Question

Some people asked me how I could suggest the expenses of billions of dollars for a voyage to Mars, at a time when many children on this Earth are starving to death. I know that they do not expect an answer such as “ Oh, I did not know that there are children dying from hunger, but from now on I will stop any kind of space research until mankind has solved that problem! ”In fact, I have known of this long before.

But I firmly believe that by working for the space program we can make some contributions to the relief and eventual solution of such serious problems as poverty and hunger on the Earth. Two basic factors causing the poverty and hunger problems are the production of food and the distribution (分布) of food. In fact, large areas of land could be used far better if efficient methods of farming, fertilizer use, weather forecasting, field selection, planting, crop surveys, harvest planning and so on were applied. The best tool for the improvement of all these methods undoubtedly, is the artificial Earth satellite. Circling the globe at a high altitude, it can screen wide areas of land within a short time; it can observe and measure a large variety of factors indicating the status and condition of crops, soil, droughts, rainfall, snow cover, etc.

Besides, in the modern society, there is a continuing great need for new basic knowledge in the science if we wish to improve the conditions of human life on the Earth. We need more knowledge in physics and chemistry, in biology and physiology, and particularly in medicine to cope with all these problems which threaten man’s life: hunger, disease, overpopulation, pollution of water and the environment. In a way, the space age not only holds out a mirror in which we can see ourselves, it also provides us with the technologies.

1.The passage is mainly discussing about .

A. whether the children’s dying from hunger is the major problem

B. whether it is worth spending much money on the space research

C. whether the author’s suggestion has been taken into serious consideration

D. whether there is an effective way to avoid the global starvation

2.According to the author, what plays an important part in dealing with poverty and hunger?

A. Government support. B. Methods of farming.

C. Food supply. D. Modern technology.

3.The second paragraph is mainly developed by .

A. making comparison B. giving explanation

C. offering advice D. giving examples

4.From the last paragraph, we can infer that .

A. technologies can help to improve our living quality

B. more basic knowledge is required to be learned

C. we can live a more peaceful and happier life

D. there are different views on the space age

Answer 1