Question

阅读短文，按照题目要求用英语回答问题。

My name is Clara. I still remember that chilly December day, sitting in science class. I’d finished a worksheet early and picked up a Time for Kids magazine. A piece of news caught my eye. NASA was holding an essay contest to name its Mars rover (火星探测器). Before I even knew anything else about it, a single word flooded my 11-year-old mind: Curiosity.

I couldn’t wait for the bell to ring so I could get started on my essay. That afternoon, I raced home, sat down at the computer, and typed until my fingers ached. “Curiosity is an everlasting flame that burns in everyone’s mind…”

Five months later, my mom received a phone call, and immediately, a wide smile spread across her face.

On August 5, 2012, at 10:31 p.m., the rover named Curiosity touched down safely on the surface of Mars, and I was honored to have a front-row seat in NASA.

Curiosity is such an important part of who I am. I have always been fascinated by the stars, the planets, the sky and the universe. I remember as a little girl, my grandmother and I would sit together in the backyard for hours. She’d tell me stories and point out the stars. Grandma lived in China, thousands of miles away from my home in Kansas, but the stars kept us together even when we were apart. They were always there, yet there was so much I didn’t know about them. That’s what I love so much about space.

People often ask me why we go to faraway places like Mars. My answer is simple because we’re curious. We human beings do not just hole up in one place. We are constantly wondering and trying to find out what’s over the hill and beyond the horizon.

1.How did Clara get the news about the essay contest? (no more than 10 words)

2.Why did Clara have a front-row seat in NASA? (no more than 10 words)

3.What does Clara remember about the time spent with Grandma? (no more than 15 words)

4.What does the underlined phrase “hole up” mean? (1 word)

5.In your opinion, why is curiosity important? (no more than 20 words)

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.By reading a Time for Kids magazine. Or: From a Time for Kids magazine

2.She won the essay contest held by NASA. Or: She named the Mars rover “Curiosity”. Or: “Curiosity” was chosen as the name of the Mars rover.

3.She sat together with Grandma listening to her stories about stars. Or: Her grandma told her stories about stars. Or: They sat together talking about stars.

4.Stay/Remain/Live/Hide

5.Curiosity is important because it leads to discovery or inventions. Or: With curiosity, we keep asking questions and exploring the world unknown. Or: Curiosity drives us through our lives so that we never stop wondering about the things beyond our knowledge.

【解析】

【文章大意】这篇文章介绍了作者为什么给火星探测器命名为Curiosity：因为好奇才会进步、发展。

1.文章的第一段第二句话“I’d finished a worksheet early and picked up a Time for Kids magazine”明确指明了来源。对学生来说就是语言的组织问题了。题干中的the news暗示了答案可能出现的位置，又因为后面是谈论竞赛的内容，所以我们知道答案应该出现在前面那句话中。

2.题干中的关键信息“a front-row seat in NASA”告诉我们答案可能在第四段，第四段中有一个“the rover named Curiosity”再结合第二段中的“Curiosity is an…”的句子，我们就能得出正确答案了。

3.关键信息“the time spent with Grandma”说明答案应该出现在倒数第2段：I remember as a little girl, my grandmother and I would sit together in the backyard for hours. She’d tell me stories and point out the stars. 学生在组织语言的时候要把人物和事件都概括进来。

4.猜测词义一定要根据语境，同时还要把出现这个词的句子都挑出来进行考虑。结合语境，即我们人类不能老呆在一个地方。这里给出了人类好奇的部分原因。

5.这是一个开放性的问题，理解了原文之后，就比较容易回答了。但是，回答时一定不要偏离了文章的中心。文章多次提到curiosity或curious，我们要对除了专有名词之外的地方进行概括提炼，揣摩作者的意思。