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Until the early- to mid-twentieth century, scientists believed that stars generate energy by shrinking. As stars contracted, it was thought, they would get hotter and hotter, giving off light in the process. This could not be the primary way that stars shine, however. If it were, they would scarcely last a million years, rather than the billions of years in age that we know they are. We now know that stars are fueled by nuclear fusion. Each time fusion takes place, energy is released as a by-product. This energy, expelled into space, is what we see as starlight. The fusion process begins when two hydrogen nuclei smash together to form a particle called the deuteron (a combination of a positive proton and a neutral neutron). Deuterons readily combine with additional protons to form helium. Helium, in turn, can fuse together to form heavier elements, such as carbon. In a typical star, merger after merger takes place until significant quantities of heavy elements are built up.
We must distinguish, at this point, between two different stellar types: Population I and Population II, the latter being much older than the former. These groups can also be distinguished by their locations. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is shaped like a flat disk surrounding a central bulge. Whereas Population I stars are found mainly in the galactic disk, Population II stars mostly reside in the central bulge of the galaxy and in the halo surrounding this bulge.
Population II stars date to the early stages of the universe. Formed when the cosmos was filled with hydrogen and helium gases, they initially contained virtually no heavy elements. They shine until their fusible material is exhausted. When Population II stars die, their material is spread out into space. Some of this dust is eventually incorporated into newly formed Population I stars. Though Population I stars consist mostly of hydrogen and helium gas, they also contain heavy elements (heavier than helium), which comprise about 1 or 2 percent of their mass. These heavier materials are fused from the lighter elements that the stars have collected. Thus, Population I stars contain material that once belonged to stars from previous generations. The Sun is a good example of a Population I star.
What will happen when the Sun dies? In several billion years, our mother star will burn much brighter. It will expend more and more of its nuclear fuel, until little is left of its original hydrogen. Then, at some point in the far future, all nuclear reactions in the Sun`s center will cease.
Once the Sun passes into its "postnuclear" phase, it will separate effectively into two different regions: an inner zone and an outer zone. While no more hydrogen fuel will remain in the inner zone, there will be a small amount left in the outer zone. Rapidly, changes will begin to take place that will serve to tear the Sun apart. The inner zone, its nuclear fires no longer burning, will begin to collapse under the influence of its own weight and will contract into a tiny hot core, dense and dim. An opposite fate will await the outer region, a loosely held-together ball of gas. A shock wave caused by the inner zone`s contraction will send ripples through the dying star, pushing the stellar exterior`s material farther and farther outward. The outer envelope will then grow rapidly, increasing, in a short interval, hundreds of times in size. As it expands, it will cool down by thousands of degrees. Eventually, the Sun will become a red giant star, cool and bright. It will be so large that it will occupy the whole space that used to be the Earth`s orbit and so brilliant that it would be able to be seen with the naked eye thousands of light-years away. It will exist that way for millions of years, gradually releasing the material of its outer envelope into space. Finally, nothing will be left of the gaseous exterior of the Sun; all that will remain will be the hot, white core. The Sun will have become a white dwarf star. The core will shrink, giving off the last of its energy, and the Sun will finally die.
题型分类:事实信息题
题干分析:关键信息:the death of the Sun
原文定位:定位:第五段最后一句
选项分析:根据题干关键词定位到第五段最后一句,但这句只是陈述结果,需往前看,可通过选项中的关键词定位到原文,排除错误答案。
选项A定位到原文第七八句“The outer envelope will then grow rapidly, increasing, in a short interval, hundreds of times in size. As it expands, it will cool down by thousands of degrees.”可知,“温度下降”是伴随着“剧烈膨胀”而出现的现象,而不是因为温度下降才导致的膨胀,不存在这种因果关系;
选项B对应倒数二三四句“It will exist that way for millions of years...The Sun will have become a white dwarf star.”;
选项C与原文“The core will shrink, giving off the last of its energy, and the Sun will finally die.”信息不对应,内核会发生收缩,而不是核聚变;
选项D与原文“It(红巨星)will exist that way for millions of years, gradually releasing the material of its outer envelope into space.”所以逐渐释放完外层物质是在红巨星形成之后的几百万年时间里,而不是在太阳外层膨胀还未最终形成红巨星的时候。而且,太阳释放了外层物质,但还保留了内核部分。选项D不符合原文。
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