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:     1    

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,     2     Now it appears that Mars is the body of desire. While to be the first nation to land on it is an obvious draw, there are other reasons why we want to get there.

    3     You only have to look at the fossils of the dinosaurs to see the benefit of finding another habitable planet. While Mars doesn’t have the right conditions to call it home just yet, there's always the concept of terraforming-changing the environment of a planet to suit our needs.

However, not everyone agrees. Leading astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has said the concept of changing habitability of a planet is not always practical.     4    

It seems that the main reason at the moment is the search for alien (外星的) life.    5     Now seemingly dead, the potential fossils could answer questions about our own evolution and that of our planet. One theory is that bacterial life on our planet didn't start here, but was brought here via asteroid from Mars.

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 . 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.

2. What is special about the discovery？

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.

3. Which of the following is closest in meaning to “hitting the jackpot” in paragraph 5？

A．Making a discovery difficultly.	B．Achieving the goal easily.
C．Succeeding in something luckily.	D．Performing a task carefully.

4. According to the article, what benefits does the study bring？

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.

3 . One of the biggest barriers to a manned mission to Mars is the fuel problem. If future Mars explorers ever want to return to Earth, they’ll not only need enough fuel to get to Mars, but also enough to get back home. And fuel is heavy. If the plan is to pack it from Earth for the whole journey, then that adds a lot of weight to the aircraft. It’s a difficult problem.

Now, in a new plan outlined in an article by a NASA team leader Kurt Leucht, the dream of making fuel right on Mars itself appears to be a real possibility. And the only raw material needed to make the rocket fuel? Martian soil.

The NASA team calls the method “in situ resource utilization”, or ISRU. It involves extracting（提炼）water from Mars’ distinctive red-colored dirt and using a process called electrolysis（电解）to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen can then be combined with carbon, which is plentiful in Mars’ atmosphere, to make methane, which can be used as rocket fuel.

Of course, all of this requires time and an on-site factory that’s up to the task. For that, NASA is developing a team of robots that can be set up on Mars years in advance of a return trip to Earth, which will tirelessly work to manufacture the rocket fuel.

The whole plan does have one small challenge. Namely, it depends on the water content of Martian soil. If we start digging and there’s no water, or far less of it than expected, that could be a problem. But scientists are becoming increasingly confident that Mars’ soil actually has a fair amount of water locked into it, which is also enough for the survival needs of astronauts who plan to stay a while on the Red Planet.

“This technology will one day allow humans to live and work on Mars,” wrote Leucht, “and return to Earth to tell the story.”

1. What is one of the problems faced by Mars explorers?

A．They cannot carry enough fuel to return to Earth.

B．They have great difficulty surviving on Mars.

C．They need a large aircraft to carry enough fuel.

D．They cannot carry enough food to feed themselves.

2. How can Martian soil contribute to the making of rocket fuel?

A．By releasing a lot of carbon.	B．By providing water resources.
C．By producing methane directly.	D．By absorbing hydrogen in the air.

3. How will NASA carry out the plan?

A．By doing experiments on Earth first.	B．By training factory workers on Mars.
C．By preparing a return trip in advance.	D．By employing robots as workers on Mars.

4. What is the scientists’ attitude towards the plan?

A．Doubtful.

B．Optimistic.

C．Concerned.

D．Unclear.

4 . Edmund Halley was an English scientist who lived over 200 years ago. He studied the observations of comets which other scientists had made. The orbit of one particular comet was a very difficult mathematical problem. He could not figure it out. Neither could other scientists who dealt with such problems.

However, Halley had a friend named Newton, who was a brilliant mathematician. Newton thought he had already worked out that problem, but he could not find the papers on which he had done it. He told Halley that the orbit of a comet had the shape of an ellipse.

Now Halley set to work. He figured out the orbits of some of the comets that had been observed by scientists. He made a surprising discovery. The comets that had appeared in the years 1531, 1607, and 1682 all had the same orbit. Yet their appearances had been 75 to 76 years apart.

This seemed very strange to Halley. The different comets followed the same orbit. The more Halley thought about it, the more he thought that there had not been three different comets, as people thought. He decided that they had simply seen the same comet three times. The comet had gone away and had come back again.

It was an astonishing idea! Halley felt certain enough to make a prediction of what comet would happen in the future. He decided that this comet would appear in the year 1758. There were 53 years to go before Halley’s prediction could be tested. In 1758 the comet appeared in the sky. Halley did not see it, for he had died some years before. Ever since then that comet has been called Halley’s comet, in his honor.

1. Halley made his discovery ________.

A．by doing experiments	B．by means of his own careful observation
C．by using the work of other scientists	D．by chance

2. Halley made a surprising，but correct prediction in the year ________.

A．1704

B．1705

C．1706

D．1707

3. This passage in general is about ________.

A．Halley and other scientists	B．the orbit of a comet
C．Newton and Halley	D．Halley and his discovery

4. What can we know from the text?

A．Edmund Halley was an American scientist.	B．Halley made his discovery by doing experiments.
C．Newton was a famous mathematician.	D．The orbit of a comet had the shape of a circle.

5 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

Are we alone in the universe? Scientists have spent years     1     (search) deep into space for signs of life beyond our planet. Now they’ve discovered what might be life on Venus.

Venus is the second planet from the sun in our solar system. It’s one of the brightest     2     (object) in the night sky. Several billion years ago, the surfaces of Venus and Earth may have been more similar     3     now. But today, the surface of Venus is too hot for life. And until recently, Venus’s thick clouds were thought to be too poisonous for a living thing     4     (survive) there.

    5     September 14, in the journal Nature Astronomy, scientists reported the discovery of a chemical     6     (call) phosphine(磷化氢 ) in the clouds of Venus. On Earth, phosphine gas     7     (give) off by living things. Scientists aren’t yet able to prove that life on Venus is     8     is producing the phosphine. But they can’t explain the source of the gas in any other way.

The discovery of life beyond Earth would teach us more about the universe     9     our place in it. To Sousa-Silva, Harvard University astrochemist, it would say something about our     10     (important). “I like finding out that we as humans aren’t that special,” she says.

6 . A 24-year-old female space commander(指挥员) Zhou Chengyu has been a heated topic on Weibo since Chinese state media highlighted her as one of the women involved in the successful launch of the Chang'e-5 lunar probe(月球探测器) on 23 November. Social media users have been referring to her as a "source of pride" for the country.     1     Several people jokingly reflected on their own achievements, commenting how far behind in life they were in comparison.

Starting in 2004, the Chang'e Programme consists of three stages of "orbiting", "landing" and "returning".       2     In December 2013, the goal of China's first soft landing on the lunar surface and ground exploration on the Moon was achieved by the lander and Yutu Lunar Rover of Chang'e-3. Last year, Chang'e-4 probe made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon.

The Chang'e-5 mission is China's third successful Moon landing in seven years.    3     If successful, China would be the third country to bring lunar samples back to Earth after the United States and the Soviet Union.

Most Chinese know the story of the mythological Chang'e, the Chinese goddess of the moon. People can't hear the word "Chang'e" without picturing romantic images of a moon goddess.     4     And so pictures of Zhou Chengyu have been all over state media, with comments about how she is a "front-line soldier in the field of aerospace" and a "big sister" that young Chinese can look up to.

However, the huge amount of interest in the Guizhou Province native has not appeared to have had much of an effect on her.     5    

A．Her story in particular has inspired the public, considering her young age.

B．She refused repeated requests for interviews in order to focus on her work.

C．However, China has been trying to highlight strong female figures in the country.

D．Despite her young age, Zhou is now working at Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site.

E．Its aim is to gather lunar rocks and soil to help scientists learn more about the moon.

F．For this reason, China's mission to the moon was calling out for a strong female figure(女性形象).

G．China completed the "orbiting" phase by launching Chang'e-1 and Chang'e-2 lunar probes in 2007 and 2010.