2012年4月全国高等教育自学考试试题--英语科技文选(5)

　　VII. Directions: Read the following passage, and then fill in thetable with the information based on the passage.(10%)

　　Silver miners first discovered Mexico’ssurreal Cave of Crystals almost a decade ago. The BBC recently took a rare tourof the underground cavern that contains the world’s largest naturally grown crystals,where some selenite structures reach almost 33 feet in length.

　　See those little dots climbing thecrystals that look like ants? Those are people.

　　Casual spelunkers can’t enter the cavewithout risking their lives, unless they have the right breathing mask andcooling suit. Stifling temperatures of 122 degrees F combined with almost 100 percenthumidity posed a deadly challenge for early explorers. Such conditions meanthat every breath can lead to fluid condensing inside the lungs, which representsa less-than-ideal scenario for continued breathing.

　　But the cave’s wonders prove alluring onceyou get past the dangers. The BBC’s new series “How the Earth Made Us” accompanies Iain Stewart, a geologist at theUniversity of Plymouth in the UK, on a trip into the Naica silver mine.

　　Take a good look at the footage below,because the Cave of Crystals is destined to disappear once the mine ownersdecide to end operations and pull out their pumps. Then the mines and cave alikewill flood once more.

　　Caveof Crystals