6．The"space race"took place between the United States and the former Soviet Union．Both countries competed to see which would be the first （31）to land （land） a person on the Moon．
Early space ventures were limited to satellites that orbited the planet Earth．The Soviets launched the world's first satellite on October 4，1957； Sputnik I orbited Earth more than a thousand times（32）before it plunged back into the planet's atmosphere and burned up．The United States'first satellite was Explorer 1，launched the following January．
In 1959，both the United States and the Soviet Union succeeded in achieving their goal of sending spacecraft called probes beyond Earth's gravitational pull．The Soviet Luna 1，Launched on January 2，passed the Moon and （33）continued（continue） through space．Two months later，the United States launched Pioneer 4，which followed the same path as Luna．（34）Botheventually entered orbit around the Sun．
The first person in space was Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin．He orbited Earth in Vostok 1on April 12，1961．（35）To catch （catch） up with Soviet Union in the race，the United States sent Alan Shepard into space in Freedom 7on May 5，1961．The following February，John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth．
Over the next seven years，both the Americans and the Soviets sent many astronauts into space．The most famous was U．S．a(chǎn)stronaut Neil Armstrong．（36）who，on July 20，1969，because the first human to set foot on the Moon．The United States Apollo program lasted （37）until 1972； its missions carried out extensive research of the lunar surface and even brought back samples of moon rocks．
Also，in the history of space exploration men and women have been seen living on space stations，As for the U．S．，（38）sending （send） the first such station into space in Soviet Union in 1971made it eager to have its own．Then，the first U．S．space station，skylab，（39）was launched（launch） in May 1973and orbited for six years．Since the 1960s，both countries also have sent spacecraft to explore almost all the planets in the solar system．Atmospheric probes，surface landings，and flybys（近天體探測飛行）have produced photographs if and information about the surfaces，moons，and atmospheres of many planets．However，（40）not having set（not set） foot on any other planet before，astronauts as well as scientists are still devoted to space programs．
分析 短文主要介紹了蘇維埃和美國在發(fā)射衛(wèi)星到太空之間的競爭．
解答 31．to land，考查動詞不定式，位于序數(shù)詞后應(yīng)使用動詞不定式充當后置定語，故答案為to land．
32．before，考查連詞，根據(jù)語境"第一顆人造衛(wèi)星在進入大氣層之前環(huán)繞地球一千多次"，可知使用連詞before．
33．continued，考查謂語動詞，and連接兩個并列謂語，前使用一般過去時，故答案為一般過去時的continued．
34．Both，考查代詞，此處應(yīng)使用表示兩者都的both指代前文提到的 Luna 1 和 Pioneer 4．
35．To catch，考查動詞不定式，此處充當目的狀語，應(yīng)使用動詞不定式to catch．
36．who，考查定語從句引導(dǎo)詞，先行詞指人，因此引導(dǎo)非限制性定語從句應(yīng)使用who．
37．until，考查介詞，根據(jù)語境指的是"直到1972年"，因此使用介詞until．
38．sending，考查動名詞，此空作為主語，應(yīng)使用動名詞sending．
39．was launched，考查謂語動詞，句子有表示過去的時間，因此使用一般過去時，launch與其主語構(gòu)成被動的關(guān)系，因此使用被動語態(tài)be done的形式．
40．not having set，考查非謂語，set foot on any other planet動作發(fā)生在devoted to space programs之前，因此使用having done的形式，其否定為not having set．
點評 對于語法填空這類題，一是懂得分析句子結(jié)構(gòu)，二是知道充當各個句子成分的詞類或詞性，從語法上確定答案，當然，對于某些固定搭配也要牢記，在平時的學(xué)習中要多積累這些詞匯或短語，對于句子使用的時態(tài)語態(tài)也要通過語境進行確定．
