Japanese Drilling into Core of Earth

　　In what resembles a journey to the center of the Earth, Japanese scientists have launched the world’s first attempt to bore a hole into the red-hot core of a volcano and unlock the secrets of deadly eruption.
　　A 50-meter-high oil-rig-like derrick perched on the scrubby slopes of Japan’s Mount Unzen will begin drilling through the volcano’s crust next week in a bid¹ to sample the magma bubbling below².
　　The aim is to study how the liquefied rock causes menacing gas buildup, said team leader Setsuya Nakata, of the University of Tokyo’s Earthquake Research Institute.

　　“Gassing is important because it controls the explosivity of eruptions,” Nakata said. “The results can be expanded to anti-disaster research.”

　　Mount Unzen , a wind-swept 1.486-meter dome on the southern island of Kyushu, is a perfect model. It erupted in 1991, showering avalanches of hot rocks over a nearby town, killing 43 people and leaving nearly 2,300 homeless. Another 11.000 people were evacuated from the area until 1995, when the volcano had stabilized.

　　The results are particularly important to a nation like Japan, where the meteorological agency monitors 20 dangerous peaks. Perhaps Japan’s most famous volcano is snowcapped Mount Fuji, which last erupted in 1707 and sprinkled Tokyo with ash.
　　The drilling on Mount Unzen will begin very soon from an altitude of 850 meters on its northwest slope. Scientists hope to tap a magma vent around sea level by August and extract a 200-meter-long core sample by summer 2004.³
　　Boring into the glowing magma at that level would normally be impossible, because of its fiery 700 degree Celsius heat. Thus, a slurry of water will be pumped into the drill shaft to cool the magma and allow the drill head to cut through.
　　Nakata said there is no danger of triggering another eruption.⁴

词汇：

rig/ rɪɡ/n.钻探平台    

bubble / "bʌbl /v.冒气，沸腾

derrick / "derɪk /n.钻塔    

liquefy / ˈlɪkwɪfaɪ /v.（使）液化

perch / pɜ:tʃ /v.位于    

menace / ˈmɛnɪs /v.威胁

scrubby / ˈskrʌbi /adj.长满矮树丛的    

dome / dəum /n.圆顶

explosivity n.爆炸性    

meteorological / ˌmi:tɪərə"lɒdʒɪkl /adj.气象的

avalanche / "ævəlɑ:nʃ /n.雪崩    

vent /vent/n.出口

evacuate / ɪ"vækjʊeɪt /v.疏散    

sprinkle / "sprɪŋkl /v.撒

stabilize / "steɪbəlaɪz /v.稳定    

magma / "mæɡmə /n.岩浆

crust / krʌst /n.地壳    

slurry / "slʌrɪ /n.泥浆

unlock / ˌʌn"lɒk /v.解开    

shaft / ʃɑ:ft /n.井

注释:

1. in a bid: 企图，努力 a在 in a bid之后，可接动词不定式，如 : The two sides negotiated again and again in a bid to find a solution. 双方进行一次又一次的谈判，努力寻求一个解决方案。
2.below:在下面 below指的是 below the crust。
3.Scientists hope to tap a magma vent around sea level by August and extract a 200-mcterlong core sample by summer 2004:到 8月底，科学家希望在约为海平面高度的地方引出一个岩浆口，到 2004年夏末，提取长度为 200米的样本。
4. Nakata said there is 110 danger of triggering another eruption: Nakata说，不存在引发火山新一轮爆发的危险性。

The title of this passage Japanese Drilling into Core of Earth actually means that they

A:drill a hole into the core of a volcano. B:bore into the rocks near the volcanic vent. C:conduct an imagery journey to the core of a volcano. D:regard magma as the core of Earth.

核心酶(core enzyme)

amino acid core

地核（core）

核部（core）

Text 4 Will the European Union make it The question would have sounded strange not long ago. Now even the project’s greatest cheerleaders talk of a continent facing a “Bermuda triangle” of debt, population decline and lower growth. As well as those chronic problems, the EU face an acute crisis in its economic core, the 16 countries that use the single currency. Markets have lost faith that the euro zone’s economies, weaker or stronger, will one day converge thanks to the discipline of sharing a single currency, which denies uncompetitive members the quick fix of devaluation. Yet the debate about how to save Europe’s single currency from disintegration is stuck. It is stuck because the euro zone’s dominant powers, France and Germany, agree on the need for greater harmonization within the euro zone, but disagree about what to harmonies. Germany thinks the euro must be saved by stricter rules on borrow spending and competitiveness, barked by quasi-automatic sanctions for governments that do not obey. These might include threats to freeze EU funds for poorer regions and EU mega-projects and even the suspension of a country’s voting rights in EU ministerial councils. It insists that economic co-ordination should involve all 27 members of the EU club, among whom there is a small majority for free-market liberalism and economic rigour; in the inner core alone, Germany fears, a small majority favour French interference. A “southern” camp headed by French wants something different: ”European economic government” within an inner core of euro-zone members. Translated, that means politicians intervening in monetary policy and a system of redistribution from richer to poorer members, via cheaper borrowing for governments through common Eurobonds or complete fiscal transfers. Finally, figures close to the France government have murmured, curo-zone members should agree to some fiscal and social harmonization: e.g., curbing competition in corporate-tax rates or labour costs. It is too soon to write off the EU. It remains the world’s largest trading block. At its best, the European project is remarkably liberal: built around a single market of 27 rich and poor countries, its internal borders are far more open to goods, capital and labour than any comparable trading area. It is an ambitious attempt to blunt the sharpest edges of globalization, and make capitalism benign. To solve the euro problem ,Germany proposed that ______ .

A:EU funds for poor regions be increased B:stricter regulations be imposed C:only core members be involved in economic co-ordination D:voting rights of the EU members be guaranteed

The very core of marketing lies in（）

A:an understanding of consumer needs B:the efficient movement of goods C:developing new wants for consumer goods D:making goods readily available to customers

下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题，每题后面有4个选项。请仔细阅读短文并根据短文回答其后面的问题，从4个选项中选择1个最佳答案。
{{B}}第一篇{{/B}}

A:drill a hole into the core of a volcano. B:bore into the rocks near the volcanic vent. C:conduct an imagery journey to the core of a volcano. D:regard magma as the core of Earth.

For users, microkernel technology promises (90) , compact and sophisticated operating systems that are typically (91) across a range of hardware platforms. These operating systems will be customizable to let users run multiple operating system and application "personalities" on top of a single microkernel (92) .
Microkernel based systems can provide this flexibility because the core operating system functions are (93) from the large number of utilities, features and extensions that are layered on top of them. As a result, updating and maintaining operating system is easier, since developers don’t have to modify the (94) every time they must acid a new feature.

A:core B:center C:heart D:utility

For users, microkernel technology promises (90) , compact and sophisticated operating systems that are typically (91) across a range of hardware platforms. These operating systems will be customizable to let users run multiple operating system and application "personalities" on top of a single microkernel (92) .
Microkernel based systems can provide this flexibility because the core operating system functions are (93) from the large number of utilities, features and extensions that are layered on top of them. As a result, updating and maintaining operating system is easier, since developers don’t have to modify the (94) every time they must acid a new feature.

A:core B:center C:heart D:utility