1 . Have you ever seen people building houses? To build a house, you need workers. They use their hands, tools and machines to put things together. Building the ISS(国际太空站) is the same. The difference is that the workers are astronauts. They walk in space and use robots' arms and hands to do their work.

In the space station, astronauts are comfortable. The temperature there is about 21℃. But outside the station, it can be too hot or cold for people. In the sunlight, it's about 120℃. In the shadow, it's about-85℃. So when astronauts walk in space, they have to wear heavy clothes—spacesuits.

Spacesuits also keep astronauts safe from flying litter in space. Astronauts should be careful because there's a lot of rubbish. Some rubbish goes a lot faster than a plane! Space walking is not easy, and it can be dangerous. So getting ready for it takes a lot of time. Astronauts will need to do 160 space walks to finish their work in the ISS. That will take about 1,900 hours of work.

1. What is the temperature in the space station?

A．-85℃.

B．120℃

C．21℃.

D．160℃

2. Why is space walking dangerous?

A．It takes lots of time.

B．There's a lot of rubbish that goes a lot faster than a plane.

C．Astronauts will need to do 160 space walks to finish their work.

D．Astronauts will spend about 1,900 hours working.

3. What does the underlined word "spacesuit" mean in Chinese? ________

A．太空服

B．防暴服

C．羽绒服

D．雨衣

2 . Do stars only appear at night? The answer is no. Venus (金星) is the only star that can be seen in daytime. It shone at its brightest in the night sky on Feb 17 this year.

Venus is the second planet from the sun. It is the second brightest natural object, behind the earth’s 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 striking (照射) it, almost twice as much as the earth does. Some people call 2017 the year of Venus, because the planet is at its brightest twice this 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 will happen again, during daylight, on April 30.

If Venus is so bright and close to us, isn’t it a better choice for human exploration (探索) than Mars? It is closer to the earth than Mars and it’s closer to the earth in size. The closer distance to the sun means solar power (太阳能) would be easier to generate as well.

However, with a temperature of about 465℃ on the surface, Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system!

But scientists never give up. Recently, a team of NASA and Russian scientists created new computer equipment that can stand temperatures of 480℃. It can work under Venus-like conditions (环境) 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 about Venus is NOT true?

A．It’s the only star that can be seen in daylight.	B．It’s the second planet from the sun.
C．It’s the brightest natural object in the night sky.	D．It’s the closest planet to the earth.

2. The underlined word “generate” is similar in meaning to the word “________”.

A．heat

B．produce

C．spread

D．form

3. What makes Venus a worse place for human exploration than Mars?

A．The closer distance to the earth.	B．The similar size to the earth.
C．Too much solar power to use.	D．The extremely high temperature.

4. According to the last two paragraphs, the new computer equipment ________.
a. was created by some UK scientists     b. can stand temperatures of 480℃
c. can work for about 22 days on Venus     d. will be sent to Venus by 2025

A．ab

B．bc

C．cd

D．ad

3 . Is there intelligent life(智能生命) on other planets(行星)? 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(宇宙). They also think we still soon communicate with these beings(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(星系),” 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 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(联系) us in other way, such as radio signals. 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. Paragraph 2 mainly talks about (that)_____________.

A．the Milky Way is our Galaxy

B．the Earth has a long age and huge size

C．the Earth is the only planet with intelligent life

D．why intelligent life exists in the universe

2. Why was it hard to look for intelligent life in the universe in the past?

A．The astronomers were not interested in it.

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

C．Scientists were not allowed to discover planets.

D．There were not any powerful telescopes.

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

A．Messages.	B．Radio signals.
C．Smart astronomers.	D．Intelligent beings.

4. The writer organizes Paragraph 4 by_____________.

A．answering a question	B．listing reasons
C．telling a story	D．giving examples

4 . It is reported that space will soon be a popular place to go on a holiday by 2020. One Japanese company is    1    （建造）a space holiday center. It will look like a    2    （自行车）wheel with a hotel and a theme park. It will    3    （旅行）round the earth at a height of 300km. The company president says that flying to the center will be    4    （更快的）than flying from Hong Kong to the Singapore. The company    5    （相信）people will be happy to pay about 100, 000 dollars for trip. Years later, the trip will become much cheaper, of course, the    6    （服务）will be better as well.

    7    （最近）an American hotel group is also working on a hotel called the Lunar Hotel. It'll probably be ready by 2020. This will be on the moon. Most of the hotel will be under the ground so it will be     8    （既不）too hot nor too cold. The guests will eat usual food for    9     （午餐）, The cooks will just push a button to    10    （混合）dried food with water and then people can eat.

5 . Do stars only appear at night? The answer is no. Venus is the one and only star that can be seen in daytime. It shone at its brightest in the night sky on Feb 17 this year. Venus is the second planet from the sun. It is the second brightest natural object, behind Earth’s moon, in the night sky. Why is it so bright?

First of all, Venus is the closest planet to Earth. It is also covered by highly reflective clouds, which can reflect about 70% of the sunlight striking it, almost twice as much as Earth does.

Some are calling 2017 the year of Venus, because the planet is at its brightest twice this 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 will happen again, during daylight, on April 30.

If Venus is so bright and close to us, isn’t it a better choice for human exploration(探索) than Mars? It is closer to Earth than Mars and it’s closer to Earth in size. The closer distance to the sun means solar power would be easier to produce as well.

However, with a temperature of about 465℃ on the surface, Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system! But scientists never give up. Recently, a team of NASA and Russian scientists created new computer equipment that can stand temperatures of 480℃. It can work under Venus-like conditions for almost 22 days.

1. The next step, according to the scientists, is to send a probe (探测器) to Venus by 2025.
Which of the following about Venus is NOT true？

A．It’s the only star that can be seen in daylight.

B．It’s the second planet from the sun.

C．It’s the brightest natural object in the night sky.

D．It’s the closest planet to Earth.

2. Venus is at its brightest when ___________.

A．it can reflect about 35% of the sunlight.

B．it goes further away from the sun and nearer to the Earth.

C．it is closest to the sun and furthest from the Earth.

D．the dates are Feb 17 and April 30 every year.

3. What makes Venus a worse place for human exploration than Mars?

A．The closer distance to Earth.	B．the similar size to Earth
C．Too much solar power to use	D．The extremely high temperature.

4. According to the last two paragraphs, the new computer equipment __________.
a. was created by some UK scientists
b. can stand temperatures of 480℃
c. can work for about 22 days on Venus
d. will be sent to Venus by 2025

A．ab

B．bc

C．cd

D．ad

6 . For centuries, humans have wondered whether there is life on Mars. Why is Mars losing its air? Last week, the question was answered.
“The answer, is blowing in the wind,” said Michael Meyer. He is the lead scientist for Mars Exploration Program.
It turns out solar winds from the sun are slowly stripping( 除掉) away Mars' air. That is what scientists explained at a press conference.
Bruce Jakosky is the principal investigator on the MAVEN team. It is a spacecraft that collects information from Mars as it circles around the planet.
Today, Mars has a thin atmosphere. It is cold and dry. ______
"When we look at ancient Mars, we see a different type of surface. One that had valleys that looked like they were carved by water, lakes that were standing for a long period of time. We see an environment that was much more able to support liquid water."
Recently scientists found a kind of liquid water that flows with salt down a mountain area of the planet. But, it is not always there. Scientists already knew that ice exists on Mars. So why is it important to find liquid water?
"It means that we have a resource. And when we're looking at sending humans to Mars, water is one of the key things that we need to have. Not only for the astronauts to drink, but also to make oxygen and fuel."
Sending humans to Mars will be in the 2030s. Those chosen might fly any number of space vehicles still in development.
Human beings are developing rockets and spacecraft to get people to Mars. Scientists want to know how the human body reacts to being in space for long period of time.
Whether there is life on Mars remains unanswered. But some scientists think there might be some kind of microbial life on the planet. Finding life on another planet would change the way we view the whole universe.
1. What was the surface of ancient Mars like?

A．It had thin air.	B．It was dry.
C．It had valleys that looked like they were carved by water.	D．It had no water.

2. Which statement is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The surface of the Mars is different from it used to be.

B．Scientists have known whether there is life on Mars.

C．People can not send humans to Mars forever.

D．There is not any atmosphere on Mars.

3. What does the underlined word "Those" in the text refer to?

A．Scientists

B．Rockets

C．Astronauts

D．Vehicles

4. Which of the following is the best for“______”in Paragraph 5?

A．But it used to be much different.	B．It was the same case in the past.
C．It's always like this.	D．It will be different in the future.