Mission to Mars
On July 4, 1997, space exploration took a huge step. On that day, a spacecraft called Pathfinder landed on Mars. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sent Pathfinder to discover new information about the Red Planet.
The mission was a complete success. After landing, Pathfinder sent a small rover (漫游机器人), Sojourner, onto the planet's surface. Sojourner explored more than 250 square meters of Mars. Together, designed Sojourner to last for only seven days, but little vehicle ran twelve times longer! Pathfinder surprised scientists, too. It sent back information for almost three months. That was three times longer than it was built to last.
Because Pathfinder and Sojourner ran for so long, scientists got more information than they ever dreamed of getting. For one thing, they discovered that Mars is very sandy. Pictures of sand dunes around the land site hint that Mars once had water. Scientists know that water means life. Was there ever life on Mars? We don't know yet. In addition, the Pathfinder mission told scientists that Mars is dusty. Huge "dust devils" on Mars spit enormous amounts of dust into the Martian air. Pathfinder also discovered frosty Martian temperatures at 200 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. At that temperature, a glass of water would freeze solid in just a few seconds.
In October, scientists lost Pathfinder's signal because the spacecraft's battery had run down. They tried to revive the signal but had no luck. The mission officially ended on November 4.
Scientists hope to use the knowledge from these missions to better understand how life on earth began. They will also use it to plan future Mars missions.
【小题1】What did NASA do to get information about Mars?| A．NASA sent the spacecraft Sojourner to Mars. |
| B．NASA sent engineers on a three-month space mission. |
| C．NASA sent the spacecraft Pathfinder to Mars. |
| D．NASA sent astronauts to run tests for seven days. |
| A．Scientists found out that Mars is very cold and dusty. |
| B．Scientists got more information than they ever dreamed of getting. |
| C．Scientists learned that Mars definitely had water at one time. |
| D．Scientists found out that there was once life on Mars. |
| A．dust devils on Mars made the photographs hard to see. |
| B．Martian temperatures caused Pathfinder's battery to fail. |
| C．scientists suspect that life on Earth began on Mars. |
| D．scientists will look for signs that life existed on Mars. |
①Students enjoy the science class given by astronauts on board China’s Tiangong space station on March 23rd. Wang Yaping, Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu appeared on television screens watched by students across China at 4 p.m. During the 41-minute class, the “teachers”, did four experiments (实验). Let’s take a look at two of them.
②In the first experiment of the class, Wang used a bag of supersaturated sodium acetate solution (过饱和乙酸钠溶液) to show its crystallization (结晶化) in space.
③After Wang pushed the solution hard from the bag, it became a water ball moving slowly in the air, Wang used a small stick cover with crystal nuclei (晶体粉末) to touch the water ball and it quickly became crystallized. “It looks like an ice ball, but as I touch it, I can fell that it is warm.” Wang said.
④Another experiment showed how to separate (分离) oil from water in space. Wang prepared a small bottle of oil and water, which were separated at the beginning, while the students on the earth also had such bottles, allowing them to follow the steps.
⑤The teachers and students shook the bottles to mix oil and water into a mixture (混合物). They found the mixture separated into water and oil again on the earth, but in space water and oil stayed the same as a mixture.
⑥The astronauts said they were so happy to share scientific facts about spaceflight with students. These experiments made young people show greater interest in space and science. Wang Yihan, a ninth grader, said, “It was an eye-opening experience. These experiments really amazed me. I want to be an astronaut too!”
【小题1】Which of the following is TRUE about Wang?| A．She appeared on TV alone in April. | B．She did four experiments in space. |
| C．She made a cold ice ball in the air. | D．She separated oil from water easily. |
| A．astronauts will take the place of science teachers |
| B．students will do these experiments at home |
| C．young people will be more interested in space and science |
| D．Chinese astronauts will have a better working environment |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．Health | B．Space | C．Culture | D．Sports |
Mercury is the closest to the sun. It is very hot on Mercury. The planets that are far away from the sun are very cold. Venus is between Mercury and the Earth. It is sometimes called Earth’s “sister planet” because they have almost the same size and shape. The Earth is the planet where we live. From space, the Earth looks blue because it has so much water. Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. Saturn is known for having rings around it. Uranus was the first planet discovered with a telescope. We can see Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn with our eyes, however, to see Uranus, we need a telescope. Neptune is the 8th planet in our solar system. The planet is farthest from the sun.
Probes (探测仪) go into space and take pictures of the planets. We learn a lot from these pictures. If you could send a probe to any planet, where would you send it?
【小题1】What goes around the sun?
| A．Moon. | B．Stars. | C．Spaceships. | D．Planets. |
| A．Mercury. | B．Venus. | C．Jupiter. | D．Saturn. |
| A．cold | B．hot | C．small | D．bright |
| A．潜水镜 | B．显微镜 | C．高台 | D．望远镜 |
| A．Earth is the second closest planet to the sun. |
| B．Jupiter is larger than any other planet in our solar system. |
| C．Uranus is famous for having rings around it. |
| D．We can’t see Mars with our eyes. |
Hi, I’m Sherry, and I’m an amateur astronomer (天文爱好者), which means that I like to learn about faraway stars and planets and other mysterious things in space just for fun. I recently toured the Kitt Peak National Observatory (天文台).
The mountain the observatory is built on belongs to a Native American tribe (部落). I heard people in the tribe didn’t allow astronomers to build the observatory on its mountain at first, but they changed their mind after looking through a telescope (望远镜)!
The mountaintop is perfect for star watching.
The Kitt Peak National Observatory has a collection of 26 telescopes! These aren’t telescopes you can hold in your hand.
| A．It sits high on top of a tall mountain. |
| B．Away from city lights, it stays dark at night. |
| C．Some of the telescopes are large and expensive. |
| D．All these telescopes need a whole building to hold them up and protect them. |
| E．One is a solar (太阳的) telescope that astronomers use during the day for studying the sun. |
| F．They started saying the astronomers had “long eyes” since they could see so far with their telescopes. |
| G．Telescopes have an influence on the way we view the universe. |
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