Two Chinese spacecrafts successfully completed China’s first space docking early November 3, 2011, which has taken the country a step closer to building its own space station.

Nearly two days after its launch, the unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou VIII docked with the space lab module Tiangong I more than 343 km above the earth surface. Shenzhou VIII and Tiangong I took apart after flying together for 12 days. On the 14th of November, the two spacecrafts finished the second docking. Then Shenzhou VIII parted from Tiangong I again and returned to the earth safely on the 17th. Tiangong I is still traveling around the earth in the space, waiting for the arrival of Shenzhou IX and X and so on in the near future.

That marked another great leap for China’s space program and made China the third country in the world, after the United States and Russia, to master the space docking technique (空间对接技术).

The world’s first space docking was achieved in 1966, when the manned U.S, spacecraft Gemini 8 (双子星8号) docked with an unmanned Agena Target Vehicle (阿金纳目标飞行器). Space docking is necessary to explore space beyond Earth’s orbit. “The capability increases China’s ability to act independently in space, as well as its ability to work together with others,” said Gregory Kulacki, a U.S. space scientist and senior analyst.

“With the success of its first space docking, China is now equipped with the basic technology and ability required for the construction of a space station,” said Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China’s manned space program.” The country is on its way to building a permanent manned space station around 2020.”

1.What did the success of the first space docking mean to China?

      A. China has caught up with the United States in the space exploration field.

      B. China took a step closer to building its own space station.

      C. China became the first country to master the space docking technique.

      D. China has the ability to build a permanent manned space station right now.

2.What does the underlined word “That” in the third paragraph refer to?

A. Shenzhou VIII.

B. Tiangong I

C. The Space Station

D. The success of China’s first space docking

3.What can we learn from the passage? 

A. Tiangong I will fly in the space for 12 days.

B. The first space docking of the world was achieved in 1966, by Russians.

C. Without space docking technique people can’t explore space beyond Earth’s orbit.

D. The U.S.A helped China achieve the first space docking.

4.What’s the best title of this passage?

A. The first space docking of China.

B. The history of space docking.

C. The first space docking of the world.

D. The space docking technique

Space travel is nothing new. The first spacecraft with a human was sent up into space in 1961. Since then, people have not only traveled to space, but also many of them have lived there in space stations for some time.

The Soviet Union(前苏联) sent the first space station into space in 1971. This space station was called Salyut 1. Salyut 1 was designed as a place where people could live while they observed space and did experiments. The first group of astronauts lived there for 23 days. The Soviet Union went on to make seven more Salyut space stations. At about the same time, the United States built its own space station, called Skylab.

Astronauts visited and often lived in these space stations for a short time. However, it wasn’t until the late 1980s when The Soviet Union sent the Mir space station that people began to live in space for a longer time. Mir stayed in space from 1989 until 2001, when it was decided that the space station was too old and no longer safe to live in.

Living in space stations seems to be fun, but astronauts face many problems. One of them is food. All the meals on space station are put together on Earth and sent there by space shuttle. Because the food has to last a long time (sometimes up to three months), a lot of it has to be stored in cans. The space station does not have a fridge, but it has a cool room to keep fruit and vegetables fresh. Astronauts also eat many other foods such as dried meat that do not need special care.

Without the help of gravity, sitting down to eat can be tough. Astronauts sometimes have to fix themselves to the wall while eating. They also have to be very careful to that food does not float away.

1.Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “observed” in Paragraph 2?

A．Discovered        B．Checked          C．Watched          D．Fixed

2. What can we infer(推断)from the passage?

A．Astronauts can never have a chance to eat fresh food when they live in space station.

B．The Soviet Union sent a total of 9 space stations into space in the 1970s and 1980s.

C．Astronauts could live in the Mir space station for no more than three weeks.

D．Space travel has quite a long history of more than 60 years.

3.What is the best title of this passage?

A．Exploring Space     B．Space Travel       C．Living in Space      D．Space Stations

Space travel is nothing new. The first spacecraft with a human was sent up into space in 1961. Since then, people have not only traveled to space, but also many of them have lived there in space stations for some time.
The Soviet Union(前苏联) sent the first space station into space in 1971. This space station was called Salyut 1. Salyut 1 was designed as a place where people could live while they observed space and did experiments. The first group of astronauts lived there for 23 days. The Soviet Union went on to make seven more Salyut space stations. At about the same time, the United States built its own space station, called Skylab.
Astronauts visited and often lived in these space stations for a short time. However, it wasn’t until the late 1980s when The Soviet Union sent the Mir space station that people began to live in space for a longer time. Mir stayed in space from 1989 until 2001, when it was decided that the space station was too old and no longer safe to live in.
Living in space stations seems to be fun, but astronauts face many problems. One of them is food. All the meals on space station are put together on Earth and sent there by space shuttle. Because the food has to last a long time (sometimes up to three months), a lot of it has to be stored in cans. The space station does not have a fridge, but it has a cool room to keep fruit and vegetables fresh. Astronauts also eat many other foods such as dried meat that do not need special care.
Without the help of gravity, sitting down to eat can be tough. Astronauts sometimes have to fix themselves to the wall while eating. They also have to be very careful to that food does not float away.
【小题1】Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “observed” in Paragraph 2?

—The spacecraft has never been to the moon, ________ ?

—Certainly.

A．has it             B．hasn’t it          C．doesn’t it        D．isn’t it

—The spacecraft has never been to the moon, ________ ?
—Certainly.