Question

【题目】 Imagine how you’d feel if you had to get more than 9,000 tons of junk out to the sidewalk. That’s how much trash is floating around in space. In fact, there’s about 4 million pounds flying over our heads in low-Earth orbit. Daan, a Dutch artist, and his team at Space Waste Lab have come up with a creative plan that could clear up space junk in a spectacular fashion.

①Most space waste comes from dead satellites and rockets. Functioning satellites are the backbone of the information systems that keep our world running smoothly. But all the satellites eventually become obsolete within just a few decades. When they die out, there’s the problem of them drifting in outer space, collecting in what scientists call the “graveyard orbit.”

Maybe you’re thinking, “Why should I care about garbage 12,500 miles above me?” Well, all that fun stuff that satellites help beam down to us—mobile games, Instagram, cat videos—could be shut down by space waste. Lots of old junk floating around up there, plus new satellites added each year, means more and more high-speed collisions (碰撞). And when chunks of junk crash into one another, they break apart into millions of pieces, quickly building up speed and turning into fast-moving objects, which are dangerous to operational satellites as well as astronauts working on the International Space Station.

②Space waste is a problem that’s escalated so much, some scientists say that by 2050 we’ll be forced to stop launching new spacecraft altogether, including new satellites. Think about that for a minute. When the last satellites finally become disused, GPS, cell phones, and the Internet will no longer function.

③So we have to find a way to deal with this space garbage, and Daan pictures a sort of trash pickup, which involves groups of small spacecraft casting large nets into orbit that would collect space debris (碎片) and send it back toward Earth at top speed. Here’s the best part—while reentering Earth’s atmosphere, the pieces of junk would burn up all at once, creating a light show similar to hundreds of shooting stars falling in the night sky. A spectacle indeed!

To get ready for such an amazing effort, Space Waste Lab has been traveling to major cities across Europe and enlightening the public on the problem of the junk in space. ④But Daan doesn’t just talk about ways to relieve the problem—he’s created something a little grander than that. In October 2018, his team launched Space Waste Lab Performance, an outdoor art exhibition that shows the location of each piece of space trash using large lasers that make each debris look a bit like a star wandering slowly and silently over the sky, allowing viewers to wave and say, “Hallo, space trash!”

【1】The word “obsolete” (paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to “______”.

A.accessibleB.profitable

C.floatingD.outdated

【2】According to the passage, which sentence best replaces the question mark in the diagram?

A.Working satellites can be damaged and astronauts can be hurt.

B.Satellites can help people track the weather and find new locations.

C.There is more junk floating in space each year as new satellites are added.

D.The Space Waste Lab Performance can show people where satellites are located.

【3】Which of the following best supports the idea that space waste should be dealt with very soon？

A.Sentences ①B.Sentence ②

C.Sentence ③D.Sentence ④

【4】Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

A.Space Junk Harms Digital Systems

B.Artists’ Proposal to Save Space

C.A New Glimpse into Outer Space

D.Test of Waste Collection Nets

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】A

【3】B

【4】B

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，介绍了荷兰艺术家达恩和他在太空垃圾实验室的团队提出了一个创意计划，可以以壮观的方式清理太空垃圾。

【1】词义猜测题。根据画线词后的“When they die out, there’s the problem of them drifting in outer space, collecting in what scientists call the “graveyard orbit.”可知，当它们被废弃时，它们就会在外太空漂流，被科学家们称为“墓地轨道”的地方会把它们收集起来，因此此处是说所有的卫星最终都在短短几十年内被淘汰，由此可知画线词词义为“淘汰、使过时”，故D项正确。

【2】细节理解题。本题实际上考的是太空垃圾的危害，根据第三段中的“And when chunks of junk crash into one another, they break apart into millions of pieces, quickly building up speed and turning into fast-moving objects, which are dangerous to operational satellites as well as astronauts working on the International Space Station.”可知，当大块的太空垃圾相互碰撞时，它们会分裂成数百万块，很快加速并变成快速移动的物体，这对运行中的卫星以及在国际空间站工作的宇航员都是危险的，由此可知，太空垃圾会损坏工作中的卫星并使宇航员受伤，故A项正确。

【3】细节理解题。第一句话的意思是：大多数太空垃圾来自于废弃的卫星和火箭，运行正常的卫星是信息系统的骨干，这些系统使我们的世界保持平稳运行；第二句话的意思是：太空垃圾是一个日益严重的问题，一些科学家说，到2050年，我们将被迫完全停止发射新的航天器，包括新的卫星。；第三句话的意思是：因此，我们必须找到一种方法来处理这些太空垃圾，达恩拍摄了一种垃圾收集装置，其中包括一组小型航天器将大网撒入轨道，收集太空垃圾并以最高速度将其送回地球；第四句话的意思是：但达恩不仅仅是在谈论如何解决问题，他创造了一个比这更伟大的东西。根据第二句话句意再结合其下一句所说的“当最后一颗卫星最终报废时，全球定位系统、手机和互联网将不再发挥作用”，这突出了处理太空垃圾的紧迫性，因此第二句话最能支持太空垃圾应该很快处理的观点，故B项正确。

【4】主旨大意题。通读全文，特别是根据第一段中的“Daan, a Dutch artist, and his team at Space Waste Lab have come up with a creative plan that could clear up space junk in a spectacular fashion.”可知，本文主要介绍了荷兰艺术家达恩和他在太空垃圾实验室的团队提出了一个创意计划，可以以壮观的方式清理太空垃圾，故B项最适合做文章标题。

本篇第1题词义猜测题的难度较大，对画线词下文的理解是关键，根据画线词后的“When they die out, there’s the problem of them drifting in outer space, collecting in what scientists call the “graveyard orbit.”可知，当它们被废弃时，它们就会在外太空漂流，被科学家们称为“墓地轨道”的地方会把它们收集起来，因此此处是说所有的卫星最终都在短短几十年内被淘汰，特别是“die out”表明画线词词义为“淘汰、使过时”，故D项正确。