1 . 阅读下面短文，从所给选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，使短文通顺，结构完整，其中有一项是多余选项。

The Moon is a natural satellite that moves around the Earth.     1     It is much smaller than the Earth, and it takes about 27 days for it to complete one orbit around our planet.

    2     The Moon appears differently throughout the month because of its phases (月相). Sometimes it looks like a big round ball, and other times it appears as a thin crescent. These changes in appearance are caused by the Moon’s position relative to the Sun and the Earth.

The Moon’s surface is covered with craters (环形山), which are big round pits.     3    Some craters are really big, like the one called the Copernicus crater, which is about 93 kilometres wide.

Do you know that humans have actually visited the Moon? In 1969, the Apollo 11 mission landed astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon’s surface.     4     Since then, a total of six Apollo missions have landed astronauts on the Moon, and they brought back samples of Moon rocks to study on the Earth.

    5     It has an influence on the tides of our oceans. It also provides a natural satellite for us to study and explore. Scientists continue to learn more about the Moon’s geology, history and potential (可能性) for future exploration.

A．It is our closest neighbour in space.

B．The Moon plays an important role in our lives.

C．Do you know how many satellites the Earth has?

D．They were the first humans to set foot on the Moon.

E．Have you ever noticed that the Moon changes its shape?

F．These craters were formed by asteroids (小行星) and meteoroids (流星体) crashing into the Moon’s surface.

2 . What’s the most important thing you need to live on? Without water, humans, plants and animals cannot live. NASA scientists have been studying Mars (火星) to see if humans could make a home there in the future. So the first thing they must look for is water.

Well, after years of studies, NASA scientists have found that there is water on the planet! But you would not want to drink it. The water would be too salty for humans to drink, but this is a step in the right direction.

“To ‘follow the water’ isn’t an easy job. We have spent such a long time on our studies,” said NASA astronaut John Grunsfeld. “Now we have science that shows what we’ve thought.”

Scientists found frozen (结冰的) water on Mars back in 2008, but for things to live on the planet, there has to be liquid (液体的) water.

The first time they thought there could be water on Mars was two years later. At that time dark long marks appeared going downhill when the temperature went up on the planet. But why do they think it is water?

“The finding of hydrated (含水的) salts means that water plays an important part in forming these marks,” said Lujendra, author of the NASA study.

What they found is too salty, so it might not be the best for living things. But this gives NASA scientists hope that there could be living things on the planet.

Do you think it might be possible for humans to fly to Mars and build another home there one day? Do you want to be a scientist who might make it come true?

根据短文内容，判断下列句子正（T）、误（F）。
1. NASA scientists have been studying Mars to look for living things.
2. It took NASA scientists many years to find that there is water on Mars.
3. The dark long marks appeared going downhill when the temperature rose.
4. According to NASA scientists, salts play an important part in forming the dark marks.
5. The hydrated salts make NASA scientists hope there could be living things on Mars.

3 . On April 8th 2024, millions of Americans put on their special glasses to watch a total solar eclipse (日全食). The picture above shows its full progression (进展).

The total solar eclipse could be seen in North America. A solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth. As the moon shortly covered the sun on April 8th, cities went into darkness. The temperatures dropped greatly by up to 7°C during totality (全食), reported dogonews.com.

There are five stages in a total solar eclipse:

Partial eclipse begins (1st contact):

The Moon becomes visible over the Sun’s disk. It looks like the Moon has taken a bite out of the Sun.

Total eclipse begins (2nd contact):

The Moon covers the entire disk of the Sun, and people are now within the Moon’s umbra (本影).

Totality and maximum eclipse:

The Moon completely covers the disk of the Sun. Only the Sun’s corona (日冕) is visible. This is the most dramatic stage of a total solar eclipse. At this time, the sky goes dark, temperatures can fall, and birds and animals often go quiet. The midpoint of time of totality is known as the maximum point of the eclipse.

Total eclipse ends (3rd contact):

The Moon starts moving away, and the Sun reappears. Those fortunate enough to be in the Moon’s umbral can see Baily’s beads and the diamond ring effect just after totality ends.

Partial eclipse ends (4th contact):

The eclipse ends as the Moon leaves the Sun’s disk.

To Chinese people regret, we can’t watch the beautiful view this time. A total solar eclipse will occur on September 2nd 2035 in China. If you are an amateur astronomer (天文爱好者) in China you could ________.

1. Where can people watch total solar eclipse on April 8th 2024? (不超过15词)
__________________________________________________________________
2. Which is the darkest stage of the total solar eclipse? (不超过5词)
__________________________________________________________________
3. What would the writer say at the end of the text? (不超过20词)
__________________________________________________________________

4 . The Moon is attracting much attention these days as NASA is ready to send space rockets there and preparing for more to follow. The mission’s objectives are clear: to create a long-lasting base on its surface and prepare to go to Mars one day.

What’s the next great move in humans’ quest for the secrets of the universe? When it comes to the near future scientific research in space, there are a few areas in the solar system that will receive some special attention.

First of all, there’s Venus, a planet which was like a paradise to human with oceans and a pleasant atmosphere. However, something went terribly wrong there a few billion years ago, and NASA has scheduled a series of missions to explore what exactly is going on there.

At the other end of the solar system are the gas planets. Several of the satellites of Jupiter and Saturn are covered in thick sheets of ice, and underneath the ice are oceans of liquid water. NASA has missions planned to investigate those mysterious worlds, hunting for any sign of possible life hidden deep within.

As for us humans, Mars is certainly the grand prize in the coming decades. If we have enough money for the trips, we can perhaps keep astronauts working and studying on the surface of Mars for quite a long time. The other planets in our solar system are not so suitable for people to settle on. For example, Mercury is too close to the Sun and too far away from the Earth.

In the coming decades, humans expect to see a rise of “space hotels” set up for visiting tourists and scientific explorations. Because of our current level of technology, it is not very practical to turn the space rock into a place suitable for humans. But it may be the next easiest thing to achieve after going to the Moon and Mars.

1. Why does the author mention the Moon in the first paragraph?

A．To introduce the space station on the Moon.

B．To highlight the difficulty of going to the Moon.

C．To explain the relationship between the Moon and Mars.

D．To show the Moon’s important role in space exploration.

2. What does the underlined word in paragraph 2 mean?

A．love

B．achievement

C．difficulty

D．exploration

3. What’s the purpose of exploring Venus, Jupiter and Saturn?

A．To find new locations for space hotels.

B．To search for potential life and possible living places.

C．To compete with other countries in space exploration.

D．To prepare for the construction of a new space station.

4. Why is Mars considered as the “grand prize” for humans?

A．Because Mars is three times bigger than the Earth.

B．Because it’s far from the Earth and close to the Sun.

C．Because people might be able to live and work there.

D．Because there are enough resources to help humans develop.

5. What is the author’s attitude towards future space exploration?

A．Surprised.

B．Positive.

C．Negative.

D．Indifferent.

5 . 根据短文内容，从6个选项中选出能填入5个空白处的最佳选项。

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.     1    

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.     2     When it explodes the star dies. This big explosion is called a supernova. A supernova makes a very bright light. It is a billion times brighter than the Sun!

When a giant star has blown up, sometimes the core can be crushed.     3     Around the black hole, stars and dust (尘土) can spin, like water down a plug hole. Then the black hole will suck them in. What goes into the black hole cannot come out again.

We know that out there in space, there are small stars that spin very, very fast.     4     Some people said these flashing lights were aliens, but we know they are not.

    5     There are millions and millions of stars, but how many, no one knows. No one has been in a black hole, so no one can tell what it is like inside.

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.

6 . ①On a clear night, go outside and look for the moon. Do the same thing again a week later, and the moon you see will look different. So why does it always seem to change its shape?

②Sometimes, the moon is a bright disk that lights up the night sky. Other times, it is just a white sliver. Sometimes, the moon can be seen during the day. Other times, it can not be seen. These different kinds of visibility (可见度) are called the phases of the moon (月相).

③They appear because the sun, the moon and the Earth are always moving. One thing that almost never changes is that the sun lights one side of the moon.

④A lunar eclipse (月食) is the only time the sun can’t face the moon. This appears when the sun, the moon and the Earth are in a straight line with the Earth in the middle. As the moon travels into the darkness of the Earth’s shadow (影子), it seems as though all or part of it disappears.

⑤Many scientists believe that the moon was once part of the Earth. Millions of years ago, something hit into the Earth and broke off a large part of the planet. Gravity (地球引力) kept this huge block from going away into space, and it became our moon.

1. The first paragraph is mainly written to ________.

A．draw the readers’ interest	B．tell a moving story to readers
C．list some examples for readers	D．help readers finish the exam

2. The main idea of Paragraph 2 is ________.

A．the stories of the phases of the moon	B．the meaning of the phases of the moon
C．the reasons for the phases of the moon	D．the time when the phases of the moon happen

3. Which of the following shows how lunar eclipse is formed?

A．	B．
C．	D．

4. The structure of the passage is ________.

A．①②③④；⑤

B．①；②③④⑤

C．①②③；④；⑤

D．①；②③④；⑤

7 . 请用适当的词完成下面的短文，每个空只能填写一个形式正确、意义相符的单词。

Maybe many people know the universe is very big. If you stand in space, you will see many beautiful stars, like the sun and     1     planets. And then, let’s recognize our solar system. There are     2     planets in our solar system. They’re Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus     3     Neptune. The sun is very     4    . Its surface has 5600℃. Its gravitation (吸引力) is very strong. So the earth goes     5     sun. And the earth is our home.

We’re     6     on the earth, and it is the     7     beautiful in the solar system. It has lots of water and plants. And the     8     is the earth’s partner. It goes around the earth, and other planets are very far     9     the earth. So the people can’t reach them and     10     of them has an environment with air. People also can’t live on them. Finally, let’s see the sky at night. There is much beautiful and magic view in the universe.

8 . 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). It had been the planet with the most moons until the most recent announcement. It now is known to have 83 moons. Saturn held the top position since 2019 when Sheppard’s team discovered 20 more 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. According to Paragraph 2, Sheppard wanted to ________ in the near future.

A．get to new moons	B．take clear photos of one moon
C．do nothing	D．study everything

2. The new moons don’t have names because ________.

A．they are hard to study	B．they are newly discovered
C．some of them are not big enough	D．they are ugly

3. How many of Saturn’s moons were discovered before 2019?

A．63.

B．93.

C．101.

D．332.

4. What can we infer from the passage?

A．It is easy to discover all moons.	B．JUICE is trying to find out new planets.
C．More research is being done on Jupiter.	D．People all like new moons.

9 .

There are actually many planets that are outside of our solar system. The first of these far-off planets was discovered in 1988. So far, astronomers have found more than 3,500 such planets, and they think there are a lot more. Astronomers have found many of them using a special space telescope. This telescope can see very far into space. Many of these planets go around their own star, like our planet goes around the sun. A few of these planets even go around two stars. However, some of these planets are by themselves and do not go around a star. Astronomers cannot see these planets with their eyes. Instead, they use some special methods to find out where the planets are and what they are like.

Even though these planets are very far away from us, we know some things about the planets. We know that they come in all kinds of colors and sizes. Some of the planets appear to be red or blue, and they can be much bigger than Jupiter (木星). Some of these planets also seem to be made of the same kinds of things as can be found on Earth. A number of the far-off planets seem to be completely solid and made of rocks, they are hotter than Jupiter, too.

While far-off planets are interesting, there is an important reason why astronomers are looking at them. Astronomers want to find a planet like Earth. They think that there may be some out there that have air and water like Earth. Such planets, astronomers believe, may also support life on them. That would certainly be something to find! So astronomers keep searching. Who knows what they will find out there?

1. The underlined word “them” in Paragraph 1 refers to ________.

A．telescopes

B．planets

C．astronomers

D．stars

2. How does the writer explain the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2?

A．By giving examples.

B．By listing numbers.

C．By using old sayings.

D．By telling stories.

3. What’s the writer’s attitude towards “keep searching for new planets”?

A．Supportive.

B．Doubtful.

C．Uncaring.

D．Unclear.

4. Which is the best title for the text?

A．Far-off Planets: Our New Home

B．Welcome to Far-off Planets

C．An Eye on Far-off Planets

D．Discoveries on Far-off Planets

10 . Thousands of miles from the Earth, in outer space, is a small planet, far from the Sun, behind a much bigger planet. Little green aliens live there. They use torches to see.

One day, a young alien, Neila, put the wrong batteries in her torch.

Suddenly, there was bright light. It went up into the sky, around the Sun and reached the Earth.

The light hit a boy called Billy and his dog. Neila quickly turned the torch off, but the pair were caught by the light. They flew through space and landed near Neila.

“ Hello,” said Billy. Neila smiled.

“ Wow!” said Billy, “Everything’s made of ice cream!”

“The ice cream never melts (融化), and nobody eats it. It’s too cold here,” said Neila.

Neila looked sad. “Can you help us?” she said, “We need sunshine to make things grow.”

“No problem,” said Billy, “Can you get us home? I have an idea.”

“Wait there!” said Neila.

She got her torch, put the wrong batteries in again—ZOOM! Billy and his dog flew back to the Earth.

Billy pointed his bedroom mirror between the Sun and Fliptune. The sunlight bounced off the mirror and up onto Neila’s planet.

Thanks to Billy, Fliptune is not cold any more. Billy moves the mirror every day to keep the sun shining there. Now Neila and her friends sit in the sun and enjoy all the free ice cream.

1. What does the underlined phrase “the pair”   refer to in paragraph 4?

A．The batteries.

B．Billy and his dog.

C．Billy and Neila.

D．The torch and the batteries.

2. How did Neila help Billy and his dog go back to the Earth?

A．By moving the mirror.	B．By turning off the torch.
C．By pointing the bedroom mirror.	D．By putting the wrong batteries in the torch.

3. In what order did the following happen in this passage?
a. Neila asked Billy for help.
b. Billy and his dog flew to Fliptune.
c. Neila helped Billy and his dog back to the Earth.
d. Billy moved the mirror every day to warm Fliptune.

A．c-a-d-b

B．c-a-b-d

C．b-a-d-c

D．b-a-c-d

4. Which picture best shows the underlined sentence in paragraph 12?

A．

B．

C．

D．

5. Which of the following best describes Billy?

A．Clever and kind.

B．Brave but forgetful.

C．Kind and strong.

D．Clever but careless.