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. |
2 . How many things can you see in the night sky? A lot! On a clear night you can see the moon, some planets, and thousands of sparking (闪烁的) stars.
You can see even more with a telescope (望远镜). You might see that many stars look larger than others. You might see that some stars that look white are really red or blue. With bigger and bigger telescopes you can see more and more objects in the sky. And you can see those objects in more and more detail.
But scientists believe there are some things in the sky that we will never see. We won’t see them with the biggest telescope in the world on the clearest night of the year. That’s because they’re invisible. They’re the mysterious dead stars called black holes.
You might find it hard to imagine that stars die. After all, our sun is a star. Year after year we see it up in the sky, burning brightly and giving us heat and light. The sun certainly doesn’t seem to be getting old or weak. But stars do burn out and die after billions of years.
As a star’s gases (气体) burn, they give off light and heat. But when the gases run out, the star stops burning and begins to die.
So next time you look up at the night sky, remember: there’s more in the sky than we can see!
1. The underlined word “invisible” in the passage means “________” in Chinese.
| A．听不见的 | B．看不见的 | C．摸不着的 | D．闻不见的 |
| A．a planet | B．a sky | C．a star | D．a moon |
| A．give off heat | B．get weak | C．run out | D．burn |
| A．The sun certainly seems to be getting old and weak. |
| B．We might see that some stars that look white are really red and blue with a telescope. |
| C．We might see that many stars look larger than others with a telescope. |
| D．There’s more in the sky than we can see. |
| A．How stars burn out | B．What dead stars are |
| C．How we can see more stars | D．How telescopes develop |
3 . 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. |
4 . 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. |
Do you know anything about the Moon?
Scientists have told us so much about the Moon.
The Moon is an unfriendly place.
But from the Moon, you can see our beautiful Earth. It is shining more brightly than the other stars in the dark.
| A．There is no air or water. |
| B．How much do you know about it? |
| C．The Moon is also a very quiet world. |
| D．You can take some photos with your camera. |
| E．It’s meaningless for us to have the idea of going to the Moon. |
| F．When the Sun shines in the day, the temperature is very high. |
| G．It’s hard for us to live on the Moon. |
We know that the Earth we live on goes around the Sun and that the Sun is a yellow star. We know that stars give light and that they can be blue, white, orange and red.
We know that stars are born, stars get older, and then stars die. As the star gets older, the middle of the star gets very hot and the star gets bigger. This star is now called a red giant. It is one of the biggest stars.
When a giant star has blown up, sometimes the core can be crushed.
We know that out there in space, there are small stars that spin very, very fast.
Many people want to find out new things about the stars above. There will always be some things we know and some things we don’t. Little kids everywhere sing...
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
how I wonder what you are.
| A．This can make a black hole. |
| B．The dust and gas get very hot. |
| C．When they spin, they flash out light. |
| D．Some big stars like a red giant will just explode! |
| E．But there are some things we don’t know about stars. |
| F．We know a lot about stars but we don’t know everything. |
impossible; discover; different; get; close; call; might; although; larger; send |
Lots of scientists believe that there’s life on other planets. Because of this, they keep doing research about the universe. They have sent astronauts to the moon. And they have
8 . Astronauts (宇航员) may soon be going to the moon again. NASA plans to build bases (基地) there. Astronauts will not be able to take all the food they will need. So they may have to grow some of it on moon farms.
But can plants grow on the moon? Maybe. That is according to a new study. Scientists used soil (土壤) brought back from the moon. They used it to grow plants on Earth. It turned out that success could depend on where on the moon you do your planting.
In the 1960s and 1970s, NASA ran the Apollo program. It sent astronauts to the moon. In the new study, scientists used soil that astronauts collected there.
Scientists put this soil in little cups. Each cup got about a teaspoon of moon soil. Other cups got Earth soil. The scientists planted seeds (种子). They watered the soil and put the cups under growth lights.
In the Earth soil, plants grew healthy leaves. In the moon soil, plants grew leaves, too. But those plants were smaller. And they were less healthy. The older the moon soil was, the worse the plants grew.
Stephen Elardo is one of the scientists. He says it still might be possible to grow plants on the moon. The key could be finding the right place. Scientists still have much to learn. But this study brings humans one step closer to calling the moon home.
What might a moon farm look like? Tyler Jones helps us imagine it. He created a model moon farm. He also used the same kinds of plants that scientists grew in moon soil. His pictures show how moon farms might work.
根据材料内容选择最佳答案。
1. What’s the background of the study?
| A．The bases on the moon are being built. |
| B．Scientists have discovered plants that can grow on the moon. |
| C．Astronauts successfully landed on the moon for the first time. |
| D．Astronauts can’t take all the food they need to the moon. |
| A．The plan of the study. | B．The steps of the study. |
| C．The result of the study | D．The preparation of the study. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．The time. | B．The method. | C．The number | D．The place. |
| A．Space plants | B．Living on the moon |
| C．How to grow plants | D．The history of moon farms |
9 . 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 |
Do you know anything about the Moon?
Scientists have told us so much about the Moon.
The Moon is an unfriendly place.
But from the Moon, you can see our beautiful Earth. It is shining more brightly than the other stars in the dark.
| A．There is no air or water. |
| B．How much do you know about it? |
| C．The Moon is also a very quiet world. |
| D．You can take some photos with your camera. |
| E．It’s easy for us to have the idea of going to the Moon. |
| F．When the Sun shines in the day, the temperature is very high. |
