Some people believe that humans could live on the planet Mars by the year 2100. Our own planet, the Earth, is becoming more and more crowded and polluted. It is hoped that people could start all over again and build a better world on Mars. Here is what life there could be like.
At present, our spacecraft are too slow to carry large numbers of passengers to Mars—it would take months. With the development of technology, by the year 2100, the journey might only take about 20 minutes in spacecraft that travel at the speed of light! However, the spacecraft would travel really fast, so the journey to Mars might be quite uncomfortable. Many people would feel ill.
Humans can’t live without water, air or food. So far, nobody knows whether there would be enough water or air on Mars for people. Moreover, scientists are not sure whether plants could grow on Mars. Food would most probably be in the form of pills (药片) and would not be so tasty.
Compared with life on the earth, life on Mars would be better in some ways. People would have more space. They might live in houses with huge comfortable rooms. Also, robots would do most of their work so that they could have more time to relax. There would probably be no schools on Mars. Every student would study at online schools with “e-teachers”.
Life on Mars would be interesting and challenging (有挑战性的). However, it may take hundreds of years to make it true. So the most important thing we need to do now is to protect our beautiful blue planet—the Earth!
1. People would move to Mars because ________.| A．flying to Mars would be fun | B．plants could grow better there |
| C．the earth is crowded and polluted | D．they want to challenge themselves |
| A．plane | B．spaceships | C．space stations | D．hot-air balloons |
| A．Slow and boring. | B．Fast and enjoyable. |
| C．Slow but comfortable. | D．Fast but uncomfortable. |
| A．People would be busy with work on Mars. |
| B．There would be enough water and air on Mars for people. |
| C．Food on Mars would he more delicious than that on the earth. |
| D．The writer thinks living on Mars would be full of challenges. |
| A．Life on Mars | B．Food on Mars | C．Schools on Mars | D．Environment on the Earth |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Is there intelligent (有智力的) life on other planets? For years, scientists said “no” or “we don’t know”. But today this is changing. Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are astronomers (天文学家). They believe intelligent life exists (存在) somewhere in the universe. They also think we will soon contact these beings(人；生物).
Why do Shostak and Barnett think intelligent life exists on other planets? The first reason is time. Scientists believe the universe is about 12 billion years old. “This is long enough for other planets to have intelligent life,” say Shostak and Barnett. The second reason is size—the universe is huge. “Tools like the Hubble Telescope (哈勃望远镜) have shown that there are at least 100 billion galaxies,” says Shostak. “And our galaxy, the Milky Way, has at least 100 billion stars. Some planets going around these stars might be similar to Earth.”
In the past, it was hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe. But now, powerful telescopes(高倍望远镜) allow scientists to discover smaller planets. These planets might have intelligent life.
Have beings from space already visited Earth? “Probably not,” says Shostak. However, intelligent beings may contact us in other way, such as radio signals (信号). In fact, they may be trying to communicate with us now, but we don’t have the right tools to receive their messages. However, this is changing. By 2025, we could make contact with other life forms in our universe and we might help each other.
1. Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are ______.| A．astronomers | B．farmers | C．singers | D．drivers |
| A．There were not any smaller planets. |
| B．The Milky Way didn’t exist at that time. |
| C．The astronomers were not interested in them. |
| D．There were not any powerful telescopes. |
| A．messages | B．tools | C．intelligent beings | D．radio signals |
| A．The Age and Size of Earth | B．Why Intelligent Life Might Exist |
| C．Our Galaxy: The Milky Way | D．Earth: The Only Planet with Intelligent Life |
A comet sometimes looks like a star. Like a planet, a comet has no light of its own. It shines from the sunlight it reflects (反射). Like the earth a comet goes around the sun, but on a much longer path than the earth travels.
If a comet isn’t a star, what is it then?
Some scientists think that a large part of a comet is water frozen (冻) into pieces of ice and mixed with iron and rock dust and perhaps a few big pieces of rock. When sunshine melts (融化) the ice in the comet, great clouds of gas go trailing after it. These clouds, together with the dust, form a long tail.
Many people have seen a comet. However, no one knows how many comets there are. There may be millions of comets, but only a few come close enough for us to see.
An Englishman named Edmund Halley, who lived from 1656 to 1742, found out a lot about the paths that comets take through the sky. Some comets move out of our sight and never come back. Others keep coming back at regular times. A big comet that keeps coming back was named after Halley comet, because the last time it came close to the sun and the earth was in the year 1986. Then people all over the world were outside at night to look at it. You will probably be able to see Halley’s comet when it comes near the earth again.
根据短文内容，从题中所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选择最佳答案。
1. A comet is like.
| A．the sun | B．the moon |
| C．sunlight | D．the earth |
| A．water and rock |
| B．water frozen into pieces of ice and mixed with iron and rock dust and perhaps a few pieces of rock |
| C．ice, iron and rock dust |
| D．only a few big pieces of rock |
| A．haven’t seen any comets |
| B．have seen all comets |
| C．have seen a comet at daytime |
| D．have seen a comet |
| A．at any time |
| B．at noon |
| C．at regular times |
| D．at daybreak (拂晓) |
| A．In 1656. | B．In 1742. |
| C．In 1986. | D．In 1996. |
Earth is our home planet. It is the only planet known to have lots of liquid (液态的) water. Liquid water is necessary for life.
What does Earth look like?
From space, Earth looks like a blue marble (大理石) with white swirls (漩涡) and areas of brown, yellow, green and white.
Today, with GPS, BDS and other satellites, scientists can compute Earth’s size and shape to within a centimeter. Pictures from space show Earth is round like the moon. Though some forces are making the planet change shape very slowly, but it is still round.
From June to August, the sun’s rays hit the Northern Hemisphere (半球) more directly than the Southern Hemisphere. The result is warm (summer) weather in the Northern Hemisphere and cold (winter) weather in the Southern Hemisphere.
What are Earth’s different parts?
Earth includes land, air, water and life. The land holds mountains, valleys and flat areas. The air is made up of different gases. The water includes oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, rain, snow and ice.
There are millions of kinds of life on Earth. Their sizes are from very tiny to very large.
根据材料内容，从下面五个选项中选出能填入文中空缺处的最佳选项，使短文意思通顺、内容完整。
| A．Why does Earth have seasons? |
| B．How do we know Earth is round? |
| C．Life is made up of people, animals and plants. |
| D．Earth is the only planet where life is known to be. |
| E．The blue is water, which covers about 71% of Earth’s surface. |
【推荐1】Have you used a mercury thermometer(水银温度计) to take your temperature? These thermometers will soon become history. Starting in 2026, China will stop using mercury thermometers.
These thermometers were once widely used because they are not dear to make. They are also good at measuring(测量) small temperature changes. But the mercury in the thermometers is dangerous.
Mercury is liquid(液态) at room temperature. This makes it useful to us. But it is also poisonous(有毒的). Some people put their thermometers in their mouth to take their temperature. But if the thermometer breaks and the mercury comes out, it can poison you.
Even if the thermometer breaks outside of your body, it is hard to clean up. Mercury will turn into liquid balls and soon go into the air, making the air poisonous as well. Mercury can also end up in our groundwater or soil(土壤). It is bad for them.
1. Mercury thermometers are widely used because ________.①they are not dear to make ②they soon become history
③they are good at measuring ④they are hard to clean up
| A．①② | B．①③ | C．②③ | D．①④ |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．mercury | B．thermometer | C．temperature | D．mouth |
| A．It’s poisonous. | B．It can’t go into the air. | C．It’s always liquid. | D．It’s easy to clean up. |
| A．Mercury is liquid at room temperature. |
| B．Why mercury thermometers are widely used. |
| C．Mercury is bad for the air, the groundwater and soil. |
| D．Why mercury thermometers will soon become history. |
【推荐2】This is a picture of a classroom. The classroom is big（大的）and clean. You can see （看见）a teacher’s desk, five desks and six chairs. You can see a girl and a boy, too. Three books are on the teacher’s desk. A pencil box is on the desk. Two pens and two rulers are in the pencil box. A schoolbag is under a chair. A ball is on the floor. The girl is Linda, she is 11. The boy is Mike, he is 12. They are in Class Two, Grade one. They are friends. Their teacher is Miss Green. She is not here.
1. It’s a picture of ________.| A．boys and girls | B．desks and chairs | C．a classroom | D．a bedroom |
| A．in the pencil box | B．on the teacher’s desk | C．on the floor | D．on the chair |
| A．Linda | B．Mike | C．Miss Green | D．The girl |
| A．Mike | B．Miss Green | C．Linda | D．The boy |
| A．teacher and student | B．brother and sister | C．good friends | D．brother and sister |
In the 1950s, a female swimming athlete set a goal for herself. She decided to swim across the English Channel before she retired. If she could make it she would be the first person in the world who did it.
On that day, she jumped into the sea without any hesitation and swam towards the opposite bank.
In the journey, she faced heavy fog, heavy rain and heavy waves. Though she was very tired, she carried on swimming.
But in the end, she gave up. And what she didn’t know at the moment she gave up was that the opposite bank was only 1 mile away.
Later people asked her about the reason. And she said, “The reason why I gave up was that I could not see the destination which I was so close to.”
Too many success stories have been lecturing us about courage and persistence (坚持). But they never told us where to find courage and persistence.
You can have courage only when you know where your goal is. You can manage to persist only when you know where your goal is, and prepare yourself well mentally (心理上).
Courage and persistence never fall from the sky. They come from weighing between input and output.
A life without goals is like a ship without a compass. It goes nowhere. There is no courage or persistence in a life without goals.
1. In Paragraph 1, the underlined word “it” refers to ________.| A．getting a goal | B．being retired |
| C．swimming towards the bank | D．swimming across the English Channel |
| A．fog | B．ship | C．waves | D．rain |
| A．权衡 | B．犹豫 | C．情愿 | D．勇气 |
| A．she was too tired |
| B．she knew the bank was one mile away |
| C．she thought her destination was far away |
| D．she didn’t have courage at last |
| A．If you have courage and persistence, you have goals. |
| B．Even if you have no goals, you have courage to persist. |
| C．There is no courage or persistence unless you know your goals. |
| D．Between input and output, you must find courage and persistence. |
