59．The main threats to the wildlife and the environment are the following EXCEPT ________.

A．population growth　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B．tourist development　

C．bamboo’s massive death because of bad weather　　 D．the overuse of resources

58．Bexell is devoted to________ in Sichuan Province.

A．protecting giant pandas　　 　　　　　 B．environment-protection education

C．research on people’s lives　 　　　　　　 D．research on the environment after earthquakes

57．What is the best title for the article?

A．Hibernation Study for Space Travel　 　　　　　 B．Welcome to Our Space Travel

C．To Hibernate, to Live Longer　 　　　　　　　 D．Welcome to Milk Way

E

Before the earthquake in China’s Sichuan Province, 38-year-old Sarah Bexell was working to develop a new environmental consciousness(意识) among Chinese people and to encourage them to protect wildlife and habitat-in particular, that of the giant panda.

Bexell, an American who is the director of conservation education at the Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding. Bexell has spent a lot of time teaching young people the value of protecting the environment.

“The younger generation in China can afford to care,” Bexell said before the earthquake. “They’re not starving. Thay have food, good jobs, and access to education.”

Now,　 Bexell worries about the people she has been working with and who are up in the mountains. She doesn’t know whether they and their families are safe. And she knows the work to which she is devoted has become more urgent during the immediate crisis.

Bexell and her Chinese colleagues have been trying to spread the message that the tourist boom, population growth, and pillaging (掠夺) of resources form terrible threats to the environment.

There are stories of pandas wandering out of the forest and into villages. This is a troubling sign for what should be a rare species.

To make matters worse, there are fears that with the earthquake and landslides ,bamboo could massively die off. That’s the main food source for the giant pandas, whose habitat was already damaged.

In April, Bexell took Block way up a twisting mountain road into the Longxi-Hongkou National Nature Reserve. The reserve was set up in 1997 to protect the giant panda and its habitat. It was very near the epicenter(震中) of the earthquake, so this area suffered severe damage.

56．The first use of the hibernation technology ________ the six-person human Outer Planets Exploration Mission to jupiter’s moon Callisto.

A．must he　　　 B．has been planned for　　 C．is certain to be　　 D．may be

55．There are ________ major challenges facing scientists who study hibernation.

A．two　 　　　 B．three　 　　　　　　 C．four　 　　　　 D．five

54．According to the article, the hibernation research ________.

A．is just an idea　 　　　　　　　　　　　　 B．is always a science fiction

C．has already finished successfully　 　　　　　　 D．has made some progress

53．Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Space is dangerous only because of meteors.

B．Explorers in space have to avoid the damage from radiation

C．We have got effective ways to treat illnesses caused by radiation.

D．The atmosphere doesn’t screen off radiation

D

Have you ever dreamed of visiting a planet in the Milk Way (银河系)？While the trip sounds exciting, it would take years and years to reach your destination. So in the future, bedtime for astronauts may be more than a few hours of regular shut-eye. They would have to sleep for years.

European researchers are now conducting hibernation(冬眠) experiments. The study may help them understand whether humans could ever sleep through the years it would take for a　 spaceflight to distant planets. “If there was an effective technology, it could make deep-space travel a reality,” said Mark Ayre of the European Space Agency last month.

What seems like science fiction is not completely unlikely. Researchers have been able to use chemicals to put living cells into a sleep-like state. They have now moved on to small, non-hibernating mammals like rats.

A major challenge is the fact that cells can be very simple systems, whereas body organs are far more complex. “It’s like moving from a simple Apple computer to a supercomputer,” said Marco Biggiogera, a hibernation researcher at Italy’s University of Pavia. Just like bears and frogs, the hibernation of human beings would cause a person’s metabolism (新陈代谢) to lower so they would need less energy.

Medical research, however, is just half of a spaceflight hibernation system. There is the challenge of designing a suitable protective shelter(栖身所). Such a shelter would provide the proper environment for hibernation, such as the proper temperature It would also have to monitor (监控) life functions and serve the physiological needs of the hibernator.

According to Ayre, the six-person human Outer Planets Exploration Mission to jupiter’s moon (木星的卫星) Callisto, could be an opportunity to use human hibernation. The mission aims to send six humans on a five-year flight to Callisto, where they will spend 30 days, in 2045.

52．It can be inferred from the passage that________

A．the Apollo mission was very successful

B．the protection from space radiation is no easy job

C．astronauts may possibly have deformed children or grandchildren

D．radiation is not a threat to well-protected space explorers

51．The harm radiation that has been done to the Apollo crew members ________

A．is insignificant　 B．is enormous　 C．seems overestimated　 D．remains unknown

50．We learn from the passage that ________

A．exposure to even tiny amounts of radiation is fatal

B．the effect of exposure to radiation is slow in coming

C．radiation is avoidable in space exploration

D．astronauts in spacesuits needn’t worry about radiation damage