首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
What is the main purpose of the lecture?
What is the main purpose of the lecture?
admin
2022-09-29
35
问题
What is the main purpose of the lecture?
Listen to part of a lecture in an astronomy class.
Professor:
Today we’re gonna talk about something planetary scientists have yet provided a satisfactory explanation for. How was the moon formed? From the samples the Apollo astronauts brought back we know that the moon is about four and a half billion years old and formed about at the same time as the rest of our solar system.
Now there are some theories about how the moon was formed. The first, dating back to the 19th century. It’s called fission theory. Fission means splitting into parts. The theory proposes that Earth spun so rapidly in its early years that a chunk of it broke off and got thrown into space into Earth’s orbit, and that chunk from Earth became the moon. The fission theory was accepted well into the 20th century, but we now know that Earth was spinning at a rate that was much too slow for this kind of fission to occur.
Another theory is the capture theory which goes like this. The moon formed somewhere in the solar system and was captured by Earth’s gravitational field as it was passing by. And it stayed in Earth’s orbit ever since. Now the moon’s chemical composition is different from Earth, so if the moon formed somewhere else this would actually explain why they’re different in composition, right? However, astronomers have a problem with the capture theory because for the moon to be captured into its present orbit, a complex set of circumstances is required, so it’s very unlikely that it happened.
The most widely supported theory today is the giant impact theory. It suggests that the moon formed as a result of an impact onto the young Earth four and a half billion years ago when the young Earth collided with another planetary object. According to this theory the moon formed from debris caused by a giant impact which had gone into orbit around the Earth. The scientific community didn’t jump on this theory right away. You can’t test it since it’s impossible to find traces of an impact with the Earth that far back. And remember the Earth and moon have different compositions and densities. The moon’s density is much lower than that of the Earth or any other terrestrial planets. This indicates that the moon lacks high density iron and doesn’t have a big iron core like Earth, which was confirmed by measurements taken during the Apollo moon landing.
But wouldn’t the moon and the Earth be similar in composition and density if the moon formed from rock fragments that were ejected from Earth? So astronomers came up with ideas to explain some of the inconsistencies the theory presents. For instance, the idea that by the time the giant impact happened Earth’s iron had already migrated toward its center, its core, and so the debris that was blown from Earth came from an outer layer which was depleted of iron. Okay, that would explain why Earth has a large iron core and the moon doesn’t.
But we don’t know for sure whether Earth’s core had already formed when the collision occurred. The next step was to use advanced computer technology to simulate the giant impact, an impact that would produce a moon that lacks iron. The researchers who performed the simulations developed different models from a variety of scenarios and came up with some interesting results. According to one model, a collision with an object, 10% of Earth’s mass, about the size of the planet Mars, could in fact account for an iron-poor moon. The model also suggests that the moon formed towards the end of Earth’s formation. This is important because if the moon formed early in Earth’s history, it would have accumulated more iron-rich material.
As convincing as it may sound, the giant impact theory isn’t proven to everyone’s satisfaction since several questions remain unanswered. On the other hand, it is very attractive because it’s consistent with our idea of how planets were assembled. We think collisions played a big role when the planets in our inner solar system formed. We think that during the final stages of the formation of rocky planets, planetary embryos smashed into each other, creating larger planets.
选项
A、To compare the composition of the moon with the composition of Earth
B、To explain the significance of moon samples obtained by Apollo astronauts
C、To discuss theories about the early development of the solar system
D、To discuss problems with explanations for the origin of the moon
答案
D
解析
题目问讲座的主要目的。讲座一开始,教授就提到了这次讲座主要谈论的话题:How was the moon formed?“月球是如何形成的?”随后,他提到了三个解释月球起源的理论,并讲述了每个理论的问题。因此,D项“讨论关于月球起源的几个解释有什么问题”正确。虽然讲座有解释月球和地球的成分的不同之处,但这只是讲座的一小部分内容,不足以概括主题,故排除A项。同样,虽然讲座提到了阿波罗号宇航员从月球带回了样本,但这只是细节信息,同样不足以概括主题,也排除B项。C项“讨论关于太阳系早期发展的理论”没有依据。
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.kaotiyun.com/show/bb5O777K
0
托福(TOEFL)
相关试题推荐
Wherecaneachofthefollowingitemsbefound?ChooseSIXanswersfromtheboxandwritethecorrectletter,A-InexttoQuesti
Completethenotesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSORANUMBERforeachanswer.STUDENTHEALTHCENTREExamplePatient’sna
Accordingtothespeakers,whatfunctionhastapaplayedinthefollowingcountries?Writethecorrectletter,A,B,CorD,ne
Labelthemapbelow.Writethecorrectletter,A-L,nexttoQuestions11-16.Studentdormitory
StrategiesforeffectiveuseoflecturesDosome【L25】________【L26】________andsitwhereyoucanseeandheareasily.Be【L27】___
Studentscanbenefitfrom【L22】________witheachotherandcomparingnotes.Bynotattendinglecturesstudentsmisso
Choosethecorrectletter,A,BorC.WhatisthepurposeoftheRestHouse?
RECRUITMENTPROCESSSTEPONECompletea【L7】________STEPTWODoa【L8】________aboutpersonalskillsSTEPTHREEParticipateina
TheTawnyOwlMost【L31】________owlspeciesinUKStronglynocturnalHabitatMainlylivesin【L32】________,butcanalsobeseeni
ChoosethecorrectletterA,BorC.Accordingtothelecturer,postgraduatecourseis
随机试题
目前,对用户最为有利的会计核算软件的加密方法是( )。
会计凭证登账后的整理、装订、归档和存查称为()。
由于国外成本的下降,我国某种钢材的进口数量出现突发性大幅度增加,使我国的钢材生产商大受损失。为合法保护我国厂商,我国可引用世界贸易组织的
根据我国证券交易所交易规则的规定,如果同一账户在交易时同时有可转债的买卖申报和转股申报,则二者的关系是()。
下列因素中对人的发展起着主导作用的是()
在所有形式的广告中,83%都只专注于吸引我们的视觉。实际上,听觉的效果也同样强大,不过现今广告商利用的听觉优势只是九牛一毛。回顾以往,广告只借助其歌曲和口号来吸引我们的耳朵,很大程度上忽略了日常生活中的声音——像煎牛排的嗞嗞声、婴儿的笑声和那些我们不由自主
腓尼基人对古代世界文明最大的贡献是公元前13世纪()。
将考生文件夹下EXCEL文件夹中的文件夹DA移动到考生文件夹下KANG文件夹中,并将该文件夹重命名为ZUO。
TowhatextenthastheTelephoneReassuranceServicepublicized?
A、Therewouldbeaninstanthitwithhouseenthusiasts.B、Moreandmorepeopleexpecttomakeuseofthepolicy.C、Advancedtran
最新回复
(
0
)