题文
The Atlantic Ocean is one of the oceans that separate the Old World from the New. For centuries it kept the America from being discovered by the people of Europe.
Many wrong ideas about the Atlantic made early sailors unwilling to sail far out into it. One idea was that it reached out to “the edge of the world” . Sailors were afraid that they might sail off the earth. Another idea was that at the equator(赤道) the ocean would be boiling hot.
The Atlantic Ocean is only half as big as the Pacific, but it is still very large. It is more than 4,000 miles (6,000 km) wide where Columbus crossed it. Even at its narrowest it is about 2,00 miles (3,200 km) wide.
Two things make the Atlantic Ocean rather unusual. For so large an ocean it has few islands. Also, it is the world’s saltiest ocean.
There is so much water in the Atlantic that it is hard to imagine how much there is. But suppose no more rain fell into it and no more water was brought to it by rivers, it would take the ocean about more than 4,000 years to dry up. On the average, the water is a little more than two miles (3.2km) deep, but in some places it is much deeper. The deepest spot is near Puerto Rico. This “deep” measures 30,246 feet---almost six miles (9.6km).
One of the longest mountain ranges of the world rises from the floor of the Atlantic. This mountain range runs north and south down the middle of the ocean. The tops of a few of the mountains reach up above the sea and make islands.
Several hundred miles eastward from Florida there is a part of the ocean called the Sargasso Sea. Here the water is quiet, for there is little wind. In the days of sailing vessels(船) the crew were afraid they would be becalmed (can’t move) here. Sometimes they were.
Today the Atlantic is a great highway. It is, however, not always a smooth and safe one. Storms sweep across it and pile up great waves. Icebergs float down from the far North across the paths of ships.
We now have such fast ways of traveling that this big ocean seems to have grown smaller. Columbus sailed for more than two months to cross it. A fast modern steamship can make the trip in less than four days. Airplanes fly from New York to London in only eight hours and from South America to Africa in four!
61. What caused people to be unwilling to explore the Atlantic?
A. There were no ships big enough to get across the Ocean.
B. Sailors were afraid of being lost in the Ocean.
C. The Atlantic Ocean was very unusual because it has few islands and the saltiest water.
D. Many incorrect ideas such as “the edge of the world”, “the equator with boiling hot water” made people think the Ocean was full of danger.
62. What is the main idea of the fifth paragraph?
A. How deep the water is.
B. How to measure the water in the Atlantic.
C. How much water the ocean holds.
D. How rain affects the Ocean water.
63. What does the underlined word “highway” mean?
A. High road B. Broad way C. Fast road D. Main water way
64. Why does the writer think “this big ocean seems to have grown smaller”?
A. The water in the ocean is becoming less.
B. We have more and more advanced traveling tools now
C. The distance between the ocean and us is shorter.
D. The steamship has a higher speed. 题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
61—64 D C D B
解析
略考点
据考高分专家说，试题“The Atlantic Ocean i.....”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。
