Question

 Scientists say there are more than three hundred thousand small objects or pieces of debris (碎片) that are larger than one centimeter in orbit round the earth. Any one of these could cause damage to a spacecraft. This is because orbital debris travels very fast― about thirtytwo thou?sand kilometers an hour or more. Even a very small object can be a major threat.

  Space debris made horrible news on March 20th when a part of an old rocket motor about ten centimeters in size threatened the International Space Station (ISS) . NASA warned the three astronauts inside before the object was to reach the area of the station. The three astronauts quickly moved into the Soyuz emergency escape vehicle as a safety measure. They spent about 11 tense minutes in the capsule. Millions of people were watching the news in front of the televi?sion.

  A more costly incident took place on February 10th. An old Russian military satellite and a United States communications satellite crashed into each other eight hundred kilometers above Siberia in Russia. The collision of the two satellites was the first of its kind in over fifty years of space travel. It spread hundreds of pieces of debris that are larger than one centimeter. Russia launched the Kosmos satellite in1993. But it had not operated for ten years. It was one of hundreds of inactive satellites that remain in orbit. The American Iridium 33 satellite was used for telephone communications. It was owned by Iridium Satellite,a company based in Bethesda,Maryland. The collision was really a loss to the company. But it quickly used another satel?lite as a substitute of Iridium 33 so the collision caused little influence to its service.

  But some even bigger debriscausing events take place sometimes. For example in January,2007,one country tested an antisatellite missile by destroying one of its weather satellites. The test broke the satellites apart into at least two thousand eight hundred identifiable pieces. The debris now circles the earth in orbit from two hundred kilometers to over three thousand eight hundred kilometers.

  Currently,there is no treaty to control the spread of space debris.  Scientists have propounded many ways of cleaning up space,such as using nets,giant collecting arms and powerful laser beams that would move or destroy space junk. But for now,these are just ideas. And,as more nations launch spacecraft,the risk of debris strikes will only grow.

(   ) 5. What makes space debris so destructive?

   A. Its great population. B. Its particular shape.

   C. Its travel speed. D. Its inside structure.

(   ) 6. From the second paragraph we can know that         .

   A. the old rocket motor caused great damage to ISS on March 20th

   B. the news that the old rocker motor made drew great attention from the world

   C. the three astronauts lost their lives in the collision on March 20th

   D. the earth couldn't get in touch with the three astronauts on March 20th

(   ) 7. The last two paragraphs imply that         ,

   A. few rules about protecting the environment of space are being carried out

   B. the development of science will make space a more dangerous place

   C. many countries have agreed on the idea of removing space debris together

   D. using giant collecting arms is the best way of treating space debris

(   ) 8. The underlined word "propounded" in the last paragraph means        .

   A. brought up   B. tried out   C. heard of   D. brought in

Answer 1

5-8 CBAA

B篇：随着越来越多的国家开发宇宙，宇宙中碎片也随之增加，它们给航天器造成了很大的威胁。

5. C细节理解题。根据第一段"This is be?cause orbital debris travels very fast―about thirtytwo thousand kilometers an hour or more. Even a very small object can be a major threat."可知正确答案。

6. B细节理解题。由第二段内容可知旧火箭马达只是威胁到了国际空间站，而没有撞到，故A错误；由本段"Space debris made horrible news on March 20th”及"Millions of people were watching the news in front of the televi?sion."可知B正确；由"The three astronauts quickly moved into the Soyuz emergency es?cape vehicle as a safety measure. They spent about11 tense minutes in the capsule."可知，三名宇航员只是在航天舱里度过了紧张的

11分钟,并没有失去生命，故c错误;由本段"NASA warned the three astronauts inside be?fore the object was to reach the area of the sta?tion." 可知D错误。

7. A推理判断题。由第四段内容及第五段的"Currently,there is no treaty to control the spread of space debris."可知，在宇宙环境的保护上没有正在执行的条例，故A正确；由第四段内容可知一些国家在进行科学实验时，造成了很大的宇宙污染，并不能说这就是科学的发展导致的后果,故B错误;这两段内容并没有表明很多国家已经达成一致，一起清除太空碎片，故C错误；由第五段内容可知，清理太空的方法还只是理论上的，故D 错误。

8. A词义猜测题。由画线词后的"But for now,these are just ideas."可知，这些方法并没有付诸实践，因此此处应该是表示科学家们提出了这些方法，而不是试验、听说或引进了这些方法。