1 . “Pale moon rains. Red moon blows. White moon neither rains nor snows.” For generations, people have watched the moon for signs of changes in the weather. The moon does, in fact, affect the Earth’s climate and weather patterns in several unnoticeable ways.
The most obvious effect the moon has on the Earth can be seen in the ocean tides (潮汐). A world without tides would have very different weather systems. Tides are one factor that influences the movement of ocean currents, which move warm or cool water about the Earth. Warm ocean currents bring warmer wetter weather, while cold ocean currents bring colder drier weather.
While the lunar nodal cycle is set to bring marked change over the coming decades, the moon affects the Earth in a few other little-known ways on a shorter timescale.
The moon is also thought to affect polar temperatures and contribute to fluctuations (波动) in the extent of Arctic ice. Satellite measurements have shown that the poles are 0.55℃ warmer during a full moon. In addition, tidal forces act to break up ice sheets and change ocean heat flows, converting the amount of ice in the Arctic Ocean.
The moon’s influence, sometimes unnoticeable and sometimes strong, has had a formative impact on life on Earth. Some scientists argue that it is the moon that made life possible in the first place. The moon steadies the Earth as it spins on its axis (轴), helping to give us a stable climate. Without it, the Earth would rock more irregularly. The poles would move obviously in relation to the Earth’s orbit. Seasons, days and nights would all look very different. The moon is closest to the Earth in the universe, without which the Earth would be a very lonely place.
1. What is the author’s purpose of writing paragraph 1?| A．To draw people’s attention to the text. | B．To teach people signs of weather changes. |
| C．To show people how to appreciate the moon. | D．To tell people to prepare for extreme weather. |
| A．The world weather system. | B．The impact of ocean tides. |
| C．The movement of ocean tides. | D．The reasons for warmer weather. |
| A．Changing. | B．Speeding. | C．Determining. | D．Keeping. |
| A．Health. | B．Entertainment. | C．Science. | D．Sports. |
NASA announced that it would make 366 precious images of the universe available to the public in April
NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope
In the past three decades, scientists
3 . Two high school students have identified four new planets in distant space about 200-light-years from Earth, making them “the youngest astronomers” to make such a discovery.
Kartik Pingle, 16, and Jasmine Wright. 18, who both attend schools in Massachusetts, participated in the Student Research Mentoring Program (SRMP). With the help of Tansu Daylan, an MIT doctor for Astrophysics and Space Research, the students studied and analyzed data from the Transiting Exoplanct Survey Satellite (TESS). Together they focused on Tess Object of Interest (TOI) 1233, a nearby, bright sun-like star and here they found four planets rotating（旋转）around the star. “We were looking to see changes in light over time,” Pingle explained, “the idea is that if the planet transits the star, or passes in front of it, it would periodically cover up the star and decrease its brightness.”
While studying 1233, Pingle and Wright had at least hoped to find one planet but were overwhelmed with joy when a total of four were spotted. “I was very excited and very shocked.” Wright said. “We knew this was the goal of Daylan’s research, but to actually find a multi-planetary system, and be part of the discovering team, was really cool.” Three of the newly discovered planets are considered as “sub-Neptunes”, which are gaseous, but smaller than the Neptune that lives in our solar system. While observing the planets, the team determined each one completes their orbit around 1233 every six to 19.5 days. However, the fourth planet is called a “super-Earth” for its large size and rockiness this one orbits around the star in just under four days.
“We have long been studying planets beyond our solar system and with multi-planetary systems, the two young students are kind of hitting the jackpot. They are really blessed.” Daylan said. “The planets originated from the same disk of matter around the same star, but they ended up being different planets with different atmospheres and different climates due to their different orbits. So, we would like to understand the basic processes of planet formation and evolution using this planetary system.”
Daylan added that it was a “win-win” to work with Pingle and Wright on the study. “As a researcher, I really enjoy interacting with young brains that are open to experimentation and learning and have slightest bias（偏见）.”he said, “I also think it is very beneficial to high school students, since they get exposure to cutting-edge research, and this prepares them quickly for a research career.”
1. How did the two students identify the four planets？| A．By helping professor Tansu Daylan with the data. |
| B．By analyzing the change of brightness of star 1233. |
| C．By studying Neptune that lives in our solar system. |
| D．By interacting with other young talented brains. |
| A．It was made by two high school students. |
| B．It was made with an innovative approach. |
| C．It was meant to be made by Tansu Daylan. |
| D．It found the largest number of planets at a time. |
| A．Making a discovery difficultly. | B．Achieving the goal easily. |
| C．Succeeding in something luckily. | D．Performing a task carefully. |
| A．It allows the scientists to work with young people without prejudice. |
| B．It equips future astronomers with better researching abilities. |
| C．It provides more perspectives and thus boosts more discoveries. |
| D．It arouses students’ interest in exploring the unknown universe. |
4 . You look up at the sky on a clear and dark night, you’ll see more stars than your eyes can count. Most of these stars have planets, similar to our own, orbiting them. With so many celestial bodies floating out in space, you can’t help but question whether other forms of life exist in the universe. And if that’s the case, is it possible to contact them?
Science is still somewhat divided on this issue. Currently, no evidence exists to suggest that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe. Yet with an estimated one trillion planets in our galaxy alone, it seems highly likely that Earthlings aren’t the only intelligent creatures out there. Some claim that life can only develop under perfect circumstances, and Earth is perhaps the only example of this. Other scientists object to this claim, and point out that even on Earth, life can find a way under the most extreme circumstances.
Some people believe that aliens have already visited our planet, but this information is being kept secret by governments. The most famous incident of this kind occurred in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. On that date, many residents reported seeing an unusual flying disc streak through the sky, before it crashed in a field. When the military heard about the crash, they quickly sealed off the area. A few hours later, the army base announced that it had recovered a flying disk. Shortly after, this statement was retracted and it was said that it was a weather balloon that crashed. However, years later one local mortician even claimed that the military had him secretly perform an autopsy on a dead alien body.
Others believe that there certainly are other life forms out there, but the distance between us is too great. Even if we could somehow create a spaceship that travels at the speed of light, it would still probably take several lifetimes to reach them. Then again, we might never have to do this if aliens reach us first.
1. Why do some scientists think there is life on other planets?| A．Because an unusual flying disc was ever witnessed. |
| B．Because life exists despite extreme conditions as those on the Earth do. |
| C．Because the government’s statement seemed suspicious. |
| D．Because there are a great number of planets in the universe. |
| A．Examined again to guarantee the correctness. | B．Emphasized again to persuade people. |
| C．Formally taken back what has been said. | D．Seriously criticized due to poor evidence |
| A．Are we alone in the universe? | B．Is it possible to contact aliens? |
| C．Intelligent life in the universe. | D．Planets floating out in space. |
| A．Objective. | B．Humorous. | C．Cautious. | D．Anxious. |
5 . Like a phoenix (凤凰), some stars may burst to life covered in “ash,” rising from the remains of stars that had previously passed on.
Two fireballs covered in carbon and oxygen, ashy byproducts of helium fusion (氦聚变), belong to a new class of stars, researchers report in the March Monthly Notices. Though these burning objects are not the first stars found covered in carbon and oxygen, they are the first discovered to have helium-burning cores.
“That merger (并合) tells you the star must have evolved differently,” says study author Nicole Reindl.
The stars may have formed from the merger of two white dwarfs (白矮星), the remaining hearts of stars that exhausted their fuel, Reindl further explains. One of the two was rich in helium, while the other contained lots of carbon and oxygen. These two white dwarfs had already been orbiting one another, but gradually drew together. Eventually the helium-rich white dwarf “ate” its partner, leaving carbon and oxygen all over its surface, just as a messy child might get food all over their face.
Such a merger would have produced a star covered in carbon and oxygen to burn nuclear fusion in its core again, says Tiara Battich, a German astrophysicist.
To test this idea, Battich copied the evolution, death and eventual merger of two stars on his computer and simulated (模拟) the process. He found that putting together a carbon-and-oxygen-rich white dwarf and a more massive helium one could explain the compositions of the two stars observed by Reindl and her colleagues.
“But this should happen very rarely,” Battich says. In most cases the opposite should occur, because carbon-oxygen white dwarfs are usually the more massive ones. For the rarer case to occur, two stars slightly more massive than the sun must have formed at just the right distance and the right time.
"The origins story Battich proposes demands a very specific and unusual set of circumstances, " says Simon Blouin, a Canadian astrophysicist. “But in the end, it makes sense.”
1. What’s the newest discovery of the merger of two stars?| A．It produces a mass of helium ash. |
| B．It possesses a helium-burning core. |
| C．It is covered in carbon and oxygen. |
| D．It makes an oxygen atmosphere for life. |
| A．By co-working with Rcindl’s team. |
| B．By making astronomic observations. |
| C．By building models on his computer. |
| D．By testing the two stars’ compositions. |
| A．the carbon-oxygen white dwarf “ate” the helium one |
| B．the helium white dwarf “ate” the carbon-oxygen one |
| C．helium white dwarfs are usually the more massive ones |
| D．carbon-oxygen white dwarfs are usually the more massive ones |
| A．The formation of stars makes sense. |
| B．The burning of stars brings them to life. |
| C．Stars inspire scientists to reflect on the universe. |
| D．Star mergers can unfold in more than one way. |
6 . Unusually bright light in the sky that appeared suddenly last June has got astronomers in great excitement, After months of study, they still aren’t sure what the object — university referred to as the “Cow” — is, whatever it is, says astronomer Lilian Rivera Sandoval or Texas Tech University in Lubbock, “It’s super strange and we are obsessed with its study.”
The Cow first appeared in telescope observations on 16 June 2018, in what turned out to be small galaxy about 200 million light years away. “When we saw that we thought, let’s get on this.” says Daniel Perley, an astronomer at Liverpool John Moore University.
The early observations confirmed the Caw was truly strange. It didn’t show the obvious changes in its light output that an exploding star would make. Sandoval ways as soon as she and colleagues Anew the Cow was truly distant, they requested time on NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to see what the Cow was doing in X-rays. Although the X-ray brightness varied over the early weeks, “the spectrum didn’t change, which is very unusual,” she notes. After 3 weeks, the X-ray signal began to vary more wildly while also dropping off in brightness.
Many astronomers agree that the long and steady duration of the event means that it was powered after an initial explosion by some form of central engine. But what that engine may be is also far from clear. Some argue that it could be a very unusual star whose central part has collapsed inward after it exploded. Others say it is a tidal disruption event — a star being torn apart by a black hole. But that usually requires the supermassive black hole in the center of a galaxy, and the Cow is situated in its galaxy’s arm. So, some say, il could be a tidal disruption event generated by an intermediate mass black hole, although evidence for the existence of such smaller black holes remains controversial. “All explanations have problems,” Sandoval says, “I hope there are more Cows.”
1. What is astronomers’ main concern about the Cow?| A．When it appears. | B．How it forms. |
| C．What it is. | D．Where it is from. |
| A．The Cow is a not typical exploding star in the galaxy. |
| B．The changes of X-rays brightness proved the Cow unique. |
| C．The Cow is not far from the Earth and easy to study. |
| D．The X-ray test helped find accurate features of the Cow. |
| A．The research results help little. | B．More Cows will appear. |
| C．Extra attention should be paid to the Cow. | D．More information is needed. |
| A．Astronomers conducted an interesting experiment at NASA. |
| B．The Cow has aroused astronomers’ passion in its research. |
| C．There exists a wide range of changes in the galaxies. |
| D．The discovery of the Cow is a great achievement. |
7 . A new study focuses on K2-18b, an exoplanet(系外行星) discovered in 2018, which orbits a red dwarf star close enough to receive about the same amount of radiation from its star as Earth does from our sun.
Recently, scientists have discovered gas giants that have water in their atmospheres, but this is the least giant planet ever to have water detected in its atmosphere. “The water detection was quite clear to us relatively early on,” lead author Bjorn Benneke, a professor at the Institute for Research on Exoplanets at the Universite de Montreal, told Space.com in an interview.
“Studies have suggested that planets with hydrogen-rich atmospheres could host certain forms of life.” Benneke said. However, “K2-18b’s large atmosphere is extremely thick and creates high-pressure conditions, which likely prevents life as we know it from existing on the planet’s surface.” a news release reads. While these researchers found evidence for liquid water clouds on K2-18b, because of its lack of surface, rain wouldn’t pool on the planet. Without a real surface, so to speak, landing on the planet would also be nearly impossible to land on, especially because the gas is so thick and has such an incredibly high pressure that any Earth-created spacecraft sent there would be destroyed.
Benneke suggests that, possibly, this planet formed by rock absorbing large amounts of gas, “like a vacuum cleaner,” he said. The gas absorbed would have more than doubled the planet and increased its volume Warren eightfood.
To come to these conclusions, the research team analyzed data from Hubble Space Telescope observations that they made between 2019 and 2020 of the K2-18b planet passing in front of its star eight times. This type of research, Benneke said, is leading toward a final goal of “being able to study real, true earth-like planets.” We are not quite there yet, he said, but this is really exciting.”
1. Why is it impossible to land on the K2-18b?| A．It has thin gas. | B．It doesn’t have a real surface. |
| C．It has too much water. | D．It is too far from the earth. |
| A．By releasing gas itself. | B．By receiving radiation from the sun. |
| C．By taking in much gas by rocks. | D．By getting away from the red dwarf star. |
| A．Scientists are making progress in studying real earth-like planets. |
| B．It is impossible for humans to land on other earth-like planets. |
| C．Scientists have succeeded in exploring K2-18b completely. |
| D．The K2-18b planet has passed before its star eight times between 2019 and 2020. |
| A．The exploration of the outer space. |
| B．The study of solar systems’ environment. |
| C．The discovery of the K2-18b planet. |
| D．The research on the K2-18b planet. |
8 . A radio signal detected by an Australian telescope in 2019, which seemed to be coming from the star closest to the Sun, was not from aliens, researchers report today in two papers in Nature Astronomy.
“It is human-made radio interference (干扰) from some technology, probably on the surface of the Earth,” says Sofia Sheikh, an astronomer at the University of Berkeley. But the signal, detected by Breakthrough Listen — an organization in search of aliens — looked interesting enough at first that it sent astronomers on a nearly year-long research to understand its origins.
“It’s really valuable for us to have these experiences,” says Jason Wright, the leader astronomer of the organization. “We need these signals so we can learn how we will deal with them — how to prove they are alien or human-made.”
Since 2016, Breakthrough Listen has used telescopes around the world to listen for possible broadcasts from alien civilizations. The program has picked up millions of signals of unknown origin, nearly all of which could be classified as coming from radio interference on Earth, from sources such as mobile-phone towers or aircraft radar.
The 2019 signal was different. It was detected by the radio telescope in southeastern Australia and came from the direction of Proxima Centauri — the nearest star to the Sun. Proxima Centauri is of great interest to alien researchers not just because it is nearby. The star has at least two planets, one of which orbits at the right distance for liquid water to be on its surface. Breakthrough Listen even plans to send a tiny spacecraft to this planet in the future to look for life there.
In November 2020, and in January and April this year, the researchers pointed telescope at Proxima Centauri to see if they could pick up the signal again. They could not. Instead, the team spotted other “look alike signals”. These signals had been proved out by the team’s analysis as being earthly interference. Further analysis showed that these signals were all interference from an unknown source, maybe electronic equipment that got shut down or fixed
The Universe gives us a “haystack (干草堆)”, says Sofia Sheikh. “It is our need to find the needle in it, and make sure that it is actually a needle that we found.”
1. Who devoted much efforts to the research of the 2019 signal?| A．Some scientists in southeastern Australia. |
| B．An astronomer at the University of Berkeley |
| C．The leader astronomer of Nature Astronomy. |
| D．An alien research organization Breakthrough Listen. |
| A．They sent a spacecraft to Proxima Centauri. |
| B．They confirmed the origin of similar signals. |
| C．They got signals from the same direction again. |
| D．They found some dead electronic equipment. |
| A．It's very hard to direct an alien signal. |
| B．There are too many unknown signals. |
| C．There are very few needles in universe. |
| D．They should give up the research of aliens. |
| A．Alien research moved a step forward |
| B．Signals from aliens were picked up |
| C．Signals interfered Astronomy research |
| D．Mysterious alien beacon was false alarm |
9 . Plenty of science fiction (sci-f) movies over the decades have shown us different versions of Mars. The truth about the Martian surface might be exciting because it's real. And with NASA' s Mars 2020 mission set to launch this summer, we're facing more discovery.
So far, thanks to a decade of research enabled by NASA's Curiosity rover, we've learned that lakes, rivers streams and likely oceans used to appear on Mars. While its water disappeared over three billion years ago, it tells us that Mars used to be habitable. This knowledge confuses us because so far, we've seen no clear evidence of life there, not even a virus. But if Mars was once habitable, wouldn't it have life?
NASA is now prepared to take the next step to answer this question with the launch of another rover, Perseverance. Every time a rover goes to Mars, it just stays there, with no way to fly back home. So we have never brought rock or soil samples back from Mars.
Perseverance rover will change this. Its primary and unique purpose is to collect samples that a future spacecraft can return to Earth. These samples will tell us more about the geologic history of Mars than anything we've learned, which is already a lot. Since 2012. the Curiosity rover has traveled more than a dozen miles, making observations along the way with its 10 instruments.
Thanks to data from the Curiosity rovers Sample Analysis at Mars instrument, we know that Mars does indeed have organic materials. That’s more complex than we expected to find on the surface of Mars. And that's exactly why we want to gather the most interesting samples and bring them back to Earth. We expect to find out much more about Mars once we get samples back from the Mars 2020 mission.
1. What is the purpose of Mars 2020 Mission?| A．To explore the Martian surface. | B．To travel around the universe. |
| C．To show the power of NASA. | D．To study the life on Mars. |
| A．Enjoyable to visit. | B．Suitable for living. |
| C．Ready for changes. | D．Convenient to travel. |
| A．The rovers could not reach Mars. |
| B．Observations were hard to make. |
| C．Samples on Mars couldn't be brought back. |
| D．Study instruments got lost in the space station. |
| A．New Mars rover to be launched | B．Sei-fi movies on Mars to be made |
| C．Curiosity to bring back Mars samples | D．NASA to send manned rover to Mars |
10 . Do you think alien beings exist somewhere in the universe? It seems like Mars, our closest neighbor, has inspired the most science fiction as the place where aliens are most likely to come from. Recent Mars probes (探测) have shown us that there is no life on that planet—at least not now. But that does not mean that life does not exist elsewhere—after all, the universe is really big. A lot of scientific research is going on in the search for “extraterrestrial life”.
Think about it—why should the seven billion people on this little planet be the only living beings in the universe? It would, in fact, seem logical that this is not the case. So scientific research in this matter is based around the idea of finding other planets that have environments that can support life —environments similar to the Earth. The search is on for the evidence of the existence, or earlier existence of life: from very wise beings to simple organisms (有机物).
So far, there have been a number of theories as to which planetary bodies may have an atmosphere that can support such life and therefore deserve closer attention. As for places within our own Milky Way Galaxy, it has been assumed over the decades that Mars and Venus, as well as some of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, may have been hosts for life. Now, as technologies have improved and we can obtain measurements of the composition of the atmosphere on extra-solar planets, the chances of finding “alien” life forms are increasing.
There has been a theory that some of the planets in the habitable zone of the red dwarf star Gliese 581 may be able to support life. In 2007, scientists discovered exoplanet Gliese 581c—and felt that its atmosphere was most suitable for supporting life. But further research revealed that it would not. Now, attention has been turned to Gliese 581d, at the outer edge of the star’s habitable zone. The main standards for deciding whether a planetary body can be life-supporting are atmospheric conditions which allow the existence of water. Gliese 581 is about 20. 4 light years away from the Earth, so even if life does exist there, the distance would mean that communication would be unlikely.
Having said this—who says alien life forms (if they exist) need water?
1. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Life existing outside of the Earth. |
| B．The evidence of the existence of life. |
| C．Other faraway planets in the universe. |
| D．Creatures known from science fictions. |
| A．Modern scientific theories. | B．Atmospheric conditions. |
| C．Environments similar to the Earth. | D．Advanced technologies. |
| A．the atmosphere of Gliese 581c was most suitable for life |
| B．it is not certain whether alien life forms need water or not |
| C．the 7 billion people on the Earth are the only beings in the universe |
| D．the distance of 20. 4 light years makes it impossible to find life on Gliese 581d |
| A．Do Aliens Exist? | B．Is Mars Suitable for Life? |
| C．Are Alien Life Forms Various? | D．Can We Communicate with Aliens? |
