Karen lived with her parents in the Karoo Basin of South Africa. The Karoo was famous for plant and animal fossils(化石). Karen’s father was a paleontologist(古生物学家), and Karen enjoyed looking at the dinosaur bones in his office. She hoped to discover her own dinosaur someday.

Every summer, Karen’s father invited paleontologists from around the world to the Karoo. As they hiked through the dry land, he would show them fossil samples(样本) within the layers of sedimentary rock(沉积岩) and ash.

This summer, Karen asked her father if she could go along on the hike. He agreed, but he asked her to stay close by. As they drove to the trail(小径) , Karen’s heart beat quickly with excitement. There were so many places to visit.

The hike was interesting, but Karen was too curious to stay on the trail. Without asking, she ran down into a nearby ravine(峡谷) and looked among the rocks. Then, she heard her father’s voice calling to her. She ran up the side of ravine. Suddenly, she spotted something white and shiny.“Dad!”she shouted excitedly.

Karen’s father stood at the top of the ravine with the other people. They looked worried until Karen pointed to the shiny object. All the paleontologists examined it. They nodded to each other in surprise. It was the skull(骨头) of a dinosaur nobody knew about! The paleontologists took pictures and shook Karen’s hands. Her father smiled, “Karen,” he said. “You are now the youngest paleontologist in the Karoo!”

1.Paleontologists around the world like to visit the Karoo because______.

A. Karoo is famous for its wild life

B. Karoo is rich in plant and animal fossils

C. Paleontologists like the beautiful scenes here

D. Paleontologists need a quiet place to do research

2.What does Karen’s hobby?______.

A. Observing the dinosaur bones B. Going hiking on the mountain trails

C. Collecting shiny objects D. Making discoveries in the dry land

3.The underlined word “spotted”in the fourth paragraph means______.

A. threw B. picked up C. noticed D. covered

4.Which adj. can’t be used to describe the paleontologists’ feelings after they examined the shiny object ?______.

A. Worried B. Happy C. Excited D. Surprised

5.Where was the skull of a dinosaur nobody knew about?______.

A. At the top of the ravine.

B. Inside the layers of sedimentary rock.

C. By the side of the ravine

D. In the dry land of the desert.

6.The best title for the passage is_______.

A. The Discovery of New Dinosaur

B. A Girl of the Karoo Basin

C. An Exciting Mountain Trip

D. A Young “Paleontologist”

Will there be gardens in space?

Astronauts on board the International Space Station(ISS) recently made history by taking bites of some red romaine lettuce(生菜). They became the first humans to eat food that was grown completely in space.

The lettuce was planted on the ISS in a small greenhouse called “Veggie”, which uses LED lights to help plants grow in space.

First, the astronauts cleaned the lettuce with special sanitizing wipes(消毒纸巾) and then ate it with some salad dressing(色拉酱).

“It was one small bite for man, one giant leap(飞跃) for...our journey to Mars,” one astronaut Scott Kelly later posted on social media.

Space vegetables are a part of the NASA experiment called “Veg-01”, a study on how plants grow away from the effects of Earth’s gravity(引力). It will allow astronauts to grow and eat their own food during long space explorations(探索).

“If we are ever going to Mars someday, we’re going to need a spacecraft that is much more self-sustainable(自给自足) in its food supply,” said Kelly.

Growing fresh plants on a spacecraft may also provide oxygen and help keep astronauts alive, NASA said.

“Veg-01” started in May 2014. The first batch(批) of vegetables took 33 days to grow in space before they were taken back to Earth for a safety check.

After making sure it was safe to eat, astronauts planted a second batch on July 8. They let the plant grow for another 33 days and were then able to eat it.

Astronauts usually only get some fruit and vegetables when a supply ship comes to the ISS. Now with the vegetables grown in space, they can eat whenever they want.

1.Who became the first humans to eat food that was grown completely in space?

___________________________________________________________________________

2.Where were the space vegetables planted?

___________________________________________________________________________

3.What does the NASA experiment “Veg-01”study?

It studies__________________________________________________________________

4.Besides providing food, what else are the fresh plants grown in space expected to do ?

___________________________________________________________________________

5.Why were the first batch of vegetables grown in space taken back to Earth?

___________________________________________________________________________

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