Dangerous junk
On Nov 16, seven astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) woke up to an alarm. A Russian missile (导弹) test had just blasted (炸毁) a satellite (卫星) into more than 1,500 pieces of space debris (残骸) . Some got very close to the ISS.
NASA says space debris like this can travel at more than 28,000 km/h. That’s much faster than a bullet (子弹) (about 3,500 km/h). Even a pea-sized piece of debris could “wipe out” a space station or kill an astronaut if he or she is doing a spacewalk, says Live Science.
Since the 1950s, humans have sent thousands of rockets and satellites into space. Many are still there, and we now face an ever-increasing risk of space junk.
In 2006, for example, National Geographic reported that a tiny piece of space junk hit the ISS, taking a chip (一小块) out of a window. In June of this year, a piece of debris ran into one of the station’s robotic arms and left a hole.
Scientists are trying different ways to deal with the problem. One way is to use a huge net.
In 2018, the UK’s Surrey Space Center caught some space junk with a net in an experiment. It first found the debris, and then collected it with a net and a harpoon (鱼叉) .
Another solution is to use robotic arms. ClearSpace 1, the European Space Agency’s mission (任务) to clean space junk, is going to be sent into space in 2025. It will use robotic arms to catch debris. The mission plans to throw the debris into Earth’s atmosphere (大气层) , where it will burn up as it falls because of intense friction (摩擦) .
根据短文内容，选择最佳选项，并在答题卡上将选定答案的字母标号涂黑。
【小题1】The blast of the Russian satellite shows us ________.
| A．what dangers the ISS is facing | B．why space experiments are exciting |
| C．why space debris is hard to clean | D．where space debris can come from |
| A．six times | B．seven times | C．eight times | D．nine times |
| A．It gets cleaned. | B．It gets broken. | C．It gets old. | D．It gets rebuilt. |
| A．Old rockets and satellites are turning into junk. |
| B．There is nothing we can do to deal with space debris. |
| C．The danger astronauts face is beyond our imaginations. |
| D．More and more missions are failing because of space debris. |
a. collecting it with nets and harpoons b. throwing it away into the galaxy (银河系)
c. throwing it into Earth’s atmosphere to burn up d. throwing it into the sun to burn up
| A．ab | B．ac | C．abc | D．bcd |
Why do Shostak and Barnett think intelligent life exists on other planets? The first reason is time. Scientists believe the universe is about 12 billion years old. "This is long enough for other planets to have intelligent life，" say Shostak and Barnett. The second reason is size-the universe is huge. "Tools like the Hubble telescope(哈勃望远镜)have shown that there are at least 100 billion galaxies，" says Shostak. "And our galaxy，the Milk Way，has at least 100 billion stars. Some planets going around these stars might be similar to Earth."
In the past，it was hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe. But now，powerful telescopes(高倍望远镜)allow scientists to discover smaller planets-the size of Mars or Earth in other solar systems. These planets might have intelligent life.
Have beings from space already visited Earth? "Probably not，" says Shostak. "It's a long way away. However, intelligent beings may contact us in other ways，such as radio signs. In fact，they may be trying to communicate with us now，but we don't have the right tools to receive their messages. However, this is changing. By 2025，we could make contact with other life forms in our universe and we might help each other. "
【小题1】What is the best title for Paragraph Two?
| A．The Age and Size of Earth |
| B．Our Galaxy: The Milk Way |
| C．Why Intelligent Life Might Exist |
| D．Earth: The Only Planet With Intelligent Life |
| A．There were not any smaller planets. |
| B．There were not any powerful telescopes. |
| C．The astronomers were not interested in them. |
| D．The Milk Way didn't exist at that time. |
| A．They are afraid of us. |
| B．It's a long way away. |
| C．They don't want to see us. |
| D．They don't know how to use radio signs. |
| A．Messages. | B．Tools. |
| C．Intelligent beings. | D．Radio signs. |
We all know that Earth only has one moon. But did you know that Earth gets to have new friends every now and then? They are called "mini-moons".
A mini-moon is also called a Temporarily Captured Object(暂时捕获的天体) , or TCO. Earth doesn't get them very often. When Earth and other objects in space get close together, Earth's gravity(重力) will pull on the objects and change their orbits(轨道) . Then the object may move around Earth for one or two years and then leave.
The newest mini-moon
In September, NASA scientists found an object coming into Earth's orbit. They named it 2020 SO, it will stay in our orbit until May 2021, according to Universe Today.
The new mini-moon could be a man-made object. Paul Chodas, a NASA scientist, believes that it could be an old rocket part from NASA's failed moon-landing mission(失败的登月任务) in 1966. Scientists will keep watching it to find out, as it'll get closer to us in November.
Previous(之前的) mini-moons
We have seen two mini-moons before. One was 2006 RH120, which moved around Earth from 2006 to 2007. The other is 2020 CD3. Scientists found it in February this year, but it left in March. Both of these mini-moons were space rocks.
【小题1】From the second paragraph we know that ___________.| A．Earth has many mini-moons | B．mini-moons stay in Earth's orbit forever |
| C．mini-moons will leave Earth | D．mini-moons can change Earth's orbit |
| A．It might come from the moon. | B．It has orbited Earth for over 50 years. |
| C．It will enter our orbit in May 2021. | D．Scientists don't know what it is. |
| A．For 54 years. | B．For one month. | C．For one year. | D．For two years. |
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
If you watch the sky for about an hour after the sun goes down, you may see some “moving stars”. But they’re not really stars. They’re man-made satellites. And the biggest of all is the International Space Station（ISS）. From May to July is the best season to watch the ISS flying over the earth. And people can see it with their eyes.
The ISS is the biggest satellite（人造卫星）and scientists want to live on it. They think that the best way to learn more about space is to live there.
When the space station is finished, it will be like a city in space. People will stay and study there with many of the things they have at home. Laboratories, living rooms and power stations are being built. The ISS is the most expensive space program. Billions of dollars are being spent on it every year.
Scientists hope that the ISS will be a stepping stone for future space exploration（探测）. “The ISS will help us understand the human body better, explore space and study the earth. It can help us make life on the earth better,” said Kathryn Clark, an ISS scientist.
Sixteen countries are part of the program: the US, Russia, Canada, Japan, Brazil and 11 European countries. China isn’t an ISS country, but it has helped with some of the experiments. In 2003, China sent some rice up to the ISS to find out what space would do to it.
【小题1】The International Space Station _____________.| A．is really a big city in space | B．is the biggest man-made satellite |
| C．can only help us explore space | D．is mainly built by the USA and Russia |
| A．building the ISS is only for scientists to live there |
| B．scientists can do anything they like there |
| C．people can see the Space Station at any time |
| D．sixteen countries are members of the space program |
| A．滑梯 | B．巅峰 | C．垫脚石 | D．走廊 |
| A．be used as astronauts’ food | B．sell it to aliens |
| C．do some science experiments | D．make it grow better in space |
| A．China will join the ISS in the future. |
| B．The scientists are building living rooms for them in the ISS. |
| C．The ISS will be more useful in the future. |
| D．The ISS costs the members of 16 countries plenty of money every year. |
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