Question

    Space exploration has always been the province of ________：The human imagination readily soars where human ingenuity (创造力）struggles to follow. A Voyage to the Moon, often cited as the first science fiction story, was written by Cyrano de Bergerac in 1649. Cyrano was dead and buried for a good three centuries ________the first manned rockets started to fly.

In 1961, when President Kennedy declared that America would send a man to the moon by the ________'s end, those words, too, had a dreamlike quality. They resonated with optimism and ambition in much the same way as the most famous ________ speech of all, delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. two years later. By the end of the decade, both visions had yielded concrete results and________American society. And yet in many ways the two dreams ended up ________each other. The fight for racial and economic equality is intensely pragmatic (讲求实用的）and immediate in its impact. The urge to explore space is just the opposite. It is figuratively and literally otherworldly in its ________.

When the dust settled, the space dreamers lost out. There was no grand follow-up to the Apollo missions. The technologically compromised space shuttle program has just come to an end, with no ________. The perpetual argument is that ________ are tight, that we have more pressing problems here on Earth. Amid the current concerns about the federal deficit, reaching toward the stars seems a dispensable luxury—________ saving one-thousandth of a single year’s budget would solve our problems.

But human ingenuity struggles on. NASA is developing a series of robotic probes that will get the most bang from a buck. They will serve as modern Magellans,________out the solar system for whatever explorers follow, whether man or machine. On the flip side, companies like Virgin Galactic are plotting a bottom-up assault on the space dream by making it a reality to the public. Private spaceflight could lie within ________ of rich civilians in a few years. Another decade or two and it could go mainstream.

The space dreamers end up benefiting all of us—-not just because of the way they expand human knowledge, or because of the spin-off _______ they produce, but because the two types of dreams feed off each other. Both Martin Luther King and John Kennedy appealed to the idea that humans can ________what were once considered inherent limitations. Today we face seeming challenges in energy, the environment, health care. Tomorrow we will transcend these as well, and the dreamers will deserve a lot of the credit. The more evidence we collect that our species is ________greatness, the more we will actually achieve it.

1.A.dreamers B.explorers C.astronomers D.novelists

2.A.after B.before C.until D.while

3.A.year B.quarter C.century D.decade

4.A.inspiring B.public C.dream D.freedom

5.A.attacked B.industrialized C.transformed D.accessed

6.A.in conflict with B.in line with C.in common with D.keeping pace with

7.A.aims B.influence C.concerns D.terms

8.A.ancestor B.successor C.forefather D.advocate

9.A.situations B.securities C.funds D.schedules

10.A.just like B.on condition that C.as if D.so that

11.A.making B.figuring C.sweeping D.mapping

12.A.reach B.range C.control D.knowledge

13.A.productions B.chips C.technologies D.substitutes

14.A.go beyond B.go through C.go after D.go over

15.A.In ignorance of B.capable of C.proud of D.in favor of

Answer

1.A

2.B

3.D

4.C

5.C

6.A

7.A

8.B

9.C

10.C

11.D

12.A

13.C

14.A

15.B

【解析】

这是一篇议论文。作者认为太空探索一直是梦想家的领域，它激发了人类的想象力和创造力。而人类的创造力也紧追不舍，最终将人类送上了太空。

1.

考查名词词义辨析。句意：太空探索一直是梦想家的领域:人类的想象力随时可以在人类的聪明才智努力追随的地方翱翔。A. dreamers梦想家；B. explorers探险家；C. astronomers天文学家；D. novelists小说家。该空格对应着后句中的the human imagination,因此推断应该是梦想家。故选A。

2.

考查连词词义辨析。句意：直到他死后三百年第一个人造火箭才开始飞行。A. after在……之后；B. before在……之前；C. until直到……才……；D. while当……时候。根据句意和常识可知，是在他死后才有的人造飞船。故选B。

3.

考查名词词义辨析。句意：1961年，当肯尼迪总统宣布美国将在十年内将人送上月球时，这句话也有一种梦幻般的意味。A. year年；B. quarter一刻钟；C. century世纪；D. decade十年。该空对应着后文中的by the end of the decade,因此选用decade。故选D。

4.

考查形容词和名词词义辨析。句意：这些演讲中洋溢着乐观和雄心壮志，就像马丁·路德·金(Martin Luther King Jr.)发表的最著名的梦想演讲一样。A. inspiring鼓舞人心的；B. public公众的；C. dream梦想；D. freedom自由。全文集中讲述梦想，所以是梦想演讲。故选C。

5.

考查动词词义辨析。句意：到本世纪末，这两种愿景都取得了具体成果，改变了美国社会。A. attacked攻击；B. industrialized使工业化；C. transformed转变；D. accesse接近。空格是动词过去分词修饰名词，转型后的社会。故选C。

6.

考查介词短语辨析。句意：然而，这两个梦想在很多方面都以相互冲突而告终。A. in conflict with和……冲突；B. in line with符合，与……一致；C. in common with与……一样；D. keeping pace with 跟上。句子中yet 形成转折，因此选择两种梦想互相冲突。故选A。

7.

考查名词词义辨析。句意：探索太空的欲望正好相反。在它的目的上，无论是比喻上还是字面上，它都是超凡脱俗的。A. aims目标；B. influence影响；C. concerns关心；D. terms条款。根据上文The fight for racial and economic equality is intensely pragmatic (讲求实用的）and immediate in its impact. The urge to explore space is just the opposite.可知，此处是指目标上。故选A。

8.

考查名词词义辨析。句意：技术上受到威胁的航天飞机计划刚刚结束，没有继任者。A. ancestor祖先；B. successor继承人；C. forefather先辈；D. advocate拥护者。与前句中的has just come to an end,选择太空飞船计划搁浅并且没有继承人。故选B。

9.

考查名词词义辨析。句意：长期的争论是资金紧张，我们在地球上有更紧迫的问题。 A. situations状况；B. securities证券；C. funds资金，基金；D. schedules日程安排。与后句中的federal deficit联邦财政赤字对应应该是财政吃紧。故选C。

10.

考查连词词义辨析。句意：到达太空是非必需品的奢侈品，好像我们需要节省一整年的千分之一的预算才能达到我们的目的。A. just like正如；B. on condition that如果；C. as if好像；D. so that 以便。根据句意，尤其是空前的破折号可知，此处是一种比方。故选C。

11.

考查动词词义辨析。句意：他们将扮演现代麦哲伦的角色，为探险者绘制出太阳系的蓝图，无论探险者是人还是机器。 A. making制作；B. figuring计算；C. sweeping打扫；D. mapping绘图。根据句意中提到的Magellans可知，此处是指为探险者绘制蓝图。故选D 。

12.

考查名词词义辨析。句意：几年后，富裕的平民百姓可以进行私人太空飞行。 A. reach范围；B. range范围；C. control控制；D. knowledge知识。within reach of 够得到，结合句意。故选A。

13.

考查名词词义辨析。句意：太空梦想家最终使我们所有人受益——不仅仅是因为他们扩展人类知识的方式，或者因为他们生产的副产品技术，而是因为这两种梦想相互促进。A. productions产品；B. chips炸薯条；C. technologies技术；D. substitutes替代品。结合句意和语境及句中的or可知，此处是指技术。故选C。

14.

考查动词短语义辨析。句意：马丁·路德·金(Martin Luther King)和约翰·肯尼迪(John Kennedy)都呼吁人们能够超越曾经被认为是固有的局限性。A. go beyond超出；B. go through经历；C. go after追求；D. go over复习。根据下文Tomorrow we will transcend these as well, and the dreamers will deserve a lot of the credit. 明天我们也将超越这些，而梦想家们将得到很大的赞扬。可知，此处是指超出了固有的局限性。故选A。

15.

考查介词短语辨析。句意：我们收集到的证据越多，表明我们这个物种有能力成就伟大的事业，我们就会取得越多的成就。A.in ignorance of不知道；B. capable of能够；C. proud of为……自豪；D. in favor of支持。根据上文Tomorrow we will transcend these as well, and the dreamers will deserve a lot of the credit.可知，这些都是我们的能力。故选B。