2 . Interesting Space Facts

As time goes by, technological advancements have made us learn more facts about space in the past century than in all time before that. We’ve already searched the universe for the most amazing space facts, including facts about the planets in our solar system, moons, the Milky Way and beyond!     1    

The highest mountain discovered is the Olympus Mons, which is located on Mars. It is 16 miles high, making it nearly 3 times higher than Mount Everest.    2     That’s the size of Arizona !

The sun weighs about 330,000 times more than Earth.    3     In fact, the sun is so huge that it contains 99.85% of all mass in our solar system.

Footprints left on the moon won’t disappear as there is no wind. But wait a minute.

    4     Well, it actually wasn’t blowing. That blowing you see is because of a telescopic horizontal rod (望远镜水平杆) that the astronauts were struggling to remove from the flag’s top.

    5     This is due to the lack of gravity in space causing the vertebrae (椎骨) to expand a little. However, this extra height is lost when they re-enter the earth’s atmosphere and are affected by the earth’s gravity again.

A．We’re pretty sure they will make you interested!

B．New discoveries will no longer be made in the future.

C．It is so large that it can contain about 1,300,000 Earths!

D．Not only is it tall, but it’s 114,000 square meters as well.

E．All these space facts may not be true at the time of writing.

F．Astronauts can grow about two inches in height when in space.

G．If there’s no wind to blow them away, then why is the flag blowing?

3 . Hayley Arceneaux managed to live after bone cancer (癌症). So she isn’t afraid of a little space travel. This fall, she will be on SpaceX’s first private flight to circle Earth. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital chose Arceneaux for the honor (荣誉). She was a patient before she got a job at St. Jude last spring. Arceneaux will join three other people on the flight. She will be the medical officer. At 29 years old, she will be the youngest American to go into space. Arceneaux will also be the first person in space with an artificial (人造的) body part. When she was 10, Arceneaux was given an artificial knee at St. Jude.

The SpaceX flight will circle Earth. It will last two to four days. Billionaire Jared Isaacman paid for the flight. He raised money for St. Jude, which researches childhood cancers. Isaacman asked St. Jude to pick one person. Without telling its workers, leaders at the center chose from a group of workers who were also former patients.

When Arceneaux was home in Tennessee, the call came out of the blue. Her answer was “Yes! Yes! Please!” .But she also checked with her family members. Her brother and sister-in-law work in the space industry. They told her space travel is safe.

Arceneaux is a life long space fan. She is also a risk-taker.

“My fight against cancer really prepared me for space travel,” she said. “It made me strong.” .She can’t wait to show kids with cancer that “the sky is not the limit (界限) anymore.”. She thinks it will “mean so much to these kids to see a former cancer patient in space. ”.

Isaacman, 38, is also a risk-taker. He will lead the spaceflight.

He set out to raise $200 million for St. Jude. He said he would provide 50% of the money.

“It’s not all ... about getting people excited to travel in space someday,” Isaacman said. “It’s also ... about an encouraging message of what we can achieve here on Earth.”

1. What did St.Jude offer to Arceneaux?

A．A chance to travel in space.	B．Free medical treatment.
C．A round-the-world trip.	D．An artificial arm.

2. How did Arceneaux feel when she was called?

A．Proud.

B．Angry.

C．Upset

D．Excited.

3. What did Arceneaux think of the trip?

A．It would be supported by her family.

B．It would encourage kids with cancer.

C．It would be bad for her health.

D．It would cost a lot of money.

4. Which of the following can best describe Arceneaux?

A．Adventurous and caring.	B．Friendly and hopeful.
C．Helpful and strict.	D．Honest and kind.

4 . The British entrepreneur Richard Branson has successfully flown to the edge of space and back in his Virgin Galactic passenger rocket plane, days ahead of a rival launch by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, as the billionaires compete to kick off a new era of space tourism. Seventeen years after Branson founded Virgin Galactic to develop commercial spacecraft, the space plane went into sub-orbital flight on Sunday morning, reaching 88 km above the Earth’s surface.

“Welcome to the dawn of a new space age,” Branson tweeted (发推特) shortly after the flight. Branson is the first of the competing “billionaire space barons”, and the flight can be served as a huge stunt (噱头) of advertisement for Virgin Galactic. In nine days’ time, Bezos will launch his own rocket, New Shepard — named for Alan Shepard, the first American astronaut in space, which was manufactured by Bezos’s company Blue Origin. On Saturday, Blue Origin tweeted a message of good luck to Virgin Galactic, after laughing at the company on Friday, when it came to whether Unity 22 was really going into space, instead of just to the edge of space.

The boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space, known as the Kármán line, has been a source of controversy for years. Aeronatics standard setter Fédération Aéronautique Internationale defines the Kármán line as the altitude of 100km above Earth’s average sea level, However, US space agency NASA says the boundary is 80km, above sea level.

Interest in space tourism is rapidly catching on. Virgin Galactic says it has more than 600 reserved seats at $250,000 each for people who will fly in the future. The company plans to launch two additional flights before commercial service begins in 2023.

1. Why is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos mentioned in Paragraph 1?

A．To present his achievement.	B．To introduce the following topic.
C．To make a comparison with Branson.	D．To give an explanation of space tourism.

2. What does Branson’s initial flight mean?

A．Act as an advertisement.

B．Launch an rocket plane.

C．Gain a good luck message.

D．Make fun of Blue Origin.

3. Which is controversial among scientists?

A．Earth’s atmosphere.

B．The Kármán line.

C．The altitude of outer space.

D．The Earth’s average sea level.

4. What can we know about Virgin Galactic’s space tourism?

A．Over 600 reserved seats will be provided.	B．Tourists can get two extra flights.
C．Commercial service has begun.	D．250,000 people can fly to space in 2023.

5 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容或括号内单词的正确形式。

China has     1     ( successful) launched its space station— Tianhe. The successful launch marks that China’s space station construction has entered a full stage,     2     lays a solid foundation for the follow-up tasks. The station is expected to contribute to the peaceful     3     (develop) and use of space resources as well as to enrich technologies and experience for China’s future explorations into much     4     (deep) space.

Five launch tasks     5     (finish) last year. China plans another six tasks, including two manned spaceships. The tasks aim to complete     6     construction of the space station in 2022. The station will provide astronauts     7     six zones separately for work, sleep, dining, sanitation, healthcare and exercise. The station also has more     8     (advance) technologies due to the collected wisdom and strengths from universities, research institutes and industrial departments across the country.

So far many foreign space agencies     9     (propose) cooperative intention. China will start the selection of foreign astronauts and carry out joint flights according to the task progress. Through cooperation, China wants     10     (build) its space station into a scientific research platform shared by the world and benefit all humankind.