Chinese spacecraft finds lunar soil could make oxygen and fuel on the moon.

Lunar soil could be used to make oxygen and other products from chemical reactions that mimic photosynthesis (模拟光合作用), according to an analysis of samples brought back to Earth by the Chang’e 5 spacecraft. Reliable supplies of such substances are necessary for any future lunar base.

It is expensive to send goods into space, so any material that can be found on the moon and that doesn’t have to be brought from Earth can save a lot of money.

Yingfang Yao at Nanjing University, China, and his team examined a lunar soil sample to see if it could be used as a catalyst(催化剂)for a system that would transform carbon dioxide and water released by astronauts’ bodies into oxygen, hydrogen and other useful by-products that could be used to power a lunar base.

Yao and his team first analysed their sample using techniques to identify catalytically active components of the soil. They found high levels of iron and magnesium-based compounds (复合物)that could be useful in a reaction mimicking the photosynthesis that occurs in green plants.

The researchers then tested the soil as a catalyst in various chemical reactions that would form part of a photosynthesis—like process to produce hydrogen and oxygen from CO₂ and water. They found that the soil’s efficiency wasn’t as good as catalysts we have on Earth and isn’t currently good enough to generate products in sufficient quantities to support human life on the moon, but that slight adjustments to the structure and composition of the lunar soil sample might see significant improvements.

【小题1】What’s the significance of the finding about lunar soil’s products from chemical reactions?

A．It provides efficient support for future lunar base.

B．It gives evidence for plants to grow outside Earth.

C．It makes clear how the moon is mostly made up of.

D．It tells how photosynthesis happens on the moon.

【小题2】What’s the aim of Chinese scientists’ study about lunar soil?

A．To find some useful mines that are rare on the earth.

B．To find its difference and similarity from the earth.

C．To know if it contains oxygen, and other by-products.

D．To know if it transforms some elements into useful thing.

【小题3】What can be inferred about the lunar soil from the last paragraph?

A．We need to do further research about it.

B．It can’t mimic photosynthesis at present.

C．It can only be used as soil for plant growing.

D．Its efficiency is better than catalysts on Earth.

【小题4】Which of the following can best describe the finding of the lunar soil?

A．Complicated.	B．Common.
C．Significant.	D．Normal.