2009年英语六级考前模拟冲刺试题（卷4）速读
Space
Our Future in Space: It Has Already Begun!
We are all space travelers. But we’ve stayed close to home until now. One day, we may leave our “mothership” Earth to make our home among the stars。
A giant, spherical “spaceship”， about 8,000 miles in diameter, is speeding through the solar system right now. It is cruising at an incredible 66,600 miles per hour。
It’s not a giant, Star Wars mothership. It’s spaceship Earth, the home of over four billion people. This watercoated spaceship has been traveling through the universe for about five billion years. Only within the past 25 years, however, have some of its passengers broken free of Earth’s gravity。
But 25 years from now, many people, including you, might live in an orbiting space station 200 miles above the Earth。
Space Cities
Scientists have already designed special space factories. These factories will take advantage of the absence of gravity (zero gravity) to produce everything from life-saving drugs to perfect ball bearings。
Other scientists have designed space colonies, complete with farms, schools, and artificial day and night. Hundreds, or even thousands, of people will live, work, play—even go to school, far above the Earth。
Our conquest of space, of course, has already begun. We have explored part of the Moon, sent robot spaceships onto the surface of Venus and Mars, and aimed space probes past the planets of Jupiter and Saturn。
Last June, one robot ship, Pioneer 10, left our solar system forever. And astronauts from both the Soviet Union and the United States have lived in space stations。
The conquest of space, without question, is one of the greatest adventures human beings have ever set out on. But it may be more than a great adventure. Some scientists think the conquest of space may be a necessity for survival of the human species。
We are tearing up more and more of the Earth to get raw materials for industry. And we are polluting the air and water as we manufacture products that we need or want. Almost everything that seems to make our lives more comfortable, and from electricity to pesticides, uses up or alters a piece of our planet’s natural environment。
Why Go into Space?
Yet our solar system is full of resources. The moon is chockfull of valuable metals. So are the asteroids, the small, rocky, planet-like bodies orbiting the sun most of them between Mars and Jupiter. These metals, if we can get them, could be used to build factories and space stations. Also, in space, there is
to filter out the sun’s energy. There is plenty of solar energy to be turned into electricity for manufacturing, for creating comfortable living conditions。Getting away from Earth has other advantages, too. Modern industry uses many kinds of metal alloys (mixtures of metal that are better for certain purposes than pure metals). Yet some metal alloys either can’t be made or are very expensive to make on Earth because of gravity. For instance, certain metals don’t mix well on Earth. But in zero gravity, molten (hot, liquid) metals mix more evenly. This is because there is no gravity to pull the heavier metals down, while the lighter ones float on top。
From space, too, we can look down on the Earth and study the atmosphere, its weather, and the effects of air pollution。
And because there is no strong gravity to break free from, our future homes away from Earth will be convenient starting points for travel to distant planets。
But, while going into space might solve some problems, outer space can also be a dangerous place. For example, in outer space, we have to protect ourselves from the dangers of
and cosmic rays. Ultraviolet light from the sun can give us bad sunburns right here on Earth. Yet, Earth’s atmosphere screens out most of that harmful radiation. Cosmic rays are tiny highenergy particles from outer space. Again, the Earth shields us from most of them。At Home in Space?
But in space, without special protection, we would be exposed to much stronger radiation from
and cosmic rays. Also, in the zero gravity of outer space, our bones will lose calcium and become weaker. This will be more of a problem the longer people stay out in space. Doctors are looking for a way to keep our bones from losing calcium in outer space. And a small spaceship just might “drive you batty” after a while. But even on a short trip in outer space, you might not feel as well as you’d like to. Space travel could make you seasick!Yet, these risks won’t keep people from going into space. Eventually, an Earth-like environment will be built in space. And they will be populated by people with many different interests: medicine, construction, farming, teaching, mining, and so on。
The next hundred years will be filled with other worldly adventures, exciting scientific discoveries, and danger, as humans leave Earth—perhaps forever。
Aging in Space
Suppose a space traveler is moving at a velocity of 186,200 miles per second. For every hour that passes for him, 30 hours pass on Earth. If he travels for a year in this fashion (having accelerated instantaneously) and then turns around and comes back at this speed (having turned around instantaneously)， he will find that while he has seemed to himself to have traveled two years, the men on Earth would claim he had been absent for 30 years。
Suppose the space traveler had left at the age of 30, leaving behind a twin brother also aged 30. When he returned he would be 32, but his stay-at-home twin brother would be 60. That is why the “clock paradox”， is sometimes called the “twin paradox”。
Of course it takes quite a long while to accelerate to a high speed, and a long while to make a turn and head back again, so conditions aren’t quite as clearcut as just described。
1.The giant, spherical spaceship mentioned in the passage is。
［A］the outer space［B］a man-made spaceship
［C］the planet Earth［D］the Star Wars mother-ship
2.Some persons have traveled into outer space after conqueringwithin the past 25 years。
［A］the universe［B］Earth’s gravity
［C］the earth ［D］outer space
3.We have explored or sent robot spaceships to the following space except。
［A］the moon［B］Venus［C］Jupiter［D］Mars
4.Why is the conquest of space more than a great adventure?
［A］Because it is full of challenges for human beings。
［B］Because it may be necessary for human beings to survive。
［C］Because it is the greatest adventure in human history。
［D］Because it is more exciting than any other adventures。
5.The moon and the asteroids are alike with respect to their 。
［A］size and moving ways ［B］comfortable living conditions
［C］rich and valuable metals［D］solar energy
6.Why can’t
scorch our skin on Earth as seriously as it does in space places?［A］Because the Earth’s atmosphere can make
less harmful。［B］Because ultraviolet can’t
at all。［C］Because the Earth is far away from those planets radiating
。［D］Because other space places is near from those planets radiating
。7.In spite of many risks, scientists will finally buildin space suitable for humans to live。
［A］an environment without
［B］a lot of homes
［C］an Earth-like environment
［D］an environment with atmosphere
8.The reason some metal alloys can’t be made on Earth is that the heavier metals ___________together with the lighter ones。
9.In space, there is
to filter out the sun’s energy. There is plenty of solar energy to be turned into_____________ , for creating comfortable living conditions。10.According to the author,__________________ will be caused to a man in gravity-free space。
Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)
【全文翻译】
我们都是太空游客。但是直到如今，我们仍然离家很近。总有一天，我们会离开我们的“母亲船”——地球——在一些星球上安家落户。
现在，一个直径大约8,000英里的巨大球形“宇宙飞船”正飞驰在太阳系中。其巡航速度简直不可思议，每小时达66,600英里。
它不是《星球大战》中的母亲船这样的庞然大物，而是地球这艘太空船，上面载有40亿人。这艘由水覆盖的太空飞船一直在宇宙中遨游了大约50亿年。然而，就在过去的25年里，有一些乘客摆脱了地球的重力。
今后25年，许多人，包括你，可能会生活在一个距离地球200英里的轨道空间站上。
空间城市
科学家们已经设计出特殊的空间工厂。这些工厂将充分利用无重力(零重力状态)来制造从挽救生命的药物到完美的滚珠轴承的任何东西。
其他科学家也设计出拥有农场、学校和人造昼夜的太空居民区。成百上千、甚至成千上万的人将会在这些远离地球的太空居民区生活、工作和玩耍。
当然我们对太空的征服已经开始了。我们已经登上了月球，把机器人宇宙飞船送上了金星和火星，展开了对木星和土星的空间探测。
去年6月，先锋10号机器人飞船飞出了太阳系，苏联和美国的宇航员也居住在了空间站。
毫无疑问，征服太空是人类着手进行的最伟大的历险之一，但它远不止是一个伟大的历险。科学家们认为，征服太空可能是人类生存的需要。
为了获得工业原料，我们对地球造成越来越多的破坏。在生产我们所需或想要的产品时，我们污染了空气和水。几乎所有一切看起来使我们的生活更舒适的东西，从电能到杀虫剂，都部分地消耗或改变了地球的自然环境。
为什么要进入太空？
我们的太阳系资源丰富。月球上储藏着大量的贵重金属，位于火星和木星之间的大多数小行星也如此。这些小行星类似行星，围绕着太阳旋转，体积小、岩石多。如果我们能获得这些金属，可以用它们来制造工厂和空间站。此外，太空中没有能过滤太阳能的空气，可以把丰富的太阳能转变成电能并用于生产，从而创造舒适的生活条件。
远离地球还有其他一些优点。现代工业使用多种金属合金(符合特定目的而比纯金属更好的金属混合物)，但是受地心引力的作用，有些金属合金或者不能在地球上制造，或者价格非常昂贵。例如，某些金属在地球上不能融合。但是，在零重力状态下，熔化的(热的、液态的)金属融合的更均匀，原因是没有使较重金属下沉而较轻金属上浮的重力。
此外，我们可以从太空中俯视地球，研究大气、天气和空气污染带来的影响。
再者，我们未来远离地球的家不存在需要挣脱的强大重力，所以我们去遥远行星的旅游将变得很方便。
虽然进住太空可能会解决一些问题，但是外层空间也可能会是一个危险的地方。例如，在外层空间中，我们必须保护自己免受紫外线和宇宙射线的危险。虽然阳光中的紫外线会使我们遭受严重的日光灼伤，但是地球上的大气却可以遮挡大部分的这种有害辐射。而且，地球还可以保护我们避免遭受大部分来自外层空间的高能微粒这些宇宙射线的伤害。
无拘无束的太空？
如果在太空中没有特殊的保护，我们会暴露在更强的紫外线和宇宙射线的辐射中。同时，在零重力的外层空间，我们的骨头会因为失钙而变得更加脆弱。人们在太空中呆的时间越久，这个问题就越严重。医生们正在研究一种方法，以避免我们骨头中的钙在外层空间丢失。在小宇宙飞船中坐一会可能“让你抓狂”。 在外层空间，即使是短暂的旅行，你也可能感觉不像想象的那样舒服，太空旅行能让你晕船！
然而，这些风险不会阻止人们进入太空。人们最终将会在太空建立起跟地球一样的空间环境，其中居住着许多人，他们有不同的兴趣领域，例如医药、建筑、农业、教学和矿山等等。
未来的百年间将充满历险、令人兴奋的科学发明和危险，人类也将离开地球——可能永远地。
空间的年龄计算
假设一个太空旅行者的速度是每秒186,200英里，那么他每过1小时，就等同于地球上的30小时。如果他以这种方式(及时加速)旅游一年，然后以同样的速度(及时加速)转身返回，他会发现，自己看来好像旅游了两年，但地球上的人声称他已经离开了三十年。
假设这个太空旅行者是在30岁时离开地球的，当时留下了一个年龄30岁的孪生兄弟。当他年满32岁回来的时候，其呆在家里的孪生兄弟却60岁了。这就是为什么“时钟佯谬”有时也被称为“孪生佯谬”的原因。
当然，要加速到一定的高速度需要相当长的一段时间，要掉头并再次转回来也需要很长的一段时间，所以情况并不像描述的那么简单。
【答案解析】
1.【解析】［C］属细节推断题。根据题干的意思，本文中提到的巨大的球形宇宙飞船是指什么？根据本文第一个小标题下的第二段首句“A giant, spherical “spaceship”， about 8,000 miles.。.”和第三段的首句“It’s not a giant, Star Wars mothership. It’s spaceship Earth.。.”，其中的“it”指代的就是“a giant, spherical ‘spaceship’”，由此可以知道C项是正确答案。其它选项虽然在文中均有提及，但都不是该题的正确答案。
2.【解析】［B］属细节推断题。题干中的past 25 years 是关键词，直接定位到第一个小标题下第三段的最后一句话“Only within the past 25 years, ... its passengers broken free of Earth’s gravity”。通过比较可知，该题干是对原句的改写，答案应该是C，可以直接选择。其它选项原文中都有提及，但是与该题均无关，不是正确答案。
3.【解析】［C］属同义转换题，注意本是一种排除性选择题。分析题干，本题考查人类还没有征服或者探索过的空间；或者，根据题支中的四个备选项，可以将该题的答案定位在小标题“Space Cities”下的第三段的最后一句话，“We have explored part of the Moon, sent robot spaceships onto the surface of Venus and Mars, and aimed space probes past the planets of Jupiter and Saturn”，可知C是正确答案。其它选项文中均有提及，都是人类已经征服或者探索过的空间，不是正确答案。
4.【解析】［B］属同义转换题。根据题干中关键词“more than a great adventure”，可以将答案锁定在文章小标题“Space Cities”下的第五段的最后两句话，“... more than a great adventure... may be a necessity for survival of the human species”。其中，第二句是对第一句的解释，而题支B正是 该句的同义互换，所以答案选B项。其它选项在文中均未提及。
5.【解析】［C］属细节推断题。题干中 是“asteroids” 关键词，答案可以锁定在文章小标题“Why Go into Space”之下的第一段的第二、三句话“The moon is chockfull of valuable metals. So are the asteroids.。.”。其中“so”表示前面与前句话的内容相同。题干对这两句话做了综合，并进行了同义互换，经推断可知C是正确答案。答案A文中没有提及，答案B和D均与题干要求不符。
6.【解析】［A］属同义转换题。根据题干中关键词“
”，答案可以锁定在文章小标题“Why Go into Space”下的最后一段的倒数第三、四句话，“Ultraviolet light from the sun can give us bad sunburns right here on Earth. Yet, Earth’s atmosphere screens out most of that harmful radiation”这与选项A的意思一致，所以答案选A项。选项B本身就是错误的，选项C和D在文中均没有提及。7.【解析】［C］属同义转换题。题干中的“risks”是关键词，可以将答案定位在“At Home in Space”这一小节下的第二段的前两句话，“Yet, these risks won’t keep people from going into space. Eventually, an Earthlike environment will be built in space”。题干是对这两句话的综合和同义互换，由此可知选项C是正确答案。其它选项原文均未提及。
8.【解析】do not mix well根据Why Go into Space 中的第二段的第三、四句话，可以得到我们所需要的答案。
9.【解析】electricity for manufacturing根据Why Go into Space 的第一段得出该题目答案。
10.【解析】the losing of calcium根据At Home in Space 第一段第四句话找出题目所需要的答案。也可以写the loss of calcium。
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