Oceanographyhasbeendefinedas“Theapplicationofallsciencestothestudyofthesea”.
Beforethenineteencentury,scientistswithaninterestintheseawerefewandfarbetween.CertainlyNewtonconsideredsometheoreticalaspectsofitinhiswritings,buthewasreluctanttogotoseatofurtherhiswork.
Formostpeopletheseawasremote,andwiththeexceptionofearlyintercontinentaltravelersorotherswhoearnedalivingfromthesea,therewaslittlereasontoaskmanyquestionsaboutit,letalonetoaskwhatlaybeneaththesurface.Thefirsttimethatquestion“Whatisatthebottomoftheoceans?”hadtobeansweredwithanycommercialconsequencewaswhenthelayingofatelegraphcablefromEuropetoAmericawasproposed.Thehadtoknowthedepthprofile(起伏形状)oftheroutetoestimatethelengthofcablethathadtobemanufactured.mote,andwiththeexceptionofearlyintercontinentaltravelersorotherswhoearnedalivingfromthesea,therewaslittlereasontoaskmanyquestionsaboutit,letalonetoaskwhatlaybeneaththesurface.Thefirsttimethatquestion“Whatisatthebottomoftheoceans?”hadtobeansweredwithanycommercialconsequencewaswhenthelayingofatelegraphcablefromEuropetoAmericawasproposed.Theengineershadtoknowthedepthprofile(起伏形状)oftheroutetoestimatethelengthofcablethathadtobemanufactured.
ItwastoMauryoftheUSNavythattheAtlanticTelegraphCompanyturned,in1853,forinformationonthismatter.Inthe1840s,Mauryhadbeenresponsibleforencouragingvoyagesduringwhichsoundings(测身)weretakentoinvestigatethedepthsoftheNorthAtlanticandPacificOceans.Later,someofhisfindingsarousedmuchpopularinterestinhisbookThePhysicalGeographyoftheSea.
Thecablewaslaid,butnotuntil1866wastheconnectionmadepermanentandreliable.Attheearlyattempts,thecablefailedandwhenitwastakenoutforrepairsitwasfoundtobecoveredinlivinggrowths,afactwhichdefiedcontemporaryscientificopinionthattherewasnolifeinthedeeperpartsofthesea.
Withinafewyearsoceanographywasunderway.In1872Thomsonledascientificexpedition(考察),whichlastedforfouryearsandbroughthomethousandsofsamplesfromthesea.Theirclassificationandanalysisoccupiedscientistsforyearsandledtoafive-volumereport,thelastvolumebeingpublishedin1895.
练习题：
Choosecorrectanswerstothequestion:
1.TheproposaltolayatelegraphcablefromEuropetoAmericamadeoceanographicstudiestakeon______.
2.Itwas______thataskedMauryforhelpinoceanographicstudies.
B.someearlyintercontinentaltravelers
C.thosewhoearnedalivingfromthesea
D.thecompanywhichproposedtolayanunderseacable
3.TheaimofthevoyagesMaurywasresponsibleforinthe1840swas______.
A.tomakesomesoundingexperimentsintheoceans
B.tocollectsamplesofseaplantsandanimals
C.toestimatethelengthofcablethatwasneeded
D.tomeasurethedepthsofthetwooceans
4.“Defied”inthe5thparagraphprobablymeans“______”.
5.Thispassageismainlyabout______.
A.thebeginningsofoceanography
B.thelayingofthefirstunderseacable
C.theinvestigationofoceandepths
D.theearlyintercontinentalcommunications
1.[C]亊实判断题。文章第3段第2句提到，这个问題的解答是具有商业结果的。C中的business为原文中commercial同义改写，故选C。
2.[D]细节题。文章第4段首句为一个强调句，强调的是宾语。题干也是一个强调句型，但强调的是主语。如果把原文的强调句型改为一般的句型，就知道向Maury寻求帮助的是theAtlanticTelegraphCompany.故答案为D。A是Maury的工作单位，可以排除;原文只提到对于一些早期的穿越洲际的旅行家和依靠海洋维持生计的人，海洋并不遥远，故B、C与题意不符。
3.[D]亊实判断题。文章第4段提到，19世纪40年代，Maury负责推动进行测深工作的海上航行，以此来探测北大西洋与太平洋的深度.故选D。
4.[C]词义推断题。当时的科学观点是海洋较深的地方不存在生命，而事实上在电缆表面发现了活的生物.由此可知这一亊实对当时的科学观点提出质疑，故答案为C。
5.[A]主旨题。通读全文可知，oceanography(海洋学)是全文的中心词，本文主要讲述海洋学是如何起步的，故答案为A。B、C只表述了原文中个別细节，并非主题;D跟全文无关。
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