1 . Complete the passage with appropriate words or the correct form of the words in brackets.

A Capsule Fails the Test of Time

The US state of Oklahoma, the 48th state in the Union, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2007. In a year full of official     1    (celebrate), one event in June attracted spectators and media from all around the world. On 15 June 2007, thousands of people gathered in Tulsa to watch the unearthing of a time capsule that had been buried half a century earlier. There was a feeling of     2    (excite) in the air. As well as     3    (wait) to see the time capsule, the crowd was also waiting to find out who had won a competition which     4    (launch) when the capsule was buried 50 years earlier.

The time capsule was a large concrete box. People said it was strong     5     to survive a nuclear strike. It had to be large and strong, because it contained a car: a brand new 1957 Plymouth Belvedere. Inside the car     6    (be) lots of everyday items from the 1950s. For example, there was a can of petrol and a case of beer in the boot. In the glove box was a handbag     7    (contain) a lipstick and other small items considered     8    (essence) for a ‘typical’ woman in the 1950s.

Before the capsule was buried, officials ran a competition. Entrants had to guess what the population of Tulsa would be in 2007. The organizers recorded all the guesses and saved     9     on a roll of microfilm. The microfilm was placed in the Plymouth Belvedere. The organizers’ idea was that     10     the time capsule was opened in 2007, the winner would be announced – and he or she (or his or her hers) would win the entire contents of the time capsule, plus the contents of the savings account.

2 . What are your retirement plans? Keep working? Get more exercise? Or learn something new? You may put them on hold. There’s a chance that, sooner or later, you might have to move further than you were thinking, as far as mars.

On Thursday, National Geographic will show the first-ever Mars show home, giving earthlings (地球人) an idea of what their life could look like on the Red Planet. In the not-so-distant year of 2037, the igloo-shaped structure could be the home of your future.

It shows a house built using recycled spacecraft (航天器) parts and Martian soil, called regolith, which has been microwaved into bricks. Some parts of the home are recognizable—a kitchen, a bedroom—but there are fundamental differences that are important to human survival.

As the Martian atmosphere is around one hundredth as thick as the Earth’s, people will need permanent (永久的) shelter from the sun; society will move largely indoors. Most buildings will be connected by underground passages and the houses won’t have windows. The homes will have simulated solar lighting, or natural light that has been bent several times.

Walls will need to be 10 to 12 feet thick to protect people from dangerous rays (光线) that can pass through six feet of steel, and a double air-locked entrance to keep the home under proper pressure.

“We don’t think of our houses as things that keep us alive, but on Mars your house will be a survival centre,” says Stephen Petranek, author of How We’ll Live on Mars. This is not just the stuff of sci-fi. “10 to 20 years from now there will certainly be people, on Mars.” Petranek says.

“We’ve had the technology for 30 years to land people on Mars, but we haven’t had the will,” Petranek says. But two main factors have “completely swung public attitudes”.

The private companies’ participation has forced government agencies to speed up their game, and influential films such as Gravity and The Martian have caught society’s eye.

1. What can we know about the show home from the text?

A．It has no windows or doors due to security concern.

B．Its design presents the idea of environmental protection.

C．It has thick walls keeping the home under proper pressure.

D．Its underground passages connect all the building together.

2. What do the underlined words “put them on hold” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Put them off.

B．Give them away.

C．Carry them through.

D．Take them seriously.

3. According to Petranek, what has sped up the process of sending people to Mars?

A．The great influence of the Mars show home.

B．The development of related technology.

C．The competition from private companies.

D．The popularity of influential books on Mars.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Living on Mars: Possible or Not

B．Sending People to Mars: Yes or No

C．First-ever show home: How Is It Made

D．Future Home on Mars: What Will It Be Like