1 . "We are running out of space and the only places to go to are other worlds. ... Spreading out may be the only thing that saves us from ourselves. I am convinced that humans need to leave Earth" These are the words of the famous scientist Stephen Hawking.
Hawking was not alone in this view. Many experts feel that the only way for humans to last far into the future is to colonize (殖民) other planets. That way, if an asteroid (小行星), a terrible discase, or some other disaster strikes Earth, we would still have a chance. Mars is one of the best choices. NASA, the private company SpaceX，and other organizations all have plans to send humans there. "Either we spread Earth to other planets, or we go out of existence,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk said.
But not everyone agrees that colonizing Mars or any other planet is such a great plan. The most common argument against going is that it's just too expensive or dangerous. It will take huge amounts of money and other resources just to get people there, let alone set up a place for them to live. It's not even clear if humans could survive on Mars.
Maybe all the time and money people would pour into a Mars task would be better spent on more important projects here on Earth, like dealing with poverty or climate change. Some experts argue that handling a problem like an asteroid strike or disease outbreak while staying here on Earth would be much easier and less expensive than surviving on a new planet. In addition, moving to a new planet could harm or destroy anything that already lives there. Mars seems uninhabited, but it could possibly host some life. Human visitors may destroy this life or change the Martian environment forever.
What do you think? Should humans colonize outer space or stay at home?
1. In writing Paragraph 1, the author aims to________| A．provide an explanation | B．make a comparison |
| C．reach a conclusion | D．introduce a topic |
| A．protect humans from dying out |
| B．make Hawking's dream come true |
| C．seek more space for humans to live in |
| D．encourage different organizations to compete |
| A．Out of space, out of mind. | B．Money should be well spent. |
| C．East or west, home is the best. | D．One should mind his own business. |
| A．Confident. | B．Doubtful. | C．Objective. | D．Supportive. |
2 . In the Hollywood movie The Martian, actor Matt Damon plays an astronaut who grows food on Mars(火星)to survive alone on the red planet.
After seeing the movie, Washington State University physicist Michael Allen and University of Idaho food scientist Helen Joyner decided to carry out a case study helping students figure out how to farm on Mars. In the case study, students have to imagine they are mining(采矿) on Mars and decide how to feed themselves there before starting on the journey. They get advice from Allen and Joyner on how to select crops and take the challenges of growing crops over long periods on Mars. Students use a scoring system to select three foods to plant on Mars.
Allen found the results impressive: among 30 students, “no two people have ever gotten the same answer”, he said.
Human travelers to Mars will likely have to make use of resources on the planet rather than take everything they need with them on a spaceship. This means farming their own food on another planet, one that has a very different ecosystem (生态系统) from Earth’s.
One challenge for those who would like to live on Mars is the fact that there can be no farming tools. Like real astronauts, students taking part in the study cannot take a lot of farming tools with them. As Joyner put it to his student astronauts, “You are starting with nothing.”
Besides, students also have to deal with a very limited choice of diet. “If I had to eat a single food for the rest of my life, could I do it?” Joyner asked.
But Allen believes the case study is about more than farming and eating on the Red Planet.
“I’m not teaching about growing food on Mars,” Allen said. “I’m teaching about living with choices. I’m teaching about problem solving.”
1. In the case study, students have to __________.| A．watch the movie to know the conditions on Mars |
| B．decide which crop to grow on Mars with the help of the teachers |
| C．design different types of diets on Mars for them to choose |
| D．understand how to farm on Mars with their favorite farming tools |
| A．increases students’ knowledge about farming |
| B．helps student know more about Mars |
| C．develops students’ skills of solving problems |
| D．teaches students how to make proper choices |
| A．to describe a research on how to farm on Mars |
| B．to prepare us to deal with problems on Mars |
| C．to teach us how to survive on Mars alone |
| D．to introduce a Hollywood movie, The Martian |
