A
The far side of the moon is a strange and wild region, quite different from the familiar and mostly smooth face we see nightly from our planet. Soon this rough space will have even stranger features: it will be crowded with radio telescopes.
Astronomers are planning to make the moon's distant side our newest and best window on the cosmic (宇宙的) dark ages, a mysterious era hiding early marks of stars and galaxies. Our universe was not always filled with stars. About 380，000 years after the big bang, the universe cooled, and the first atoms of hydrogen formed. Gigantic hydrogen clouds soon filled the universe. But for a few hundred million years, everything remained dark, without stars. Then came the cosmic dawn: the first stars flickered, galaxies came into existence and slowly the universe's largescale structure took shape.
The seeds of this structure must have been present in the darkage hydrogen clouds, but the era has been impossible to probe using optical (光学的) telescopes — there was no light. And although this hydrogen produced longwavelength(or lowfrequency) radio emissions，radio telescopes on Earth have found it nearly impossible to detect them. Our atmosphere either blocks or disturbs these faint signals; those that get through are drowned out by humanity's radio noise.
Scientists have dreamed for decades of studying the cosmic dark ages from the moon's far side. Now multiple space agencies plan lunar missions carrying radiowavedetecting instruments — some within the next three years — and astronomers' dreams are set to become reality.
“If I were to design an ideal place to do lowfrequency radio astronomy, I would have to build the moon，” says astrophysicist Jack Burns of the University of Colorado Boulder. “We are just now finally getting to the place where we're actually going to be putting these telescopes down on the moon in the next few years.”
【语篇解读】本文是一篇说明文。文章介绍了科学家们想要在月球背面建设射电望远镜，以此来探索宇宙的“黑暗时代”。
1. What's the purpose of building radio telescopes on the moon?
A. To research the big bang.
B. To discover unknown stars.
C. To study the cosmic dark ages.
D. To observe the far side of the moon.
C 推理判断题。根据第一段的内容可知，月球的背面很快将满是射电望远镜；而根据第四段中的“Scientists have dreamed for decades of studying the cosmic dark ages from the moon's far side.”可知，科学家们想在月球背面研究宇宙的“黑暗时代”。由此可以推断，建设射电望远镜的目的是研究宇宙的“黑暗时代”。故选C。
2. What does the underlined word “probe” in Paragraph 3 possibly mean?
A. Explore. B. Evaluate.
C. Produce. D. Predict.
A 词义猜测题。根据画线词所在句“The seeds of this structure must have been present in the darkage hydrogen clouds, but the era has been impossible to probe using optical (光学的) telescopes — there was no light.”中的“there was no light”解释了无法使用光学望远镜的原因。下文“And although this hydrogen produced longwavelength (or lowfrequency) radio emissions, radio telescopes on Earth have found it nearly impossible to detect them.”中detect意为“探测”。前后对应，此处probe应表示“探测”，意思同“explore”。故选A。
3. Why can't hydrogen radio emissions be detected on Earth?
A. Because there was no light in the dark ages.
B. Because they cannot possibly get through our atmosphere.
C. Because gigantic hydrogen clouds no longer fill the universe.
D. Because radio signals on Earth cause too much interference.
D 细节理解题。根据第三段中的“Our atmosphere either blocks or disturbs these faint signals; those that get through are drowned out by humanity's radio noise.”可知，检测不到射电辐射的原因是，地球上的无线电信号造成了太多的干扰。故选D。
4. What can we infer from the underlined part in the last paragraph?
A. Scientists have to rebuild the moon.
B. We will finally get to the moon's distant side.
C. The moon is a perfect place to set up radio telescopes.
D. A favourable research environment will be found on the moon.
C 推理判断题。根据第四段中的“Scientists have dreamed for decades of studying the cosmic dark ages from the moon's far side.”和最后一段中的“We are just now finally getting to the place where we're actually going to be putting these telescopes down on the moon in the next few years.”可推知，画线部分的意思是月球是建设射电望远镜的理想场所。故选C。
