daɪ'æmɪtə] n. 直径；对径 2. flush [flʌʃ] v. （用水）冲洗净, 冲洗; 冲走；脸红; 冲洗（马桶） 3. debris ['debri:] n. 碎片; 残骸 n. 闪光 adj.突发的; 豪华的; 爱显摆的 4. rebound [rɪ'baʊnd] v. 弹回, 反弹; 回升, 反弹 n.情绪波动； 5. spike [spaɪk] v. 激增；n. 金属订状物，尖状物；激增 6. phosphorus ['fɒsf(ə)rəs] n. 磷〔一种化学元素，符号为P〕 7. erosion [ɪ'rəʊʒn] n. 〔风、雨或海水的〕侵蚀，腐蚀; 逐步毁坏，削弱 8. metabolize [ mi'tæbəlaiz] v. 新陈代谢 9. aftermath ['ɑːftəmæθ] n. 〔战争、风暴、事故等的〕后果, 余殃, 余波 10. blanket ['blæŋkɪt] v. 覆盖, 笼罩; n. 毯子; 厚（的覆盖）层 11. rip up 把某物撕碎 词汇练习 1、 英英释义匹配 1. the situation that exists as a result of an important event. 2. a sudden large increase in the number or rate of something. 3. the process by which rock or soil is gradually destroyed by wind, rain, or the sea. 4. the pieces of something that are left after it has been destroyed in an accident, explosion etc. 5. to change food in your body into energy and new cells, using chemical processes. spike　　　　　　　　 erosion　　　　　　 aftermath　　　　　 debris　　　　　　 metabolize　　　　 2、 选词填空 rip up, spike, erosion, aftermath, debris 1. The sharp post-pandemic __________ in grades is not unique to Yale. 2. She __________ the letter into tiny pieces. 3. Everything was covered by dust and __________. 4. It is a huge job to control Yellow River __________. 5. I'm here to see the __________ of last night's unfortunate event. 长难句分析 But what this study is highlighting is that these impacts would have had benefits to life, ...... 【分析】本句中存在两个从句，分别是引导词为_____的主语从句，和引导词为_____的表语从句。主句主干为_________________________________。 【译文】____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 写作训练 1. 小词活用 spike本意指“尖状物；尖头；尖刺”，本文中意为“猛增；急升”，是一种数量或比率上的突然增长，例如a spike in oil prices 油价的急剧上涨; a spike in unemployment 失业率飙; a spike in living costs 生活成本急剧上涨 spike也可作动词，表示“迅速升值；急剧增值”，在作文中我们可以用spike代替rise, increase, 举个例子：在”物价上涨”话题中，我们可以这样写 ： Food prices, like fruit, vegetables and meat have all spiked in the last year. 像水果、蔬菜和肉类等食物的价格在去年都大幅上涨。 【仿写】人工智能快速普及，大量重复性岗位被机器替代；由此带来失业率急剧上升（使用 spike），年轻人求职压力加大。 _____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. 假定你是李华，上周五英语课上老师分享了一篇关于远古 S2 陨石撞击地球的科研报道，请你给英国好友 Chris 写一封邮件分享该报道，内容包括： 1）报道主要内容：32.6 亿年前巨型陨石 S2 撞击地球，灾难环境却催生养分，使单细胞生物数量大幅激增（必须用到短语 sharp spikes）； 2）你的两点感想：激发对生命起源的好奇、拓宽行星科学视野； 3）感慨科研让人类了解地球远古历史与生命本源。 注意： 1）词数 80 左右； 2）行文连贯，邮件格式规范； 3）不得出现真实人名、校名。 Dear Chris, I’m writing to share with you an article I’ve read in English class last Friday. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Yours, Li Hua 背景拓展 Waves of destruction The S2 meteorite was between 23 and 36 miles (37 and 58 kilometers) in diameter as it struck the planet. The effects were swift and ferocious, Drabon said. “Picture yourself standing off the coast of Cape Cod, in a shelf of shallow water,” Drabon said. “It’s a low-energy environment, without strong currents. Then all of a sudden, you have a giant tsunami, sweeping by and ripping up the seafloor.” The tsunami swept across the globe, and heat from the impact was so intense that it boiled off the top layer of the ocean. When oceans boil and evaporate, they form salts such as those observed in the rocks directly after the impact, Drabon said. Dust injected into the atmosphere from the impact darkened the skies within hours, even on the opposite side of the planet. The atmosphere heated up, and the thick dust cloud prevented microbes from converting sunlight into energy. Any life on land or in shallow waters would have felt the adverse effects immediately, and those effects would have persisted from a few years to decades. Eventually, rain would have brought back the top layers of the ocean, and the dust settled. But the deep ocean environment was another story. The tsunami churned up elements such as iron and brought them to the surface. Meanwhile, erosion helped wash coastal debris into the sea and released phosphorus from the meteorite. The lab analysis showed a spike in the presence of single-celled organisms that feed off iron and phosphorus immediately after the impact. Life rapidly recovered, and then it thrived, Drabon said. “Before the impact, there was some, but not much, life in the oceans due to the lack of nutrients and electron donors such as iron in the shallow water,” she said. “The impact released essential nutrients, such as phosphorus, on a global scale. A student aptly called this impact a ‘fertilizer bomb.’ Overall, this is very good news for the evolution of early life on Earth, as impacts would have been much more frequent during the early stages of life’s evolution than they are today.” How Earth responds to direct hits The S2 and Chicxulub asteroid impacts had different consequences due to the space rocks’ respective sizes and the stage the planet was in when each one struck, Drabon said. The Chicxulub impactor struck a carbonate platform on Earth, which released sulfur into the atmosphere. The emissions formed aerosols that caused a sharp, extreme drop in surface temperatures. And while both impacts caused significant die-offs, hardy, sunlight-dependent microorganisms in shallow waters would have rapidly recovered after the S2 impact once the oceans filled back in and the dust settled, Drabon said. “Life during the time of the S2 impact was much simpler,” she said. “Consider brushing your teeth in the morning: You might eliminate 99.9% of bacteria, but by evening, they have returned.” Ben Weiss, the Robert R. Shrock Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was intrigued by the geological observations of the spherule beds in the paper, which he believes are allowing researchers to explore Earth’s ancient impact record the way astronomers can study the surfaces of planets like Mars. “We aim to determine how common these environmental changes and biological responses were after other impact events in early Earth’s history,” she said. “Since the effect of each impact depends on various factors, we want to assess how frequently such positive and negative effects on life occurred.” 毁灭浪潮 S2 陨石撞击地球时的直径在 23 到 36 英里（37 到 58 公里）之间。德拉本说，效果迅速而猛烈。 “想象一下，您正站在科德角海岸，处于一片浅水区。这是一个低能量环境没有强劲的洋流。然后突然间，您就会看到一场巨大的海啸，席卷而来，撕扯海底。” 海啸席卷全球，撞击产生的热量如此强烈，以至于蒸发了海洋表层的水汽。德拉本说，当海洋沸腾和蒸发时，它们会形成盐，就像撞击后直接在岩石中观察到的盐一样。 撞击后漂浮在大气中的灰尘在数小时内使天空变暗，即使在地球的另一侧也是如此。大气层升温，厚厚的尘埃云阻止微生物将阳光转化为能量。所有在陆地或浅水区的生命会立即受到不利影响，并且这些影响会持续几年到几十年。 最终，雨水回归海洋的表层，灰尘落定。 但深海环境又是另一回事。海啸搅动了铁等元素并将它们带到了地表。与此同时，侵蚀作用的产生将沿海中的碎片冲入大海，并且使得磷从陨石中释放出来。实验室分析表明，在撞击后以铁和磷为食的单细胞生物数量立即激增。 德拉本说，生命迅速恢复，然后蓬勃发展。 “在撞击之前，由于浅水中缺乏营养物质和铁等电子供体，海洋中会有一些生命，但并不多，”她说。“撞击在全球范围内释放了磷等必需营养物质。一位学生恰如其分地将这种影响称为“肥料炸弹”。总的来说，这对地球上早期生命的进化来说是个非常好的消息，因为在生命进化的早期阶段，撞击会比现在更频繁。 地球对撞击的直接反应 德拉本说，由于太空岩石各自的大小以及行星撞击时所处的阶段不同，S2 和 希克苏鲁伯小行星撞击产生了不同的结果。 希克苏鲁伯陨石撞击了地球上的一个碳酸盐平台，将硫释放到大气中。排放物形成气溶胶，导致地表温度急剧下降。 德拉本说，虽然这两种撞击都导致了大量生命死亡，但一旦海洋重新填满并且灰尘落定，浅水区中耐寒的、依赖阳光的微生物将在 S2 撞击后迅速恢复。 “S2 撞击期间的生命要简单得多，”她说。“就比如早上刷牙：你可能会消除 99.9% 的细菌，但到了晚上，它们又回来了。”麻省理工学院 （Massachusetts Institute of Technology） 地球与行星科学教授 Robert R. Shrock 在论文中对球体层的地质观测很感兴趣，他认为这使研究人员能够像天文学家研究火星等行星表面一样探索地球久远的撞击记录。 巴伯顿绿岩带为 德拉本和她的同事们提供了一条全新的地球撞击历史研究路线。“我们的目标是确定这些环境变化和生物反应在地球早期历史上的其他撞击事件之后有多普遍，”她说。“由于每次撞击的影响受各种因素影响，因此我们想测试这种对生命的正面和负面影响发生的频率。” 答案与解析 牛刀小试 1. 答案：B 【解析】词义猜测题。结合第一段转折连词 But，大众普遍认为陨石撞击具有毁灭性，但专家提出撞击利于部分生命发展；后文第三段也提到撞击后单细胞生物数量大幅激增。bloom 此处表示生物大量繁衍、数量变多。A 重建、C 勉强存活、D 恢复常态均不符合语境，故选 B 项。 2. 答案：C 【解析】细节理解题。题干限定依据第三段，选出不属于撞击带来的结果。本段说明撞击引发海啸、表层海水蒸发升温、尘埃覆盖大地，细菌数量大幅增长。C 项称尘埃让所有细菌永久消亡，与原文 “But bacterial life rebounded quickly” 转折内容相悖；A、B、D 均为原文明确提及的撞击结果，故选 C 项。 3. 答案：C 【解析】细节理解题。题干询问撞击有益于早期生命的原因。文中第四段说明海啸将深海铁带到浅海，陨石与陆地侵蚀带来磷，充足铁、磷养分供给单细胞生物繁衍。A 项 S2 陨石灭绝恐龙属于无关信息；B 项撞击创造全新细菌无原文依据；D 项陷阱表述，铁并非由陨石携带至海洋，而是来自深海，三项均错误，故选 C 项。 4. 答案：B 【解析】细节理解题。题干要求选出符合原文的表述。A 项 S2 陨石造成恐龙灭绝与原文不符，灭绝恐龙的是另一颗陨石；C 项高温彻底消灭所有海洋细菌，和第三段细菌快速繁殖的内容矛盾；D 项 only 绝对词设陷阱，磷除陨石外还来自陆地侵蚀；B 项表述和文章两段 But 引出的专家观点一致，撞击不只有破坏作用，故选 B 项。 词汇练习 一、1. spike — B 2. erosion — C 3. aftermath — A 4. debris — D 5. metabolize — E 二、 1. spike 【解析】考查名词。a spike in... 为固定搭配，表示 “…… 的急剧激增”，此处指疫情过后成绩大幅上涨。 2. ripped up 【解析】考查动词短语与时态。rip up 意为 “撕碎”，动作已发生，使用一般过去时。 3. debris 【解析】考查名词。debris 表示 “残骸、碎片”，dust and debris 尘土与废墟碎片，符合语境。 4. erosion 【解析】考查名词。Yellow River erosion 固定表达，意为 “黄河水土流失”。 5. aftermath 【解析】考查名词。the aftermath of sth. 固定搭配，指 “某事发生后的余波、后果”。 长难句分析 【分析】what；that；what this study is highlighting is that ... 【译文】但这项研究想要强调的是，这些撞击其实会对生命产生有利影响。 写作训练 With AI developing rapidly, many repetitive jobs are taken over by intelligent machines. As a result, the unemployment rate has spiked, bringing heavy job-hunting pressure to young people. 随着人工智能飞速发展，大量重复性工作被智能机器取代。失业率随之急剧飙升，给年轻人带来了巨大的求职压力。 2. Dear Chris, I’m writing to share with you an article I’ve read in English class last Friday. Our English teacher introduced a report on the S2 meteorite, a huge rock that crashed into Earth 3.26 billion years ago. Though the impact caused severe disasters, it released abundant nutrients for primitive bacteria, resulting in sharp spikes in single-celled organisms. This discovery fills me with curiosity about the origin of life. It also broadens my horizons of planetary science, offering knowledge beyond textbooks. I’m grateful to scientists for uncovering Earth’s ancient past, which helps us better understand the source of life on our planet. Looking forward to your reply. 参考译文 巨型陨石撞击可能有助于生命在地球上繁衍生息 大约在32.6亿年前，一块大小是珠穆朗玛峰的4倍的名为“S2”的陨石撞向地球，普遍认为这些事件对生命带来毁灭性的打击。这块太空撞击物的直径为37-58千米，但是专家表示撞击造成的影响可能促进特定生命形态的繁荣。 “我们认为撞击事件对生命是灾难性的，”纳贾·德拉本表示，她是早期地球地质学家，也担任哈佛大学地球与行星科学系的助理教授，”但这项研究强调，这些撞击实际上对生命有益，尤其是在早期……这些撞击可能确实让生命得以繁荣。” S2陨石的体积是导致恐龙灭绝的陨石的200倍。刊登在《美国国家科学院院刊》的一篇分析表明当S2撞击地球后引发了一场巨大的海啸，将陆地上的碎片推入海洋，淹没了海岸线。专家表示撞击还会产生大量的热量，使海洋表层沸腾，加热了大气，同时，一层厚厚的尘埃云覆盖了一切。但是研究发现，细菌迅速地恢复了生机。与此同时，以磷和铁元素为食的单细胞生物数量急剧增加。 科学家们研究发现，在撞击之后，铁很可能是被海啸从深海搅动到浅水中的，磷则与陨石本身，以及陆地上的风化和侵蚀的增加有关。德拉本教授的发现指出，铁代谢细菌会因此在撞击后立即大量繁殖。这种向嗜铁细菌的转变给我们提供了地球早期生命一览。 在东南非的巴伯顿绿岩带（Barberton Greenstone Belt）现今仍有陨石撞击的证据。德拉博博士说：”想象一下，您正站在科德角海岸，处于一片浅水区。这是一个低能量环境没有强劲的洋流。然后突然间，您就会看到一场巨大的海啸，席卷而来，撕扯海底。” 2 / 2 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 $