1 . China landed a spacecraft on Mars for the first time on May 15, 2021. This makes China the first country to make a successful landing on Mars on its first mission to Mars. China’s Zhurong rover（探测车）, named after a traditional Chinese fire god, has landed on the Martian surface.
The rover is part of the Tianwen-1 mission, which consists of an orbiter（轨道飞行器）, a probe（探测器）, and a lander. The mission was launched in summer last year, and took seven months to complete its journey to the red planet. It arrived at Mars in February this year, and since then the spacecraft has been performing operations such as capturing images of Mars.
Believe it or not, traveling to Mars is actually the easy part of such a mission. The truly hard part is landing on the planet’s surface, as landers must deal with factors like the planet’s thin atmosphere, its variable（多变的）dust storms, and a communication delay（延迟）between Mars and Earth. This delay makes it impossible for people in Mission Control on Earth to control a craft in real time as it gets close to the planet, so the landing must be performed autonomously（自主地）.
To slow its speed as the lander got close to the surface, it used both a parachute（降落伞）and a retrorocket（减速火箭）in its own “seven minutes of terror（恐惧）” as it moved through the atmosphere. It then landed in the Utopia Planitia area, part of which was exploded by NASA’s Viking 2 lander in the 1970s.
The rover will now begin its three-month mission to explore the Utopia Planitia area, where it will be searching for surface and subsurface ice. The mission will include both the rover and the orbiter working together to create a map of water ice, with the orbiter focusing on the planet’s polar areas.
1. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?| A．The Tianwen-1 mission includes four space missions. |
| B．Zhurong was known as a great astronomer in ancient China. |
| C．The spacecraft has carried out a series of experiments in advance. |
| D．China achieved success in landing on Mars creating a new record. |
a. Mars’s atmosphere.
b. Mars’s bad weather.
c. The landing instructions.
d. The communication delay.
| A．abc | B．bcd | C．abd | D．abcd |
| A．The landing way is quite different. |
| B．The landing process is full of danger. |
| C．The landing site is unknown to NASA. |
| D．The landing time is calculated precisely（精确地）. |
| A．The analysis of ice samples. |
| B．The mapping of water ice on Mars’s polar areas. |
| C．The exploration of the Utopia Planitia area. |
| D．The search of surface and subsurface ice. |
2 . 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 |
| 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 |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| A．Messages. | B．Tools. | C．Intelligent beings. | D．Radio signals. |
3 . Long long ago, people
Now
| A．doesn't | B．didn’t | C．don’t |
| A．any | B．an | C．some |
| A．drive | B．drives | C．drove |
| A．from | B．with | C．under |
| A．goes | B．go | C．went |
| A．earth | B．sun | C．moon |
| A．in | B．from | C．into |
| A．was | B．is | C．be |
| A．so | B．and | C．because |
| A．also | B．too | C．either |
In 2020, China’s Chang’e 5 mission collected 1,731 grams of moon soil (土壤) and brought it to Earth. (A)China became the third country to collect moon soil after Russia and the United States. Up to now, a total of 44,857.7 milligrams of the soil have been given to 62 research teams in China. By studying the soil, scientists learn more about the moon’s geology (地质), weather and other things, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). What new findings have scientists made? Let’s have a look.
Air on the moon
In May, scientists from Nanjing University found that the soil on the moon might be useful for turning carbon dioxide (CO2) into oxygen (氧气) and fuel (燃料). The soil has some special chemicals in it. (B)These can work as catalysts (催化剂) to make oxygen with sunlight and CO2. If this really works, astronauts can turn the CO2 they breathe into oxygen. Then they can live on the moon for a longer time. The team hopes for a chance to test this system on the moon someday.
Powerful energy
(C)Helium (氦)-3 is a valuable fuel that can provide safer nuclear energy (核能). It is not radioactive (放射性的) and would not produce dangerous waste. It’s rare (稀有的) on Earth, but after studying samples of moon soil, scientists found that the moon is rich in Helium-3! According to Ouyang Ziyuan, a senior adviser to China’s lunar program and its former chief scientist, there is enough Helium-3 on the moon for all people on Earth to have clean energy for 10,000 years!
1. 把（A）处划线句子翻译成汉语：2. 把（C）处划线句子翻译成汉语：
3. 请在文章中列举出科学家们的两种新发现：
4. 请写出文中（B）处划线部分指代的内容：
5. 请简要概括文章大意：
5 . Do you hope to move to another city or a foreign country? It may be interesting. But how about moving to
To begin with, the company plans to send
But Mars is not an easy place to
People will have to find
Sounds interesting? You might want to go to Mars now.
| A．the other | B．another | C．one more | D．other |
| A．at | B．on | C．in | D．for |
| A．few | B．a few | C．little | D．a little |
| A．take | B．cost | C．spend | D．pay |
| A．car | B．garden | C．house | D．bus stop |
| A．dream of | B．stay in | C．climb up | D．live on |
| A．no | B．some | C．many | D．much |
| A．dress | B．wear | C．wear out | D．dress up |
| A．alone | B．useful | C．latest | D．deep |
| A．Because | B．When | C．But | D．So |
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? 这是无法想象的。
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. 将文中划线的英语句子译成汉语。2. 回答问题
Why don’t scientists think they will find life on seven other planets?
3. 回答问题
What does the underlined word “them” in the paragraph 2 refer to（指的是）?
4. 将文中划线的汉语句子译成英语。
5. 从文中找出与下面所给句子意思相同的句子。
But spaceships haven’t travelled so far that they can’t reach other stars in our Galaxy.
7 . Scientists have long been looking for life in outer space. They recently found something exciting
British scientists
In fact, Venus has long been ignored(忽视) in the search for life because of its
However, it’s possible that life could exist in the planet’s atmosphere. Temperatures there are about -1℃ to 93℃，which is far more suitable
Phosphine is known as an indirect sign of life. So are gases like methane and ozone(臭氧). Scientists focus on such signs when they look for
| A．in | B．of | C．on | D．below |
| A．have discovered | B．discovered | C．discover | D．discovers |
| A．happen | B．happening | C．happened | D．happens |
| A．science | B．scientific | C．scientist | D．scientists |
| A．whether | B．what | C．how | D．why |
| A．low | B．high | C．hot | D．cold |
| A．hot | B．hotter | C．hotest | D．hottest |
| A．for | B．in | C．at | D．on |
| A．kilometer | B．meter | C．meters | D．kilometers |
| A．food | B．life | C．animals | D．stones |
8 . As space science develops, man has learned more and more about space. Space is not only amazing but also dangerous. While working in space, spacemen are facing danger as well as success.
Scientists have found out that the radiation (辐射) is the greatest danger to spacemen in space. When spacemen are working in space, they are in danger of the radiation from the sun and other stars, which is bad for their health. The harm of the radiation won’t be discovered until their children or even grandchildren are born. Some special medicine may work a little, but no really effective (有效的) medicine has been found so far.
Space junk is also thought to be a great danger to spacemen. It’s reported that there were 9,000 man-made things flying in space. About 30% of these are satellites, 10% are spaceships, and the rest are space junk. An explosion (爆炸) in space in 1999 made a cloud of 300,000 fragments, each at least 4mm in size, and even a small piece of these knocked against a spaceship window and did some damage (损坏).
Scientists are watching and reporting any possible danger all the time. They are working on helpful ways to do with space junk. Although space is really dangerous, it interests everyone on the earth. In the near future, it may become possible for people to spend a few days in a space hotel. We may even choose to leave the earth and live in space in a few years. So we should care for space and do something to help improve the space environment.
1. Most of the man-made things flying in space are ________.| A．satellites | B．spaceships | C．space shuttles | D．space junk |
| A．pieces | B．forms | C．smog | D．UFO |
| A．Scientists have found out ways to solve any problem in space. |
| B．Every one of us can have a travel to space in ten years. |
| C．The harm of the radiation may be found in the spacemen’s children. |
| D．Space is really dangerous, so it doesn’t interest anyone on the earth. |
9 . The Americans were getting ready to send their first man to the moon. An old Irishman (爱尔兰人) was watching them on the television in the bar of a hotel. There was an Englishman in the bar, too, and he
“Oh, that's
“Yes, it is,” the Englishman said, “
The Irishman laughed and said, “Well, the Irish aren't stupid, you know. We
| A．said to | B．tell | C．talk to | D．spoke |
| A．Englishmen | B．Americans | C．Irish | D．Frenchmen |
| A．to reach | B．to send | C．to give | D．to rest |
| A．time | B．street | C．road | D．way |
| A．good | B．nice | C．true | D．nothing |
| A．long | B．far | C．longer | D．much farther |
| A．and | B．but | C．or | D．because |
| A．hot | B．warm | C．cold | D．cool |
| A．don't | B．can't | C．won't | D．mustn't |
| A．in the morning | B．in the afternoon | C．at noon | D．during the night |
10 . Look up at the sky on a clear night, you will probably see a lot of stars. Do you ever think about the light (光）from these stars?
First of all, when you see a star, in fact you are looking at the past(过去). Do you know why?
Secondly,
| A．Some stars are yellow. Some are white. |
| B．The most important reason has to do with their temperatures. |
| C．That’s because the stars are very far away from Earth. |
| D．There are many interesting things about the light from stars. |
| E．The light from the stars travels fast. |
| F．Look carefully at the stars in the sky. |
