The Chinese of 3500 years ago believed that the earth was a chariot, and the sky was a curved canopy(天空)stretched above it. The canopy was nine layers thick, and it sloped slightly to the northwest, as a cataclysm(地陷)had broken one of its supporting columns. This gentle slope explained the movement of the stars from east to west.
According to these ancient Chinese beliefs, the sun spent the night on earth and ascended to the sky each morning from the luminous valley of the earth by climbing the branches of an immensely tall sacred tree. To the Chinese people, the sun was the incarnation of goodness, beauty, and truth. In popular imagination, the sun was represented as a cock that little by little assumed human form. His battles with the dragons, which personified evil in their beliefs, accounted for momentary disappearances of the sun that men now call eclipses. Many of the Chinese people worshiped the sun, but in the vast and complicated organization of the Chinese gods, the sun was of only secondary importance.
Along with these unsophisticated beliefs about the sun, the Chinese evolved a science of astronomy based upon observation—though essentially religious—which enabled them to predict eclipses of the sun and the movement of the stars. Such predictions were based on calculations made by using a gnomon(【天文】日晷仪指针)—an object whose shadow could be used as a measure, as with a sundial or simple shadow pointers. Moreover, with the naked eye, the Chinese observed sunspots, a phenomenon not then known to their contemporaries.
1. The ancient Chinese believed that the earth ______.
A. was a chariot B. sloped to the northwest
C. was supported by columns D. had nine layers
[答案]A
【精析】第一段第一句……the earth was a chariot，……可知正确答案选A.
2. To the Chinese people, the sun represented ______.
A. the primary god B. evil
C. goodness, beauty and truth D. combat
[答案]C
【精析】由文中第二段To the Chinese people, the sun was the incarnation of goodness, beauty, and truth可知正确答案为C.本题的关键是了解incarnation的意思，意为“化身，具体化”。
3. The sun‘s disappearances were thought to be caused by ______.
A. fights with cocks B. fights with dragons
C. a scientific phenomenon D. eclipse
[答案]B
【精析】由文章第二段倒数第二句"His battles with the dragons, ...accounted for…"可知正确答案为B.做题的关键在于正确理解account for的意思，意为“是……的原因”
4. Ancient Chinese astronomy could be accurately described as ______.
A. entirely religious in nature B. based on legendary figures
C. advanced in some areas D. completely unsuccessful
[答案]A
【精析】文中第三段第一句Along with these unsophisticated beliefs about the sun, the Chinese evolved a science of astronomy based upon observation-though essentially religious-which enabled them to predict eclipses of the sun and the movements of the stars可知选 A.其中两个破折号中间的essentially religious(本质上有宗教性质的)是解题的关键。
5. Implied but not stated: ______.
A. The sun was worshiped by all the Chinese people
B. The sun was thought of as a cock
C. Chinese religion and astronomy were closely interrelated
D. Sundials were first used by the Chinese
[答案]D
【精析】题干问隐含有而文中未陈述的有……，A、B、C三项在文中都能找到，故选D.
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