问答题Is There Life on Mars? The American space agency, NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration), has drawn up a short list of ten research projects that will form the basic of an ambitious program to explore the planet Mars in a mission scheduled for launch in 2007. Scientists are being asked to use their ingenuity to devise novel ways to explore the red planet using intelligent robots and probes that might perhaps answer the biggest question of all—-is there life on Mars? NASA chose the ten projects from a list of 43 hopefuls. It has included missions for returning samples of Martian dust and gas to Earth, networks of small landers, orbiting constellations of microprobes and a rover that would try to date the precise age of rocks and soils. The ten concepts are part of the Mars Scout program to be launched in six years. This follows a decade of the most intensive interest in Mars since the two Viking probes of 1976 which sent back eerie images of the Martian landscape some 400 million kilometers away. But the history of Mars exploration is littered with failure—more than half of the 30 missions to date have ended in fiasco. It was NASA’s announcement in August 1996 of possible signs of life in a Martian meteorite which had fallen to Earth that rekindled intense interest in Earth’s nearest neighbor. It was assumed that liquid water had once flowed on Mars and an ancient atmosphere might have supported living organisms. However, opposing camps of scientists bitterly disputed NASA’s evidence for primitive life-forms in the Martian meteorite ALH84001. This led to the conclusion that the only way of finding out whether life ever existed on Mars is to go there and have a look. NASA planned a bold series of increasingly complex missions involving the launch of a couple of space probes every year for a dozen years. One of the most successful so far was the shoe-box-sized So-journer rover which thrilled a world Internet audience when it was wheeled out in 1997. Since then, however, NASA has suffered a series of setbacks. In September 1999 its Mars Climate Orbiter was lost as a failed rocket bum plunged it into the Martian atmosphere. NASA blamed it on one of its team using imperial units and another using metric. Three months later, NASA lost contact with its Polar Lander as it approached touchdown on the frozen South Pole of the planet. Space commentators muttered darkly about Mars being a cosmic equivalent of the Bermuda triangle. The year of 2001 saw the successful completion of the Global Surveyor mission, an orbiting probe that took pictures of what some scientists say are channels in the dust where water may still occasionally flow from underground well. More recently, the Mars Odyssey probe was launched without hitch and is due to arrive in 2008. Meanwhile, the European Space Agency is planning its own visit to the red planet with the launch of its Mars Express mission scheduled for take-off in .June 2003. Britain is designated to take a lead role in the project with the Beagle 2 Lander, a small craft, the size of a kitchen sink designed to shuffle over the Martian landscape taking soil and rock samples, analyzing them for signs of life and transmitting the data back to Earth. Beagle 2—framed after the ship that carded Charles Darwin on his voyage of discovery—will weigh just 60 kilograms and will cost about US $225,000 to build, a fraction of the cost of building the Viking space probes more than 25 years ago. Beagle 2 will look for water, minerals and organic matter. Although it will reach Mars before NASA’s Scout mission is even launched, it will be considerably less sophisticated in tea’ms of analytical technology. The focus now for NASA is on what instruments and robots to put on the Mars Scout mission in six years. Ed Weiler, NASA’s associate administrator for space science, had to decide on a top ten to concentrate NASA’s limited resources. Each project is to receive a grant of $150,000 to see them through the next six months of development. It all has to come out of a total project budget capped at $300 million. These Scout concepts embody the spirit I first thought about more than a year ago; and will enable us to explore the diversity of Mars in new ways, Dr Weiler said.
问答题
Is There Life on Mars? The American space agency, NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration), has drawn up a short list of ten research projects that will form the basic of an ambitious program to explore the planet Mars in a mission scheduled for launch in 2007. Scientists are being asked to use their ingenuity to devise novel ways to explore the red planet using intelligent robots and probes that might perhaps answer the biggest question of all—-is there life on Mars? NASA chose the ten projects from a list of 43 hopefuls. It has included missions for returning samples of Martian dust and gas to Earth, networks of small landers, orbiting constellations of microprobes and a rover that would try to date the precise age of rocks and soils. The ten concepts are part of the Mars Scout program to be launched in six years. This follows a decade of the most intensive interest in Mars since the two Viking probes of 1976 which sent back eerie images of the Martian landscape some 400 million kilometers away. But the history of Mars exploration is littered with failure—more than half of the 30 missions to date have ended in fiasco. It was NASA’s announcement in August 1996 of possible signs of life in a Martian meteorite which had fallen to Earth that rekindled intense interest in Earth’s nearest neighbor. It was assumed that liquid water had once flowed on Mars and an ancient atmosphere might have supported living organisms. However, opposing camps of scientists bitterly disputed NASA’s evidence for primitive life-forms in the Martian meteorite ALH84001. This led to the conclusion that the only way of finding out whether life ever existed on Mars is to go there and have a look. NASA planned a bold series of increasingly complex missions involving the launch of a couple of space probes every year for a dozen years. One of the most successful so far was the shoe-box-sized So-journer rover which thrilled a world Internet audience when it was wheeled out in 1997. Since then, however, NASA has suffered a series of setbacks. In September 1999 its Mars Climate Orbiter was lost as a failed rocket bum plunged it into the Martian atmosphere. NASA blamed it on one of its team using imperial units and another using metric. Three months later, NASA lost contact with its Polar Lander as it approached touchdown on the frozen South Pole of the planet. Space commentators muttered darkly about Mars being a cosmic equivalent of the Bermuda triangle. The year of 2001 saw the successful completion of the Global Surveyor mission, an orbiting probe that took pictures of what some scientists say are channels in the dust where water may still occasionally flow from underground well. More recently, the Mars Odyssey probe was launched without hitch and is due to arrive in 2008. Meanwhile, the European Space Agency is planning its own visit to the red planet with the launch of its Mars Express mission scheduled for take-off in .June 2003. Britain is designated to take a lead role in the project with the Beagle 2 Lander, a small craft, the size of a kitchen sink designed to shuffle over the Martian landscape taking soil and rock samples, analyzing them for signs of life and transmitting the data back to Earth. Beagle 2—framed after the ship that carded Charles Darwin on his voyage of discovery—will weigh just 60 kilograms and will cost about US $225,000 to build, a fraction of the cost of building the Viking space probes more than 25 years ago. Beagle 2 will look for water, minerals and organic matter. Although it will reach Mars before NASA’s Scout mission is even launched, it will be considerably less sophisticated in tea’ms of analytical technology. The focus now for NASA is on what instruments and robots to put on the Mars Scout mission in six years. Ed Weiler, NASA’s associate administrator for space science, had to decide on a top ten to concentrate NASA’s limited resources. Each project is to receive a grant of $150,000 to see them through the next six months of development. It all has to come out of a total project budget capped at $300 million. These Scout concepts embody the spirit I first thought about more than a year ago; and will enable us to explore the diversity of Mars in new ways, Dr Weiler said.
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We know from the text that the Mars mission is _____.［A］ one of NASA’s internet projects［B］ an expedition to Mars［C］ the infrastructure of the interplanetary Internet［D］ to create an architecture on Mars
Which of the following is the main point of the text?［A］ The development of the Internet.［B］ The possibility of space research.［C］ Universal information superhighway.［D］ The technological advances of the Mars mission.
共用题干U. S. Scientists Confirm Water on MarsNASA scientists said that Mars was covered once by vast lakes,flowing rivers and a Va-riety of other wet environments that had the potential to support life.Laboratory tests aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample;the lander's robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that iden-tifies vapors produced by the heating of samples.“We have water,”said William Boynton of the University of Arizona,lead scientist for ,the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer,or TEGA.“This is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted.”The robotic arm is a critical part of the Phoenix Mars mission. It is needed to trench into the icy layers of northern polar Mars and deliver samples to instruments that will analyze what Mars is made of,what its water is like,and whether it is or has ever been a possible habitat for life.The soil sample came from a trench approximately 2 inches deep.When the robotic arm first reached that depth,it hit a hard layer of frozen soil.Two attempts to deliver samples of icy soil on days when fresh material was exposed were foiled when the samples became stuck inside the scoop.Most of the material in Wednesday's sample had been exposed to the air for two days,letting some of the water in the sample vaporize away and making the soil easier to handle.“Mars is giving us some surprises,”said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona.“We're excited because surprises are where discoveries come from. One surprise is how the soil is behaving. The ice-rich layers stick to the scoop when poised in the sun above the deck,different from what we expected,from all the Mars simulation tes-ting we've done so far.”Since landing on May 25,Phoenix has been studying soil with a chemistry lab,TEGA, a microscope,a conductivity probe and cameras.The science team is trying to determine whether the water ice ever thaws enough to be available for biology and if carbon-containing chemicals and other raw materials for life are present.The mission is examining the sky as well as the ground. A Canadian instrument is using a laser beam to study dust and clouds overhead.“It's a 30-watt light bulb giving us a laser show on Mars,”said Victoria Hipkin of the Canadian Space Agency.A full-circle,color panorama of Phoenix's surroundings also has been completed by the spacecraft.“The details and patterns we see in the ground show an ice-dominated terrain as far as the eye can see,”said Mark Lemmon of Texas A & M University,lead scientist forPhoenix's Surface Stereo Imager camera.“They help us plan measurements we're making within reach of the robotic arm and interpret those measurements on a wider scale.” 词汇： foil v. 挫败，使成泡影 conductivity n. 传导陡，导电胜 scoop n. 铲斗 thaw v. 融化，融解 vaporize v. 使蒸发，使汽化 panorama n. 全貌，全景图 注释： 1.NASA：National Aeronautics and Space Administration(美国国家航空航天局)的缩写。NASA总部设在华盛顿哥伦比亚特区，是美国政府系统中的航空航天科研机构，负责组织和协调美国航空航天的研究工作并提供咨询。 2.Phoenix Mars Lander：凤凰号火星登陆器。其使命是探测火星地表下的冰层，分析冰层是否曾经融化产生液态水，并计划检测火星土壤是否含有生命存活的有机物。 3.Thermal and Evolved—Gas Analyzer：热力与先进气体分析仪 4.Stereo Imager：立体图像What was discovered by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander on Mars?A: Vast lakes. B: Flowing rivers.C: Water in a soil sample. D: Living things.
At the first sight the planet Mars does not appear very welcome to any kind of life．It has very little oxygen and water,the temperature at night is below-50~Cand winds of 100 miles per hour cause severe dust storms．However,the surface of the planet seems to show that water flowed across it some time in the past,and it is believed that there is enough ice at the poles to cover the planet with water if it melts．Although there is no life on the Mars now,some scientists think that there may have been some form of life long time ago．At that time,the planet had active volcanoes;the atmosphere was thicker and warmer;and there was water．In fact,in some ways the Mars may have been similar to the Earth,where life exists.Some people believe that the Mars could support life in the future if the right conditions were produced．The first step would be to warm the planet using certain gases which trap the Sun's heat in the planet's atmosphere．With warmth,water and carbon dioxide(二氧化碳),simple plants could begin to grow．These plants could slowly make the Mars more suitable for living．It is estimated that the whole process might take between 100,000 and 200,000 years．In the meantime,people could begin to live on the planet in special closed environments．They would provide a lot of useful information about conditions on the Mars and the problems connected with living there.Which is the best title for this passage?A.The Possibility of Life on the MarsB.Future Conditions on the MarsC.The Mars and the EarthD.A Study of the Climate of the Mars
At the first sight the planet Mars does not appear very welcome to any kind of life．It has very little oxygen and water,the temperature at night is below-50~Cand winds of 100 miles per hour cause severe dust storms．However,the surface of the planet seems to show that water flowed across it some time in the past,and it is believed that there is enough ice at the poles to cover the planet with water if it melts．Although there is no life on the Mars now,some scientists think that there may have been some form of life long time ago．At that time,the planet had active volcanoes;the atmosphere was thicker and warmer;and there was water．In fact,in some ways the Mars may have been similar to the Earth,where life exists.Some people believe that the Mars could support life in the future if the right conditions were produced．The first step would be to warm the planet using certain gases which trap the Sun's heat in the planet's atmosphere．With warmth,water and carbon dioxide(二氧化碳),simple plants could begin to grow．These plants could slowly make the Mars more suitable for living．It is estimated that the whole process might take between 100,000 and 200,000 years．In the meantime,people could begin to live on the planet in special closed environments．They would provide a lot of useful information about conditions on the Mars and the problems connected with living there.There could be life on the Mars in the future ifA.it supported life in the pastB.certain gases are used to cool the planetC.the atmosphere can be heated enough to grow simple plantsD.the planet's volcanoes become as active as they were in the past
At the first sight the planet Mars does not appear very welcome to any kind of life．It has very little oxygen and water,the temperature at night is below-50~Cand winds of 100 miles per hour cause severe dust storms．However,the surface of the planet seems to show that water flowed across it some time in the past,and it is believed that there is enough ice at the poles to cover the planet with water if it melts．Although there is no life on the Mars now,some scientists think that there may have been some form of life long time ago．At that time,the planet had active volcanoes;the atmosphere was thicker and warmer;and there was water．In fact,in some ways the Mars may have been similar to the Earth,where life exists.Some people believe that the Mars could support life in the future if the right conditions were produced．The first step would be to warm the planet using certain gases which trap the Sun's heat in the planet's atmosphere．With warmth,water and carbon dioxide(二氧化碳),simple plants could begin to grow．These plants could slowly make the Mars more suitable for living．It is estimated that the whole process might take between 100,000 and 200,000 years．In the meantime,people could begin to live on the planet in special closed environments．They would provide a lot of useful information about conditions on the Mars and the problems connected with living there.The author's attitude towards the possibility of life on the Mars in the future is__.A.doubtfulB.positiveC.negativeD.uninterested
At the first sight the planet Mars does not appear very welcome to any kind of life．It has very little oxygen and water,the temperature at night is below-50~Cand winds of 100 miles per hour cause severe dust storms．However,the surface of the planet seems to show that water flowed across it some time in the past,and it is believed that there is enough ice at the poles to cover the planet with water if it melts．Although there is no life on the Mars now,some scientists think that there may have been some form of life long time ago．At that time,the planet had active volcanoes;the atmosphere was thicker and warmer;and there was water．In fact,in some ways the Mars may have been similar to the Earth,where life exists.Some people believe that the Mars could support life in the future if the right conditions were produced．The first step would be to warm the planet using certain gases which trap the Sun's heat in the planet's atmosphere．With warmth,water and carbon dioxide(二氧化碳),simple plants could begin to grow．These plants could slowly make the Mars more suitable for living．It is estimated that the whole process might take between 100,000 and 200,000 years．In the meantime,people could begin to live on the planet in special closed environments．They would provide a lot of useful information about conditions on the Mars and the problems connected with living there.Some scientists think there may have been life on the Mars in the past because__.A.there is no life there nowB.there is a large amount of water at the polesC.the Mars may be able to support life in the futureD.conditions may have been similar to those on the Earth
The ______ to build up space stations on the Mars is, if we cannot say it is impossible, at least very hard to fulfill.A.admirationB.ambitionC.administrationD.orientation
共用题干第一篇An Expensive MistakeIs there water on the planet Mars? Is there life on Mars?Was there ever life on Mars?Scientists from NASA wanted to know the answers to tliese questions.They built a spacecraft to travel around Mars and get informnation.The spacecraft was called the Mars Climate orbiter.The Mars Climate Orbiter left for Mars iii December 1998.The trip took nine and a half months.At first, everything was fine.However.when the Orbiter got near Mars,something terrible happened.The spacecraft didn't go to the right place.It went too close to Mars.it was too hot for the Orbiter there.The spacecraft couldn't function correctly.Suddenly,it stopped sending messages to NASA.The Orbiter was lost.How could this terrible thing happen? How did the Orbiter get closer to Mars than the scientists planned? Finally,they found the anlswer. Two teams of scientists worked together on the Orbiter. One team was in England,and one teann was in the United States.There were many similarities in the way they worked,but there was one important difference:The teams used different guidelines for measuring things.The United States team used the metric systcnni（公制）.The oilier team used the English system.Because they used different systems,the scientists made a mathematical mistake.The Orbiter's orbit (the shape and pattern of its path)around Mars was not correct.The scientists put the Orbiter on the wrong path.The Orbiter got too close amid too hot,and it stopped functioning.Why didn'tanybody see the mistake before it was too late?Many things contributed to the problem. One thing was that NASA scientists and mathematicians were working on two other spacecrafts at the same time.This was a challenge,and they were very tired from working long hours.The Mars Climate Orbiter cost $94 million to build.It also cost a lot of money to try to find the lost Or- biter in space.In addition,NASA's research on the cause of the problem was very expensive.This wasn't the first time that two different measurement systems caused mistakes in scientific projects.However,the Mars Climate Orbiter was definitely the most expensive mistake of all!NASA built the Mars Climate Orbiter to get information about_______.A:the size of MarsB:possible life on MarsC:the shape of MarsD:the atmosphere of Mars
共用题干An Expensive MistakeIs there water on the planet Mars?Is there life in Mars? Was there ever life on Mars? Scientists from NASA wanted to know the answers to these questions.They built a space-craft to travel around Mars and get information.The spacecraft was called the Mars Climate Orbiter.The Mars Climate Orbiter left for Mars in December 1998.The trip took nine and a half months.At first,everything was fine.However,when the Orbiter got near Mars,something terrible happened.The spacecraft didn't go to the right place.It went too close to Mars.It was too hot for the Orbiter there.The spacecraft couldn't function correctly.Suddenly,it stopped sending messages to NASA.The Orbiter was lost.How could this terrible thing happen? How did the Orbiter get closer to Mars than the scientists planned?Finally,they found the answer.Two teams of scientists worked together on the Orbiter.One team was in England,and one team was in United States.There were many similarities in the way they worked,but there was one important difference:The teams used different guidelines for measuring things.The United States team used the metric system（公制）.The other team used the English system.Because they used different systems,the scientists made a mathematical mistake.The Orbiter's orbit(the shape and pattern of its path)around Mars was not correct.The scientists put the Orbiter on the wrong path.The Orbiter got too close and too hot.And it stopped functioning.Why didn't anybody see the mistake before it was too late? Many things contributed to the problem.One thing was that NASA scientists and mathematicians were working on two other spacecrafts at the same time.This was a challenge,and they were very tired from working long hours.The Mars Climate Orbiter cost$94 million to build.It also cost a lot of money to try to find the lost Orbiter in space.In addition,NASA's research on the cause of the problem was very expensive.This wasn't the first time that two different measurement systems caused mistakes in scientific projects.However,the Mars Climate Orbiter was definitely the most expensive mistake of all!NASA built the Mars Climate Orbiter to get information about______.A:possible life on MarsB:the size of MarsC:the shape of MarsD:the atmosphere of Mars
共用题干第一篇An Expensive MistakeIs there water on the planet Mars? Is there life on Mars?Was there ever life on Mars?Scientists from NASA wanted to know the answers to tliese questions.They built a spacecraft to travel around Mars and get informnation.The spacecraft was called the Mars Climate orbiter.The Mars Climate Orbiter left for Mars iii December 1998.The trip took nine and a half months.At first, everything was fine.However.when the Orbiter got near Mars,something terrible happened.The spacecraft didn't go to the right place.It went too close to Mars.it was too hot for the Orbiter there.The spacecraft couldn't function correctly.Suddenly,it stopped sending messages to NASA.The Orbiter was lost.How could this terrible thing happen? How did the Orbiter get closer to Mars than the scientists planned? Finally,they found the anlswer. Two teams of scientists worked together on the Orbiter. One team was in England,and one teann was in the United States.There were many similarities in the way they worked,but there was one important difference:The teams used different guidelines for measuring things.The United States team used the metric systcnni（公制）.The oilier team used the English system.Because they used different systems,the scientists made a mathematical mistake.The Orbiter's orbit (the shape and pattern of its path)around Mars was not correct.The scientists put the Orbiter on the wrong path.The Orbiter got too close amid too hot,and it stopped functioning.Why didn'tanybody see the mistake before it was too late?Many things contributed to the problem. One thing was that NASA scientists and mathematicians were working on two other spacecrafts at the same time.This was a challenge,and they were very tired from working long hours.The Mars Climate Orbiter cost $94 million to build.It also cost a lot of money to try to find the lost Or- biter in space.In addition,NASA's research on the cause of the problem was very expensive.This wasn't the first time that two different measurement systems caused mistakes in scientific projects.However,the Mars Climate Orbiter was definitely the most expensive mistake of all!What caused the Orbiter's problem?A:Scientists used wrong guidelines of mathematics.B:Scientists used wrong building materials.C:Scientists used different operating systems.D:Scientists used different measurement systems.
共用题干An Expensive MistakeIs there water on the planet Mars?Is there life in Mars? Was there ever life on Mars? Scientists from NASA wanted to know the answers to these questions.They built a space-craft to travel around Mars and get information.The spacecraft was called the Mars Climate Orbiter.The Mars Climate Orbiter left for Mars in December 1998.The trip took nine and a half months.At first,everything was fine.However,when the Orbiter got near Mars,something terrible happened.The spacecraft didn't go to the right place.It went too close to Mars.It was too hot for the Orbiter there.The spacecraft couldn't function correctly.Suddenly,it stopped sending messages to NASA.The Orbiter was lost.How could this terrible thing happen? How did the Orbiter get closer to Mars than the scientists planned?Finally,they found the answer.Two teams of scientists worked together on the Orbiter.One team was in England,and one team was in United States.There were many similarities in the way they worked,but there was one important difference:The teams used different guidelines for measuring things.The United States team used the metric system（公制）.The other team used the English system.Because they used different systems,the scientists made a mathematical mistake.The Orbiter's orbit(the shape and pattern of its path)around Mars was not correct.The scientists put the Orbiter on the wrong path.The Orbiter got too close and too hot.And it stopped functioning.Why didn't anybody see the mistake before it was too late? Many things contributed to the problem.One thing was that NASA scientists and mathematicians were working on two other spacecrafts at the same time.This was a challenge,and they were very tired from working long hours.The Mars Climate Orbiter cost$94 million to build.It also cost a lot of money to try to find the lost Orbiter in space.In addition,NASA's research on the cause of the problem was very expensive.This wasn't the first time that two different measurement systems caused mistakes in scientific projects.However,the Mars Climate Orbiter was definitely the most expensive mistake of all!Why didn't NASA scientists identify the problem before the Orbiter left for Mars?A:they didn't know the English system.B:they were sure of the success of the trip.C:they didn't get enough research funding.D:they were tired from working long hours.
共用题干第一篇An Expensive MistakeIs there water on the planet Mars? Is there life on Mars?Was there ever life on Mars?Scientists from NASA wanted to know the answers to tliese questions.They built a spacecraft to travel around Mars and get informnation.The spacecraft was called the Mars Climate orbiter.The Mars Climate Orbiter left for Mars iii December 1998.The trip took nine and a half months.At first, everything was fine.However.when the Orbiter got near Mars,something terrible happened.The spacecraft didn't go to the right place.It went too close to Mars.it was too hot for the Orbiter there.The spacecraft couldn't function correctly.Suddenly,it stopped sending messages to NASA.The Orbiter was lost.How could this terrible thing happen? How did the Orbiter get closer to Mars than the scientists planned? Finally,they found the anlswer. Two teams of scientists worked together on the Orbiter. One team was in England,and one teann was in the United States.There were many similarities in the way they worked,but there was one important difference:The teams used different guidelines for measuring things.The United States team used the metric systcnni（公制）.The oilier team used the English system.Because they used different systems,the scientists made a mathematical mistake.The Orbiter's orbit (the shape and pattern of its path)around Mars was not correct.The scientists put the Orbiter on the wrong path.The Orbiter got too close amid too hot,and it stopped functioning.Why didn'tanybody see the mistake before it was too late?Many things contributed to the problem. One thing was that NASA scientists and mathematicians were working on two other spacecrafts at the same time.This was a challenge,and they were very tired from working long hours.The Mars Climate Orbiter cost $94 million to build.It also cost a lot of money to try to find the lost Or- biter in space.In addition,NASA's research on the cause of the problem was very expensive.This wasn't the first time that two different measurement systems caused mistakes in scientific projects.However,the Mars Climate Orbiter was definitely the most expensive mistake of all!Why didn't NASA scientists identify the problem before the Orbiter left for Mars?A:They didn'tknow the English system.B:They were sure of the success of the trip.C:They were tired from working long hours.D:They didn'tget enough research funding.
共用题干An Expensive MistakeIs there water on the planet Mars?Is there life in Mars? Was there ever life on Mars? Scientists from NASA wanted to know the answers to these questions.They built a space-craft to travel around Mars and get information.The spacecraft was called the Mars Climate Orbiter.The Mars Climate Orbiter left for Mars in December 1998.The trip took nine and a half months.At first,everything was fine.However,when the Orbiter got near Mars,something terrible happened.The spacecraft didn't go to the right place.It went too close to Mars.It was too hot for the Orbiter there.The spacecraft couldn't function correctly.Suddenly,it stopped sending messages to NASA.The Orbiter was lost.How could this terrible thing happen? How did the Orbiter get closer to Mars than the scientists planned?Finally,they found the answer.Two teams of scientists worked together on the Orbiter.One team was in England,and one team was in United States.There were many similarities in the way they worked,but there was one important difference:The teams used different guidelines for measuring things.The United States team used the metric system（公制）.The other team used the English system.Because they used different systems,the scientists made a mathematical mistake.The Orbiter's orbit(the shape and pattern of its path)around Mars was not correct.The scientists put the Orbiter on the wrong path.The Orbiter got too close and too hot.And it stopped functioning.Why didn't anybody see the mistake before it was too late? Many things contributed to the problem.One thing was that NASA scientists and mathematicians were working on two other spacecrafts at the same time.This was a challenge,and they were very tired from working long hours.The Mars Climate Orbiter cost$94 million to build.It also cost a lot of money to try to find the lost Orbiter in space.In addition,NASA's research on the cause of the problem was very expensive.This wasn't the first time that two different measurement systems caused mistakes in scientific projects.However,the Mars Climate Orbiter was definitely the most expensive mistake of all!When did the Orbiter's problem begin?A:Right after it left for Mars.B:When it got near Mars.C:Right after it landed on Mars.D:When it returned to Earth.
共用题干An Expensive MistakeIs there water on the planet Mars?Is there life in Mars? Was there ever life on Mars? Scientists from NASA wanted to know the answers to these questions.They built a space-craft to travel around Mars and get information.The spacecraft was called the Mars Climate Orbiter.The Mars Climate Orbiter left for Mars in December 1998.The trip took nine and a half months.At first,everything was fine.However,when the Orbiter got near Mars,something terrible happened.The spacecraft didn't go to the right place.It went too close to Mars.It was too hot for the Orbiter there.The spacecraft couldn't function correctly.Suddenly,it stopped sending messages to NASA.The Orbiter was lost.How could this terrible thing happen? How did the Orbiter get closer to Mars than the scientists planned?Finally,they found the answer.Two teams of scientists worked together on the Orbiter.One team was in England,and one team was in United States.There were many similarities in the way they worked,but there was one important difference:The teams used different guidelines for measuring things.The United States team used the metric system（公制）.The other team used the English system.Because they used different systems,the scientists made a mathematical mistake.The Orbiter's orbit(the shape and pattern of its path)around Mars was not correct.The scientists put the Orbiter on the wrong path.The Orbiter got too close and too hot.And it stopped functioning.Why didn't anybody see the mistake before it was too late? Many things contributed to the problem.One thing was that NASA scientists and mathematicians were working on two other spacecrafts at the same time.This was a challenge,and they were very tired from working long hours.The Mars Climate Orbiter cost$94 million to build.It also cost a lot of money to try to find the lost Orbiter in space.In addition,NASA's research on the cause of the problem was very expensive.This wasn't the first time that two different measurement systems caused mistakes in scientific projects.However,the Mars Climate Orbiter was definitely the most expensive mistake of all!What caused the Orbiter's problem,______.A:Scientists used wrong guidelines of mathematicsB:Scientists used wrong building materialsC:Scientists used different operating systemsD:Scientists used different measurement systems
共用题干第一篇An Expensive MistakeIs there water on the planet Mars? Is there life on Mars?Was there ever life on Mars?Scientists from NASA wanted to know the answers to tliese questions.They built a spacecraft to travel around Mars and get informnation.The spacecraft was called the Mars Climate orbiter.The Mars Climate Orbiter left for Mars iii December 1998.The trip took nine and a half months.At first, everything was fine.However.when the Orbiter got near Mars,something terrible happened.The spacecraft didn't go to the right place.It went too close to Mars.it was too hot for the Orbiter there.The spacecraft couldn't function correctly.Suddenly,it stopped sending messages to NASA.The Orbiter was lost.How could this terrible thing happen? How did the Orbiter get closer to Mars than the scientists planned? Finally,they found the anlswer. Two teams of scientists worked together on the Orbiter. One team was in England,and one teann was in the United States.There were many similarities in the way they worked,but there was one important difference:The teams used different guidelines for measuring things.The United States team used the metric systcnni（公制）.The oilier team used the English system.Because they used different systems,the scientists made a mathematical mistake.The Orbiter's orbit (the shape and pattern of its path)around Mars was not correct.The scientists put the Orbiter on the wrong path.The Orbiter got too close amid too hot,and it stopped functioning.Why didn'tanybody see the mistake before it was too late?Many things contributed to the problem. One thing was that NASA scientists and mathematicians were working on two other spacecrafts at the same time.This was a challenge,and they were very tired from working long hours.The Mars Climate Orbiter cost $94 million to build.It also cost a lot of money to try to find the lost Or- biter in space.In addition,NASA's research on the cause of the problem was very expensive.This wasn't the first time that two different measurement systems caused mistakes in scientific projects.However,the Mars Climate Orbiter was definitely the most expensive mistake of all!When did the Orbiter's problem begin?A:Right after it left for Mars.B:Right after it landed on Mars.C:When it got near Mars.D:When it returned to Earth.
共用题干An Expensive MistakeIs there water on the planet Mars?Is there life in Mars? Was there ever life on Mars? Scientists from NASA wanted to know the answers to these questions.They built a space-craft to travel around Mars and get information.The spacecraft was called the Mars Climate Orbiter.The Mars Climate Orbiter left for Mars in December 1998.The trip took nine and a half months.At first,everything was fine.However,when the Orbiter got near Mars,something terrible happened.The spacecraft didn't go to the right place.It went too close to Mars.It was too hot for the Orbiter there.The spacecraft couldn't function correctly.Suddenly,it stopped sending messages to NASA.The Orbiter was lost.How could this terrible thing happen? How did the Orbiter get closer to Mars than the scientists planned?Finally,they found the answer.Two teams of scientists worked together on the Orbiter.One team was in England,and one team was in United States.There were many similarities in the way they worked,but there was one important difference:The teams used different guidelines for measuring things.The United States team used the metric system（公制）.The other team used the English system.Because they used different systems,the scientists made a mathematical mistake.The Orbiter's orbit(the shape and pattern of its path)around Mars was not correct.The scientists put the Orbiter on the wrong path.The Orbiter got too close and too hot.And it stopped functioning.Why didn't anybody see the mistake before it was too late? Many things contributed to the problem.One thing was that NASA scientists and mathematicians were working on two other spacecrafts at the same time.This was a challenge,and they were very tired from working long hours.The Mars Climate Orbiter cost$94 million to build.It also cost a lot of money to try to find the lost Orbiter in space.In addition,NASA's research on the cause of the problem was very expensive.This wasn't the first time that two different measurement systems caused mistakes in scientific projects.However,the Mars Climate Orbiter was definitely the most expensive mistake of all!How long did it take the Orbiter to get close to Mars?A:One year.B:Less than one year.C:About two and a half year.D:More than three years.
共用题干第一篇An Expensive MistakeIs there water on the planet Mars? Is there life on Mars?Was there ever life on Mars?Scientists from NASA wanted to know the answers to tliese questions.They built a spacecraft to travel around Mars and get informnation.The spacecraft was called the Mars Climate orbiter.The Mars Climate Orbiter left for Mars iii December 1998.The trip took nine and a half months.At first, everything was fine.However.when the Orbiter got near Mars,something terrible happened.The spacecraft didn't go to the right place.It went too close to Mars.it was too hot for the Orbiter there.The spacecraft couldn't function correctly.Suddenly,it stopped sending messages to NASA.The Orbiter was lost.How could this terrible thing happen? How did the Orbiter get closer to Mars than the scientists planned? Finally,they found the anlswer. Two teams of scientists worked together on the Orbiter. One team was in England,and one teann was in the United States.There were many similarities in the way they worked,but there was one important difference:The teams used different guidelines for measuring things.The United States team used the metric systcnni（公制）.The oilier team used the English system.Because they used different systems,the scientists made a mathematical mistake.The Orbiter's orbit (the shape and pattern of its path)around Mars was not correct.The scientists put the Orbiter on the wrong path.The Orbiter got too close amid too hot,and it stopped functioning.Why didn'tanybody see the mistake before it was too late?Many things contributed to the problem. One thing was that NASA scientists and mathematicians were working on two other spacecrafts at the same time.This was a challenge,and they were very tired from working long hours.The Mars Climate Orbiter cost $94 million to build.It also cost a lot of money to try to find the lost Or- biter in space.In addition,NASA's research on the cause of the problem was very expensive.This wasn't the first time that two different measurement systems caused mistakes in scientific projects.However,the Mars Climate Orbiter was definitely the most expensive mistake of all!How long did it take the Orbiter to get close to Mars?A:One year.B:Less than one year.C:About two and a half years.D:More than three years.
共用题干A Record-Breaking RoverNASA's Mars rover Opportunity has boldly gone where no rover has gone before—at least in terms of distance. Since arriving on the Red Planet in 2004,Opportunity has traveled 25 .01 miles,more than any other wheeled vehicle has on another world.“This is so remarkable considering Opportunity was intended to drive about 1 kilometer and was never designed for distance,”says John Callas,the Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager.He works at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,California.“But what is really importantly is not how many miles the rover has racked up,but how much exploration and discovery we have accomplished over that distance.”The solar-powered Opportunity and its twin rover,Spirit,landed on Mars 10 years ago on a mission expected to last 3 months. The objective of the rovers was to help scientists learn more about the planet and to search for signs of life,such as the possible presence of water.Spirit stopped communicating with Earth in March 2010,a few months after it got stuck in a sand pit. But Opportunity has continued to collect and analyze Martian soil and rocks.During its mission,Opportunity has captured,and sent back to Earth,some 187,000 panoramic and microscopic images of Mars with its cameras. It has also provided scientists with data on the planet's atmosphere,soil,rocks,aid terrain.The rover doesn't seem to be ready to stop just yet. If Opportunity can continue on,it will reach another major investigation site when its odometer hits 26.2 miles. Opportunity has beer working on Mars since January 2004.Researchers believe that clay minerals exposed near Marathon Valley could hold clues to Mars's ancient environment. Opportunity's continuing travels will also help researchers as the, plan for an eventual human mission to the Red Planet. Which of the following statements is true of Opportunity?A: It will come back to earth soon.B: Another rover will be sent to replace it.C: It is travelling to another major investigation site.D: It will work with other rovers exploring Mars.
共用题干A Record-Breaking RoverNASA's Mars rover Opportunity has boldly gone where no rover has gone before—at least in terms of distance. Since arriving on the Red Planet in 2004,Opportunity has traveled 25 .01 miles,more than any other wheeled vehicle has on another world.“This is so remarkable considering Opportunity was intended to drive about 1 kilometer and was never designed for distance,”says John Callas,the Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager.He works at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,California.“But what is really importantly is not how many miles the rover has racked up,but how much exploration and discovery we have accomplished over that distance.”The solar-powered Opportunity and its twin rover,Spirit,landed on Mars 10 years ago on a mission expected to last 3 months. The objective of the rovers was to help scientists learn more about the planet and to search for signs of life,such as the possible presence of water.Spirit stopped communicating with Earth in March 2010,a few months after it got stuck in a sand pit. But Opportunity has continued to collect and analyze Martian soil and rocks.During its mission,Opportunity has captured,and sent back to Earth,some 187,000 panoramic and microscopic images of Mars with its cameras. It has also provided scientists with data on the planet's atmosphere,soil,rocks,aid terrain.The rover doesn't seem to be ready to stop just yet. If Opportunity can continue on,it will reach another major investigation site when its odometer hits 26.2 miles. Opportunity has beer working on Mars since January 2004.Researchers believe that clay minerals exposed near Marathon Valley could hold clues to Mars's ancient environment. Opportunity's continuing travels will also help researchers as the, plan for an eventual human mission to the Red Planet. Opportunity is a record breaking rover in the sense of________.A: how long is has stayed in spaceB: how far it has traveledC: how much investment it has involvedD: how many facilities it has been equipped with
共用题干A Record-Breaking RoverNASA's Mars rover Opportunity has boldly gone where no rover has gone before—at least in terms of distance. Since arriving on the Red Planet in 2004,Opportunity has traveled 25 .01 miles,more than any other wheeled vehicle has on another world.“This is so remarkable considering Opportunity was intended to drive about 1 kilometer and was never designed for distance,”says John Callas,the Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager.He works at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,California.“But what is really importantly is not how many miles the rover has racked up,but how much exploration and discovery we have accomplished over that distance.”The solar-powered Opportunity and its twin rover,Spirit,landed on Mars 10 years ago on a mission expected to last 3 months. The objective of the rovers was to help scientists learn more about the planet and to search for signs of life,such as the possible presence of water.Spirit stopped communicating with Earth in March 2010,a few months after it got stuck in a sand pit. But Opportunity has continued to collect and analyze Martian soil and rocks.During its mission,Opportunity has captured,and sent back to Earth,some 187,000 panoramic and microscopic images of Mars with its cameras. It has also provided scientists with data on the planet's atmosphere,soil,rocks,aid terrain.The rover doesn't seem to be ready to stop just yet. If Opportunity can continue on,it will reach another major investigation site when its odometer hits 26.2 miles. Opportunity has beer working on Mars since January 2004.Researchers believe that clay minerals exposed near Marathon Valley could hold clues to Mars's ancient environment. Opportunity's continuing travels will also help researchers as the, plan for an eventual human mission to the Red Planet. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that＿________.A: experts know how far Opportunity will make in MarsB:.reseachers are working on sending many more humans to MarsC: Mars's ancient environment might be exposed with the help of OpportunityD: Opportunity is supposed to collect clay minerals from Marathon Valley
共用题干A Record-Breaking RoverNASA's Mars rover Opportunity has boldly gone where no rover has gone before—at least in terms of distance. Since arriving on the Red Planet in 2004,Opportunity has traveled 25 .01 miles,more than any other wheeled vehicle has on another world.“This is so remarkable considering Opportunity was intended to drive about 1 kilometer and was never designed for distance,”says John Callas,the Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager.He works at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,California.“But what is really importantly is not how many miles the rover has racked up,but how much exploration and discovery we have accomplished over that distance.”The solar-powered Opportunity and its twin rover,Spirit,landed on Mars 10 years ago on a mission expected to last 3 months. The objective of the rovers was to help scientists learn more about the planet and to search for signs of life,such as the possible presence of water.Spirit stopped communicating with Earth in March 2010,a few months after it got stuck in a sand pit. But Opportunity has continued to collect and analyze Martian soil and rocks.During its mission,Opportunity has captured,and sent back to Earth,some 187,000 panoramic and microscopic images of Mars with its cameras. It has also provided scientists with data on the planet's atmosphere,soil,rocks,aid terrain.The rover doesn't seem to be ready to stop just yet. If Opportunity can continue on,it will reach another major investigation site when its odometer hits 26.2 miles. Opportunity has beer working on Mars since January 2004.Researchers believe that clay minerals exposed near Marathon Valley could hold clues to Mars's ancient environment. Opportunity's continuing travels will also help researchers as the, plan for an eventual human mission to the Red Planet. What does John Callas say about Opportunity's long distance travel?A: It hasn't met scientists' expectation yetB: It hasn't been appreciated appropriatelyC: It is secondary to what has been discoveredD:.It is what scientists have been aiming at
共用题干A Record-Breaking RoverNASA's Mars rover Opportunity has boldly gone where no rover has gone before—at least in terms of distance. Since arriving on the Red Planet in 2004,Opportunity has traveled 25 .01 miles,more than any other wheeled vehicle has on another world.“This is so remarkable considering Opportunity was intended to drive about 1 kilometer and was never designed for distance,”says John Callas,the Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager.He works at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,California.“But what is really importantly is not how many miles the rover has racked up,but how much exploration and discovery we have accomplished over that distance.”The solar-powered Opportunity and its twin rover,Spirit,landed on Mars 10 years ago on a mission expected to last 3 months. The objective of the rovers was to help scientists learn more about the planet and to search for signs of life,such as the possible presence of water.Spirit stopped communicating with Earth in March 2010,a few months after it got stuck in a sand pit. But Opportunity has continued to collect and analyze Martian soil and rocks.During its mission,Opportunity has captured,and sent back to Earth,some 187,000 panoramic and microscopic images of Mars with its cameras. It has also provided scientists with data on the planet's atmosphere,soil,rocks,aid terrain.The rover doesn't seem to be ready to stop just yet. If Opportunity can continue on,it will reach another major investigation site when its odometer hits 26.2 miles. Opportunity has beer working on Mars since January 2004.Researchers believe that clay minerals exposed near Marathon Valley could hold clues to Mars's ancient environment. Opportunity's continuing travels will also help researchers as the, plan for an eventual human mission to the Red Planet. One of the objectives of sending Opportunity and Spirit is to＿________.A: collect soil and send back to EarthB: develop multinational space explorationC:.test how well solar-powered rovers work in outer spaceD: look for the possible presence of life
问答题Directions: In this section, there is one passage followed by 5 questions. Read the passage carefully, then answer the questions in as few words as possible (not more than 10 words). Remember to write the answers on the Answer Sheet. Questions 1-5 are based on the following passage. If you were on a distant planet, and if you had instruments that could tell you the composition of Earth’s atmosphere, how would you know there was life on this planet?Water in the atmosphere would suggest there could be water on the surface, and as we all know water is considered crucial to life. But water would only suggest that life is possible. It wouldn’t prove it’s there. Carbon? That basic component of “life as we know it?” Not necessarily. A diamond is pure carbon, and it may be pretty, but it isn’t alive. What really sets Earth apart is nitrogen, which makes up 80 percent of the planet’s atmosphere. And it’s there only because there is abundant life on Earth, say scientists at the University of Southern California The report grew out of a class discussion two years ago in a course taught by Capone and Kenneth Nealson, professor of earth sciences. Students were asked to come up with different ideas about searching for life on other planets. What is a distinct “signature,” as Capone puts it, that would show there is life on another planet? That’s a question that has been kicked around in many quarters in recent decades, especially since all efforts to find some form of life, no matter whether on Mars or in the distant reaches of space, have failed. At least so far. The current effort to search for some evidence of life on Mars focuses primarily on the search for water, because it has long been believed that water, or at least some fluid, is necessary for the chemical processes that lead life to take place. But that’s probably the wrong approach, the USC group argues. “It’s hard to imagine life without water, but it’s easy to imagine water without life,” says Nealson, who was on the Mars team before moving to USC. But nitrogen would be a much clearer signature of life. Only about 2 percent to 3 percent of the Martian atmosphere is nitrogen. That’s just a trace, and it probably means there is no life on Mars today, and if there was in the past, it probably ended many, many years ago. But, the USC team adds quickly, that doesn’t mean there’s no life anywhere else in the universe. They don’t know where, of course, but they may have found a way to narrow down the search. Look first for nitrogen, then look for biological activity that should be there. So if life exists elsewhere, and is similar to life as we know it, there should be nitrogen, and that’s what we should be looking for first, the researchers say. If they don’t find nitrogen on Mars, Capone says, “that will probably bring us to the conclusion that there likely never was life on Mars.” But how about elsewhere? Could this technique be used to search for life in other solar systems? Maybe. It might be possible to detect a nitrogen-rich atmosphere around a planet orbiting another star, but not yet. Current instruments aren’t that sensitive. If they ever are, the search for life might be narrowed down to the most promising prospects, chiefly because of the presence of nitrogen. And won’t that be fun! Questions: 1．What can suggest life is possible but cannot be proved according to the author? 2．What is a clear “signature” of life on another planet according to Capone? 3．What is considered as a wrong way to search for evidence of life on Mars? 4．What can probably prove there is no life on Mars today based on the new theory? 5．Why is it impossible to use the new technique to search for life in other solar systems now?
单选题Starting with the _____ that there is life on the planet Mars, the scientist went on to develop his argument.ApremiseBpretextCfoundationDpresentation
问答题For centuries, explorers have risked their lives venturing into the unknown for reasons that were to varying degrees economic and nationalistic. Columbus went west to look for better trade routes to the Orient and to promote the greater glory of Spain, Lewis and Clark journeyed into the American wilderness to find out what the U.S. had acquired when it purchased Louisiana, and the Apollo astronauts rocketed to the moon in a dramatic show of technological muscle during the cold war. Although their missions blended commercial and political-military imperatives, the explorers involved all accomplished some significant science by going where no scientists had gone before. Today Mars looms as humanity’s next great terra incognita. And with doubtful prospects for a short-term financial return, with the cold war a rapidly fading memory and amid a growing emphasis on international cooperation in large space ventures, it is clear that imperatives other than profits or nationalism will have to compel human beings to leave their tracks on the planet’s reddish surface. Could it be that science, which has long played a minor role in exploration, is at last destined to take a leading role? The question naturally invites a couple of others; Are there experiment that only human could do on Mars? Could those experiments provide insights profound enough to justify the expense of sending people across interplanetary space? With Mars the scientific stakes are arguably higher than they have ever been. The issue of whether life ever existed on the planet, and whether it persists to this day, has been highlighted by mounting evidence that the Red Planet once had abundant stable, liquid water and by the continuing controversy over suggestions that bacterial fossils rode to Earth on a meteorite from Mars. A more conclusive answer about life on Mars, past or present, would give researchers invaluable data about the range of conditions under which a planet can generate the complex chemistry that leads to life. If it could be established that life arose independently on Mars and Earth, the finding would provide the first concrete clues in one of the deepest mysteries in all of science: the prevalence of life in the universe.
问答题Read the passage carefully and answer questions 1 to 5. Answer each question in a maximum of 10 words. Remember to write the answers on the answer sheet Would you like to orbit the Earth inside the International Space Station? Now you can take a space holiday—for a price. This is due to a recent decision by top space officials of the United States, Russia, Canada, Japan and the European Space Agency. Last April, American businessman Dennis Tito reportedly paid between twelve-million and twenty-million dollars to spend one week on the International Space Station. NASA had strongly objected to the Russian plan to permit a civilian on the costly research vehicle. After two years of negotiations, space officials have agreed on a process to train private citizens to take trips to the International Space Station. NASA recently agreed to conditions that will permit Russia to sell trips to the space station. The trips are planned by an American company called Space Adventures Limited of Arlington, Virginia. The company calls itself “the world’s leading space tourism company.” The company has sold a space trip to Mark Shuttleworth, a South African businessman. In April, Mister Shuttleworth will be launched into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Yet, the average citizen will not be able to travel into space in the near future. Space Adventures Limited sells a training program for space flight that costs two-hundred-thousand dollars. That price does not include the cost of the trip to the International Space Station. That holiday in space costs twenty-million dollars. Candidates for adventure space travel trips must be in excellent health and must pass difficult health tests. They must receive a lot of training and all successful candidates who wish to travel to the International Space Station must be able to read and speak English. Questions: 1．How much did American businessman Dennis Tito pay to spend one week on the International Space Station? 2．Why Mark Shuttleworth, a South African businessman, is mentioned in the passage? 3．What was NASA’s original attitude towards the Russian plan to permit a civilian on the International Space Station? 4．How much should one pay for a trip to the International Space Station? 5．According to the last paragraph, what conditions must a candidate of space travel meet?