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