At the peak of the cycle,violent outbursts calledcoronal mass ejections(日冕物质抛射) occur in the Sun’s atmosphere,throwing out great quantities of electrically-charged matter. “A coronal mass ejection can carry a billion tons of solar material into space at over a million kilometres per hour. Such events can expose astronauts to a deadly amount,can disable satellites,cause power failures on Earth and disturb communications,” Professor Harrison added. The risk is greatest during a solar maximum when there is the greatest number of sunspots.

　　Next week in America,NASA is scheduled to launch a satellite for monitoring solar activity called the Solar Dynamics Observatory(SDO),which will take images of the Sun that are 10 times clearer than the most advanced televisions available.

　　The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory helped to make the high-tech cameras that will capture images of thesolar flares(太阳耀斑) and explosions as they occur.

　　Professor Richard Holdaway,the lab’s director,said that the SDO should be able to provide early warning of a solar flare or explosion big enough to affect satellite communications on Earth. “If we have advance warning,we’ll be able to reduce the damage. What you don’t want is things switching off for a week with no idea of what’s caused the problem,” he said.

　　1. The phrase “communications blackout” in Paragraph 1 most probably refers to　during the 2016 Olympics.　

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