Chinese astronauts conducted a science lecture 400 kilometers above Earth to millions of students on Thursday afternoon, as they orbited in the Tiangong space station. All members of the Shenzhou XII mission crew, Zhai Zhigang, Ye Guangfu and Wang Yaping, the only woman on the mission, greeted students, teachers and other participants when the lecture started at 3:54 pm. They showed viewers how they live and work inside the space station, which currently consists of a core module, a spacecraft and two robotic cargo spaceships.
The astronauts displayed their exercise equipment and a specially designed space suit, and conducted demonstrations on physical phenomena in microgravity, such as “disappearing buoyancy” and a “water ball”. Ye, who is on his first spaceflight, showed how he rotated his body in the weightless environment. The astronauts also answered questions from students during the lecture.
Tens of millions of primary and middle school students across China watched the hour-long televised event. A total of 1,420 invited students were present at “ground class venues”, with some taking part in video chats with the crew members during the lecture.
It was the first lecture of the Tiangong Class, or Heavenly Palace Class, China’s first extraterrestrial (地球外的) lecture series to popularize space science.
More lectures will be held based on the country’s manned spaceflights and will also be presented by Chinese astronauts, the manned space agency said.
Shi Yi, a physics teacher at the Beijing No. 101 Middle School, said the space lecture was an eye-opening experience that would ignite students’ interest in science.
Wang Yihan, a fifth-grade student at the Yuxin School, said: “The astronauts’ experiments really intrigued and surprised me. I have great interest in spaceflight and would like to take part in our country’s space exploration program in the future.”
Vincent Wong Wai-shing, deputy principal of Hong Kong’s Pui Kiu College, said after watching the lecture that the event gave Hong Kong students an opportunity to communicate with the astronauts while stimulating their interest in space and science.
1. What do we know about the lecture conducted in space?| A．The lecture conducted by three Chinese astronauts lasted nearly an hour. |
| B．The astronauts showed how they live and work outside the space station. |
| C．How body is rotated in the normal environment was shown by the crew. |
| D．The lecture was conducted 400 kilometers above the earth in Tianhe space station. |
| A．Tiangong is made up of a core module, a spacecraft and a cargo spaceship. |
| B．AI members of the Shen Zhou XIII mission crew had conducted spaceflights. |
| C．More lectures in spacecraft have been arranged based on the manned spaceflights. |
| D．Students present at “ground class venues” thought highly of the lecture. |
| A．Astonished. | B．Puzzled. | C．Interested. | D．Tricked. |
| A．Science & Technology. | B．Space exploration. |
| C．Economy development. | D．Innovative teaching. |
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【推荐1】A letter written to a 12-year-old girl in Lithuania was delivered in December, almost 51 years after it was sent by a pen pal in Poland. “I thought that someone was pranking me,” said Genovefa Klonovska after being handed the letter, which included a handmade colored rose and two paper dolls.
The letter, together with 17 others, fell out of a ventilation hole (通风口) this summer, dirty and wrinkled, as a wall was taken down in a former post office on the suburb of Vilnius. Jurgis Vilnius, owner of the building immediately called the post office. “I’m so happy they got interested,” said he.
Street names and their numbering have changed in Vilnius, and post office workers spent months looking for the right houses and talking to current renters and neighbors, tracking down where the recipients moved to. Only five were found. In several cases children of late recipients were handed a lost letter.
“We felt a moral duty to do this,” said Deimante Zebrauskaite, head of the customer experience department at Lithuania Post.
One lady compared the experience to receiving a message from a bottle thrown into sea. People were emotional. “Some felt they saw a part of daily life of their deceased parents,” Zebrauskaite said.
In the letter to Klonovska, sent from Koezary in Poland and stamped in 1970, a girl named Ewa complains buses no longer reach her village, so she has to walk in minus 23 degree Celsius cold, and asks for pictures of actors.
Now in her 60s, Klonovska has no memory of Ewa. She probably wrote Ewa after finding her address advertising for pen pals in a newspaper, and the relationship ceased after the letter got undelivered.
“So good that the letter didn't matter much. The loss was not life-changing,” said Klonovska “What if they delivered a lost letter from a suitor (求婚者) to his love, and their wedding never happened?”
1. What does the underlined word “pranking” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Brightening. | B．Embarrassing. | C．Tricking. | D．Pleasing. |
| A．They were accidentally found. |
| B．They remained well-preserved. |
| C．They were delivered by the former post office. |
| D．They were hidden by the owner of the building. |
| A．Generous. | B．Dutiful. | C．Honest. | D．Cautious. |
| A．Klonovska refused a suitor. |
| B．Klonovska stopped the wedding. |
| C．The undelivered letter ruined the relationship. |
| D．The undelivered letter made little difference to her. |
【推荐2】On January 1, the Canadian city of Montreal is set to ban（禁止） the horse-drawn carriages on the street. Jean-Francois Parenteau, a spokesman for the city of Montreal, said "It is a tradition that has long been appreciated. But today, I think it is time to move on." He added that it is important for the city to "care about animals".
His speech was welcomed by Galahad, an organization that seeks to protect horses and had cam paigned（发起……运动） for the ban. Its founder, Chamie Angie Cadorette, said the horses faced hard working conditions.
"It is not just an hour a day. It is eight hours a day to go up and down the roads in traffic. The carriage owners are treating their animals very badly," she said.
"They say the animals are being abused. Prove it," said carriage business operator Luc Desparois. His company, which has 15 horses and employs 15 carriage drivers, recently led a legal battle against the ban and failed.
Nathalie Matte, another carriage operator in the city, said that the carriages had become an important part of Montreal's culture over the years. "They have been around since Montreal started and many people are clearly drawn to the beauty of the horses," he said.
Mujtaba Ali was visiting Montreal while traveling through Canada. "It's a special way to see the city rather than just taking the bus or the subway," he said.
After being pressured by animal rights groups for years, at first the city government had tried to satisfy the animal activists by banning the horses from the streets when summer temperatures rose. But they kept pushing for a total ban. A turning point happened in 2018 when a horse died on the street while pulling a carriage. The incident forced Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante to support the removal of horse-drawn carriages from the city. The ban is expected to put about 50 carriage operators and their horses out of work.
1. The latest law requires that| A．the horses be taken better care of |
| B．the carriage operators work shorter hours |
| C．the horses can only pull the carriages on cool days |
| D．the horse-drawn carriages shouldn't be allowed in the streets |
| A．Well trained. | B．Nicely fed. |
| C．Unfairly punished. | D．Cruelly treated. |
| A．The bad treatment of the horses by the tourists. |
| B．The government's support to remove the horses. |
| C．The sudden death of a working horse on the street. |
| D．The traffic problems caused by the horses in the city. |
| A．It is the best attraction. | B．It is a long-time tradition. |
| C．It is an important industry for the city. | D．It is the only way to see the city. |
【推荐3】Hospitals in Southwest China’s Sichuan province for the first time used 5G technology for disaster medical rescue, after a magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit Changning county on 17 June, 2019. This is the world’s first case of applying 5G technology to disaster medical rescue.
According to the official Weibo account of Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, at 1:25 pm on 18 June, an ambulance equipped with a 5G emergency rescue system—the first of its kind in the country—carrying a medical team from Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital and engineers from China Mobile Sichuan Company and China Mobile (Chengdu) Industrial Research Institute assisting in the joint rescue efforts at Changning County Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). At around 9:30 pm, Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital launched a 5G real-time remote video consultation with its medical team on a patient admitted to Changning County Hospital of TCM for a suspected spleen rupture (脾脏破裂).
According to Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, the 5G emergency rescue system, which puts artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (增强现实), virtual reality and drone (无人机) applications together, allows a series of medical checks including blood tests, electrocardiograms and ultrasounds (心电图和超声波) to be given to patients right away. The information can then be transferred back to the hospital in real time, which greatly saves time in rescuing patients.
The rescue system also helped a 72-year-old patient who had his bone broken in the earthquake. According to report from Chinanews.com, a temporary ward supported by 5G technology was established at the epicenter of the disaster zone for consultation with doctors from Chengdu, as the aged patient had a previous history of high blood pressure and cerebral infarction (脑梗塞), which made him more careful treatment.
“The 5G-based network thoroughly solved the problems of poor definition and distortion (失真) of images, as well as interrupted signal transmissions,” said Li Wei, director of the emergency center of Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital.
1. Who did the disaster medical rescue with 5G technology?| A．Doctors and engineers. | B．Firefighters and soldiers. |
| C．Earthquake professionals. | D．5G rescue system’s inventors. |
| A．Spending less time in rescuing patients. | B．Treating all patients without any doctors. |
| C．Using an advanced technology. | D．Promoting the accuracy of medical diagnosis. |
| A．He was too old to be cured. | B．He had diseases of old age. |
| C．He had the worst injury to his legs. | D．He didn’t follow doctors’ advice. |
| A．A deadly earthquake in China. |
| B．5G technology first used in disaster medical rescue. |
| C．Ways of applying 5G technology to medicine. |
| D．The first 5G emergency rescue system. |
【推荐1】After traveling more than seven months in space, Tianwen 1 is one step closer to Mars! Tianwen 1, China’s first Mars probe (探测器), successfully entered Mars orbit (轨道) in February, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). It will stay in orbit for about three months before landing on the red planet.
A small step on the red planet will be a big step for human beings. Humans have launched 46 Mars exploration missions since October 1960, but only 19 of them have been successful, according to China Daily. It’s China’s first spacecraft to Mars, and the missions are rather ambitious. Tianwen 1 aims to achieve “orbiting, landing, and roving (环绕，着陆，巡视)” all in one journey, which will make the country the world’s first to achieve all three goals with one probe, mission scientists said.
Among the three tasks, touchdown on the red planet is the most difficult. The result mainly depends on the “breathtaking (惊险的) seven minutes” to make sure Tianwen 1 land safely, according to the Global Times.
February was Mars month. NASA’s Perseverance Rover (毅力号火星车) landed on Mars on Feb 19, and China’s Tianwen 1 and United Arab Emirates’ Hope Probe have arrived within orbit of the red planet. Although the three countries started their Mars journeys at almost the same time, their missions vary. Hope Probe successfully entered the orbit of Mars on Feb 9. Perseverance will collect samples (样品) of rock and soil for further research. Tianwen 1’s ultimate goal is to land a rover on Mars in May or June, and it will carry out scientific research on Mars’ soil, environment, water and so on.
“When we step into the far planets of the solar system, the magnitude (量) of the resources and timeline required will take global action,” a US official said, highlighting (强调) the importance of international cooperation (合作) in space.
1. Tianwen 1 aims to achieve ________ to set a record in Mars exploration.| A．landing a rover on the red planet |
| B．bringing back samples from Mars |
| C．staying in orbit around Mars for months |
| D．orbiting, landing and roving with one probe |
| A．Achieving a safe landing. |
| B．Lack (缺乏) of the resources and timeline. |
| C．Collecting samples of rock and soil. |
| D．Completing entering the orbit of Mars. |
| A．It is expected to land on Mars in May or June. |
| B．It will spend 10 months preparing for its landing. |
| C．It’s one of the 46 successful Mars exploration missions. |
| D．It’s the world’s first probe to enter the orbit around Mars. |
| A．Space exploration calls for global cooperation. |
| B．There are risks (危险) in exploring other planets. |
| C．Tianwen 1 will reach other planets besides Mars. |
| D．Exploring space takes considerable (相当大的) time and resources. |
【推荐2】On September 15th , the night sky in Cape Canaveral , Florida, US ,lit up and the rumble (隆隆声) of engines of a 70-meter-tall Falcon 9 rocket set off car alarms. In that rocket was a group of four civilians in a Space X Crew Dragon spacecraft prepared to make history. This is the first mission to space performed entirely by tourists, or those not professionally trained as astronauts. For three days, the four civilians aboard the spacecraft traveled in orbit around the earth as part of the mission named Inspiration 4. The name of the mission itself is fitting.
Late last year, the mission leader Jared Isaacman, a billionaire, announced that he would like to fund a spaceflight that differed from other billionaire space journeys. His would be part of an effort to raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Hospital. “He knew he would be using those seats to carry out his mission objective of inspiring humanity while raising money for children’s cancer research.” Scientific American wrote. In addition to Issacman, the crew included 29-year-old Hayley Arceneux, a St. Jude physician assistant; Sian Procotor, 51, a geologist; and Chris Sembroski, a 42-year-old lifelong space fan, CNN reported.
This particular Dragon spacecraft did not visit the International Space Station, but it did reach 590 kilometers above the earth. While there is certainly a long way to go before Space X achieves its goal of carrying common people to Mars at an accessible price, this mission is definitely making its mark on space travel-all for a good cause. According to CNN, at a press briefing on September 14th, Sembroski told reporters that joining the Inspiration 4 mission felt like “We’re writing the rules! We’re breaking a couple of them that NASA used to demand! We get to kind of do things our own way!”
1. Who are the astronauts of this spacecraft?| A．Some billionaires. |
| B．Some common people. |
| C．Some aerospace researchers. |
| D．Some professional astronauts. |
| A．To do some charity activities. |
| B．To make his friends’ dream come true. |
| C．To help more people who like aerospace. |
| D．To make contributions to aerospace industry. |
| A．Because it was led by a billionaire. |
| B．Because it was for something good. |
| C．Because it reached 590 km above Earth. |
| D．Because it attracted the most famous geologist in the world. |
| A．Shocked. | B．Negative. | C．Excited. | D．Funny. |
【推荐3】If you grew up watching the kid’s television channel Nickelodeon, you will probably understand that there is nothing greater than enjoying its special bright green slime (水晶泥). The week of May 11, astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) joined the slime.
Nickelodeon sent two kilos of its green slime into space in the summer of 2019. The Slime in Space project’s idea was to create an educational trip for teachers to use in class. The green slime was also used to guide astronauts through a series of experiments that were designed to learn more about how slime acts in microgravity.
Researchers from Portland State University (PSU) were excited to design the experiments for the project. Mark Weislogel and his partner designed eight shows for NASA astronauts and European Space Agency astronauts aboard to perform.
If you’re wondering what we could hope to learn from sending slime into space, the answer lies in its very name. Slime is slimy. This is because it is a liquid that is thicker than liquids like water. This makes slime act in unexpected ways in the microgravity of the ISS. Improving our understanding of how thicker liquids act in space may help us improve the design of systems that something were designed with Earth’s gravity in mind.
“Interestingly, we consider liquid on Earth as that takes the shape of its container, ” Koch tells CNN. “Water just turns into a ball in microgravity, so we’ve had to have a new understanding of different kinds of matter in space. This experiment shows how microgravity can help us understand things on Earth, especially the things we take for granted. ”
1. In Paragraph 1, Nickelodeon is mentioned .| A．to introduce the topic | B．to attract the kids |
| C．to make advertisements | D．to share a TV show |
| A．Because they get students interested in space. |
| B．Because slime takes the shape of its container. |
| C．Because slime is popular with kids in the TV show. |
| D．Because they help us understand how slime acts in space. |
| A．Microgravity makes a difference to matters. |
| B．Astronauts join the slime in space for science. |
| C．Kids join the slime so as to become astronauts. |
| D．Experiments are designed with slimy slime. |
