在面對(duì)于托福閱讀考試文章時(shí)，如果你能事先有這些閱讀文章的背景知識(shí)儲(chǔ)備對(duì)于你的閱讀文章速度和答題速度也是非常有幫助的。所以大家在托福備考的過程當(dāng)中托福閱讀背景知識(shí)還需要多多的積累。這里泚房東為大家整理了托福閱讀背景知識(shí)之火星的那些事兒，希望可以幫助到大家提升托福閱讀考試成績(jī)。

托福閱讀背景知識(shí)：火星的那些事兒

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is commonly referred to as the Red Planet. The rocks， soil and sky have a red or pink hue. The distinct red color was observed by stargazers throughout history. It was given its name by the Romans in honor of their god of war. Other civilizations have had similar names. The ancient Egyptians named the planet Her Descher meaning the red one.

Before space exploration， Mars was considered the best candidate for harboring extraterrestrial life. Astronomers thought they saw straight lines crisscrossing its surface. This led to the popular belief that irrigation canals on the planet had been constructed by intelligent beings. In 1938， when Orson Welles broadcasted a radio drama based on the science fiction classic War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells， enough people believed in the tale of invading Martians to cause a near panic.

Another reason for scientists to expect life on Mars had to do with the apparent seasonal color changes on the planet’s surface. This phenomenon led to speculation that conditions might support a bloom of Martian vegetation during the warmer months and cause plant life to become dormant during colder periods.

In July of 1965， Mariner 4， transmitted 22 close-up pictures of Mars. All that was revealed was a surface containing many craters and naturally occurring channels but no evidence of artificial canals or flowing water. Finally， in July and September 1976， Viking Landers 1 and 2 touched down on the surface of Mars. The three biology experiments aboard the landers discovered unexpected and enigmatic chemical activity in the Martian soil， but provided no clear evidence for the presence of living microorganisms in the soil near the landing sites. According to mission biologists， Mars is self-sterilizing. They believe the combination of solar ultraviolet radiation that saturates the surface， the extreme dryness of the soil and the oxidizing nature of the soil chemistry prevent the formation of living organisms in the Martian soil. The question of life on Mars at some time in the distant past remains open.

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is commonly referred to as the Red Planet. The rocks， soil and sky have a red or pink hue. The distinct red color was observed by stargazers throughout history. It was given its name by the Romans in honor of their god of war. Other civilizations have had similar names. The ancient Egyptians named the planet Her Descher meaning the red one.

Before space exploration， Mars was considered the best candidate for harboring extraterrestrial life. Astronomers thought they saw straight lines crisscrossing its surface. This led to the popular belief that irrigation canals on the planet had been constructed by intelligent beings. In 1938， when Orson Welles broadcasted a radio drama based on the science fiction classic War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells， enough people believed in the tale of invading Martians to cause a near panic.

Another reason for scientists to expect life on Mars had to do with the apparent seasonal color changes on the planet’s surface. This phenomenon led to speculation that conditions might support a bloom of Martian vegetation during the warmer months and cause plant life to become dormant during colder periods.

In July of 1965， Mariner 4， transmitted 22 close-up pictures of Mars. All that was revealed was a surface containing many craters and naturally occurring channels but no evidence of artificial canals or flowing water. Finally， in July and September 1976， Viking Landers 1 and 2 touched down on the surface of Mars. The three biology experiments aboard the landers discovered unexpected and enigmatic chemical activity in the Martian soil， but provided no clear evidence for the presence of living microorganisms in the soil near the landing sites. According to mission biologists， Mars is self-sterilizing. They believe the combination of solar ultraviolet radiation that saturates the surface， the extreme dryness of the soil and the oxidizing nature of the soil chemistry prevent the formation of living organisms in the Martian soil. The question of life on Mars at some time in the distant past remains open.

Mars has two moons， Phobos and Deimos， which are small and irregularly shaped. These may be captured asteroids， similar to 5261 Eureka， a Martian Trojan asteroid. Mars can be seen from Earth with the naked eye. Its apparent magnitude reaches ?2.91，a brightness surpassed only by Venus， the Moon， and the Sun， although most of the time Jupiter will appear brighter to the naked eye than Mars. Mars has an average opposition distance of 78 million km but can come as close as 55.7 million km during a close approach， such as occurred in 2003.

Mars is currently host to three functional orbiting spacecraft： Mars Odyssey， Mars Express， and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. On the surface are the two Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity) and several inert landers and rovers， both successful and unsuccessful. The Phoenix lander completed its mission on the surface in 2008. Observations by NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor show evidence that parts of the southern polar ice cap have been receding.

托福閱讀背景知識(shí)需要大家在日常備考的過程中多積累，多練習(xí)。熟記涉及到的詞匯及句型，了解其考試出題點(diǎn)，盡量減少在托?？紙?chǎng)上的思考時(shí)間。

以上就是小編為大家整理的托福閱讀背景知識(shí)之火星的那些事兒，大家在備考時(shí)多積累這些知識(shí)，不但可以提高大家的托福閱讀做題正確率，同時(shí)對(duì)于你的拓展知識(shí)儲(chǔ)備都是非常不錯(cuò)的。最后，小編預(yù)祝大家托?？荚嚹苋〉美硐氲某煽?jī)。

在托福閱讀備考過程中，詞匯題是閱讀題中必考的一個(gè)部分，而想要成功答對(duì)所有詞匯題，并非僅從詞匯量一個(gè)方面入手就可以。那么，在以下方面，我們就為大家?guī)硪恍┕俜秸骖}Official中的經(jīng)典詞匯題，大家不妨來練習(xí)一下吧。

Paragraph 2: Stories (myths) may then grow up around a ritual. Frequently the myths include representatives of those supernatural forces that the rites celebrate or hope to influence. Performers may wear costumes and masks to represent the mythical characters or supernatural forces in the rituals or in accompanying celebrations. As a person becomes more sophisticated, its conceptions of supernatural forces and causal relationships may change. As a result, it may abandon or modify some rites. But the myths that have grown up around the rites may continue as part of the group’s oral tradition and may even come to be acted out under conditions divorced from these rites. When this occurs, the first step has been taken toward theater as an autonomous activity, and thereafter entertainment and aesthetic values may gradually replace the former mystical and socially efficacious concerns. 【官方真題Official1- The Origins of Theater】

6. The word “autonomous” in the passage is closest in meaning to

○artistic

○important

○independent

○established

答案：(3)