题文
What doomed the Titanic is well known, at least in outline. On a moonless night of April 15, 1912, the ship hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic ,with 1,500 lives lost.A century later many people presented new theories to explain the real reason for the disaster. Now two new studies argue that rare states of nature played major roles in the disaster.
The first says Earth’s nearness to the Moon and the Sun — a proximity not matched in more than 1,000 years — resulted in record tides that help explain why the Titanic met with so much ice, including the fatal iceberg.
Recently, a team of researchers found an apparent explanation in the heavens. They discovered that Earth had come unusually close to the Sun and Moon that winter, enhancing their gravitational pulls on the ocean and producing record tides. The rare orbits took place between December 1911 and February 1912 — about two months before the disaster came about. The researchers suggest that the high tides refloated masses of icebergs traditionally stuck along the coastlines of Labrador and Newfoundland and sent them adrift into the North Atlantic shipping lanes.
And a second, put forward by a Titanic historian from Britain, contends that the icy waters created ideal conditions for an unusual type of mirage(海市蜃楼) that hid icebergs from lookouts whose duty was to watch carefully for danger ahead and confused a nearby ship as to the liner’s identity, delaying rescue efforts for hours.
Most people know mirages as natural phenomena caused when hot air near the Earth’s surface bends light rays upward. In a desert, the effect prompts lost travelers to mistake patches of blue sky for pools of water. But another kind of mirage occurs when cold air bends light rays downward. In that case, observers can see objects and settings far over the horizon. The images often undergo quick distortions — not unlike the wavy reflections in a funhouse mirror.
Now, scholars of the Titanic are debating these new theories. Some have different opinions on it. Over all, though, many experts are applauding the fresh perspectives. (words:353)
小题1:The underlined word "It" in the title probably refers to _______.A．the TitanicB．the record tideC．the cause of the disasterD．an unusual mirage小题2:According to Theory First, what was the right chain of causes leading to the Titanic’s disaster?
① record tides’ forming and icebergs’ being refloated
② icebergs’ being drifted into the North Atlantic shipping lanes
③the Earth’s strange closing to the Sun and the Moon
④increasing of the gravitational force on the oceanA．①→②→③→④B．③→④→①→②C．④→③→②→①D．②→③→④→①小题3:According to Theory Second, the disaster happened to the Titanic mainly because______.A．the freezing weather made the watcher not be able to watch clear B．the mirage on the sea attracted the watcher and made him forget his workC．the high tides drove the icebergs float so fast that the watcher didn’t respond to them D．the mirage made the watcher not find icebergs and a nearby ship delay rescuing小题4:What is the chief function of the sixth paragraph?A．to infer the possibility of the mirage appearing B．to explain to the readers the ways of the mirage formingC．to summarize the various kinds of the mirageD．to analyze the conditions of the mirage arising小题5:This passage is organized generally in the pattern of________.A．comparison and contrastB．time and eventsC．conclusion and proofD．definition and classification（分类)） 题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
小题1:C
小题2:B
小题3:D
小题4:A
小题5:C
解析
本文讲述了泰坦尼克号沉没的另外两个原因，一个是因为地球，太阳，月亮的位置引起潮汛的变化，另外一个是海市蜃楼的出现。
小题1:C 推理题。根据文章第一行What doomed the Titanic is well known, at least in outline.说明It指的是泰坦尼克号，本文也正是说明泰坦尼克号沉没的另外两个原因。故C正确。
小题2:B 排序题。本题可以使用排除法。根据文章3,4段内容可知，说明Earth had come unusually close to the Sun and Moon that winter是起因，就可以排除ACD项，故B正确。
小题3:D 推理题。根据第五段2,3，4行the icy waters created ideal conditions for an unusual type of mirage(海市蜃楼) that hid icebergs from lookouts whose duty was to watch carefully for danger ahead and confused a nearby ship as to the liner’s identity, delaying rescue efforts for hours.说明海市蜃楼的出现让这些负责安全的瞭望员没有发现冰山也让附近的一艘船没有及时救援。故D正确。
小题4:A 段落大意题，根据本段最后In that case, observers can see objects and settings far over the horizon. The images often undergo quick distortions — not unlike the wavy reflections in a funhouse mirror. 主要分析的就是海市蜃楼出现的可能性，说明A项正确。
小题5:C 推理题。本文是通过提出证据来证明自己所提出的结论，是通过总结并举例来组织全文的。故C项正确。
点评：本文讲述了泰坦尼克号沉没的另外两个原因，一个是因为地球，太阳，月亮的位置引起潮汛的变化，另外一个是海市蜃楼的出现。要求考生能够准确把握每一段的中心思想，根据题目及选型的内容结合文本信息作出合理的判断和推理。
考点
据考高分专家说，试题“What doomed the Tita.....”主要考查你对 [社会现象类阅读 ]考点的理解。社会现象类阅读
社会现象类阅读概念：
这类文章通过写人记事来揭示文章的主题，显示其社会意义，一般采用顺序或倒叙来叙述。题目经常是一些细节问题。考查的方面可以是原因和其中引发的思考。
社会现象类阅读解题技巧：
这类文章通过写人记事来揭示文章的主题，显示其社会意义，一般采用顺序或倒叙来叙述。题目经常是一些细节问题。考查的方面可以是原因和其中引发的思考。阅读这类文章要理清思路。
1、浏览试题，明确要求。
在阅读文章前，最好先浏览一下文章后面的题干和选项。知道了问题后再去看文章，可使思路更敏捷，而且也便于阅读时留意文中出现的与选项有关的信息。
2、通读全文，抓住主要内容。
在不影响理解的前提下，尽可能地阅读以便在尽可能短的时间内理解文章或段落的内容。阅读时，如遇到不熟悉的单词、词组或一时看不懂的句子，不要停下来苦思冥想，继续读下去，通过上下文的词语和句子可能就理解了。
3、抓住中心思想和段落大意。
通读全文时，要特别注意主题句。每篇文章或每个段落都有与文章有关的句子，尤其是科技、政论性文章的主题句一般都在文章的开头或结尾，插在中间的很少。所以，文章的第一段或开头的第一、二个句子往往包含着文章的中心思想、作者的意图或全文的概述，因此要特别注意，彻底理解。
4、有针对性地仔细阅读，找寻所需信息。
在前面的基础上，可进行有针对性地阅读了。把与问题无关的内容一扫而过，而对于和问题有关的内容认真阅读，还可以用笔在下面做出记号。再把这些信息与问题的要求结合起来，逐条分析，综合判断，找出正确答案。
5、进行合理的推理判断。
对文章有了全面的了解之后，可以按照文章要求以及上下文之间的关系，做出推理判断。在进行推理判断的时候，需要综合考虑句型、语法、句子之间的逻辑关系、文化背景等方面的因素。
6、认真复读，验证答案。
要用全文的中心思想统帅各个题目，研究其内在联系和逻辑关系，并依次审核那些还未打上的题目，确保理解无误。
