If you watch the sky about an hour after the sun goes down, you may see some“moving stars”．But they aren't really stars．They're satellites．And the biggest of all is the International Space Station(ISS)．
The ISS is the biggest satellites because scientists want to live on it．They think that the best way to learn more about space is to live there．
When the space station is finished, it will be like a city in space．People will stay and study there with many of the things they have at home．Labs, living rooms and power stations are being bulit．The ISS is the most expensive space program ever．Billions of dollars are being spent on it every year．
Scientists hope that the ISS will be a stepping-stone for future space exploration．“The ISS will help us better understand the human body, explore space and study the earth．It can help us make life in the earth better,”said Kathryn Clark, an ISS scientist．
Sixteen countries are in the program：The US, Russia, Canada, Japan, Brazil and 11 European countries．China is not an ISS country, but it has helped with some of the experiments．In 2003, China sent some rice up to the ISS to find out what space would do to it．
After it's finished, more than 90 percent of the world population will be able to see the space station．So keep looking up, and maybe you'll see it get bigger．
(1)
The International Space Station ________．
[ ]
A．
is really a big city in space
B．
is one of the stars moving around the earth
C．
can help us explore space
D．
doesn't cost too much money every year．
(2)
The phrase“a stepping-stone”probably means“________”in Chinese．
[ ]
A．
台阶
B．
飞跃
C．
垫脚石
D．
楼梯
(3)
From the passage we know that ________．
[ ]
A．
building the ISS is only for scientists to live there
B．
scientists can do everything they like on the ISS
C．
everyone on the earth can see the space station
D．
sixteen countries are the members of the program
(4)
China sent some rice to the ISS probably to ________．