Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes) 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)
【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。
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。
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 all。
