ReadingExplorerLevel3U9-B

发布于 2021-04-20 06:50 ，所属分类：知识学习综合资讯

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Unit9-B

The UltimateTrip

The spacecraft Curiosity heads toward the planet Mars in this illustration from NASA.

Before You Read

A. Quiz

Below are some key events in the history of space exploration. Match each event with a year. Then check your answers in the reading.

a. 1961 b. 1969c. 1981

d. 1998 e. 2001f.2004

□1. The U.S.A. lands the first spacecraft on the moon.

□2. The privately funded manned ship SpaceShipOne goes into space.

□3. The first space shuttle, Columbia, is launched.

□4. The International Space Station is established.

□5. The first space tourist visits the lSS.

□6. Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin is the first human in space.

B. Predict

What will be some important events in space travel and exploration in the future? Check your ideas as you read the passage.

习题答案在文末

Paragraph1

Though we have sent unmanned spacecraft to Mars and other parts of our solar system for decades, humans haven?x-oss-process=image/format,webp" style="max-width:100%"> there is increasing interest in sending new missions—both robotic and manned—into space. But unlike in the past, this renewed interest is not primarilybeing driven by government agencies. Instead, private companies are leading today's new age of space exploration.

Paragraph 2

Take, for example, Spacex, a private company based(总部设立于) near Los Angeles. In early 2012, it sent an unmanned rocket to the International Space Station (ISS). Until now, astronauts and supplies from the U.S. have been transported by space shuttle to the lSS. SpaceX and other companies are competing to replace the U.S. government shuttle and become the lSS's supply ship.

Paragraph 3

Another company called Planetary Resources—which is backed by billionaires from Google—plans to use robotic spacecraft to mineasteroids for precious metals.One that the companyhopes to find is platinum (铂，白金), a metal so rare on Earth that an ounce (about 28 grams) costs $1,600. Robots will have to travel millions of kilometers to locate and mine asteroids, and this requires technology that doesn't exist yet. This isn't stopping companies like Planetary Resources and others from trying, though. They are investing millions into research, hoping to create tools that will make space mining possible. "This is the beginning of the new space age," says Mason Peck, who works for NASA, the U.S. space organization. "The energy we see now—the economic motivation to go into space—we haven't seen that before."

Paragraph 4

For centuries, economics has driven exploration. A thousand years ago, merchants risked the dangers of the Silk Road to reach the markets of China. ln the 15th century, European ships traveled to new worlds, searching less for knowledge than for gold and spices. "Historically, the driver has always been the search for resources," explains investor Peter Diamandis."If you want people to explore space," he says, "create an economic incentive."

lf a vehicle is unmanned, there are no people in it.
When people mine for metals (like gold and silved), they dig deep holes in the ground to extract them.
An asteroid is an irregularly shaped rock, that orbits the sun mostly in a zone between Mars and Jupiter.

ln this artist's impression, an unmanned probe(无人探测器) explores a new solar system.

Paragraph 5

Entrepreneur Elon Musk, the founder of Spacex and other companies, is spending a large part of his fortune on his own space program. Spacex, as mentioned earlier, is developing a new rocket that can transport supplies to the ISS. it will be capable of carrying twice the cargo of the U.S. government's space shuttle, Musk says, for about one-fifth the price. He wants to reduce costs by creating reusable rockets—in the same way that we reuse a plane after a flight. "Creating reusable rockets will be extremely difficult, and most people think it's impossible, but l do not," Musksays, "If we threw away airplanes after every flight, no one would fly."

Paragraph 6

For Musk, creating reusable rockets is part of a much bigger plan: He wants to establish ahuman colony on Mars. NASA has had enormous success on Mars with unmanned spacecraft, but it has yet to launch a manned mission. Musk says Spacex could put astronauts on Mars within 20 years, and then keep sending them for decades after that. "We can't send one little group to Mars," he says. "We have to take millions of people and lots of equipment to Mars to make it a self-sustaining civilization." lt will be the hardest thing that humanity has ever done, but Musk thinks his company can do it and he's eager to see it happen. "It's about making life multi-planetary," he says. "It's about getting out there and exploring the stars."

Cargorefers to the supplies a ship or plane carries.
If youthrow awaysomething, you get rid of it.

习题答案在文末

Multiple Choice

Choose the best answer for each question.

1. Which statement about space exploration is NOT true?

a. In 2012, a private company sent an unmanned rocket to the lSS.

b. Humans have recently traveled more than 650 kilometers from Earth.

c. There is new found interest in manned and unmanned missions to space.

d. More and more private companies are beginning to explore space.

2. What does One refer to in paragraph 3?

a. one asteroid

b. one metal

c. one spacecraft

d. one reason

3. What could the word energy be replaced with in paragraph 3?

a. fuel b. investments

c. enthusiasm d. capacity

4. What is the main idea of paragraph 4?

a. Making money has always encouraged exploration, andspace exploration is no different.

b. lt will take many more resources to convince people totravel to space.

c. The development of space travel has been slow dueto economic reasons.

d. The search for knowledge is what should drive spaceexploration rather than economics.

5. What does SpaceX want to do?

a. build a space station that can replace the ISS

b. get the government's approval to transport astronautsto the ISS

c. partner with Planetary Resources to mine asteroidsfor platinum

d. develop a reusable rocket that can take supplies to the ISS

6. In paragraph 6what does it refer to?

a. putting a few astronauts on Mars

b. sending several unmanned spacecraft to Mars

c. making a self-sustaining civilization on Mars

d. transporting supplies to the ISS

7. When was the U.S. least active in space exploration?

a. the early 60s to mid-60s

b. the early 70s to mid-70s

c. the late 70s to early 80s

d. the late 80s

Recognizing Appositives

(识别同位语)

Appositives are nouns or noun phrases that rename or identify another noun beside them by providing additional information. They can appear at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a sentence, and are set off by commas. For example:

A former navy pilot, Sunita Williams has performed seven spacewalks.

Sunita Williams, a former navy pilot, is now retired as an astronaut.

However, there are some structures that appear to be appositives but are not.

A thousand years ago, merchants risked the dangers of the Silk Road.

A. Analyzing

Check ☑ the sentences that contain appositives..

□1. Neil Armstrong. the first man to walk on the moon, died in 2012.

□2. A 722-kilogram space probe, Voyager 1 was launched in 1977 to study the solar system.

□3. Several companies, hoping to take tourists into space, aretaking reservations now.

□4. ln 2012, China became the third country to land a rover on the moon.

B. Applying

Rewrite each sentence with the correct appositive from the box. Then check your answers in the reading.

the U.S. space organization
the founder of Spacex and other companies
a private company based near Los Angeles

1. Take, for example, SpaceX. (paragraph 2)

_______________________________________

2.“This is the beginning of the new space age," says Mason Peck, who works for NASA. (paragraph 3)
_______________________________________

3. Entrepreneur Elon Musk is spending a large part of his fortune on his own space program. (paragraph 5)

_______________________________________

A. Completion.

Complete the information below with words from the box. One word is extra.

backing capable

decades extremely

fortune precious

required sustain

Encouraged by new space technologies and the potential to generate riches, many companies, such as Deep Space Industries (DSI), say they will be 1.( ? )of mining asteroids in thecoming 2.( ? ).

There are thousands of near-Earth asteroids that contain3.( ? )metals like gold and platinum. But othermore basic elements such as water, nickel, and iron are also4.( ? )in order to 5.( ? )a space colony and other ventures in space.

DSI's CEO, David Gump, says that obtaining resources frombeyond Earth is essential for future space travel. This is because pushing through the Earth's atmosphere is 6.( ? )expensive. Some90 percent of the weight lifted by a rocket sending a capsule to Marsis fuel. Space exploration would be much cheaper if some of the fuel could be picked up on the way. DSI is currently looking for financial 7.( ? )to make its dream a reality.