Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)(15 minutes)
Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quicklyand answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1.For questions 1-7,choose the best answer from the four choices marked A,B,Cand D. For questions 8-10,completethe sentences with the information given in the passage.
Space Our Future in Space: It Has Already Begun!
We are all space travelers. But weve stayed close to home until now. One day,we may leave our mother shipEarth to make our home among the stars.
A giant, spherical spaceship, about 8,000 miles in diameter, is speedingthrough the solar system right now. It is cruising at an incredible 66,600 milesper hour.
Its not a giant, Star Wars mother ship. Its spaceship Earth, the home ofover four billion people. This water coated spaceship has been traveling throughthe universe for about five billion years. Only within the past 25 years, however,have some of its passengers broken free of Earths gravityBut 25 years from now, many people, including you, might live in an orbitingspace station 200 miles above the Earth.
Space Cities
Scientists have already designed special space factories. These factories will take advantage of the absence of gravity (zero gravity) to produce everything from life saving drugs to perfect ball bearings.
Other scientists have designed space colonies, complete with farms, schools,and artificial day and night. Hundreds, or even thousands, of people will live, work,playeven go toschool, far above the Earth.
Our conquest of space, of course, has already begun. We have explored part of the Moon, sent robot spaceships onto the surface of Venus and Mars, and aimed space probes past the planets of Jupiter and Saturn.
Last June, one robot ship, Pioneer 10, left our solar system forever. Andastronauts from both the Soviet Union and the United States have lived in spacestations.
The conquest of space, without question, is one of the greatest adventures human beings have ever set out on. But it may be more than a great adventure. Some scientists
think the conquest of space may be a necessity for survival of the human species.We are tearing up more and more of the Earth to get raw materials for industry.
And we are polluting the air and water as we manufacture products that we need or want. Almost everything that seems to make our lives more comfortable, and from
electricity to pesticides, uses up or alters a piece of our planets natural environment.
Why Go into Space?
Yet our solar system is full of resources. The moon is chockfull of valuable metals. So are the asteroids, the small, rocky, planet like bodies orbiting the sun most of them between Mars and Jupiter. These metals, if we can get them, could be used to build factories and space stations.Also, in space, there is no atmosphere to filter out the suns energy. There is plenty of solar energy to be turned into electricity for manufacturing, for creating comfortable living conditions.
Getting away from Earth has other advantages, too. Modern industry uses manykinds of metal alloys (mixtures of metal that are better for certain purposes thanpure metals). Yet some metal alloys either cant be made or are very expensive to make on Earth because of gravity. For instance, certain metals dont mix well onEarth. But in zero gravity, molten (hot, liquid) metals mix more evenly. This is because there is no gravity to pull the heavier metals down, while the lighter ones float on top.
From space, too, we can look down on the Earth and study the atmosphere, its weather, and the effects of air pollution.
And because there is no strong gravity to break free from, our future homes away from Earth will be convenient starting points for travel to distant planets.
But, while going into space might solve some problems, outer space can also be a dangerous place. For example, in outer space, we have to protect ourselves from the dangers of ultraviolet light and cosmic rays. Ultraviolet light from the sun can give us bad sunburns right here on Earth. Yet, Earths atmosphere screens out most of that harmful radiation. Cosmic rays are tiny high energy particles from outer space. Again, the Earth shields us from most of them.
At Home in Space?
But in space, without special protection, we would be exposed to much stronger radiation from ultraviolet light and cosmic rays. Also, in the zero gravity of outer space, our bones will lose calcium and become weaker. This will be more of a problem the longer people stay out in space. Doctors are looking for a way to keep our bones from losing calcium in outer space. And a small spaceship just might drive you batty after a while. But even on a short trip in outer space, you might not feelas well as youd like to. Space travel could make you seasick!
Yet, these risks wont keep people from going into space. Eventually, an Earth like environment will be built in space. And they will be populated by people with many different interests: medicine, construction, farming, teaching, mining, and so on.
The next hundred years will be filled with other worldly adventures, exciting scientific discoveries, and danger, as humans leave Earthperhaps forever.
Aging in Space
Suppose a space traveler is moving at a velocity of 186,200 miles per second.
For every hour that passes for him, 30 hours pass on Earth. If he travels for a year in this fashion (having accelerated instantaneously) and then turns around and comes back at this speed (having turned around instantaneously), he will find that while he has seemed to himself to have traveled two years, the men on Earth would claim he had been absent for 30 years.
Suppose the space traveler had left at the age of 30, leaving behind a twin brother also aged 30. When he returned he would be 32, but his stay at home twin
brother would be 60. That is why the clock paradox, is sometimes called the twin paradox.
Of course it takes quite a long while to accelerate to a high speed, and a long while to make a turn and head back again, so conditions arent quite as clear cut as just described.
1.The giant, spherical spaceship mentioned in the passage is.
Athe outer spaceBa man made spaceship
Cthe planet EarthDthe Star Wars mothe ship
2.Some persons have traveled into outer space after conquering within the past 25years.
Athe universeBEarths gravity
Cthe earthDouter space
3.We have explored or sent robot spaceships to the following space except.
Athe moonBVenusCJupiterDMars
4.Why is the conquest of space more than a great adventure?
ABecause it is full of challenges for human beings.
BBecause it may be necessary for human beings to survive.
CBecause it is the greatest adventure in human history.
DBecause it is more exciting than any other adventures.
5.The moon and the asteroids are alike with respect to their .
Asize and moving waysBcomfortable living conditions
Crich and valuable metalsDsolar energy
6.Why cant ultraviolet light scorch our skin on Earth as seriously as it does in space places?
ABecause the Earths atmosphere can make ultraviolet light less harmful.
BBecause ultraviolet cant reach the Earth at all.
CBecause the Earth is far away from those planets radiating ultraviolet light.
DBecause other space places is near from those planets radiating ultravioletlight.
7.In spite of many risks, scientists will finally build in space suitable for humans to live.
Aan environment without ultraviolet light
Ba lot of homes
Can Earth like environment
Dan environment with atmosphere
8.The reason some metal alloys cant be made on Earth is that the heavier metals together with the lighter ones.
9.In space, there is no atmosphere to filter out the suns energy. There is plenty
of solar energy to be turned into, for creating comfortable living conditions.
10.According to the author, will be caused to a man in gravity free space.

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