Astronomers have captured(捕获) the first direct image of a pl

what is the color of the universe? astronomers did not answer this question until two months ago. this was when two american astronomers reported on their study of all the light in the universe. they said that the universe would appear to the human eye to be a light greenish color, called turquoise(青绿色). karl glazebrook and ivan baldry of johns hopkins university in baltimore, maryland, reported their findings in january. they presented research at a meeting of the american astronomical society. they said that finding the color of the universe was not part of their more serious scientific research. they did it for fun.
however, earlier this month, the scientists admitted to ma king a mistake. they said their finding was much more colorful than it should have been. they now say the light from our universe is closer to white. it is more like a milky or creamy white color.
the scientists gave a nu mber to each of the colors of the different star systems. then they added the numbers together and found the average measurement. the scientists used this average to identify the color of the universe. they said it was a very pretty light green or turquoise color. they called it “cosmic (宇宙的) spectrum (光谱) green.” many newspapers and television stations reported their finding.
other scient ists and color engineers attempted to reproduce the result. mark fairchild of the rochester institute of technology in new york was the first person to identify a mistake. he discovered a mistake in the computer software program used by the johns hopkins scientists.
when the mistake was corrected, the results changed. the new color of the universe is much less colorful. it is very close to white. the scientists apologized for the mistake. they are now working with the rochester institute of technology to produce more images regarding the color of the universe.
48. why did the scientists do the research?
a. they wanted to win a nobel prize. b. it’s required by the ***.
c. they did it just for fun. d. it’s part of their research.
49. we can infer that the passage was probably written in _______.
a. january b. february c. may d. march[来源:学*科*网]
50. according to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
a. none of the researches done by scientists is right.
b. scientists sometimes may make mistakes in their work.
c. the color of the universe is light greenish.
d. mark fairchild apologized for his mistake about the color of universe.

Astronomers (天文学家) say they are on the point of finding planets like Earth orbiting other stars, which is a key step in determining if we are alone in the universe.
A top NASA official and other leading scientists say that within four or five years they should discover the first Earth-like planet where life could develop, or may have already. A planet close to the size of Earth could even be found sometime this year.
At the annual American Astronomical Society conference this week, each discovery involving so-called “exoplanets” —those outside our solar system —pointed to the same conclusion：Quiet planets like Earth where life could develop probably are plentiful.
NASA’s Dew Kepler telescope and a lot of new research from the suddenly hot and competitive exoplanet field caused noticeable buzz at the meeting．Scientists are talking abou t being at “an incredible special place in history” and closer to answering the question. “Are we alone? For the first time, there’s an optimism that sometime in our lifetimes we’re going to get to the bottom of that,” said Simon Worden，an astronomer who heads NASA’s Ames Research Center. “If I were a betting man, which I am, I would bet we’re not alone.”
“These are big questions that reflect upon the meaning of the human race in the universe,” the director of the Vatican Observatory, the Rev. Jose Funes, said Wednesday in an interview at this week’s conference.
Worden told The Associated Press: “I would certainly expect in the next four or five years we’d have an Earth-sized planet in the habitable (可居住的) zone.”
What is very important in determining if we are alone in the unive rse?
A. Finding an Earth-like planet. B. Orbiting other stars.
C. Developing new telescopes. D. Finding more exoplanets.
What’s an exoplanet?
A. It’s a planet like Earth. B. It’s a planet outside our solar system.
C. It’s a planet orbiting the sun. D. It’s a planet where life have developed.
The underlined phrase “get to the bottom of” probably means “__________”.
A. understand fully B. make full use of
C. search for D. do more research on
From the passage we can learn that __________.
A. an Earth-like planet has been f ound
B. it’s been proved we are not alone in the universe
C. Jose Funes has found the meaning of the human race in the universe
D. the discovery of an Earth-like planet could happen in the near future