Question

It is the second-brightest object in our night sky after the moon. It is one of man’s greatest scientific achievements. It is the International Space Station (ISS) (國際空間站) that travels around the earth.

November 20th, 2018 marks the 20th birthday of ISS. In 1998, the first piece of the station was sent into space. Since then, 230 people from 18 countries have visited it. Five space agencies (航天局)—those of the United States, Russia, Canada, Europe and Japan—worked together to build it. Weighing about 450 tons, it has many different parts in it, including labs and solar panels. Generally, the ISS holds three to six people at one time. Astronauts living there work on different science projects. The ISS has over 1,500 such projects, according to NASA.

But the station is getting old. In 2011, Russia announced that the ISS would be stopped working in 2020 in order to prevent it from becoming dangerous “space junk”. But the US later said they would repair it to make its service life longer to 2025, International Business Times reported.

The ISS costs $3-4 billion (21-28 billion yuan) each year. Many have argued that this money could be better spent improving conditions on the Earth.

Under the pressure of the public, last February, US President Donald Trump announced plans to end support for the ISS by 2025. The US will use its money for other projects, like next-generation rockets and deep-space missions, the Washington Post reported.

What will happen to the ISS after 2025 is unknown. Former astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman told NBC News, “Other ISS partners may continue scientific studies on it. Private companies might turn it into a space hotel.”

1.After being repaired, the ISS will serve for another ________ years according to the US.

A.5 B.14 C.22 D.27

2.Which of the following is TRUE about the ISS?

A.It is the brightest object in our night sky.

B.It has received 18 people from different countries.

C.It was built by five countries including an Asian one.

D.It has less than 1, 500 projects for astronauts to work on.

3.Paragraph 4 is written to ________.

A.explain how much it is to keep the ISS running

B.explain why America made the following plans

C.show that it was not necessary to build the ISS

D.show that most people were against building the ISS

4.We can infer from this passage that ________.

A.the United States will stop supporting space work

B.nobody knows what will happen to the ISS after 2025

C.the ISS is one of man’s greatest scientific achievements

D.there will be other possible uses of the ISS in the future

Answer 1