题目内容
NASA is moving ahead with plans to put a long-armed Lander on Mat's' icy north pole to search for clues for water and possible signs of life.
The $386 million Phoenix Mars is planned to touch down in the Martian arctic in 2008. The stationary probe (探测器) will use its robotic arm to dig into the icy land and pick up soil samples to analyze. In 2002, the Mars Odyssey orbiter spotted evidence of ice-rich soil near the arctic surface.
Scientists hope the Phoenix mission will find clues to the geologic history of water on the Red Planet and determine whether microbes (微生物) existed in the ice.
Phoenix will be the first mission of the Mars Scout program, a renewed, low-cost effort to study the Red Planet. "The Phoenix mission explores new territory in the northern plains of Mars similar to the permafrost (永冻土) regions on Earth," Peter Smith said.
True to its name, Phoenix rose from the ashes of previous missions. The Lander for Phoenix was built to fly as part of the 2001 Mars Surveyor program. But the program broke down after the well-known disappearance of the Mars Potar Lander in 1999. The Polar Lander lost contact during a landing attempt near the planet's south pole after its rocket engine shut off too early, causing the spacecraft to fall about 130 feet to almost certain destruction.
The Phoenix probe had been in storage at a Lockheed Martin clean room in Denver before it was reused for its present mission. It will carry science instruments that were designed for the Mars Surveyor program including an improved panoramic (全景的) camera and a digging robotic arm. Phoenix will lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in August 2007 and land on the planet nine months later.
1. The passage mainly tells readers that _______.
A. clues of water will be found in Phoenix
B. the Mars Scout program will be carried out
C. August 2007 will see Phoenix lift off
D. Phoenix will be sent to find clues of water on Mars
2. According to the passage, we know Phoenix will 1and on Mars _______.
A. in August 2008 B. in August 2007
C. in May 2008 D. in September 2008
3. According to the passage, the name "Phoenix" is after the meaning of ________.
A. rebirth B. death C. energy D. hope
4. After Phoenix lands on Mars, we can infer it will firstly ________.
A. find soil samples and send them to the earth
B. look for the icy land to dig for the soil samples
C. take photos and send them to the earth
D. find the remains of the Mars Polar Lander
5. What's the best title for the passage?
A. An adventure to Mars B. The destruction of the Polar Lander
C. A plan for exploring Mars D. Information of Mars
1.D 2.C 3.A 4.B 5.C
The space shuttle Discovery has had a long and busy career. For 27 years, it has worked for NASA, carrying astronauts to space and back on 39 missions. On March 9, 2011, after returning from its final voyage, the world’s most traveled spaceship was retired.
A crowd of shuttle workers, reporters and schoolchildren waited to greet Discovery at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Three minutes before noon, they watched as the shuttle appeared in the sky and made one last touchdown. “For the final time: wheels stop,” Discovery’s commander Steven Lindsey said when the shuttle rolled to a stop.
Discovery’s final trip was to the International Space Station (ISS), a giant space lab in the sky. Discovery’s crew took care of the last U.S. construction project at ISS. They delivered 10 tons of supplies for the ISS. The six-person crew also dropped off an unusual companion for ISS’s researchers: a human-like robot named Robonaut 2. Astronauts will assemble（组装）R2 at the ISS over several months.
Now, NASA is winding down its shuttle programme. NASA is to begin work on new spaceships that can travel longer distances. Discovery’s retirement is the first of three. Endeavor, another shuttle, is scheduled to make its final voyage soon. And Atlantis’s last trip is planned for the end of June.
Museums across the country have requested the retired shuttles. The Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, in Washington, D.C., was the lucky recipient（接收者）of Discovery. The museum’s collection contains hundreds of NASA artifacts.
Where will the other shuttles go? You’ll have to wait to find out. NASA will announce its decision on April 12, the 30th anniversary of the first space shuttle launching. Stay tuned!
【小题1】As part of the final mission, Discovery’s crew___________.
| A．carried researches to space |
| B．assembled the Robonaut 2 at the ISS |
| C．brought supplies to the ISS |
| D．went on a spacewalk |
| A．improving | B．ending | C．changing | D．testing |
| A．Discovery completed 39 missions during its two decades of space travel. |
| B．The ISS is a big project and six researchers live on the station. |
| C．American space exploration will focus on longer missions. |
| D．The shuttles Endeavor and Atlantis will make their last missions next month. |
| A．people’s opinions of Discovery’s retirement |
| B．the government’s concern about the shuttles’ future |
| C．the shuttles’ final homes after retirement |
| D．museums’ great interest in the retired shuttles |
The US space agency NASA is looking for people to go to Mars, and stay there. This attractive career is for people who want a huge change of scenery and planet. The project is called the Hundred Years Starship, which aims to colonize (开拓殖民地) other lands such as the red planet Mars.
Settlers would travel to the red planet and live there forever. NASA says it would be too expensive to bring humans back to Earth. The space agency can afford, however, to send supplies to the astronaut pioneers from Earth. Astronauts would be landed on the planet's surface and would never be able to return home due to the cost.
NASA has started the project with $1.6 million, and hopes to attract investment from space-living billionaires. Google co-founder Larry Page told NASA he would be interested if the cost of a one-way ticket can go down from $10 billion to $2 billion.
The journey to Mars could take 4 months. Setting on the red planet would be extremely dangerous, especially given the freezing temperatures there. The thin atmosphere would be another problem as it is mostly carbon dioxide, so oxygen supplies are a must. A director in NASA said that he believed the trip might start with visiting Mars's moons first. He claimed that humans could be on Mars's moons by 2030.
Many scientists think colonizing space is absolutely necessary. Steven Hawking believes we must move to other planets to survive as a species. He said: “Once we spread out into space and establish independent colonies, our future should be safe.” Scientists Dirk' Schulze-Makuch and Paul Davies also call it a “desirable goal”, though there surely are huge risks to explore new lands.
【小题1】Which of the following is TRUE about the Hundred Years Starship?
| A．It has cost NASA around $10 billion. |
| B．It is expected to be conducted on Mars in 2030. |
| C．It aims to explore new lands in the universe. |
| D．It is a project first raise by Steven Hawking. |
| A．used to be an astronaut | B．is no longer rich now |
| C．is a fan of space travel | D．is a generous man |
| A．One-way trip to Mars |
| B．Mars's another moon is found. |
| C．Human landing on Mars. |
| D．NASA's first cooperation with Google. |