新东方背诵文选全集下.docx

新东方背诵文选全集下.docx

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新东方背诵文选全集下

新东方背诵文选全集（下）

35OilRefining

Animportantnewindustry,oilrefining,grewaftertheCivilwar.Crudeoil,orpetroleum-adark,thickoozefromtheearth-hadbeenknownforhundredsofyears,butlittleusehadeverbeenmadeofit.Inthe1850’sSamuelM.Kier,amanufacturerinwesternPennsylvania,begancollectingtheoilfromlocalseepagesandrefiningitintokerosene.Refining,likesmelting,isaprocessofremovingimpuritiesfromarawmaterial.

Kerosenewasusedtolightlamps.Itwasacheapsubstituteforwhaleoil,whichwasbecominghardertoget.Soontherewasalargedemandforkerosene.Peoplebegantosearchfornewsuppliesofpetroleum.

ThefirstoilwellwasdrilledbyE.L.Drake,aretiredrailroadconductor.In1859hebegandrillinginTitusville,Pennsylvania.Thewholeventureseemedsoimpracticalandfoolishthatonlookerscalledit“Drake’sFolly”.Butwhenhehaddrilleddownabout70feet（21meters）,Drakestruckoil.Hiswellbegantoyield20barrelsofcrudeoiladay.

NewsofDrake’ssuccessbroughtoilprospectorstothescene.Bytheearly1860’sthesewildcattersweredrillingfor“blackgold”alloverwesternPennsylvania.TheboomrivaledtheCaliforniagoldrushof1848initsexcitementandWildWestatmosphere.Anditbroughtfarmorewealthtotheprospectorsthananygoldrush.

Crudeoilcouldberefinedintomanyproducts.Forsomeyearskerosenecontinuedtobetheprincipalone.Itwassoldingrocerystoresanddoor-to-door.Inthe1880’srefinerslearnedhowtomakeotherpetroleumproductssuchaswaxesandlubricatingoils.Petroleumwasnotthenusedtomakegasolineorheatingoil.

36PlateTectonicsandSea-floorSpreading

Thetheoryofplatetectonicsdescribesthemotionsofthelithosphere,thecomparativelyrigidouterlayeroftheEarththatincludesallthecrustandpartoftheunderlyingmantle.Thelithosphereisdividedintoafewdozenplatesofvarioussizesandshapes,ingeneraltheplatesareinmotionwithrespecttooneanother.Amid-oceanridgeisaboundarybetweenplateswherenewlithosphericmaterialisinjectedfrombelow.Astheplatesdivergefromamid-oceanridgetheyslideonamoreyieldinglayeratthebaseofthelithosphere.

SincethesizeoftheEarthisessentiallyconstant,newlithospherecanbecreatedatthemid-oceanridgesonlyifanequalamountoflithosphericmaterialisconsumedelsewhere.Thesiteofthisdestructionisanotherkindofplateboundary:

aseductionzone.Thereoneplatedivesundertheedgeofanotherandisreincorporatedintothemantle.Bothkindsofplateboundaryareassociatedwithfaultsystems,earthquakesandvolcanism,butthekindsofgeologicactivityobservedatthetwoboundariesarequitedifferent.

Theideaofsea-floorspreadingactuallyprecededthetheoryofplatetectonics.Initsoriginalversion,intheearly1960’s,itdescribedthecreationanddestructionoftheoceanfloor,butitdidnotspecifyrigidlithosphericplates.ThehypothesiswassubstantiatedsoonafterwardbythediscoverythatperiodicreversalsoftheEarth’smagneticfieldarerecordedintheoceaniccrust.Asmagmarisesunderthemid-oceanridge,ferromagneticmineralsinthemagmabecomemagnetizedinthedirectionofthemagmabecomemagnetizedinthedirectionofthegeomagneticfield.Whenthemagmacoolsandsolidifies,thedirectionandthepolarityofthefieldarepreservedinthemagnetizedvolcanicrock.Reversalsofthefieldgiverisetoaseriesofmagneticstripesrunningparalleltotheaxisoftherift.Theoceaniccrustthusservesasamagnetictaperecordingofthehistoryofthegeomagneticfieldthatcanbedatedindependently;thewidthofthestripesindicatestherateofthesea-floorspreading.

37Icebergs

Icebergsareamongnature’smostspectacularcreations,andyetmostpeoplehaveneverseenone.Avagueairofmysteryenvelopsthem.Theycomeintobeing-----somewhere------infaraway,frigidwaters,amidthunderousnoiseandsplashingturbulence,whichinmostcasesnoonehearsorsees.Theyexistonlyashorttimeandthenslowlywasteawayjustasunnoticed.

Objectsofsheerestbeautytheyhavebeencalled.Appearinginanendlessvarietyofshapes,theymaybedazzlinglywhite,ortheymaybeglassyblue,greenorpurple,tintedfaintlyofindarkerhues.Theyaregraceful,stately,inspiring-----incalm,sunlightseas.

Buttheyarealsocalledfrighteninganddangerous,andthattheyare----inthenight,inthefog,andinstorms.Eveninclearweatheroneiswisetostayasafedistanceawayfromthem.Mostoftheirbulkishiddenbelowthewater,sotheirunderwaterpartsmayextendoutfarbeyondthevisibletop.Also,theymayrolloverunexpectedly,churningthewatersaroundthem.

Icebergsarepartsofglaciersthatbreakoff,driftintothewater,floataboutawhile,andfinallymelt.Icebergsafloattodayaremadeofsnowflakesthathavefallenoverlongagesoftime.Theyembodysnowsthatdrifteddownhundreds,ormanythousands,orinsomecasesmaybeamillionyearsago.Thesnowsfellinpolarregionsandoncoldmountains,wheretheymeltedonlyalittleornotatall,andsocollectedtogreatdepthsovertheyearsandcenturies.

Aseachyear’ssnowaccumulationlayonthesurface,evaporationandmeltingcausedthesnowflakesslowlytolosetheirfeatherypointsandbecometinygrainsofice.Whennewsnowfellontopoftheold,ittooturnedtoicygrains.Soblanketsofsnowandicegrainsmountedlayeruponlayerandwereofsuchgreatthicknessthattheweightoftheupperlayerscompressedthelowerones.Withtimeandpressurefromabove,themanysmallicegrainsjoinedandchangedtolargercrystals,andeventuallythedeepercrystalsmergedintoasolidmassofice.

38Topaz

Topazisahard,transparentmineral.Itisacompoundofaluminum,silica,andfluorine.Gemtopazisvaluable.Jewelerscallthisvarietyofthestone“precioustopaz”.Thebest-knownprecioustopazgemsrangeincolorfromrichyellowtolightbrownorpinkishred.Topazisoneofthehardestgemminerals.Inthemineraltableofhardness,ithasaratingof8,whichmeansthataknifecannotcutit,andthattopazwillscratchquartz.

Thegoldenvarietyofprecioustopazisquiteuncommon.Mostoftheworld’stopaziswhiteorblue.Thewhiteandbluecrystalsoftopazarelarge,oftenweighingthousandsofcarats.Forthisreason,thevalueoftopazdoesnotdependsomuchonitssizeasitdoeswithdiamondsandmanyotherpreciousstones,wherethevalueincreasesaboutfourtimeswitheachdoublingofweight.Thevalueofatopazislargelydeterminedbyitsquality.Butcolorisalsoimportant:

bluetopaz,forinstance,isoftenirradiatedtodeepenandimproveitscolor.

Bluetopazisoftensoldasaquamarineandavarietyofbrownquartziswidelysoldastopaz.Thequartzismuchlessbrilliantandmoreplentifulthantruetopaz.Mostofitisvarietyofamethyst:

thatheathasturnedbrown.

39TheSalinityofOceanWaters

Ifthesalinityofoceanwatersisanalyzed,itisfoundtovaryonlyslightlyfromplacetoplace.Nevertheless,someofthesesmallchangesareimportant.Therearethreebasicprocessesthatcauseachangeinoceanicsalinity.Oneoftheseisthesubtractionofwaterfromtheoceanbymeansofevaporation---conversionofliquidwatertowatervapor.Inthismannerthesalinityisincreased,sincethesaltsstaybehind.Ifthisiscarriedtotheextreme,ofcourse,whitecrystalsofsaltwouldbeleftbehind.

Theoppositeofevaporationisprecipitation,suchasrain,bywhichwaterisaddedtotheocean.Heretheoceanisbeingdilutedsothatthesalinityisdecreased.Thismayoccurinareasofhighrainfallorincoastalregionswhereriversflowintotheocean.Thussalinitymaybeincreasedbythesubtractionofwaterbyevaporation,ordecreasedbytheadditionoffreshwaterbyprecipitationorrunoff.

Normally,intropicalregionswherethesunisverystrong,theoceansalinityissomewhathigherthanitisinotherpartsoftheworldwherethereisnotasmuchevaporation.Similarly,incoastalregionswhereriversdilutethesea,salinityissomewhatlowerthaninotheroceanicareas.

Athirdprocessbywhichsalinitymaybealteredisassociatedwiththeformationandmeltingofseaice.Whenseawaterisfrozen,thedissolvedmaterialsareleftbehind.Inthismanner,seawaterdirectlymaterialsareleftbehind.Inthismanner,seawaterdirectlybeneathfreshlyformedseaicehasahighersalinitythanitdidbeforetheiceappeared.Ofcourse,whenthisicemelts,itwilltendtodecreasethesalinityofthesurroundingwater.

IntheWeddellSeaAntarctica,thedensestwaterintheoceansisformedasaresultofthisfreezingprocess,whichincreasesthesalinityofcoldwater.Thisheavywatersinksandisfoundinthedeeperportionsoftheoceansoftheworld.

40Cohesion-tensionTheory

Atmosphericpressurecansupportacolumnofwaterupto10metershigh.Butplantscanmovewatermuchhigher;thesequoiatreecanpumpwatertoitsverytopmorethan100metersabovetheground.Untiltheendofthenineteenthcentury,themovementofwaterintreesandothertallplantswasamystery.Somebotanistshypothesizedthatthelivingcellsofplantsactedaspumps.Butmanyexperimentsdemonstratedthatthestemsofplantsinwhichallthecellsarekilledcanstillmovewatertoappreciableheights.Otherexplanationsforthemovementofwaterinplantshavebeenbasedonrootpressure,apushonthewaterfromtherootsatthebottomoftheplant.Butrootpressureisnotnearlygreatenoughtopushwatertothetopsoftalltrees.Furthermore,theconifers,whichareamongthetallesttrees,haveunusuallylowrootpressures.

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