1 . Scientists think that there _______ life on the earth for hundreds of millions of years. However, we have not found life on any other planets _______.

The earth is a planet and it _______ around the sun. Seven other planets also go around the sun. _______ of them has an environment like that of the earth, so scientists do not think they will find life on them. The sun and the objects that orbit it are called the solar system, and our solar system is a small part of a much larger group of stars and planets, _______ the Galaxy or the Milky Way. There are billions of stars in the Galaxy, and our sun is only one of them.

Scientists have also discovered many other galaxies in the universe. They are very far away and their light has to travel for many years to reach us. So _______ is the universe? It is impossible to imagine.

Scientists have sent spaceships to the planet Mars _______. They have even sent spaceships to travel outside the solar system. However, no spaceship has travelled _______ to reach other stars in our Galaxy.

Scientists have always asked the questions: with so many stars in the universe, are we _______, or is there life out there in space? Have there been visitors to the earth from other planets? Why has _______ communicated with us? We do not know the answers yet.

1.

A．have been

B．has been

C．is

D．are

2.

A．yet

B．already

C．just

D．ever

3.

A．go

B．went

C．goes

D．going

4.

A．No one

B．Neither

C．Either

D．None

5.

A．called

B．call

C．to call

D．calls

6.

A．what large

B．how small

C．how large

D．how long

7.

A．to take photos

B．take photos

C．taking photos

D．takes photos

8.

A．enough far

B．enough near

C．far enough

D．near enough

9.

A．lonely

B．alone

C．along

D．long

10.

A．someone

B．anyone

C．somebody

D．no one

2 . In the universe, there is the earth, the moon, the sun, the stars and all other things too far away ________. The earth is one of the sun’s planets（行星）, and the moon is our satellite. The moon is about three hundred and eighty thousand kilometers away ________ the earth, but it’s our ________ neighbour in space. It ________ more than three days to get there by spaceship. No man ________ farther than the moon, but spaceships ________ people have reached other planets.

Of ________ the stars, the sun is the nearest to the earth. ________ other stars are even bigger and brighter than the sun. They look small only ________ they are much farther away. You ________ see them in the daytime. But if you go out at night, you’ll be able to see many of them.

1.

A．see

B．to be seen

C．seeing

D．seen

2.

A．over

B．below

C．down

D．from

3.

A．nearer

B．the nearer

C．nearest

D．the nearest

4.

A．takes

B．took

C．taken

D．taking

5.

A．travel

B．traveled

C．has traveled

D．have traveled

6.

A．with

B．without

C．for

D．to

7.

A．all

B．some

C．may

D．any

8.

A．Thousand of

B．Hundred of

C．Million of

D．Millions of

9.

A．when

B．because

C．if

D．for

10.

A．must

B．mustn’t

C．can

D．can’t

3 . In the universe, there is the sun, the moon, the earth and many stars. Through our geography lessons, we know the earth goes around the sun, and the moon goes around the earth. We have day and night because the earth keeps turning all the time. When our part of the earth turns to the sun, it is day. When our part of the earth turns away from the sun, it is night.

Just because the moon is closer to the earth than the sun, it looks much bigger than the sun. Big things will look smaller when they are further, and small things also look bigger when they are nearer.

The sun is big enough to give out very strong light. The moon can’t give any light at all, but it looks quite bright, too. Why? In fact, the light from the moon comes from the sun.

The moon looks much bigger and brighter than the stars. But actually（事实上）the stars are much bigger and brighter than the moon. They look smaller than the moon also because they are further away from the earth.

There are many other planets in the universe. But of all the planets, only on the earth there are living things and people can only live on the earth, too. But at 9:00 a. m. on October 15th, 2003, Chinese pilot Yang Liwei was sent up to space. He stayed there for 21 hours. It was the first time for Chinese to get into space.

1. When our part of the earth turns away from the sun, it is _________.

A．night

B．day

C．windy

D．Sunday

2. The moon looks _________ than the sun because it is ___________.

A．bigger; farther

B．smaller; closer

C．bigger; closer

D．smaller ; farther

3. People and living things can live on _________.

A．the earth

B．Mars

C．the moon

D．the sun

4. When did Chinese get into space for the first time?

A．On November 15th, 2002.	B．On October 16th, 2003.
C．On May 15th, 2004.	D．On October 15th, 2003.

5. You would find the passage in _________.

A．an interesting novel

B．a magazine about fashion

C．a popular play

D．a book about nature

4 . 阅读下面短文, 根据短文内容完成句子。

The journey to the moon has been the first step towards exploration（探险）in space. The distance between the moon and Earth is very short indeed（的确）when compared with the distances between Earth and the other planets. Venus, the nearest planet to Earth, is millions of miles away!

Travelling to the planets will be man’s next aim. Such travels will be more challenging（有挑战性）than the trip to the moon and certainly more adventurous. In 1976 two American spaceships, Vikings 1 and 2, landed on Mars trying to discover whether that planet has any life out it. So far scientists are not sure about that.

Scientists have discovered that the surface of Venus is very hot and it is almost certain that there is no life there. Also the atmosphere（大气）of Venus is extremely dense（稠）and the pressure is nearly a hundred times greater than that of the Earth’s atmosphere.

Scientists believe man may find planets just like our home, Earth, but man should realize Earth will be the only home for a long time and begin to love and care for it.

1. The distance between the moon and Earth is very ________.
2. Venus is the ________to Earth of all the planets.
3. _________two American spaceships, Vikings 1 and 2, landed on Mars.
4. According to scientists, it is almost certain that there is no life on________.
5. Scientists believe that people should love Earth and ________it.

5 . Believe it or not, the day when you can go to the moon is coming soon. You can go into space _______ space shuttle (太空船). It _______ about three days for the shuttle to go from the earth to the moon. The shuttle flies a long way to a space station. You can stay there for a short rest and then it will _______ you to the moon.

Now you can jump out of the shuttle. But you mustn’t take off your spacesuit (太空服), because it is very hot in the daytime and very cold at night on the _______. The moon is much smaller than the earth. Things are _______ on the moon than they are on the earth. You can jump high every time you take a step. You will find that it is never tiring to walk on the moon. You don’t need to take an umbrella or a raincoat with you _______ there is no rain on the moon. You can hear _______ because there is no air on the moon. And there are no animals or other living things there.       

The moon moves more _______ than the earth, so one day on the moon is as long as two weeks on the earth and one night is just as long as two weeks on the earth. What could you do in _______ long days and nights and in a silent world? Now ________ are trying to make the best of the moon. But our earth is really a far better place to live, as long as we take good care of it.

1.

A．by

B．under

C．for

D．with

2.

A．spends

B．costs

C．takes

D．pays

3.

A．join

B．carry

C．count

D．communicate

4.

A．station

B．shuttle

C．earth

D．moon

5.

A．light

B．heavy

C．lighter

D．heavier

6.

A．because

B．when

C．if

D．so

7.

A．something

B．anything

C．everything

D．nothing

8.

A．slow

B．fast

C．slowly

D．quickly

9.

A．so

B．such

C．very

D．too

10.

A．teachers

B．scientists

C．things

D．space shuttles

7 . 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 more than 100 billion galaxies,” says Shostak. “And our galaxy, the Milky Way, has more than 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—the size of Mars or Earth—in other solar systems. These planets might have intelligent life.

Have beings from space already visited Earth? “Probably not,” says Shostak. “It’s a long way away.However, intelligent beings may contact us in other ways, 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

2. What is the best title for Paragraph 2?

A．The Age and Size of Earth

B．Our Galaxy: The Milky Way

C．Why Intelligent Life Might Exist

D．Earth: The Only Planet with Intelligent Life

3. Why was it hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe in the past?

A．There were not any smaller planets.

B．There were not any powerful telescopes.

C．The astronomers were not interested in them.

D．The Milky Way didn’t exist at that time.

4. Why haven’t beings from space visited us yet according to Shostak?

A．They’re afraid of us.	B．It’s a long way away.
C．They don’t want to see us.	D．They don’t know how to use radio signals.

5. What does the underlined phrase “life forms” in the last paragraph mean?

A．Messages.

B．Tools.

C．Intelligent beings.

D．Radio signals.

8 . Do stars only appear at night? The answer is no. Venus（金星）is the one and only star that can be seen in the daytime. It shone at its brightest in the night sky on February 17, 2017.

Venus is the second planet in order from the sun. It is the second brightest natural object（物体）, behind the moon, in the night sky. Why is it so bright? First of all, Venus is the closest planet to the earth. It is also covered by highly reflective（反射的）clouds, which can reflect about 70 percent of the sunlight shining it, almost twice as much as the earth doe.

Some people called 2017 the year of Venus, because the planet was at its brightest twice in the year. Venus gets brighter when it goes further away from the sun, and nearer to the earth. The brightest moment happened once in February, and happened again during daylight on April 30th.

Venus is closer to the earth than Mars and it’s closer to the earth in size. Isn’t it a better choice for human exploration（探索）than Mars? However, with a temperature of about 465℃ on the surface, Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system! So people haven’t explored Venus yet. But scientists never give up. Recently, a team of NASA and Russian scientists created a new computer equipment that can stand temperatures of 480℃. It can work under Venus-like conditions for almost 22 days. The next step, according to the scientists, is to send a probe（探测器）to Venus by 2025.

1. Which of the following is not true about Venus?

A．It is the second planet in order from the sun.	B．It once shone at its brightest in the night sky.
C．It is the one and only star that can be seen in daytime.	D．It is the second brightest natural object behind the earth.

2. Venus is so bright because ________.
a. it can reflect about 70 percent of the sunlight
b. it is covered by highly reflective clouds
c. It is the closest planet to the earth

A．a, b

B．b , c

C．a, c

D．a, b, c

3. Why haven’t people explored Venus yet?

A．Because it’s closer to the sun.	B．Because it’s closer to the earth in size.
C．Because it’s the hottest planet in solar system.	D．Because it’s closer to the earth than Mars.

4. According to the passage, the new computer equipment ________.

A．is a useful probe

B．can stand temperatures above 480℃

C．can work under Venus-like conditions for about 22 days

D．is created only by Russian scientists

5. Where can we probably find this passage?

A．In a science magazine.

B．In a travel guide.

C．In a novel.

D．In a short story.

9 . Is there life on Mars (火星) ? We don’t know. We are sure that people on the earth can not live on Mars. Earth people can’t live without oxygen(氧气). There is little oxygen on Mars.

Living on Mars would be like living on a very high mountain. There would be little air. It may be 50℃ at noon and -100℃ at night.

Many people think there may be plants on Mars. We know that Mars has carbon (二氧化碳). This is kind of material (物质) found in all plants and animals on the earth. Mars looks red. In some places, it seems gray. Sometimes the gray color turns gray-green then brown, and then gray again. The gray-green color may be a kind of plant life changing color with seasons.

Will man go to Mars one day? If they do, they will have to take their own oxygen, food , clothing and shelter (住所) with them .

1. Which of the following you are sure doesn’t live on Mars?

A．Life.

B．Man.

C．Plant.

D．Carbon.

2. What do you think is the main reason why people can’t live on Mars?

A．Because there is almost no oxygen.	B．Because it is too hot at noon.
C．Because it is too cold at night.	D．Living on Mars is like living on a high mountain.

3. What is always found in plants and animals on the earth?

A．Oxygen.

B．Earth.

C．Carbon.

D．Mars.

4. Which of the following shows that there may be life on Mars?

A．Its gray color.	B．Its gray-green color.
C．Its brown color.	D．The changing of its colors.

5. Which is true?

A．Some kinds of plants may live on Mars.

B．A little Oxygen is on Mars and it is not enough for earth people to live there.

C．We can live on Mars with the help of carbon.

D．There is always only one season on Mars.