Astronauts aboard the space station celebrated a space first on Wednesday by drinking water that had been recycled from their urine(尿), sweat and water got from air. They said “cheers,” clicked drinking bags and toasted NASA workers on the ground.
The urine recycling system is needed for astronaut stations on the moon and Mars. It also will save NASA money because it won’t have to ship up as much water to the station by space shuttles or rockets. Besides, it’s important as the space station is about to expand from three people living on board to six.
The recycling system had been brought up to the space station last November by space shuttle Endeavour, but it couldn’t be used until samples(样品) were tested back on earth. So when it came time to actually drink up, NASA made a big deal of it. The three-man crew stood holding their drinks and thanked engineers in two NASA centers that worked on the system.[来源:Zxxk.Com]
“This is something that had been the stuff of science fiction,” American astronaut Michael Barratt said before taking a small mouthful. “The taste is worth trying.”
The new system takes the combined urine of the crew from the toilet, moves it to a big tank, where the water is boiled off, and the steam is collected. The rest of the urine is thrown away. Then the water steam is mixed with water from air, and then it goes through filters (过滤器). When six crew members are aboard it can make about 18 liters from urine in about 6 hours.
“Some people may
find the idea of drinking recycled urine distasteful, but it is also done on
earth, but with a lot longer time between urine and the tap,” said Marybeth
Edeen, the space station’s national lab manager.
The technology NASA developed for this system has already been used for quick water purification after the 2004 Asian tsunami.
1. According to
the text, the recycling system is important because __________.
A. it makes traveling to the moon for the average person possible
B. it can help meet the need for more water after the crew is expanded
C. with it NASA won’t need to ship any water up the space station
D. it protects the environment in space by reducing the amount of waste
2. From Paragraph 5 we can know __________.
A. the process of recycling urine
B. the effect of the recycling system
C. the theory behind the recycling system
D. an opinion on recycling urine
3. What did Edeen say about recycled urine and the recycling system?
A. The taste of recycled urine is not as good as that of common water.
B. The recycling system has made a science fiction story come true.
C. The idea of drinking recycled urine makes astronauts feel unpleasant.
D. It takes a longer time on earth to make water from urine than in space.
4. What is the best title for the passage?
A. The Research of NASA Has Made Great Progress
B. New Technology Is Used in the Space Station
C. Drink up: Space Station Recycles Urine to Water
D. Good News:Water Recycled from Urine Tastes Good
科目：高中英语 来源：吉林省2010届高三第八次模拟考试英语试卷 题型：单项填空
Chinese President Hu Jintao had had ____ brief meeting with three astronauts who were going board ______ country’s third manned spacecraft Shenzhou VII on Sept 25．2008．
A．the; a B．a; a C．a; the D．the ; the
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科目：高中英语 来源：2010-2011学年安徽省百校论坛高三第一次联合考试英语卷 题型：阅读理解
MOSCOW(Reuters) – Russia hopes the United States will extend the deadline to retire its space shuttles beyond 2011 and has heard unofficially it is possible, the head of Russia"s space agency was quoted as saying on Friday.
The U.S. space agency NASA(美国宇航局) plans six more missions by its fleet of aging space shuttles by late next year or early 2011 after the construction of the $100 billion International Space Station (ISS) is completed. The shuttles will then be retired. But the head of Roscosmos, Russia"s space agency, said he would prefer to see further shuttle missions to the Space Station, now in orbit 360 km (225 miles) above Earth. "From some sources we have learned that it is possible to extend the life of the shuttle beyond 2011," Roscosmos chief Anatoly Perminov was quoted by RIA news agency as saying. Reuters was not invited to the briefing(简报会). "Then the situation would change substantially and it would be possible to work jointly with the Americans, unlike now, when the main burden (for the ISS) lies with the Russian side," Perminov was quoted as saying by Interfax. Perminov said he had not been told this through official channels, Interfax news agency reported. He added that NASA"s new chief and former astronaut Charles Bolden would visit Russia"s Baikonur cosmodrome on September 30 in his first foreign trip.
NASA"s future strategy is currently under review with the main focus on possible flights to Mars. It is also encouraging a private space taxi project to the ISS. NASA"s current plan, conceived under former President George Bush after the Columbia accident, is to complete the space station, retire the shuttles and build new spaceships. A new rocket and capsule to transport astronauts to the ISS is also being developed but will not be operational until about 2015. Until then, NASA will rely on Roscosmos and must pay $50 million per seat for flights to the ISS by Soyuz capsules.
The U.S., Russian and Chinese governments are the only entities currently capable of human orbital space flight, although several U.S. companies are developing vehicles and support services to do so.
1.What does the underlined word “this” in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A．NASA agrees to extend the life of the shuttles beyond 2011.
B．Reuters was not invited to the briefing.
C．The US would work jointly with Russia.
D．NASA’s new chief would visit Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome.
2.NASA’s current plan includes all the following EXCEPT .
A．completing International Space Station
B．flights to Mars
C．retiring the current space shuttles
D．building new spaceships
3.If the US doesn’t extend the life of the shuttles beyond 2011, .
A．International Space Station will be quit
B．Roscosmos will have to build more spaceships
C．NASA will have to quicken the development of the new rocket and capsule
D．Roscosmos will be burdened with the transportation to ISS
4.We can infer from the passage that .
A．China has already been involved in the project of flights to Mars
B．it is certain the NASA will retire the current space shuttles as planned
C．NASA is considering Russia’s suggestion
D．NASA will be able to provide a private space taxi project to the ISS by 2015.
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科目：高中英语 来源：2010-2011学年安徽省百校论坛高三上学期第三次联合考试英语卷 题型：阅读理解
For many people, the name Baskin-Robbins is linked to sweet memories of eating ice cream．Irvine Robbins, who helped create this famous company, died in May at the age of ninety．His life's work of making fun and exciting ice cream flavors changed the way Americans enjoy this food．
Irvine Robbins opened his first ice cream store in 1945 in California．At the time, there were no stores that sold only ice cream．His sister's husband, Burton Baskin, also opened his own ice cream stores．
In 1948 they combined their six stores into one business．Baskin and Robbins realized that they were too busy to operate each store well．So, they decided to sell part of each operation to the manager of that store．This permitted the company to grow quickly．
By 1953, they renamed their company Baskin-Robbins．They advertised that they sold 31 kinds of ice cream to show the many choices buyers had．There was one flavor for every day of the month．
Robbins and Baskin sold "Lunar Cheesecake" the day after astronauts landed on the moon in 1969．Other flavors included "ChaChaCha", for cherry chocolate chip, and Robbins' personal favorite "Jamoca Almond Fudge"．They said: "We sell fun, not just ice cream．"
By 1967, there were 500 Baskin-Robbins stores in the United States．The business partners sold their company that year．Today, there are more than 5,800 Baskin-Robbins stores around the world．
1.What is the main idea of the passage?
A．The managers of Baskin-Robbins． B．The start of Baskin-Robbins．
C．The production of Baskin Robbins． D．The great success of Baskin-Robbins．
2.From the text we learn that _____．
A．Baskin-Robbins was the only shop selling ice cream in 1945
B．Baskin-Robbins was famous for their special ice cream flavors
C．Baskin-Robbins grew quickly because they combined their other stores together
D．there had been more than 5,800 Baskin-Robbins stores around the world by 1967
3.What was probably the main reason for Baskin-Robbins' success?
A．They sold not only ice cream, but fun．
B．They renamed their company．
C．They put all their hearts into the business．
D．They sold "Lunar Cheesecake"．
4.It can be inferred from Paragraph 5 that
A．Jamoca Almond Fudge is Baskins' favorite
B．Cherry chocolate chip sells best
C．Robbins and Baskin were good at inventing new ice creams
D．Lunar cheesecake was invented for the astronauts
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科目：高中英语 来源：2010年甘肃省嘉峪关市高一上学期期末考试英语卷 题型：单项填空
With the development of science and technology，there is no doubt_____Chinese
astronauts will land on the moon in the near future.
A．whether B．that
C．what D．which
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科目：高中英语 来源：2010届湖北省高三上学期模拟考试（一） 题型：阅读理解
第三部分阅读理解(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。
Many people will remember the flight of the space shuttle（航天飞机）challenger，in June，1983. The achievement of Sally Ride，America’s first woman astronaut to fly into space，made this flight especially memorable. Students from two Camden, New Jersey, high schools, however, are probably to remember Norma rather than Sally whenever they think about the flight.
Norma didn’t travel alone. She brought about 100 companions along with her. Norma was an ant，a queen ant who，with her subject，made up the first ant colony（群体）to travel into space. The ants were part of a science experiment designed by students to test the effects of weightlessness on insects.
The equipment designed by the students for their colony functioned perfectly throughout the long space trip. The young scientists and their teachers were very sad to find that their insect astronauts had all died at some point before the container was returned to the school and opened. The problem didn’t occur in space，but on the ground after challenger had landed. The container remained in the desert for nearly a week before the ant colony was moved. The hot，dry desert air dried out the colony’s container and the ants died from lack of moisture（水分）.
The project was termed success because it did provide useful information. Students will continue their efforts to pinpoint（精确找到）what went wrong. They will try to prevent the same difficulties from reoccurring on future missions. They don’t want to be discouraged either by the demise of the ants or by the $ 10,000 shuttle fare they will have to pay to send the next colony of ants into space.
51．What does the passage mainly tell us？
A．Sally Ride，America’s first woman astronaut.
B．How to keep ants alive in space.
C．How to make equipment for insects in space.
D．An experiment with ants in space.
52．According to the passage, we know that the underlined word“demise”is another word for“_____”.
A．death B．colony
C．insect D．moisture
53．We don’t think the project was a failure. This is because_____.
A．everything went as smoothly as expected
B．the students had pinpointed exactly the reason
C．something important had been learned
D．the students had succeeded in the experiment
54．We can conclude that ants _____ on the next space trip.
A．will have to be kept alive in a container full of water
B．will have to be sent into space with the first woman astronaut
C．should be put into a container where there is enough food
D．should be put into a container which is not too dry
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