Question

    Despite what so many people would love to believe，NASA hasn’t discovered any evidence of past or present intelligent life on Mars. Therefore, when the Curiosity rover  (好奇号探测器)found something suspicious on the Red Planet’s surface, they were not only surprised but also a little bit worried.

The thin fragment (碎片)was suspicious enough to guarantee its own name, with NASA’s Curiosity rover team calling it the “Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris，” named for where it was discovered. With no idea what it was or where it came from, the rover’s handlers began to worry that it might actually be a piece of the rover itself，suggesting some unseen damage or other issue with the robot. Thankfully，those concerns seem to have been unfound.

In a new update from NASA the object has now been identified as a natural piece of rock rather than a piece of any man-made craft or vehicle. The team analyzed the unusual object with a tool called the Chem Cam RMI. The instrument uses a laser (激光器)to sniff out the makeup of anything that is pointed at, and the results for this particular piece of debris revealed that it’s actually just a very thin piece of rock.

NASA describes the inspection: The planning day began with an interesting result from the previous plan’s Chem Cam RMI analysis of a target that was referred to as “Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris”(PPFOD)，and supposed to be a piece of spacecraft debris fact. In fact it was found to be a very thin slice of rock, so we can all rest easy tonight. Curiosity has not begun to shed its skin!

How this particularly thin sliver of rock got to where it is—and why it seems to be a different colour than the surrounding sand and debris—remains unexplained, but at least the rover isn’t falling apart.

1.What attitude did NASA hold towards the newly found thin fragment?

A. Positive and excited. B. Surprised and delighted. C. Interested and doubtful.              D. Amazed and worried.

2.What is the “Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris” named for?

A. Its finder. B. Its location. C. Its researcher. D. Its shape.

3.According to the passage, which of the following is right?

A. Most people believe there isn’t any intelligent life on Mars.

B. The recent concerns connected with the thin fragment have not been discovered.

C. According to NASA, the object found recently was a piece of man-made craft or vehicle.

D. The object once making many people worried has the same colour with the surrounding sand.

4.In which part of newspaper can you read the text?

A. Travelling. B. Sports. C. Science. D. Food.

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.B

4.C

【解析】

本文为科普文。尽管有很多人愿意相信，美国宇航局还没有发现火星上过去或现在有智慧生命存在的任何证据。因此,当好奇号探测器在这个红色星球表面发现了一些可疑的红色东西时,他们感动惊讶并有点但信，这些东西以它被发现的位置命名为“佩特格罗夫点异物碎片”，文章还对这些碎片进行了分析。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段中“when the Curiosity rover (好奇号探测器)found something suspicious on the Red Planet s surface, they were not only surprised but also a little bit worried.”可知，美国宇航局对新发现的薄碎片惊讶且担忧，故选D。

2.细节理解题。根据第二段中“with NASA’s Curiosity rover team calling it the “Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris，” named for where it was discovered.”可知，Pettegrove Point异物碎片以它的位置而命名。故选B。

3.细节理解题。根据第二段的“With no idea what it was or where it came from, the rover s handlers began to worry that it might actually be a piece of the rover itself, suggesting some unseen damage or other issue with the robot. Thankfully, those concerns seem to have been unfound.”可知，由于不知道它是什么，也不知道它是从哪里来的，火星车的操纵者开始担心它可能是火星车本身的一部分，暗示着机器人有一些看不见的损坏或其他问题。谢天谢地，这些担忧似乎没有被发现。因此可知与薄碎片有关的担忧尚未被发现。故选B。

4.推理判断题。根据第一段“Despite what so many people would love to believe, NASA hasn’t discovered any evidence of past or present intelligent life on Mars. Therefore, when the Curiosity rover (好奇号探测器)found something suspicious on the Red Planet s surface, they were not only surprised but also a little bit worried.”可知，文章讲述美国好奇号探测器在火星表面发现了一些可疑的碎片,文章还对这些碎片进行了分析和推测。因此推断你能在报纸的科学部分读到这篇文章，故选C。