(2019·长沙测评)Scientists found gravitational waves as they watched the effects of two black holes running into each other and forming a much bigger one，a century after Albert Einstein predicted that such an event would send ripples(波纹) through spacetime.
Scientists“heard”the wave with the help of laser beams(激光束) sent through two pipes which form an angle of 90° between each other and are nearly 2，000 miles apart in the US.That equipment let them glimpse the nature of black holes.Together they made up the Laser Interferometer GravitationalWave Observatory(LIGO)．
Gravitational waves were first observed in September 2015 and the second detection(发现) occurred three months later.The third detection，which the astronomers called GW170104，was made on January 4，2017.The astronomers believed their latest finding“provides clues about the directions in which the black holes are spinning”．
“Black holes are beautifully simple.You just need two numbers to describe them completely：mass，how much they bend spacetime，and a spin，how much spacetime moves about them，”said Dr. Christopher Berry of the University of Birmingham，one of the researchers in the project.“But it takes lots of hard work to measure these from our data.We now have wonderful mass measurements，and are starting to uncover details about the spins of these black holes，which could give evidence for how they formed.”The researchers said their discovery added further evidence to support Einstein's general theory of relativity and confirmed the existence of previously unknown black holes.
More than 1，000 scientists from the LIGO Scientific Collaboration were involved in the project along with an additional 280 researchers from the Europeanbased Virgo Collaboration.Scientists hope gravitational waves will offer a completely different view of the universe，allowing them to study events that might be hidden from traditional telescopes.“We have further confirmation of the existence of stellar(恒星的)mass black holes that are larger than 20 solar masses.We didn't know they existed before LIGO detected them，”MIT researcher David Shoemaker said.
【语篇解读】 本文是一篇科普说明文。科学家们第三次探测到引力波，相对论再获证实，促进了黑洞研究。
1．Who pioneered gravitational waves?
A．David Shoemaker.
B．Christopher Berry.
C．Scientists from LIGO.
D．Albert Einstein.
D [细节理解题。根据第一段中的“a century after Albert Einstein predicted that such an event would send ripples(波纹) through spacetime”可知，科学家们的这一发现发生在爱因斯坦预测此事件的一个世纪后，因此爱因斯坦是引力波的先行者。]
2．How did scientists discover gravitational waves?
A．By using laser beams.
B．By joining vertical pipes.
C．By using traditional telescopes.
D．By following the orbit of black holes.
A [细节理解题。根据第二段第一句话“Scientists‘heard’the wave with the help of laser beams(激光束) sent through two pipes which form an angle of 90° between each other and are nearly 2，000 miles apart in the US”可知，科学家们是通过使用激光束来探测到引力波的。]
3．What can we learn from the last three paragraphs?
A．More than 2，000 scientists took part in the event.
B．Scientists have already discovered spins of black holes.
C．Gravitational waves contributed to black holes' research.
D．There is no way to find out how black holes are formed.
C [推理判断题。根据第三段中的“The astronomers believed their latest finding‘provides clues about the directions in which the black holes are spinning’”和第四段中的“We...are starting to uncover details about the spins of these black holes，which could give evidence for how they formed”可知，科学家们第三次发现引力波给黑洞的旋转方向提供了线索，黑洞的旋转细节可能为它们的形成方式提供证据。即引力波对黑洞的研究有作用。故选C。]
4．What do the scientists think of the application of gravitational waves?
A．It's controversial.
B．It's promising.
C．It's limited.
D．It's demanding.
B [观点态度题。根据最后一段中的“Scientists hope gravitational waves will offer a completely different view of the universe，allowing them to study events that might be hidden from traditional telescopes”可知，科学家们希望引力波会提供一个完全不同的宇宙观，使得他们能研究使用传统望远镜可能发现不了的事情，即他们认为引力波的运用很有前景。故选B项。]
