Question

On May 17, 2009, according to the plan, Mike Good and I would take a space walk to the Hubble Space Telescope to repair an instrument. The power supply on this instrument had failed, so it could no longer be used. I would be the person doing the repair and Mike my assistant.

Working in space is more difficult than you can imagine. As there is no gravity, you can't stand and any slight push can result in tragedy -you can be pushed into space, never be back.

We got to the telescope. Before we could replace the power supply, we would have to remove from the telescope a handrail fixed with four screws. Having taken out the first three, I found the fourth stripped. I realized that the handrail would not come off, which meant we could no longer be able to replace the power supply and repair that instrument, which meant scientists could no longer look at the universe and find life on other planets.

I tried all kinds of things, and nothing worked. Then Houston, the control centre on the earth, called up and told me to use the tape to tape the bottom of the handrail and pull it off the telescope. They said it was going to take about 27 kilograms of force for me to do that.

I knew what it meant: The handrail could be completely pulled off and the safety tether might break, and I might therefore be pushed into space.

Mike was next to me in his space suit but he could not take over my role. I turned and looked into the cabin where my five crewmates were, and nobody in there had a space suit on. However, I knew they were all looking at me. "Come on Mass, we are all behind you." The telescope must be repaired.

"Bam!" The handrail came right off. The rest of the walk went well. We finally got the new power supply in. They tried it; turned it on from the ground. The instrument came back to life.

At the edge of darkness, after about eight hours, I turned around and saw the Earth from our altitude at Hubble, 568 kilometers up. I saw the huge round pure blue globe home planet. It's the most beautiful, magnificent thing I’ve ever seen. It's like looking into heaven. It's paradise.

1.According to the passage, space walk can be very ______.

A. interesting

B. dangerous

C. comfortable

D. harmful

2.Mass had difficulty in______ when repairing the instrument.

A. fixing the screws

B. getting to the telescope

C. taking off the handrail

D. finding the new power supply

3.Why did Mass look into the cabin where his five crewmates were?

A. To see whether they could help.

B. To find out what they were doing.

C. To ask them to send him a new tool.

D. Let them know what had happened

4.What does Mass want to tell us by writing "At the edge of darkness"? (请用约40词回答)

___________________________________________________________________________

小词典

assistant n. 助手             blood vessel n. 血管            complication n. 并发症

entrance n. 人口             force n. 力                    gravity n. 重力

handrail n. 栏杆             metabolic disorder 代谢素乱      screw n. 螺丝钉

stare v. 注视                telescope n. 望远镜             vision loss 视力衰退

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.A

4.Working in space was dangerous because he might lose his life. When he met with difficulties in repairing the instrument. he was lonely and helpless. After he solved the problems and finished the task successfully, he felt lucky and proud.

【解析】本文讲述了我曾经参与的一次太空行走修理仪器的惊险的经历。

1.句意：根据这篇文章，太空漫步可能非常危险。原文“Working in space is more difficult than you can imagine.”（在太空中工作比你想象的更困难。），后面又讲了没有引力，任何轻微的推动可能导致悲剧（never be back）。说明这项工作是有一定风险的。A.有趣的B.危险的C.舒适的D.有害的。故选B。

2.句意：Mass在修理仪器时，摘下扶手是很困难的。A.固定螺丝B.到达了望远镜那里C.摘下扶手D.找到新的电源。原文中“Having taken out the first three, I found the fourth stripped.”是在描述摘下扶手的经历，有一个螺丝不在了，我们发现扶手可能不会脱落下来，意味着我们无法更换电源且维修，所以这里的难点在于摘下扶手，故选C。

3.句意：Mass为什么朝他的五名机组人员所在的机舱里看？A.看看他们是否可以提供帮助。B.找出他们在做什么。C.要求他们给他一个新的工具。D.让他们知道发生了什么事。原文“However, I knew they were all looking at me. "Come on Mass, we are all behind you."”说明Mass知道他的机组人员都在看着他且支持他，另外这又是一次有危险的、安全带可能破裂的活动，他向内看的目的应该是看看他们是否能帮忙，故选A。

4.句意：Mass想通过写“在黑暗的边缘”告诉我们什么？结合前文这段经历，作者想告诉我们太空中的工作很危险（dangerous），是可能危及生命的，在他一次维修仪器的时候，面临的处境十分艰难，那时的他是孤立无援的（lonely and helpless），但最后他成功完成了任务，这是令他感到无比骄傲和幸运的（lucky and proud）。故填“Working in space was dangerous because he might lose his life. When he met with difficulties in repairing the instrument. he was lonely and helpless. After he solved the problems and finished the task successfully, he felt lucky and proud.”