1 . 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.

2. What is Paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．The plan of the study.	B．The steps of the study.
C．The result of the study	D．The preparation of the study.

3. Which one shows the relationship between the age of the moon soil (x) and the plants’ growth (y)?

A．

B．

C．

D．

4. What may play a key role in growing plants on the moon according to the text?

A．The time.

B．The method.

C．The number

D．The place.

5. What’s the best title for the text?

A．Space plants	B．Living on the moon
C．How to grow plants	D．The history of moon farms

2 . How many things can you see in the night sky? A lot! _______ a clear evening you might see the Moon and some planets. And _______ sparkling stars _______, too.

You can see even _______ with a telescope. You might see stars where you only saw dark space before. You might see that many stars look larger than others. You might see that some stars _______ look white _______ really red or blue.

But scientists believe there are some things in the sky that we _______. We can’t see them with the biggest telescope in the world, even when it is the clearest night of the year. That’s _______ they’re invisible. They’re the mysterious dead stars and they _______ black holes. You might find ________ 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, giving us heat and light. The Sun certainly doesn’t seem ________ getting old or weak, ________ stars do burn out and die after billions of years. As a star’s gases burn, they give off light and heat. But when the gas runs ________, the star stops ________ and begins to die.

So the next time you stare up at the night sky, remember: there’s more in the sky than that meets the eye. ________ amazing space it is!

1.

A．On

B．In

C．At

D．For

2.

A．thousand

B．thousands

C．thousand of

D．thousands of

3.

A．see

B．were see

C．can be seen

D．will be seen

4.

A．much

B．many

C．most

D．more

5.

A．what

B．which

C．who

D．where

6.

A．be

B．is

C．am

D．are

7.

A．never see

B．never saw

C．will never see

D．had never seen

8.

A．when

B．how

C．because

D．so

9.

A．are called

B．called

C．call

D．is called

10.

A．it

B．you

C．yourself

D．itself

11.

A．to be

B．being

C．been

D．is

12.

A．and

B．but

C．so

D．or

13.

A．around

B．off

C．away

D．out

14.

A．burning

B．to burn

C．burn

D．burnt

15.

A．How

B．What

C．What an

D．How an

3 . 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

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

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.

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

A．messages

B．tools

C．intelligent beings

D．radio signals

4. What is the best title for Paragraph 2?

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

4 . What will life be like in 100 years? Some people believe that humans could live on the planet Mars by the year 2100. The Earth will be crowded and there will be more     1     (pollute) then. It is hoped that people could build a     2     (good) world on Mars. Here     3     (be) what life there could be like in the future.

Humans can’t live without water, air or food. So far, nobody     4     (know) whether there would be enough water or air on Mars for people. Moreover, scientists are not sure whether     5     (plant) could grow on Mars. Food would most possibly be in     6     form of pills (药片) and would not be so tasty.

Compared     7     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 a lot of     8     (they) work so that they could have more time to relax. There would     9     (probable) be no schools on Mars. Every student would study at online schools with “e-teachers”.

Life on Mars would be interesting     10     challenging. However, it takes time. So the most important thing we need to do now is to protect our planet—the Earth!

5 . Alysaa Carson is a 17-year-old girl. She dreams of going to Mars. She was first interested in becoming an astronaut at the age of three. At that time, she was watching a cartoon called The Backyardigans. The characters in the cartoon went to Mars many times for different tasks. She also wanted to be one of them.

After knowing the serious pollution and the large population on Earth. Alyssa thinks people may look for another planet to live on in the future. She thinks humans may choose to live on Mars in the future. That’s because it’s a planet similar to the earth in some aspects (方面). What’s more, people will be able to use the technologies to get there at that time. Alyssa dreams of going to Mars and working in the field of astrobiology (天体生物学).

Her father believes that parents should help children achieve their dreams. He thinks that it doesn’t matter if the dreams change a lot or how crazy they are. And he doesn’t think it’s too young to get a pilot’s license (执照) for a 17-year-old girl. Perhaps it’s very dangerous for his daughter to go to Mars. But he believes that she can achieve her dream one day. What he can do is to let his daughter work hard for her dream.

1. What does the underlined word “them” refer to?

A．Alyssa’s family.

B．Alyssa’s classmates.

C．The characters in the cartoon.

2. Why does Alyssa think people should go to Mars?

A．Because people can live a happier life there.

B．Because mars has something in common with the earth.

C．Because it’s a planet with many new lives.

3. What can we learn about Alyssa Carson’s father?

A．He respects his daughter’s dream.

B．He used to be a pilot when he was young.

C．He works in the field of astrobiology now.

4. Which one is TRUE according to the text?

A．It’s easy for a 17-year-old girl to get a pilot’s license.

B．Alyssa’s dream of going to Mars lasts for a long time.

C．We can ask parents for help when we meet trouble.

5. What does the writer want to tell us?

A．Interest is the best teacher for every child.

B．It’s never too late for people to learn something new.

C．Parents should work hard for their children’s dreams.

7 . 阅读短文，用方框中所给词的适当形式填空，使短文完整、正确。每个词限用一次。

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     1    the answer. There’s no life on the moon. Not long ago they     2     spaceships to Mars. There, they didn’t find life, either. And they found the environment of Mars was     3     from that of the earth. Then they knew it was     4     for people to live on Mars.

    5     they haven’t received a message from other planets, they believe that their idea is right. Recently they have     6     a planet. It’s     7     Proxima Centauri. It’s very     8     to our earth. It is just over four light years away. Proxima Centauri is     9     than the earth. And there’s water on this planet. It     10     mean that life is possible there. Now scientists are studying this planet. Soon they will tell people the answer.

8 . 任务型阅读。

Venus (金星) is close to the Earth. It is the second planet from the Sun. The Earth is the third planet from the Sun. Venus is similar (相似的) to the Earth in size and mass (质量). So people often describe it as “the Earth’s sister planet”.

Scientists have been learning about Venus for a long time. First, they looked at Venus through telescopes (望远镜). But Venus is covered with thick clouds. Scientists could not see Venus well through the clouds. So they made guesses at it.

For a long time, scientists thought that Venus had water and plants. They thought Venus might have animals too. But they didn’t know for sure.

Then scientists found a way to learn more about Venus. In the 1960s, they began sending probes (航天探测器) to Venus. The probes flew through the thick clouds. They took pictures of Venus up close. They found out many things too. The probes sent the pictures and things they found out back to the scientists.

阅读短文，回答问题。
1. Why do people often describe Venus as “the Earth’s sister planet”?(不超过10个词)
________________________________________________________________________
2. What did scientists think Venus may have?(不超过5个词)
________________________________________________________________________
3. When did scientists begin sending probes to Venus?(不超过5个词)
________________________________________________________________________

9 . 根据对话内容，从下面选择合适的选项补全对话。（其中有两项是多余的）
Tony: Hello, Lucy. I haven’t seen you for several hours. Where have you been?
Lucy: Hello, Tony.     1     And I have found some information about the universe.
Tony: Really? Would you like to tell me some?
Lucy: Of course. What do you want to know?
Tony: Well.     2    
Lucy: For millions of years.
Tony: Wow! So long.     3    
Lucy: Not yet. But they have discovered water on Mars.
Tony: That sounds very interesting. Have they found life on Mars?
Lucy: No, they haven’t. And scientists have already found that there’s no life on the moon.
Tony:     4    
Lucy: Yes, that’s right. Oh, I want to return the book about journeys to space to Jack, but I can’t find him. Do you know where he is?
Tony:     5     You can find him there.

A．There is life only on Earth, isn’t there?

B．How long has there been life on Earth?

C．I have gone to the cinema.

D．So have scientists found life on other planets?

E．He has been to the space museum.

F．I have been to the museum.

G．He has just gone to the school library.