Question

    Since the end of its own space shuttle program in 2011, the US has used Russian Soyuz spacecraft every time it wants to transport humans to and from space. While NASA is busy working on its own solution, the agency has increasingly turned to US private companies, such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX, to meet its off-planet transportation needs. Although SpaceX has successfully flown cargo (货物)flights for NASA since 2012 via the reusable Dragon spacecraft, the company has yet to launch humans in its so-called Crew Dragon capsule. Originally scheduled to launch in 2017, the program has seen multiple delays. After all, it is rocket science and the path has not been easy.

But 2019 seemed different. NASA’s pre-purchased Soyuz flights had run out by the end of 2019, and SpaceX, along with Boeing, had scheduled all its final tests to achieve certification in time to pick up where Soyuz left off. On March 2, the Crew Dragon capsule was launched on a run without crew toward the International Space Station (ISS). The flight, known as Demo-1, went successfully.

The next major milestone scheduled was the in-flight abort test (飞行中止测试)，another dry mission meant to test the reliability of the abort system that would save the crew in case of any accident during launch. The plan was to use the same capsule from the Demo-1 flight. But SpaceX never got the chance.

In April 2019, the company ran what was supposed to be a routine test, firing certain rockets with the capsule anchored firmly to the ground. Some 100 milliseconds before the engines fired, a leak of oxidizer caused an explosion that completely destroyed the capsule.

SpaceX spent the rest of spring and early summer figuring out what had gone wrong and pushing preparations for a replacement capsule. While the problem is now solved and the Crew Dragon spacecraft for Demo-2 has arrived at the launch site, NASA and SpaceX haven’t set an exact date for the first test flight with astronauts to the ISS.

1.What can we learn from Paragraph 1?

A.US tends to continue reliance on Russian Soyuz spacecrafts.

B.SpaceX can cover all NASA’s off-planet transportation needs.

C.NASA has not ceased developing its space travel technology.

D.Russia and SpaceX are competing for US space transportation.

2.The underlined word “dry” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to .

A.without crew B.without cargo C.without a capsule. D.without fuels

3.Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

A.A Ray of Hope for Space Exploration

B.The Rough Road to Launching A Dragon

C.Opportunities for Elon Musk’s SpaceX

D.Doubts about Off-planet Transportation

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.B

【解析】

这是一篇记叙文。文章描述了美国民用航空公司Space-X载人航空飞船研究的坎坷之路。

1.推理判断题。根据第一段“While NASA is busy working on its own solution……”。可知NASA一直忙于找出替代方案，故可以推断出NASA没有终止自己太空飞船技术的研究。故选C项。

2.词义猜测题。根据第三段“The next major milestone scheduled was the in-flight abort test (飞行中止测试)，another dry mission meant to test the reliability of the abort system that would save the crew in case of any accident during launch”中的dry mission 后that的定语从句可获知：这是没有飞行员的任务测试。故选A项。

3.主旨大意题。根据倒数第二段和第一段可知，SpaceX 的火箭在发射前出现了引擎着火、氧化剂泄露导致爆炸的问题。并且SpaceX 花了很多时间排除问题以及替换太空舱等。可以推出Space X 发射火箭的艰难之路。故选B项。