Diamonds are almost impos-
sible to detect directly because they
are so rare:very rich kimberlite Linepipes, the routes through which (5)diamonds rise, may contain only
three carats of diamonds per ton
of kimberlite.Kimberlite begins as
magma in Earth’s mantle (the layer
between the crust and the core).As (10)the magma smashes through layers
of rock, it rips out debris, creating
a mix of liquid and solid material.
Some of the solid material it brings
up may come from a so-called (15)diamond-stability field, where condi-
tions of pressure and temperature
are conducive to the formation of
diamonds.If diamonds are to sur-
vive, though, they must shoot toward (20)Earth’s surface quickly.Otherwise,
they revert to graphite or burn.
Explorers seeking diamonds look
for specks of “indicator minerals”
peculiar to the mantle but carried up (25)in greater quantities than diamonds
and eroded out of kimberlite pipes
into the surrounding land.The stan-
dard ones are garnets, chromites,
and ilmenites.One can spend years (30)searching for indicators and tracing
them back to the pipes that are their
source; however, 90 percent of
kimberlite pipes found this way are
barren of diamonds, and the rest (35)are usually too sparse to mine.
In the 1970’s the process of
locating profitable pipes was refined
by focusing on the subtle differ-
ences between the chemical (40)signatures of indicator minerals
found in diamond-rich pipes as
opposed to those found in barren贫瘠的、荒芜的
pipes.For example, G10 garnets石榴石,
a type of garnet typically found in (45)diamond-rich pipes, are lower in
calcium and higher in chrome铬than
garnets from barren pipes.Geo-
chemists John Gurney showed that
garnets with this composition were (50)formed only in the diamond-stability
field; more commonly found ver-
sions came from elsewhere in the
mantle.Gurney also found that
though ilmenites钛铁矿 did not form in the (55)diamond-stability field, there was a
link useful for prospectors:when
the iron in ilmenite was highly
oxidized, its source pipe rarely
contained any diamonds.He rea- (60)soned that iron took on more or less
oxygen in response to conditions in
the kimberlitic magma itself—mainly
in response to heat and the avail-
able oxygen.When iron became (65)highly oxidized, so did diamonds;
that is, they vaporized into carbon
dioxide.
Q25:
The passage suggests that the presence of G10 garnet in a kimberlite金伯利岩 pipe indicates that
A.the pipe in which the garnet is found has a 90% chance of containing diamonds
B.the levels of calcium and chrome in the pipe are conducive有助的、有益的to diamond formation
C.the pipe passed through a diamond stability field and thus may contain diamonds
D.any diamonds the pipe contains would not have come from the diamond-stability field
E.the pipes temperature was so high that it oxidized any diamonds the pipe might have contained
答案是B，我选C。请问为什么B对、C错？
作者: alicejingli 时间: 2011-4-7 06:40
For example, G10 garnets,
a type of garnet typically found in
(45)diamond-rich pipes, are lower in
calcium and higher in chromethan
garnets from barren pipes.Geo-
chemists John Gurney showed that
garnets with this composition were
(50)formed only in the diamond-stability
field
举这个例子的作用看前一句：In the 1970’s the process of
locating profitable pipes was refined
by focusing on the subtle differ-
ences between the chemical
(40)signatures of indicator minerals
found in diamond-rich pipes as
opposed to those found in barren pipes.
“opposed”说明了这里作者的态度有了转变，这样看起来，c就有点问题了吧？
另外，看后一句，“Geo-
chemists John Gurney showed that
garnets with this composition were
(50)formed only in the diamond-stability
field”
完全ETS在忽悠你啊！！！
这句话的意思其实是承例子前一句的：有一种新的方法，这种新的方法就是分辨不同的indicator minerals,来找到Diamond
