1 . It sounds like something from the field of science fiction — a space exploration into vast outer space, heading towards the Red Planet While we’re not quite ready to put a person on it, the question we ask today is:
The space race saw the USSR (the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) and USA compete to achieve firsts in spaceflight. The USSR released Sputnik 1, an artificial satellite, before anyone else,
However, not everyone agrees. Leading astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has said the concept of changing habitability of a planet is not always practical.
It seems that the main reason at the moment is the search for alien (外星的) life.
| A．and the US landed on the moon first. |
| B．Instead, it makes no sense when we can simply terraform Earth because of the damage we have done to it. |
| C．One of these could be the survival of our species. |
| D．Why are so many countries interested in going to Mars? |
| E．It has been believed that, at one time, a certain form of life did exist in this red planet. |
| F．Surely inspiring a new generation to visit the stars is reasonable enough. |
| G．May landing on Mars inspire more people to become interested in exploring space? |
2 . The earth is struck daily by 60 tons of rocks from outer space. However, finding these ancient rocks is no easy task. Most meteorites (陨石) fall directly into water. And those that hit land can be difficult to spot among other rocks.
Fortunately for researchers there is one place on Earth where meteorites find it difficult to hide: Antarctica. “There are probably fewer meteorites falling per acre of land in Antarctica than in other parts of the world,” said Ralph Harvey, a professor at Case Western Reserve University. “But if you want to find things that fell from the sky, lay out a big white sheet. And Antarctica is a 5,000-kilometer-wide sheet.”
Finding meteorites in Antarctica is so relatively “easy” compared to the rest of the world that an estimated two-thirds (around 45,000) of those ever discovered have come from the icy continent. The challenge, however, comes not only from the terrible conditions, but also from knowing where to look to make any expedition worthwhile.
In an effort to greatly improve the collection rate of Antarctic meteorites, a Belgian—Dutch team of scientists has unveiled (展示) what they’re calling a “treasure map” for the region. “We expect the treasure map to be 80% accurate,” said Veronica Tollenaar, who led the study.
After landing in the snow in Antarctica, a meteorite will either be directed into the ocean or brought back to the surface of what’s known as a “blue ice” area. As meteorites come out in these special “blue ice” areas, their color contrasts (对比) against the deep blue ice, making them easy to spot. The treasure map marks more than 600 special “blue ice” areas. They estimate that these sites may contain anywhere from 340,000 to 900,000 surface meteorites.
The researchers add that these locations also likely contain rare meteorites, such as angrites, brachinites or even Martian meteorites.
“Collecting these ancient rocks will further improve the understanding of our Solar System,” they write.
1. What makes it relatively easy to spot meteorites on Antarctica?| A．Few people visit the Antarctica. |
| B．Antarctica is covered with snow. |
| C．More meteorites fall in Antarctica. |
| D．Meteorites stay still in Antarctica. |
| A．Antarctic is too far to arrive. |
| B．Meteorites’ location is hard to track. |
| C．The expedition to Antarctic is too expensive. |
| D．The snow in Antarctic covers most of the meteorites. |
| A．More and more meteorites found in Antarctica |
| B．Challenges of spotting meteorites in Antarctica |
| C．Improving our understanding of the Solar System |
| D．Treasure map helping spot meteorites in Antarctica |
| A．Science. | B．Business. | C．Environment. | D．Education. |
Some people believe that space exploration is a waste of time and the
It is humans’
The Future Life on Mars
Compared with the life we
Firstly, without pollution on Mars, people will be able to drink cleaner water
On 15 October 1997, the Cassini spacecraft set out on a mission to explore the planet Saturn. So great was the distance from Earth that it
6 . Stephen Hawking, one of the world’s most famous scientists, believed that to survive, humans will one day have to move into space. “Once we spread out into space and establish independent settlements, our future should be safe, ”he said.
Today, several leading countries in space exploration are all planning to send astronauts-people who travel into space - back to Earth’s closest neighbor: the moon. Some of these countries want to create space stations there within the next 10 years. These stations will prepare humans to visit and later live on Mars or other Earthlike planets.
Robert Zubrin, a rocket scientist, thinks humans should take control of space. He wants to start with Mars. Why? He thinks sending people to Mars will allow us to learn a lot of things-for example, the ability of humans to live in a very different environment. Eventually, we could create new human societies on other planets. In addition, any advances we make in the fields of science, technology, medicine, and health will benefit people here on Earth.
Not everyone thinks sending humans into space is a smart idea. Many say it’s too expensive. Also, most space trips are not short. A one-way trip to Mars, for example, would take at least six months. People traveling this kind of distance could face many health problems In addition, these first people would find life extremely difficult in space. On the moon, for example, the sun’s rays are very dangerous. People would have to stay indoors most of the time
Despite these concerns, sending people into space seems certain. In the future, we might see cities on the moon or even new human cultures on other planets. First stop: the moon
1. What is Stephen Hawking’s idea about future life in space?| A．Humans will live a healthy life. |
| B．Humans will live a better life on the moon. |
| C．Humans will create hospitals on other planets. |
| D．Space will be a safe place for humans to live in. |
| A．To learn more about the moon’s surface |
| B．To improve cooperation among countries. |
| C．To prepare humans to live on other planets |
| D．To reduce the number of people living on Earth |
| A．It will take a long time |
| B．It will cost a lot of money |
| C．It will be extremely difficult. |
| D．It will benefit people on Earth a lot |
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. |
| C．Unclear. | D．Worried. |
| A．A Trip to Mars. | B．Living in Space. |
| C．Astronauts on the Moon. | D．The Exploration of Space. |
7 . A lunar rover(月球车) has spotted a strange cube-shaped object and will change its official course to check it out, needing 2-3 months to arrive. Official observations suggest it could be a rock pushed upward from the impact(撞击) of an outside object that clearly landed next to it, or a technological relic from previous exploration, or hopefully, perhaps something that can’t be explained.
The Chinese Yutu 2 lunar rover spotted it in its cameras while passing a C-shaped enclosure on the moon’s far side. “Under the dark and deep sky, a circle of winding mountains stood on the extension line of the sky and the moon. On the side, people can’t help but admire the extraordinary work of the universe.” wrote Our Space, a Chinese -language blog connected with the national space agency. The drivers zoomed in(镜头拉近) on the pictures, slowly admiring them one by one. Suddenly, a cube on the northern skyline attracted their attention. The object looked like a “mysterious hut(小屋)”.
Right angles are unusual in nature, usually marking out something artificial if we see them through the faint light of a forest. On the moon, however, there’s not a lot of room for possibilities for a cube. After some days, the camera produced an image to share with the world of their “mysterious hut(小屋)”. The blog post suggested it could be evidence of previous moon missions, but noted the presence of a small impact crater(陨石坑) next to the cube, which could have led to the rising of rocks.
Popular Science magazine said the image could simply be pixelated, as it was taken from far away, Yutu2 landed with Chang’e 4, the first two spacecraft ever to land on the moon’s far side. They’ve in fact had the place to themselves since they arrived in 2019.
1. What can we learn about the cube from the first paragraph?| A．It will change its course soon. |
| B．It has been identified to be a rock. |
| C．It will be better observed after 2-3 months. |
| D．It’s identity is a mystery forever. |
| A．What people think of the cube. |
| B．What the cube was like when spotted. |
| C．How the cube was found. |
| D．How beautiful the universe is. |
| A．Clear | B．Unclear | C．Interesting | D．Unique. |
| A．A lunar rover sent by China 3 months ago. |
| B．The environment on the moon. |
| C．An impact crater on the moon. |
| D．A cube object spotted by China’s lunar rover on the moon. |
Mars is
Many scientists believe that studying Mars can help us find answers
9 . Having a conversation on Mars would be difficult. That’s partly because Mars can be really cold, and your teeth may be shaking. But it’s also because the Red Planet’s thin atmosphere of mostly CO3 doesn’t carry sound well. In fact, someone speaking next to you on Mars would sound as quiet as if they were talking 60 meters away on Earth.
A team studied some of the first sound recordings ever made on the Red Planet. The recordings had been picked up by a microphone on American Perseverance rover (探测器). This space robot has been exploring Mars since February 2021.
The recordings Perseverance got weren’t the sounds of events on Mars. They were noises made when the rover fired a laser (激光) at small rocks nearby. These data allowed the researchers to measure the speed of sound on Mars — and discovered a surprise. Within the range of human hearing, high sounds travel at about 250 meters per second. Low sounds travel slower — about 240 meters per second. Those low waves will travel just a few meters before becoming unhearable. Unexpectedly, the higher sounds die away over even shorter ranges.
When a sound wave moves through air or a fluid, it adds energy to the molecules (分子) around it. Air will gradually move that energy around. This is called the relaxation effect. For sound waves traveling through air, relaxation depends on the frequency of the sound and the type of molecules in the air. On Mars, the relaxation after a high sound happens faster than after a low sound. That’s because the atmosphere has low pressure and is mostly composed of (由……组成) CO2.
Measuring the speed of sound can give scientists an exact way to study the Martian atmosphere. Air pressure, temperature and humidity (湿度) all affect the speed of sound. So, by measuring changes in the speed of sound over time, researchers can learn more about Martian weather. With Perseverance broadcasting more sounds back to Earth, scientists will be able to study bow its soundscape changes over the course of Martian seasons.
1. Compared with on Earth, the sounds on Mars ________.| A．travel faster | B．travel a shorter distance |
| C．are clearer | D．are more powerful |
| A．The low sounds spread faster. |
| B．The sounds can spread endlessly. |
| C．The higher sounds travel a shorter distance. |
| D．All sounds spread the same distance. |
| A．The low pressure made by high sounds. | B．The ways sound waves move. |
| C．The less energy carried by high sounds. | D．The composition of the atmosphere. |
| A．Study the climate on Mars. | B．Research the Martian soil. |
| C．Learn the development of Mars. | D．Explore the possible living things on Mars. |
10 . When it comes to black holes, we are caught between a rock and a hard place. In the 1970s, Stephen Hawking showed that all black holes give off thermal radiation(热辐射)and eventually evaporate(蒸发). In doing so, they seemed to be destroying information contained in the matter that fell into them, therefore going against a rule of quantum mechanics(量子力学): information cannot be created or destroyed.
Some argued that the outgoing “Hawking radiation” preserved the information. However, if this were the case, then given certain assumptions, the event horizon(视界)—— the black hole’s boundary of no return—— would become intensely energetic, forming a firewall. But such firewalls go against the theory of general relativity, which says that space-time near the event horizon should be smooth. The black hole firewall paradox was thus born.
Now, Sean Carroll at the California Institute of Technology and his colleagues have shown that the paradox disappears when the evolution of black holes is understood in the context of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.
The quantum state of the universe is described by something called the global wave function(全局波函数). According to traditional quantum mechanics, whenever there are many possible outcomes for physical process, this wave function ”collapses“ to represent one outcome. But in the many-worlds Interpretation, the wave function doesn’t collapse-rather, it branches, with one branch for each outcome. The branches evolve independently of each other, as separate worlds.
In this way of thinking, the formation of a black hole and its evaporation due to Hawking radiation lead to multiple branches of the wave function. An observer monitoring a black hole also splits into multiple observers, one in each branch.
The new work shows that from the perspective of an observer in a given branch, space-time behaves as described by general relativity and the black hole has no firewall.
But does that imply loss of information? No, says team member Aidan Chatwin-Davies, also of Caltech. That is because the principle of preservation of information applies to the global wave function and not to its individual branches, he says. Information is preserved across all branches of the global wave function, but not necessarily in any one branch. Given this case, a black hole that doesn’t lose information and yet has a smooth, uneventful event horizon without a fire wall isn’t a contradiction.
Yasunori Nomura at the University of California at Berkeleyy has independently arrived at some similar conclusions in his work. He agrees that the many-worlds approach resolves the paradox around information loss from black holes. “Many worlds should be taken seriously,” he says.
1. Which word in the article is similar in meaning to the underlined word in Paragraph 2?| A．Assumption (Paragraph 2) | B．Interpretation (Paragraph 4) |
| C．Evaporation (Paragraph 5) | D．Contradiction (Paragraph 7) |
| A．There is a firewall. | B．No observer will split. |
| C．No information is lost. | D．The wave function collapses. |
| A．introduce an independent scientist |
| B．support the many-worlds interpretation |
| C．question whether many worlds really exist |
| D．argue against the information loss from black holes |
| A．Rules of quantum mechanics. |
| B．A new understanding of the black hole. |
| C．Hawking’s interpretation of the black hole. |
| D．The development of the global wave function. |
