TEXT D A summary of the physical
and chemical nature of life must begin; not on the Earth, but in the Sun; in
fact, at the Sun’s very center. It’s here that is to be found the source of the
energy that the Sun constantly pours out into space as light and heat. This
energy is liberated at the center of the San us billions upon billions of nuclei
hydrogen atoms collide with each other and fuse together to form nuclei of
helium, and, in doing so, release some of the energy that is stored in the
nuclei of atoms. The output of light and heat of the Sun requires that some 600
million tons of hydrogen be converted into helium in the Sun every second. This
the Sun has been doing for several thousands of millions of years.
The nuclear energy is released at the Sun’s center as high - energy gamma
radiation, a form of electro- magnetic radiation like light and radio waves only
of very much shorter wavelength. This gamma radiation is absorbed by atoms
inside the Sun, to be reemitted at slightly longer wavelengths. This radiation,
in its turn, is absorbed and reemitted. At the energy filters through the layers
of the solar interior, it passes through the X- ray part of the spectrum,
eventually becoming light. At this stage, it has reached what we call the solar
surface, and can escape into space, without being absorbed Farther by solar
atoms. A very small fraction of the Sun’s light and heat is emitted in such
directions that, after passing unhindered through interplanetary space, it hits
the Earth. A simple magnifying glass, focusing the Sun’s rays,
can scoarch, a piece of wood or set a scrap of paper on fire. Solar radiation
can also be concentrated on a much larger scale. It can burn a hole through
thick steel plate, for example, or simulate the thermal shock of a nuclear
blast. It can, that is, with the help of a super reflector of the sort that has
been set up by French scientists high in the Pyroness. The world’s largest solar
furnace is a complex of nearly 20,000 mirrors. It can concentrate enough
sunlight to create’temperatures in excess of 6000 degrees Fahrenheit.
The furnace’s appearance is as spectacular as its power. Its glittering
eight - story - high reflector towers over very old houses. Anchored against a
concrete office and laboratory building, the huge reflector consists of nearly
9000 separate mirrors. For the furnace to operate, these small mirrors must be
adjusted so that their light will meet exactly at a focal point 59 feet in front
of the giant reflector. Which sentence proves that setting the giant reflector is a delicate operation
A.The first sentence in the last paragraph. B.The second sentence in the last paragraph. C.The last sentence in the last paragraph. D.The last sentence in the third paragraph.