第十一篇

Crop Circle Mysteries 

They are giant geometric patterns, which appear over-night in a field of crops. Many people　believe that they are made by aliens.　　　(1)　　　 "Crop circle", as the mysterious patterns　are called, became a hot phrase this month.

　　　(2)　　　 It's believed to be the world's first three-dimensional crop circle１.The　giant crop circle gives an impression of looking down on skyscrapers¹ from above. 　　　(3) 　　　Crop circles were first widely noticed in the late 1970s as many mysterious circles began appearing-in crop fields throughout the English countryside. People were intrigued² by these giant patterns. They were huge (at least tens of meters in diameters) and popped up over-night2.     (4)　　　

Various scientific and pseudo-scientific explanations were put forward to explain the phenomenon. Some hold that they were left by alien spaceships. Others say that they are simply an elaborate prank3. 　　　(5) 　　　To date, thousands of circles have been discovered all over the globe, from the former Soviet⁴ Union to Japan to Canada.

练习：

A　 A strange pattern 360 feet (110 meters) in diameter was discovered earlier this month in a wheat field in Oxfordshire, England.

B 　Others call them hoaxes⁵.

C 　No one knew how or by whom they were made.

D 　The design's discovery immediately generated a new tide of public interest in this mysterious phenomenon.

E 　Farmers often make crop circles for fun.

F 　But rather than discovering the truth, people saw increasingly complicated circles appear worldwide.

答案与题解：

1. B　选项B是: Others call them hoaxes.其他人把他们叫做骗局。前面一句话是：Many    people believe that they are made by aliens.许多人相信它们是外星人搞的。man和others有一定的关联性。因此选B。

2. A　紧随其后的句子是：It's believed to be the world's first three-dimensional crop circle. 它被认为是世界上第一个三维的作物圈。代词在这里是一个照应词，A strange pattern 360 feet (110 meters) in diameter是合适的。因此A是正确的。

3. D　上文是：The giant crop circle gives an impression of looking down on skyscrapers from above.这个巨大的作物圈给人以一种从上向下看摩天大楼的印象。这事在讲做物权的造型或设计。因此填入D是最合适的。D说的是：The design's discovery immediately generated a new tide of public interest in this mysterious phenomenon.这一设计的发现即刻生成了一个大家关注这一神秘现象的新浪潮。

4.C　上文是：They were huge (at least tens of meters in diameters) and popped up   　　over-night.它们巨大（直径至少有几十米）并且是一夜之间突然冒出来的。这个句子实际上已经蕴含着不知道是谁弄的以及是怎么制造出来的。因此C是合适的。C是这么说的： No one knew how or by whom they were made.没有人知道它们是如何制造出来的，也不知道是谁弄的。

5. F　上文是: Various scientific and pseudo-scientific explanations were put forward to explain the phenomenon. Some hold that they were left by alien spaceships. Others say that they are simply an elaborate prank³.各种各样的科学的和伪科学解释都提了出来解释这一现象。有的说是外星人的太空飞船留下的。有的说它们只是些精美的骗局。从主题的发展来说，还可以继续争论下去，当然也可以把争论搁置起来。选项F表达的是搁置争论。从主题发展来说也是连贯的。