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　　Passage 16

　　Copernicus was born in Torun， Poland， on February 19， 1473. Little is known about his early life except that his father died when he was 10. An uncle adopted him， his two sisters， and his brother. The uncle saw to it that the two boys received a good education. Copernicus went to the University of Cracow. There he studied such subjects as Latin， mathematics， and astronomy. It was probably at that time that he changed his Polish name， Niklas Koppernigk， to the Latin form of Nicolaus Copernicus. In 1496 Copernicus went to Italy， where he spent the next 10 years studying at various universities.

　　In Copernicus' time people still believed that all things - the sun， the stars， and the planets-moved around the earth. It was an old belief that few men had ever questioned. Aristotle had based his theory of astronomy on this belief. Because the Church had long been the center of learning， the theory was also linked to religious beliefs.

　　In 1506 Copernicus returned to his homeland. A few years later he began to work for the Church. All those years Copernicus carried on his work in astronomy. He had just the most basic equipment and， like other scientists of his day， made observations with only his eyes. Still， using mathematics and logic， Copernicus

　　worked out a different theory， which held that the planets went around the sun.

　　Copernicus did not announce his ideas. He did not want to make trouble. But he could not hide the scientific truth. So he talked about his theory with his friends， who strongly advised him to have his work published. His great book， On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies， appeared at the very end of his life. Copernicus saw the first copy on the day he died， May 24， 1543.

　　1. Which of the following is TRUE about Copernicus？

　　A. He had two brothers and a sister.

　　B. He used to be called Niklas Koppernigk.

　　C. He lost his father soon after he was born.

　　D. He spent 10 years at the University of Cracow.

　　文章体裁――人物传记

　　遇到此类题型先看四个选项，然后回到原文去找正确答案。

　　see to it that： 一定注意到┄┄；务必┄┄。

　　eg. See to it that you're ready on time！ 到时候你千万要准备好！

　　答案：B

　　2. From the passage we can see that Astronomy is ______.

　　A. the life experience of great men

　　B. the movement of the stars and the planets

　　C. the scientific study of natural objects in space

　　D. the theories developed by scientists of old times

　　Astronomy 天文学

　　carry on 开展、进行

　　work out 计算、算出

　　which 引导非限制性定语从句。

　　答案：C

　　根据关键词定位相应的地方，如得不出答案，则往文章下面继续找，再进行分析、判断并得出正确的答案。

　　3. Copernicus developed his theory ______.

　　A. using various telescopes

　　B. based on Aristotle's beliefs

　　C. through observations and reasoning

　　D. under the encouragement of his friends

　　答案：C

　　4. The writer of the passage wants us to know that ______.

　　A. Copernicus did not tell about his discovery until the day of his death

　　B. for many years Copernicus dared to do nothing openly against the Church

　　C. pushed by his friends Copernicus decided to write a book in May 1543

　　D. shortly before he got back to Poland Copernicus started to work for the Church

　　答案：B

　　5. Copernicus had his great book published because ______.

　　A. he didn't agree with Aristotle

　　B. he could not hide the scientific truth

　　C. he worked for the church

　　D. his friends advised him to do so

　　答案：D

　　that 引导定语从句。

　　link to religious beliefs 同……宗教信仰联系在一起。

　　the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies 天体运行论

　　预习 Passage 17.