A
The research ship, Atlantis, pulled out of the port of St. George in Bermuda recently and headed off to sea in search of a mountain. Scientists from eight universities will spend a month aboard the ship searching for clues to a mystery. Their basic question: why has a high mountain risen from the ridges (山脊) and hills along a fascinating geological structure called the MidAtlantic Ridge? Far beneath the surface of the ocean，the 12,000foot Atlantis Massif is nearly twice as tall as other mountains in the area, and no one is certain why.
The MidAtlantic Ridge has long fascinated scientists，because it is one of the regions on the Earth—all located underwater—where new crust (地壳) is formed. As the Earth's tectonic plates (地质构造板块) pull apart at the ridge, hot rocks from below rise to the surface and cool into stone. Many centuries from now, the forces of nature will use some of those rocks to build new mountains along the shorelines, constantly reforming the planet that we call home. The ridge itself is enormous, winding south from Iceland for more than 6,000 miles, and it is one of the largest mountain ranges on the Earth. But it is completely underwater, usually at least 12,000 feet deep，except for the few areas where mountains poke (伸出) through the surface.
However, most of the mountains along the ridge are relatively modest in size. That was why Donna Blackman of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California, was so surprised when she and Joe Cann of the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom discovered the Atlantis Massif while mapping the ridge a few years ago.
Mountains are common midocean ridges, but this one is a dandy. It is four to six times wider than other mountains in the area and it towers over its neighbors like a mountain.
Blackman wanted to know how it got there and why it was so big. She is the chief scientist on the expedition. Coprincipal investigators are Deborah Kelly of the University of Washington, an expert on the interaction (相互作用) of fluids with oceanic rock, and Jeffrey Karson, a structural geologist at Duke University.
【解题导语】 本文是一篇报道，介绍了科学家们对一座海底高山展开研究的新闻。
21．The scientists aboard the ship intend to ________.
A．collect information about the Atlantis Massif
B．explore the mysterious underwater world
C．study the geological structure of Bermuda
D．look for the MidAtlantic Ridge
解析：选A 细节理解题。根据文章第一段第一句“...recently and headed off to sea in search of a mountain”可知，科学家们此次航行的目的是收集关于一座海底山的信息。根据第一段最后一句可知这座山叫作Atlantis Massif，所以A项表述正确。
22．The second paragraph is mainly about ________.
A．the history of the MidAtlantic Ridge
B．the landscape of the MidAtlantic Ridge
C．unusual things about the MidAtlantic Ridge
D．the mountains along the MidAtlantic Ridge
解析：选C 段落大意题。根据文章第二段内容可知，本段主要介绍了大西洋中脊独特的地质特点，故C项最贴切。
23．We can learn from the text that ________.
A．Donna Blackman is a geologist from Britain
B．the research team is made up of three scientists
C．the Atlantis Massif was found by Blackman and Cann
D．the MidAtlantic Ridge is the largest mountain range on the Earth
解析：选C 推理判断题。根据文章第三段中的“...when she and Joe Cann of the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom discovered the Atlantis Massif while...”可知C项正确。根据第三段中的“That was why Donna Blackman of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California”可知A项不正确；根据文章第一段第二句“Scientists from eight universities will...”和文章最后三段的介绍，可以推知B项错误；D项文章没有提及。
