Scientists have found amounts of water molecules inside rocks and soil samples from Mars before. But an ancient meteorite (陨石) found recently contains 10 times more water and much more oxygen than any Martian I meteorite ever before discovered.
What’s so wild about this wet discovery? It could mean that the Red Planet once had enough water to have I liquid flowing on the planet’s surface.
It was once believed that if Mars ever had water at all, its water would have been small amounts of ice below the surface or existing in the soil only as hydrogen and oxygen---the elements that make up water. But recent discoveries have shown that Mars probably had a much wetter history than formerly thought.
The meteorite, nicknamed Black Beauty, was found in Africa’s Sahara Desert in 2011. Only about 110 meteorites from Mars have ever been found. Scientists believe most Martian meteorites arrived on our planet during one large asteroid crash (小行星碰撞) that sent rocks falling toward Earth long ago.
Black Beauty is about 2.1 billion years old. Its discovery is the first time scientists have been able to study such an ancient Martian rock. It’s also one of the first times scientists have been able to study a piece of the panel’s ancient surface.
The sample’s water molecules were sent out when scientists heated the meteorite to analyze it. Scientists think the meteorite’s hydrogen and oxygen molecules are so plentiful because water flowing on Mars at the time this meteorite fell to Earth, or because these molecules were once sealed in large quantities in Mars’s crust.
Black Beauty might do more than just unlock secrets from the Red Planet’s past. These discoveries could also help scientists understand new data about Mars that’s being sent from the robotic rovers currently gathering information on the planet.
32. People used to think that .
A. there was little water on Mars B. Mars had a lot of flowing water
C. a large quantity of ice was Mars D. Mars was much wetter than Earth
33. What do we know about Black Beauty?
A. It was discovered in Seattle in the USA. B. It is the biggest of 110 meteorites from Mars.
C. It landed on Earth after an asteroid crash. D. It has a history of 2.1 million years.
34. How did the scientists research Black Beauty?
A. By cutting it into pieces. B. By dipping it into water.
C. By burning it on a fire. D. By burying it into a desert.
35. The passage is mainly about .
A. a rock from the center of Mars. B. a major Martian meteorite discovery
C. a new discovery on the Red Planet D. a number of meteorites from Red Plane