1 . 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 |
1. Where did the boy know the news?
| A．In a TV show. | B．In a book. | C．On the Internet. |
| A．Yes, there is. | B．No, there isn’t. | C．We don’t know. |
| A．No, they haven’t. | B．Yes, they have. | C．We don’t know. |
| A．We don’t know. | B．Yes, they have. | C．No, they haven’t. |
The moon is the earth’s closest neighbor. It is the brightest object in the night sky. Scientists have studied the moon for thousands of years.
The moon is about 4.5 billion years old. It is made of rocks. It is covered with craters (火山口). They were made when objects hit the moon’s surface.
The moon has no weather. That means there is no wind or rain. Footprints (脚印) left by astronauts could last billions of years.
The moon has eight phases (月相). Once a month, we see a full moon. Sometimes we can’t see a full moon at all. The shape we see depends on how the earth, the sun, and the moon line up.
Only 12 people have walked on the moon. U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong was the first one in 1969. He took a photo of Edwin Aldrin.
1. Scientists have studied the moon for 4.5 billion years.2. Many objects hit the moon.
3. There is no wind or rain on the moon.
4. Edwin Aldrin took a photo of Neil Armstrong on the moon in 1969.
send, go, become, discover, name, be, reach, imagine, have, get, run |
The universe is very big. But how large is the universe? It is impossible
But we know the earth is our home. It is a planet and it
Scientists have also found many other galaxies in the universe. But they are very far away, so no spaceship has travelled far enough
5 . From a plane you can see the fields, cities, mountains or rivers below. If you go into space, you see more and more of the earth. Many man-made satellites (人造卫星) are sent into space to look at the earth, the stars and other planets and learn more about them.
The moon is our neighbor in space. It is smaller than the earth. Plants can’t grow on the moon because there’s no air or water on it.
The moon hasn’t got its own light. It shines back the light of the sun. When the sun is shining on the side of the moon that faces us, it looks like a great round ball. We can’t see the moon when the sun is shining on the side of the moon that faces away from us.
In fact, the moon is far away from us. It is three hundred and eighty thousand kilometres away from the earth. Of course, we can fly to the moon in a spaceship. A spaceship flies very, very fast. It only takes more than three days to get there by spaceship!
1. From ________ you can see the fields, cities, mountains or rivers below.| A．a plane | B．a bus | C．a train | D．a spaceship |
| A．Trees | B．Plants | C．Nothing | D．People |
| A．it is too far away from us |
| B．it is rainy or cloudy |
| C．the sun is shining on the side of the moon that faces away from us |
| D．the sun is shining on the side of the moon that facing us |
| A．背对着 | B．反射 | C．回来 | D．照耀 |
| A．the human can fly to the moon by spaceship |
| B．people can live on the moon |
| C．the earth is smaller than the moon |
| D．it only takes more than three years to get there by spaceship |
Scientists think that there has been life on the earth for hundreds of millions of years. However, we have not found life on any other planets yet.
The earth is a planet and it goes around the sun. Seven other planets also go around the sun. None of them has an environment like that of the earth, so scientists do not think they will find life on them. The sun and its planets are called the solar system, and our solar system is a small part of a much larger group of stars and planets, called 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 how large is the universe? It is impossible to imagine.
Scientists have sent spaceships to the planet Mars to take photos. They have even sent spaceships to travel outside the solar system. However, no spaceship has travelled far enough to reach other stars in our Galaxy.
Scientists have always asked the questions: with so many stars in the universe, are we alone, or is there life out there in space? Have there been visitors to the earth from other planets? Why has no one communicated with us? We do not know the answers yet.
1. We have already found life on other planets.| A．Right. | B．Wrong. |
| A．Right. | B．Wrong. |
| A．Right. | B．Wrong. |
| A．Right. | B．Wrong. |
| A．Right. | B．Wrong. |
7 . In our solar system (太阳系), some planets have a great number of moons (卫 星) while some have none. Recently scientists have discovered 12 more moons going around Jupiter (木星). That means Jupiter now has a total of 92 moons, more than any other planet in our solar system.
Scott Sheppard was a member of the team that made the latest discoveries. The new moons were found using telescopes (望远镜) in Hawaii and Chile. Sheppard said, “I hope we can take clear photos of one of these moons in the near future to better understand it.”
Jupiter’s newly discovered moons are between one and three kilometers in size. They have not yet been named, as half of them are too small — less than 1.5 kilometers—to own a name.
Sheppard has already taken part in 70 moon discoveries for Jupiter. He also discovered moons going around Saturn (土星). Saturn had been the planet with the most moons until the most recent announcement. Saturn held the top position since 2019 when Sheppard’s team discovered 20 more moons. Saturn now is known to have 83 moons. Before that, Jupiter was the solar system’s leader with 79 moons.
Sheppard expects to keep adding moons to both Jupiter and Saturn in the future. Uranus and Neptune also have many small moons. But they are much farther from Earth. So discovering new moons around those planets is more difficult.
This year, the European Space Agency has sent a spaceship to explore Jupiter. The spaceship, called JUICE, took off in April. The task is to make further research on Jupiter and its three large moons.
1. Which of the following has the most moons in the solar system?| A．Uranus. | B．Neptune. | C．Saturn. | D．Jupiter. |
| A．Because they are hard to study. | B．Because they are far from Jupiter. |
| C．Because they are newly discovered. | D．Because some of them are not big enough. |
| A．59. | B．63. | C．79. | D．83. |
| A．It is difficult to discover new moons. | B．JUICE is trying to find out new planets. |
| C．More research is being done on Jupiter. | D．To find large moons is more important. |
8 . Saturn (土星) has beautiful rings. Of planets in the solar system, Saturn’s rings are the biggest and brightest. According to scientists, however, these rings will one day disappear completely.
How did Saturn get its rings in the first place? Scientists have no sure answer. But there’s a popular theory (理论): Some comets (彗星) or small planets ran into Saturn’s moons (卫星). Saturn had at least 60 moons. And this left behind a large number of ice and rock pieces. These pieces were different in size. Some were as small as grains of sand, Others were as large as houses.
These small pieces began to travel around Saturn. Saturn’s gravity (引力) pulled them towards it. At the same time, the speed of their orbit (轨道) tried to throw them into space. Over time, these pieces of ice and rock formed rings around Saturn.
A new study, however, suggests that Saturn’s gravity is winning. About ten tons of “ring matter” is falling into Saturn every second. If this continues, the planet’s ring system will disappear completely in 100 million to 300 million years time. According to scientists, Saturn’s rings are between 10 million and 100 million years old. “We’re lucky to be able to see Saturn’s huge ring system,” one of the scientists said, “Some of the planets in the solar system only have very thin rings today. Perhaps we just missed out on seeing their huge ring systems!”
1. What are Saturn’s rings made up of?| A．Lots of moons. | B．Lots of comets. | C．Small planets. | D．Pieces of ice and rock. |
| A．When did Saturn’s rings form? |
| B．Why did Saturn have so many moons? |
| C．How did Saturn’s rings come into being? |
| D．What is the difference between Saturn and Earth? |
| A．Saturn’s gravity is causing its rings to lose more matter. |
| B．Most of Saturn’s ring matter is being thrown into space. |
| C．Saturn’s gravity is making the ring matter run into small planets. |
| D．The speed of the ring matter’s orbit is making the rings disappear. |
| A．Scientists don’t know for sure how Saturn’s rings were formed. |
| B．About ten tons of Saturn’s ring matter disappears every minute. |
| C．Saturn’s rings are the biggest and brightest in the solar system. |
| D．According to scientists, Saturn’s rings are between 10 and 100 million years old. |
9 . For thousands of years, humans have explored (探索) the Earth. Nowadays, we are exploring space. Astronomers are the modern-day explorers. Now, many astronomers are looking for new planets and new places for humans to live in the future. But where do astronomers start exploring?
First of all, astronomers look for a star. That’s because our own Earth moves around a star—the Sun. More importantly, it is neither too far from nor too near to the Sun for heat and light. So when astronomers have found the star, they look at the planets around it. In recent years, astronomers have found nearly 400 new planets with stars. However, many of these planets are either too near to the star or too far away.
However, if the planet is in a good place, astronomers look for three key things: water, air and rock (岩石). Water is the most important because all life needs water. Humans can drink it and they can also grow plants with water. And plants produce air for humans to breathe and food to eat. Rock on a planet is also important. That’s because there is often water under the rock.
After many years of exploring, astronomers have found a planet like the Earth. It’s Gliese 581g and it’s near a star. The astronomers think it has water and rock and the temperature is between -31℃ and -12℃. That’s cold, but not colder than Antarctica or the Arctic Circle, for example, Gliese 581g is bigger than the Earth. A year on Gliese 581g is only 37 Earth days, not 365 Earth days. But astronomers do not think these are big differences and some of them think Gliese 581g will be a new Earth. However, Gliese 581g is twenty light years from the Earth.
1. How do astronomers discover a new planet for humans to live on? Choose the right order.a. Astronomers look for three key things.
b. Astronomers look for and find a right star.
c. Astronomers look at the planets around the star.
| A．a-b-c. | B．b-a-c. | C．b-c-a. | D．c-a-b. |
| A．Water. | B．Air. | C．Rock. | D．Food. |
| A．the Earth | B．Gliese 581g | C．the Sun | D．Gliese |
| A．37 | B．365 | C．10 | D．15 |
| A．Gliese 581g is already a new Earth. |
| B．There are some planets like our Earth. |
| C．Water, air and rock are important. |
| D．Astronomers are looking for a new Earth. |
Scientists have always wanted to know more about the universe.
Years ago, they knew many things about the moon. They knew how big it was and how far away it was from the Earth. But they wanted to know more about it. They thought the best way was to send men to the moon.
The moon is about 384,000 kilometers away from the Earth. A plane can not fly to the moon, because the air reaches only 240 kilometers away from the Earth. But something can fly even when there is no air. That is the rocket.
How does a rocket fly? There is gas (气体) in the rocket. When the gas is made very hot inside the rocket, it will rush out of the end of the rocket, so it can make the rocket fly up into the sky.
Rockets can fly out into the space. Rockets with men in them have been to the moon. Several satellites without men in them have flown to another planet much farther away than the moon. One day rockets may be able to go to any place in space.
1. Scientists have known ________ the moon was.| A．how long | B．how heavy | C．how big |
| A．there is no air above 240 kilometers away from the Earth |
| B．there is no gas in the plane |
| C．the plane is not strong enough |
| A．keeping the air in the rocket fresh |
| B．making the rocket fly up |
| C．keeping the men in the rocket warm |
| A．the stars | B．the satellites of the Sun | C．another planet much farther away than the moon |
