【题目】Humans may not have landed on Mars (火星) just yet, but that isnt stopping a European company from devising a plan to send four people to the Red Planet within the next few years. This project, called Mars One, aims to send a small group of people to Mars in 2022 and eventually establish a permanent colony on the planet.

“Everything we need to go to Mars exists,” said Mars One co-founder Bas Lansdorp in March 2014. “We have the rockets to send people to Mars, the equipment to land on Mars, the robots to prepare the settlement for humans. For a one-way mission, all the technology exists.” Yet the four astronauts chosen for the trip will be stuck on Mars—forever. And despite Mars Ones thorough planning, there are a number of challenges that may prevent the mission from ever taking place. The biggest road block could be the mission's huge cost ($6 billion). However, Lansdorp is confident that Mars One will be able to fund the project by selling the broadcast rights for the mission and subsequent experiences living on the planet.

Those broadcast rights will also play a part in helping to select the people who will be sent to Mars. Lansdorp said the company will hold a selection process similar to a reality show. Lansdorp is expecting at least 1 million applications from people around the world. In addition to the cost, several other potential problems could inhibit (阻止) the mission to Mars.

“Its even more challenging to send people there with life support, with food, with air, with all the other things like books, entertainment, means of communication and of providing for their own resources for a long stay on Mars,” said Adam Baker, senior lecturer in space engineering at Kingston University in London. “The size of the rockets youd need to do this would be absolutely colossal.

【1】According to Project Mars One, humans could send four people to Mars within the next ________years.

A.seven B.eight C.ten D.six

【2】According to Bas Lansdorp, which of the following is NOT TRUE?

A.Robots are prepared for the settlement for humans.

B.He could not come up with the fund for Mars One.

C.We humans have the rockets to send people to Mars.

D.The equipment is ready for humans to land on Mars.

【3】The word “colossal” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to ___________.

A.very large B.very small

C.medium D.average

【4】Which of the following is an appropriate title for this passage?

A.Ready for a Round Trip to Mars

B.Ready for a Short Visit to Mars

C.Ready for a One-way Trip to Mars

D.Ready for a Walk on Mars

【题目】Frederick M. Hess is the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, which is a nonprofit organization that conducts research on many public issues. He says that a long summer vacation doesnt make sense in todays world.

Can American students afford to take a summer vacation? In a summer vacation, millions of kids spend valuable time sending messages, watching TV, playing video games and doing shopping in the mall. They will also be putting their academic futures at risk.

Summer vacation once made sense in the past when you didnt need an education to get a good job. But now things have changed. For todays students, academic skills are important to studentsfuture success, but such skills are affected in the summertime. Many nations dont give kids an American-style summer vacation. They offer no more than seven consecutive(连续的) weeks of vacation. Most American school districts offer up to thirteen weeks. To compete in the global marketplace, Americans must be prepared to go up against international competitors.

Summer vacation also causes challenges for todays families. In the 1960s, more than 60% of families had a stay-at-home Mom. Now two-thirds of American children live in households where every adult works. For these families, summer vacation can be more burden than break. Someone must watch the kids.

But the biggest problem may be how summer vacation hurts academic achievement. Researchers have found that disadvantaged students lose significant ground in the summertime.

A longer school year does not have to be an invitation to hard boring work. Rather, it should allow time-pressed teachers to conduct richer and more imaginative lessons. Schools would have more time to devote to athletics, languages, music and the arts. Summer vacation can be a grand thing. But in the 21st century, it may also be outdated.

Title: Summer Vacation

Theme

A long summer vacation isn’t 【1】 in today’s world.

Basic Information

【2】 length

13 weeks in most American schools

Students’ 【3】

·Sending messages and watching TV

·Playing video games

·Doing shopping

Disadvantages

· 【4】 student’s academic skills and putting academic futures at risk.

·Being a 【5】 to families for they have to watch kids.

·Hurting students’ academic achievement and resulting in 【6】 significant ground.

Suggestion

A longer school year does not have to 【7】 to hard boring work. Richer and more imaginative lessons should be 【8】 , such as athletics, languages, music and the arts.

【9】

Though being a ground thing, summer vacation might be out of

【10】 in the 21st century.

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