一、真題文章（1998年）
They were， by far， the largest and most distant objects that scientists had ever detected： a strip of enormous cosmic clouds some 15 billion light years from earth. But even more important， it was the farthest that scientists had been able to look into the past， for what they were seeing were the patterns and structures that existed 15 billion years ago. That was just about the moment that the universe was born. What the researchers found was at once both amazing and expected； the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Cosmic Background Explorer satellite -Cobe-had discovered landmark evidence that the universe did in fact begin with the primeval explosion that has become known as the Big Bang （the theory that the universe originated in an explosion from a single mass of energy）。
The existence of the giant clouds was virtually required for the Big Bang， first put forward in the 1920s， to maintain its reign as the dominant explanation of the cosmos. According the theory， the universe burst into being as a submicroscopic， unimaginable dense knot of pure energy that flew outward in all directions， emitting radiation as it went， condensing into particles and then into atoms of gas. Over billions of years， the gas was compressed by gravity into galaxies， stars， plants and eventually， even humans.
Cobe is designed to see just the biggest structures， but astronomers would like to see much smaller hot spots as well， the seeds of local objects like clusters and superclusters of galaxies. They shouldn't have long to wait. Astrophysicists working with ground-based detectors at the South Pole and balloon borne instruments are closing in on such structures， and may report their findings soon.
If the small hot spots look as expected， that will be a triumph for yet another scientific idea， a refinement of the Big Bang called the inflationary universe theory. Inflation says that very early on， the universe expanded in size by more than a trillion trillion trillion trillion fold in much less than a second， propelled by a sort of antigravity. Odd though it sounds， cosmic inflation is a scientifically plausible consequence of some respected ideas in elementary particle physics， and many astrophysicists have been convinced for the better part of a decade that it is true.
二、譯文
離地球大約150億光年的一塊狹長(zhǎng)的巨大宇宙云是科學(xué)家至今所發(fā)現(xiàn)的、最遙遠(yuǎn)的物體。但更為重要的是，這是科學(xué)家們所能觀測(cè)到的最遙遠(yuǎn)的過(guò)去的景象，因?yàn)樗麄兛吹降氖?50億年前宇宙云的形狀和結(jié)構(gòu)。那大約就是宇宙形成的時(shí)候。研究人員所發(fā)現(xiàn)的宇宙云系既令人驚訝，又是人們所期待的，因?yàn)槊绹?guó)國(guó)家航空航天局的宇宙背景探索者Cobe號(hào)衛(wèi)星已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)了劃時(shí)代的證據(jù)，證明宇宙確實(shí)起源于最早的一次爆炸，即人們一直所稱(chēng)的"大爆炸"（此理論認(rèn)為宇宙起源于一大團(tuán)能量）
大爆炸理論在二十世紀(jì)二十年代首次提出，而巨大的宇宙云的存在實(shí)際上是保持其宇宙起源論的主導(dǎo)地位所需要的。根據(jù)該理論，宇宙形成的時(shí)候是一些亞微觀的、極為稠密、向四周擴(kuò)散的純能量，運(yùn)動(dòng)的時(shí)候發(fā)射射線(xiàn)，然后濃縮成粒子，最后形成了氣體原子。經(jīng)過(guò)了幾十億年，這些氣體受到地球引力壓縮形成了星系、恒星、行星，最終造就了人類(lèi)。
Cobe衛(wèi)星設(shè)計(jì)的目的就是觀察這樣的物體結(jié)構(gòu)，但宇航員還是想看到那些微小的熱區(qū)，即像星系中的星團(tuán)和超星團(tuán)這樣一些局部物體的粒子，看來(lái)他們不必長(zhǎng)期等待。天體物理學(xué)家使用南極地基探測(cè)器及球載儀器，正越來(lái)越近地觀測(cè)這些云系，也許不久會(huì)報(bào)告他們的觀測(cè)結(jié)果。
假如那些小熱點(diǎn)看上去同預(yù)計(jì)的一致，那就意味著又一科學(xué)觀點(diǎn)的勝利，這種觀點(diǎn)是對(duì)宇宙大爆炸論的完善，人們稱(chēng)之為宇宙膨脹說(shuō)。宇宙膨脹說(shuō)認(rèn)為，很久以前，宇宙受到一種反地球引力的推動(dòng)，在不到一秒鐘內(nèi)，其體積膨脹了無(wú)數(shù)億倍。宇宙膨脹說(shuō)盡管聽(tīng)起來(lái)奇特，但它是基本粒子物理學(xué)中一些公認(rèn)的理論在科學(xué)上看起來(lái)可信的推論，許多天體物理學(xué)家七八年來(lái)一直確信這一說(shuō)法是正確。
三、 考研核心詞匯
cosmic / 5kCzmik / adj. 宇宙的
[例] cosmic speed 宇宙速度（物體擺脫地球引力所需之速度）
[反義] chaotic / kei5Ctik / adj. 混亂的， 無(wú)秩序的
[派生] cosmical / 5kCzmikEl / adj. （=cosmic）宇宙的， 廣大無(wú)邊的
pattern / 5pAtEn / n. 1模范， 模式2樣品， 格調(diào)， 圖案 vt. 1 模仿， 仿造2以圖案裝飾 vi. 形成圖案
[例] You can make a dress from this paper pattern.
你可以用這個(gè)紙樣兒做一套衣服。
[同義] arrangement， design ，example， illustration， model ，paragon， picture
primeval / prai5mi：vEl / adj. 原始的
[例] primeval forests 原始森林
reign / rein / vi. 統(tǒng)治， 支配， 盛行， 占優(yōu)勢(shì) n. 統(tǒng)治， 統(tǒng)治時(shí)期， 支配
[例] The Queen reigns but does not rule. 女王在位，但不當(dāng)政。
[同義] prevail， rule
[派生] reigning / `reInIN / adj. 統(tǒng)治的，在位的， 本屆的， 起支配作用的
[固定搭配] under[in] the reign of …… 在……的統(tǒng)治下
burst / bE：st / v. 1爆裂， 炸破2急于；爆發(fā) n. 1突然破裂， 爆發(fā)2脈沖
[例] I am bursting with joy. 我高興得不得了。
[同義] broken ， exploded
knot / nCt / n. （繩等的）結(jié)， （樹(shù)的）節(jié)， 節(jié)（船速，＝哩／小時(shí)） v. 打結(jié)
[例] Will you knot the rope round the post？ 你把這根繩子拴在柱子上好嗎？
[反義] unknot / Qn5nCt / vt. 解開(kāi)……結(jié)子
[派生] knotted / `nCtId / adj. 有節(jié)的， 多節(jié)的， 棘手的
emit / i5mit / vt. 1發(fā)出， 放射2吐露， 散發(fā)3發(fā)表， 發(fā)行
[例] The tail exhaust pipe of the motor vehicle emitted poisonous smoke.
機(jī)動(dòng)車(chē)的尾部排氣管排出有毒的濃煙。
[同義] discharge， ooze；send out， give off
[派生] emission / i5miFEn / n. （光、熱等的）散發(fā)， 發(fā)射， 噴射
condense / kEn5dens / v. （使）濃縮， 精簡(jiǎn)
[例] A long story may be condensed into a few sentences.
一個(gè)長(zhǎng)篇故事可縮寫(xiě)成幾句話(huà)。
[同義] compress ，concentrate ，reduce， squeeze
[反義] expand / iks5pAnd / vt. 1使膨脹， 擴(kuò)張2詳述vi. 張開(kāi)， 發(fā)展
[派生] condensable / kEn5densEbl / adj. 可壓縮（凝縮）的
galaxy / 5^AlEksi / n. 1星系， 銀河2一群顯赫的人， 一系列光彩奪目的東西
[例] a galaxy of entertainers 一群演員
cluster / 5klQstE / n. 串， 叢 vi. 叢生， 成群
[例] The boys and girls clustered together round the camp fire telling stories and singing songs. 孩子們成群地圍著營(yíng)火堆講著故事唱著歌。
[同義] batch， bunch， group
[反義] disperse / dis5pE：s / v. （使）分散， （使）散開(kāi)， 疏散
detector / di5tektE / n. 1發(fā)現(xiàn)者；偵察器， 探測(cè)器， 檢波器， 檢電器
[例] electron detector 電子探測(cè)器
[派生] detect / di5tekt / vt. 察覺(jué)， 發(fā)覺(jué)， 偵查， 探測(cè) v. 發(fā)現(xiàn)
plausible / 5plC：zEbl / adj. 似是而非的， 似乎合理的；善言能辯的；能說(shuō)會(huì)道的
[例]It is a plausible story 好象是真實(shí)的故事
[同義] believable ， logical， reasonable ， sensible
[反義] genuine / 5dVenjuin / adj. 真實(shí)的， 真正的， 誠(chéng)懇的
[派生] plausibility / 9plR：zE`bIlEtI / n. 似乎有理， 善辯
四、強(qiáng)化練習(xí)
1. According to NASA， "Hubble played a key role in discovering that a mysterious form of energy called dark energy is acting like a ________ gas pedal， accelerating the universe's expansion rate.
A. elapse B. edible C. comedy D. cosmic
2. The__________ of the Thanksgiving celebration has never changed through the years. The big family dinner is planned months ahead.
A. defect B. pattern C. pile D. deception
3. I tried to look over. But my head was too heavy in the position I was in. I got a ________of energy and grabbed hold of the bars. I moved my legs.
A. decent B. dump C. burst D. dwarf
4. Americans are waiting longer to get married， but they shouldn't wait too long： The odds for a happy marriage may favor those who tie the _______ between the ages of 23 and 27， says a survey out Thursday.
A. ebb B. drop C. enforce D. knot
5. The realization that she can be a good provider may increase the chances that a working wife will choose divorce over an unsatisfactory marriage. But the reverse is equally ________.
A. plausible B. random C. humorous D. exempt
答案： DBCDA
They were， by far， the largest and most distant objects that scientists had ever detected： a strip of enormous cosmic clouds some 15 billion light years from earth. But even more important， it was the farthest that scientists had been able to look into the past， for what they were seeing were the patterns and structures that existed 15 billion years ago. That was just about the moment that the universe was born. What the researchers found was at once both amazing and expected； the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Cosmic Background Explorer satellite -Cobe-had discovered landmark evidence that the universe did in fact begin with the primeval explosion that has become known as the Big Bang （the theory that the universe originated in an explosion from a single mass of energy）。
The existence of the giant clouds was virtually required for the Big Bang， first put forward in the 1920s， to maintain its reign as the dominant explanation of the cosmos. According the theory， the universe burst into being as a submicroscopic， unimaginable dense knot of pure energy that flew outward in all directions， emitting radiation as it went， condensing into particles and then into atoms of gas. Over billions of years， the gas was compressed by gravity into galaxies， stars， plants and eventually， even humans.
Cobe is designed to see just the biggest structures， but astronomers would like to see much smaller hot spots as well， the seeds of local objects like clusters and superclusters of galaxies. They shouldn't have long to wait. Astrophysicists working with ground-based detectors at the South Pole and balloon borne instruments are closing in on such structures， and may report their findings soon.
If the small hot spots look as expected， that will be a triumph for yet another scientific idea， a refinement of the Big Bang called the inflationary universe theory. Inflation says that very early on， the universe expanded in size by more than a trillion trillion trillion trillion fold in much less than a second， propelled by a sort of antigravity. Odd though it sounds， cosmic inflation is a scientifically plausible consequence of some respected ideas in elementary particle physics， and many astrophysicists have been convinced for the better part of a decade that it is true.
二、譯文
離地球大約150億光年的一塊狹長(zhǎng)的巨大宇宙云是科學(xué)家至今所發(fā)現(xiàn)的、最遙遠(yuǎn)的物體。但更為重要的是，這是科學(xué)家們所能觀測(cè)到的最遙遠(yuǎn)的過(guò)去的景象，因?yàn)樗麄兛吹降氖?50億年前宇宙云的形狀和結(jié)構(gòu)。那大約就是宇宙形成的時(shí)候。研究人員所發(fā)現(xiàn)的宇宙云系既令人驚訝，又是人們所期待的，因?yàn)槊绹?guó)國(guó)家航空航天局的宇宙背景探索者Cobe號(hào)衛(wèi)星已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)了劃時(shí)代的證據(jù)，證明宇宙確實(shí)起源于最早的一次爆炸，即人們一直所稱(chēng)的"大爆炸"（此理論認(rèn)為宇宙起源于一大團(tuán)能量）
大爆炸理論在二十世紀(jì)二十年代首次提出，而巨大的宇宙云的存在實(shí)際上是保持其宇宙起源論的主導(dǎo)地位所需要的。根據(jù)該理論，宇宙形成的時(shí)候是一些亞微觀的、極為稠密、向四周擴(kuò)散的純能量，運(yùn)動(dòng)的時(shí)候發(fā)射射線(xiàn)，然后濃縮成粒子，最后形成了氣體原子。經(jīng)過(guò)了幾十億年，這些氣體受到地球引力壓縮形成了星系、恒星、行星，最終造就了人類(lèi)。
Cobe衛(wèi)星設(shè)計(jì)的目的就是觀察這樣的物體結(jié)構(gòu)，但宇航員還是想看到那些微小的熱區(qū)，即像星系中的星團(tuán)和超星團(tuán)這樣一些局部物體的粒子，看來(lái)他們不必長(zhǎng)期等待。天體物理學(xué)家使用南極地基探測(cè)器及球載儀器，正越來(lái)越近地觀測(cè)這些云系，也許不久會(huì)報(bào)告他們的觀測(cè)結(jié)果。
假如那些小熱點(diǎn)看上去同預(yù)計(jì)的一致，那就意味著又一科學(xué)觀點(diǎn)的勝利，這種觀點(diǎn)是對(duì)宇宙大爆炸論的完善，人們稱(chēng)之為宇宙膨脹說(shuō)。宇宙膨脹說(shuō)認(rèn)為，很久以前，宇宙受到一種反地球引力的推動(dòng)，在不到一秒鐘內(nèi)，其體積膨脹了無(wú)數(shù)億倍。宇宙膨脹說(shuō)盡管聽(tīng)起來(lái)奇特，但它是基本粒子物理學(xué)中一些公認(rèn)的理論在科學(xué)上看起來(lái)可信的推論，許多天體物理學(xué)家七八年來(lái)一直確信這一說(shuō)法是正確。
三、 考研核心詞匯
cosmic / 5kCzmik / adj. 宇宙的
[例] cosmic speed 宇宙速度（物體擺脫地球引力所需之速度）
[反義] chaotic / kei5Ctik / adj. 混亂的， 無(wú)秩序的
[派生] cosmical / 5kCzmikEl / adj. （=cosmic）宇宙的， 廣大無(wú)邊的
pattern / 5pAtEn / n. 1模范， 模式2樣品， 格調(diào)， 圖案 vt. 1 模仿， 仿造2以圖案裝飾 vi. 形成圖案
[例] You can make a dress from this paper pattern.
你可以用這個(gè)紙樣兒做一套衣服。
[同義] arrangement， design ，example， illustration， model ，paragon， picture
primeval / prai5mi：vEl / adj. 原始的
[例] primeval forests 原始森林
reign / rein / vi. 統(tǒng)治， 支配， 盛行， 占優(yōu)勢(shì) n. 統(tǒng)治， 統(tǒng)治時(shí)期， 支配
[例] The Queen reigns but does not rule. 女王在位，但不當(dāng)政。
[同義] prevail， rule
[派生] reigning / `reInIN / adj. 統(tǒng)治的，在位的， 本屆的， 起支配作用的
[固定搭配] under[in] the reign of …… 在……的統(tǒng)治下
burst / bE：st / v. 1爆裂， 炸破2急于；爆發(fā) n. 1突然破裂， 爆發(fā)2脈沖
[例] I am bursting with joy. 我高興得不得了。
[同義] broken ， exploded
knot / nCt / n. （繩等的）結(jié)， （樹(shù)的）節(jié)， 節(jié)（船速，＝哩／小時(shí)） v. 打結(jié)
[例] Will you knot the rope round the post？ 你把這根繩子拴在柱子上好嗎？
[反義] unknot / Qn5nCt / vt. 解開(kāi)……結(jié)子
[派生] knotted / `nCtId / adj. 有節(jié)的， 多節(jié)的， 棘手的
emit / i5mit / vt. 1發(fā)出， 放射2吐露， 散發(fā)3發(fā)表， 發(fā)行
[例] The tail exhaust pipe of the motor vehicle emitted poisonous smoke.
機(jī)動(dòng)車(chē)的尾部排氣管排出有毒的濃煙。
[同義] discharge， ooze；send out， give off
[派生] emission / i5miFEn / n. （光、熱等的）散發(fā)， 發(fā)射， 噴射
condense / kEn5dens / v. （使）濃縮， 精簡(jiǎn)
[例] A long story may be condensed into a few sentences.
一個(gè)長(zhǎng)篇故事可縮寫(xiě)成幾句話(huà)。
[同義] compress ，concentrate ，reduce， squeeze
[反義] expand / iks5pAnd / vt. 1使膨脹， 擴(kuò)張2詳述vi. 張開(kāi)， 發(fā)展
[派生] condensable / kEn5densEbl / adj. 可壓縮（凝縮）的
galaxy / 5^AlEksi / n. 1星系， 銀河2一群顯赫的人， 一系列光彩奪目的東西
[例] a galaxy of entertainers 一群演員
cluster / 5klQstE / n. 串， 叢 vi. 叢生， 成群
[例] The boys and girls clustered together round the camp fire telling stories and singing songs. 孩子們成群地圍著營(yíng)火堆講著故事唱著歌。
[同義] batch， bunch， group
[反義] disperse / dis5pE：s / v. （使）分散， （使）散開(kāi)， 疏散
detector / di5tektE / n. 1發(fā)現(xiàn)者；偵察器， 探測(cè)器， 檢波器， 檢電器
[例] electron detector 電子探測(cè)器
[派生] detect / di5tekt / vt. 察覺(jué)， 發(fā)覺(jué)， 偵查， 探測(cè) v. 發(fā)現(xiàn)
plausible / 5plC：zEbl / adj. 似是而非的， 似乎合理的；善言能辯的；能說(shuō)會(huì)道的
[例]It is a plausible story 好象是真實(shí)的故事
[同義] believable ， logical， reasonable ， sensible
[反義] genuine / 5dVenjuin / adj. 真實(shí)的， 真正的， 誠(chéng)懇的
[派生] plausibility / 9plR：zE`bIlEtI / n. 似乎有理， 善辯
四、強(qiáng)化練習(xí)
1. According to NASA， "Hubble played a key role in discovering that a mysterious form of energy called dark energy is acting like a ________ gas pedal， accelerating the universe's expansion rate.
A. elapse B. edible C. comedy D. cosmic
2. The__________ of the Thanksgiving celebration has never changed through the years. The big family dinner is planned months ahead.
A. defect B. pattern C. pile D. deception
3. I tried to look over. But my head was too heavy in the position I was in. I got a ________of energy and grabbed hold of the bars. I moved my legs.
A. decent B. dump C. burst D. dwarf
4. Americans are waiting longer to get married， but they shouldn't wait too long： The odds for a happy marriage may favor those who tie the _______ between the ages of 23 and 27， says a survey out Thursday.
A. ebb B. drop C. enforce D. knot
5. The realization that she can be a good provider may increase the chances that a working wife will choose divorce over an unsatisfactory marriage. But the reverse is equally ________.
A. plausible B. random C. humorous D. exempt
答案： DBCDA