If asked if space exploration should continue, most Americans would give an immediate response either in favor of continuing or in favor of ending space exploration. A common response would be that space exploration is a waste of money. An average American, uneducated on the subject, might believe that the government is wasting billions of dollars on the research that has no merit. Someone strange to the subject might say that a space shuttle goes up once in a while and that is about all that happens. Research is ongoing and continues when there are no shuttles being launched. This also costs the government money. Does the extreme cost of space exploration make sense?

One argument is that the government is wasting money on the research not being used on Earth. Actually, the money goes to workers and scientists that support National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) missions (任務(wù)), and goes to major companies that play important roles in major sectors of the US economy. Boeing is a partner of NASA for aircraft, the same company that makes commercial aircraft for the airline industry.

Another benefit to continuing space exploration is the many spinoff (衍生的) technologies it provides. The artificial heart resulted from experiments on the space shuttle. The handheld Jaws of Life used to save victims from car accidents originated from the system used to separate the space shuttle from its booster rockets. Insulation in homes that keeps them warm and energy efficient is based on the technology used to insulate the space shuttle.

There are direct benefits to the economy provided by NASA missions as well as spinoff technologies. These advances are found in food, building materials, medical procedures and the vehicles we drive. While it can be proven that billions of dollars that could be used elsewhere is being spent on space exploration, the benefits it provides outweigh the terrible aspects. As a matter of fact, the money spent helps to improve the quality of our lives.

1.How is Paragraph 2 mainly developed?

A. By offering analyses.

B. By making comparisons.

C. By giving some examples.

D. By presenting research findings.

2.The function of Jaws of Life is to _____.

A. save people from traffic accidents

B. do experiments on the space shuttle

C. keep houses warm and energy efficient

D. separate the space shuttle from its booster rockets

3.In the author’s opinion, space exploration _____.

A. has changed our life completely

B. costs too much of our time

C. benefits us in many ways

D. has nothing to do with us

4.What would be the best title for the text?

A. Benefits of space exploration

B. Is space exploration worth the cost?

C. How to make space exploration affordable

D. Missions of the NASA space shuttle program

練習(xí)冊(cè)系列答案
相關(guān)習(xí)題

科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年北京大學(xué)附中河南分校高一3月考英語試卷（解析版） 題型：書面表達(dá)

書面表達(dá)

假如你是李華。你的兩位朋友Tom與Peter幾天前發(fā)生了爭吵。3月19日是Peter生日，Tom想送他一個(gè)禮物來緩和關(guān)系，他特地發(fā)來郵件尋求你的建議。請(qǐng)你根據(jù)以下要點(diǎn)給Tom回一封郵件：

信的內(nèi)容包括：

1．禮物選擇； 2．你的理由； 3．其他和解建議。

注意：

1．詞數(shù)120左右；

2．可適當(dāng)增加細(xì)節(jié)，以使行文連貫；

3．郵件的開頭和結(jié)尾已給出，但不計(jì)入總詞數(shù)。

Dear Tom，

I'm glad to hear that you are considering making up with Peter.

Best wishes!

Yours，

Li Hua

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年江西南昌進(jìn)賢縣一中高二下期第一次月考英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

The discovery of an ancient giant panda skull has confirmed its bamboo diet dates back more than 2 million years and may have played a key part in its survival.

A Chinese-US research team reports its results today following studies on a fossil skull found in south China’s Cuangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in 2001.

The six fossils unearthed in Jinyin Cave are dated between 2.4 and 2 million years ago, according to the report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an influential US journal.

Jin Changzhu, of the chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and lead author of the paper, said the smaller fossil skull indicates the giant pandas were about a third smaller than today’s pandas.

Researchers knew the panda reached its maximum size about 500,000 years ago, when it peaked ,and then gradually became smaller.

Jin, a paleontologist (古生物學(xué)者) at the Institute of Vertebrate paleontology and Paleoanthropology (古人類學(xué)) attached to the CAS, said the size variation was a basic rule of evolution.

“A species tends to grow bigger when it reaches the peak of its population , but becomes smaller when numbers decline,” he said.

The dental remains of the skull, which is the oldest giant panda skull ever found, are similar to today’s pandas, indicating the type of teeth that could munch (津津有味地嚼)mountains of bamboo. A panda can eat up to 40kg of bamboo per day.

Paleoanthropologist Russell Ciochon, the US co-author at the University of lowa, said the panda’s focus on bamboo could have helped it survive all these years.

“Once an animal begins to rely on a common and stable food source, such as bamboo, it tends to evolve a larger body size,” he said. “As individuals of the evolving species grow bigger, they have a better chance not to be eaten by predators (肉食動(dòng)物) due to their larger body size.”

1.According to the research of the CAS , there were most pandas in the world .

A. 2 million years ago

B. between 2.4 and 2 million years ago

C. 500,000 years ago

D. Nowadays

2.The underlined word “variation” in para 6 means .

A. fall B. change C. increase D. decrease

3.From the passage, we can learn .

A. pandas began to eat bamboo 2 million years ago

B. a species tends to grow smaller when numbers decline

C. the giant pandas were about a third the size of today’s pandas

D. pandas’ bamboo has played an important role in its development

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年河南南陽宛東五校高二下學(xué)期第一次聯(lián)考英語試卷（解析版） 題型：短文改錯(cuò)

短文改錯(cuò)

假定英語課上老師要求同桌之間交換修改作文，請(qǐng)你修改你同桌寫的以下

作文。作文中共有 10 處語言錯(cuò)誤，每句中最多有兩處。每處錯(cuò)誤僅涉及一個(gè)單詞的增加、刪除或修改。 增加：在缺詞處加一個(gè)漏子符號(hào)（∧）并在其下面寫出該加的詞。 刪除：在錯(cuò)的詞下劃一橫線，并在該詞下面寫出修改后的詞。 注意：1.每處錯(cuò)誤及其修改均僅限一詞；.只允許修改 10 處，多者（從第 11 處起）不計(jì)分。

Nowadays, it is very easily to find a student who is nearsighted. What’s worse, the number of nearsighted students are still increasing. From my point of view, there are many reason that can cause nearsightedness. First of all, the wrong posture will result from nearsightedness. Read in the dark places can lead to nearsightedness as well as. Moreover, too much reading without a rest can be other important reason. My dear friends, it is high time that we paid attention to protect our eyes. The most useful method is do eye exercises more often and relax for a while after reading. Watching green trees could also do good to the eyes.[來源:學(xué)|科|網(wǎng)

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年河南南陽宛東五校高二下學(xué)期第一次聯(lián)考英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

Driving to a friend’s house on a recent evening, I was attracted by the sight of the full moon rising just above my friend’s rooftop. I stopped to watch it for a few moments, thinking about what a pity it is that most city people --- myself included --- usually miss sights like this because we spend most of our lives indoors.

My friend had also seen it. He grew up living in a forest in Europe, and the moon meant a lot to him then. It had touched much of his life.

I know the feeling. Last December I took my seven-year-old daughter to the mountainous jungle of northern India with some friends. We stayed in a forest rest house with no electricity or running hot water. Our group had campfires outside every night, and indoors when it was too cold outside. The moon grew to its fullest during our trip. Between me and the high mountains lay three or four valleys. Not a light shone in them and not a sound could be heard. It was one of the quietest places I have ever known, a bottomless well of silence. And above me was the full moon, which struck me deeply.

Today our lives are filled with glass, metal, plastic and fiber-glass. We have television, cell phones, electricity, heaters and ovens and air-conditioners, cars, computers.

Struggling through traffic that evening at the end of a tiring day, most of it spent indoors, I thought, “Before long, I would like to live in a small cottage. There I will grow vegetables and read books and walk in the mountains. And perhaps write, but not in anger. I may become an old man there, and wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled and measure out my life in coffee spoons. But I will be able to walk outside on a cold silent night and touched the moon.”

1.The best title for the passage would be _________.

A. Break away from Modern life

B. Touched by the Moon

C. A Bottomless well of Silence

D. The Pleasures of Modern Life

2.The writer felt sorry for himself because __________.

A. there was too much pollution.

B. there were too many accidents on the road.

C. he failed to see the fullest moon.

D. he didn’t adapt to modern inventions

3.Modern things are mentioned mainly to ___________.

A. show that the writer likes city life very much.

B. explain that people have less chances to enjoy nature.

C. tell us that people greatly benefit from modern life.

D. show that we can also enjoy nature at home through them.

4.The author wrote the passage to __________.

A. show the love for the moonlight.

B. want to communicate longing for modern life.

C. advise modern people to learn to live.

D. express the feeling of returning to nature.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2016屆北京市高三下學(xué)期開學(xué)（零模）檢測(cè)考試英語試卷（解析版） 題型：單項(xiàng)填空

--Mary, how did your Math test go?

--I had thought I _________, but in fact I came in the top 10 in my class.

A. should have failed B. couldn’t have failed

C. might have failed D. shouldn’t have failed

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2016屆北京市高三下學(xué)期開學(xué)（零模）檢測(cè)考試英語試卷（解析版） 題型：單項(xiàng)填空

It is good manners to eat up ______ is left in your plate.

A. that B. what C. which D. all

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年山東淄博高青縣第一中學(xué)高一4月月考英語試卷（解析版） 題型：短文改錯(cuò)

短文改錯(cuò)

Colleges and universities in America consider a great deal of things about a student who want to be admitted. They says the most important thing is the student's high school record. Admission officers look only at the grades that the student has had earned. They also look at the level of difficulty of the classes. A student's interests and activities may also play a part of getting accepted. But in most cases another consideration is how good the student does in college entrance exams. This week in us Foreign Student Series, we will discuss two of these test: the SAT or the ACT. Most American schools accept either one.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年河南周口中英文學(xué)校高一下學(xué)期第一次月考英語卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

One is not born able to speak a language. One is born able to make a noise. I have heard babies cry in America and in China. I can’t tell any difference. But when I hear someone from America speak English and hear someone speak Chinese, I can tell you there are a lot of differences.

I believe a common(普遍的) problem with Chinese students’ learning English is that they were not taught to think in English. They have an idea spoken in English and want to translate the idea into Chinese, then they think in Chinese of the proper reply and translate it into English. After along period of speaking the language, one begins to think in the foreign language naturally. You will learn faster if you begin to think in English at the very beginning of your study. Many students ask me: What can I do to improve my spoken English?

My reply is: The more English you speak, the better English you will speak. There are many things you can do to improve your spoken English. Of course, the best way is to live where English is spoken as a language of the country.

1.The cries of American and Chinese babies are _______.

A. different B. not like each other

C. the same D. like each other

2.The underlined sentence (in Paragraph 2) means that______.

A. teachers never gave the students the way of learning English

B. some teachers didn’t teach students to think in English

C. students didn’t remember the way teachers taught them

D. teachers didn’t want their students to think in English

3.The underlined word “they” (in Paragraph 2) refers to “_____”.

A. English students B. Chinese teachers

C. Chinese students D. English teachers

4.According to the article, which of the following is TRUE?

A. You must think in English all the time.

B. After speaking English for a long time, you may probably think in English naturally(自然地).

C. You should always translate English into Chinese.

D. The best way of learning English is to live in America.

查看答案和解析>>

同步練習(xí)冊(cè)答案