1 . Starman, the dummy(仿真人) riding a cherry-red Tesla Roadster(特斯拉敞篷车) through space, has made his closest approach ever to Mars. The electric roadster and its passenger were attached to the top of a Falcon Heavy rocket during the SpaceX rocket’s first test launch on 6 February 2018.
Two years later, the Falcon Heavy rocket and the vehicle at its tip are making their second trip around the Sun. Mr. McDowell, a Harvard astrophysicist, found that Starman passed 7.4 million kilometers from Mars at 06:25 GMT 7 October, 2020.
The closest recent approach between the Earth and Mars was 56 million kilometers in 2003, though the planets are often hundreds of millions of miles apart depending on where they are in their orbits. No one can see the Falcon Heavy rocket at its current distance, but orbits over periods of a few years are fairly straightforward to predict, and Mr. McDowell used data about how the rocket was moving when it left the Earth’s gravity behind to locate its recent movements exactly.
Last time Starman circled the Sun, McDowell said, it crossed Mars’ orbit while the Red Planet was quite far away. But this time the crossing lined up with a fairly close approach, though still not close enough to feel a strong tug from Mars.
At this point in time, if you were able to go look at the Roadster, it would probably look pretty different. The strong solar radiation environment between the planets would probably have destroyed all the exposed organic materials.
Without the Earth’s atmospheric and magnetic(磁场的) protection, even the plastics and carbon-fibre materials would start to break up. Over the course of decades or centuries, the car will end up with its aluminium(铝) frame and hard glass parts----that’s assuming that none of them get destroyed in impacts with passing space rocks.
1. What can we infer from the first two paragraphs?| A．Starman is now circling around the Earth in its orbit. |
| B．Starman has set out on its second trip around the Sun. |
| C．Starman has traveled 7.4 million kilometers after launch. |
| D．Starman still has a long way to go before getting to Mars. |
| A．By keeping Starman under visual observation. |
| B．By predicting its future orbit around the earth. |
| C．By seeking professional help from SpaceX. |
| D．By analyzing data about the rocket’s movement. |
| A．pull | B．drive | C．resistance | D．pressure |
| A．It is circling around Mars and will finally crash onto it. |
| B．It will finish its mission and return to SpaceX on earth. |
| C．Starman is likely reduced to at most its frame and glass. |
| D．SpaceX will try to recover it during its next space mission. |
2 . It is believed that around half the US adult population will be obese (肥胖的) by 2030, while one in four will fall into the severely obese category. This is according to a new study led by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, which found that levels of obesity are increasing in every state. Indeed the predictions show that levels of severe obesity could be higher than 25 percent in half of states.
“Especially striking was our finding that among adults with very low income (less than $20,000 per year), severe obesity is predicted to be the most common in 44 states—almost everywhere in the US,” a researcher said.
The research was carried out to inform state policymakers—and perhaps help change the tendency. The study authors say the best form of attack is prevention. Limiting intake of sugar is stressed as one of the most effective and cost-effective methods for reducing obesity levels, and a tax likely to save more money than it costs.
Sugar (and the sugar industry) has come under fire for its role in promoting obesity. Indeed, one recent study published in September 2019 puts responsibility for today’s obesity epidemic (流行病) firmly on the shoulders of sugar, concluding high-sugar diets during childhood in the seventies and eighties could be behind the rise.
“We knew from previous work that obesity is increasing in the US, and that some states and demographic groups (人群) are at higher risk, but we were surprised that even the states with the lowest obesity will be above 35 percent in 2030—a level currently considered high, a researcher told Newsweek. What is clear is that we will not be able to treat our way out of this epidemic—achieving and keeping weight loss is difficult—so prevention efforts will be key to making progress in this area.”
1. What’s the most surprising finding in the study?| A．Over 25% of people will be seriously obese. |
| B．Levels of obesity are increasing in every state. |
| C．poor adults are more likely to be severely obese. |
| D．Half of the US adults will be overweight by 2030. |
| A．To reduce the tax. | B．To limit intake of sugar. |
| C．To reduce obesity level. | D．To inform policymakers. |
| A．Blame from researchers. | B．Rapid chemical change. |
| C．Current obesity epidemic. | D．High-sugar diets. |
| A．Obesity is increasing everywhere in the US. |
| B．All states in America are at the same level of obesity. |
| C．Maintaining weight loss is a good way to deal with obesity. |
| D．Diets with less sugar are vital to preventing the problem of obesity. |
3 . In 1947 a group of famous people from the art world headed by an Austrian conductor decided to hold an international festival of music, dance and theatre in Edinburgh. The idea was to reunite Europe after the Second World War.
It quickly attracted famous names such as Alec Guinness, Richard Burton, Dame Margot Fonteyn and Marlene Dietrich as well as the big symphony orchestras(交响乐团). It became a fixed event every August and now attracts 400,000 people yearly.
At the same time, the “Fringe” appeared as a challenge(挑战) to the official festival. Eight theatre groups turned up uninvited in 1947, in the belief that everyone should have the right to perform, and they did so in a public house disused for years.
Soon, groups of students firstly from Edinburgh University, and later from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Durham and Birmingham were making the journey to the Scottish capital each summer to perform theatre by little -- known writers of plays in small church halls to the people of Edinburgh.
Today the “Fringe”, once less recognized, has far outgrown the festival with around 1,500 performances of theatre, music and dance on every one of the 21 days it lasts. And yet as early as 1959,with only 19 theatre groups performing, some said it was getting too big.
A paid administrator(行政人员) was first employed only in 1971, and today there are eight administrators working all year round and the number rises to 150 during August itself. In 2004 there were 200 places housing 1,695 shows by over 600 different groups from 50 different countries. More than 1.25 million tickets were sold.
1. What was the purpose of Edinburgh Festival at the beginning?| A．To bring Europe together again. | B．To honor heroes of World War II. |
| C．To introduce young theatre groups. | D．To attract great artists from Europe. |
| A．They owned a public house there. | B．They came to take up a challenge. |
| C．They thought they were also famous. | D．They wanted to take part in the festival. |
| A．unpopular groups | B．non-official groups |
| C．foreign groups | D．local groups |
| A．has become a non-official event | B．has gone beyond an art festival |
| C．gives shows all year round | D．keeps growing rapidly |
