Next Stop: Planet Mars
Fly me to the moon? That’s not far enough. On September 14, 2011, NASA released designs for a superrocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). This time the final destination will be Mars.
The SLS is a huge, liquid-fuelled rocket. If it is fully developed, it will be the most powerful rocket ever built. Its lift capability will be much bigger than that of the space shuttle of Saturn 5, the rocket that sent the Apollo missions to the moon.
NASA is planning to launch its first unmanned test flight in 2017. It is hoped that the first crew will fly in 2021 and astronauts will make it to a nearby asteroid(小行星) in 2025. NASA hopes to send the rocket and astronauts to Mars from the asteroid by the 2030s, according to the Associated Press (AP).
NASA used liquid rockets to send Apollo, Gemini and Mercury into space, but later changed to solid rockets boosters(助推火箭) because they were cheaper. Tragically, however, a booster flaw(缺陷) caused the space shuttle Challenger to crash in 1986. The new project plans to return to liquid fuel.
According to AP, the rockets will at first be able to carry 77 to 110 tons of payload(净载重量). Eventually they will be able to carry 143 tons into space, maybe even as many as 165 tons, NASA officials said. By comparison, the Saturn 5 booster could lift 130 tons and the space shuttle just 27 tons.
However, unlike reusable shuttles, these powerful rockets are mostly one use only. New ones have to be built for every launch. This will be very costly.
NASA estimates that it will cost about $3 billion (19 billion yuan) per year, or $18 billion until the first test flight in 2017. NASA hopes to make money by allowing private companies to send astronauts to the International Space Station like giant taxi services, so that the program can be “sustainable”.
“This is perhaps the biggest thing for space exploration in decades,” said Senator Bill Nelson, a former astronaut. “The goal is to fly humans safely beyond low-Earth orbit(轨道) and deep into outer space where we cannot only survive, but one day also live.”
【小题1】What is the outstanding feature of the SLS?

C
Have you ever played the game Hot Potato? Jon Scieszka and a team of 13 popular children’s book authors are playing a writer’s version of the game, and are having a blast.
Here’s how it works. In The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, the “hot potato” is the story, and it is passed from one author to the next. Scieszka wrote the first chapter. Then he passed the story to another author Katherine Paterson. If Scieszka decides to introduce a roller-skating baby into the story, Paterson and the other contributing authors will have to decide what to do with the baby in later chapters. Every two weeks a new chapter, written by a different author, will be published on the Library of Congress’s read. Gov site. The high rate of hits has proved that Scieszka did not fail to make the readers laugh with his incredibly silly story.
“Working on The Exquisite Corpse Adventure was so much fun,” Scieszka says. “I got to write the first chapter so I could set up all these foolish traps for the other authors and make them have to write about clowns and ninjas(忍者).”
The story might be crazy, but all of the authors agreed that writing the story together was a whole lot of fun. “I started in the middle of the story,” author Steven Kellogg said, “That’s kind of fun. I got to read about everyone else’s characters and then brought them into the chapter that I was writing. It’s really good to think about other authors’ ideas and connect them with my own.”
You may wonder why the book is called The Exquisite Corpse Adventure. In fact Kellogg and the other authors are playing a game that is over 100 years old. Exquisite Corpse is actually the name of an old game in which players begin a story on a sheet of paper and pass it on to the next player to continue the tale. The game ends when someone finishes the story, which is then read aloud.
59. How is the game Hot Potato played according to the passage?
A．People make up the story about the “hot potato” one by one.
B．People throw the “hot potato” to hit one another.
C．People pass the “hot potato” from one person to the next.
D．People hit by the “hot potato” must tell a funny story.
60. We can infer from the passage that________.
A．it’s the first time such a game of writing has ever been played
B．the story hasn’t been finished yet
C．the clues of the story have been decided by Kellogg
D．every chapter will be online for two weeks
61.Kellogg thinks the game is fun because________.
A．the story is very silly and crazy
B．he writes the main part of the story
C．he could continue the story by sharing it with other authors
D．there are so many different characters in the story
62.The last paragraph is mainly about________.
A．how the game ended           B．when the game stared
C．how the book was named       D．how the Exquisite corpse worked

A man was driving at 70 miles in a 40-mile-zone, when a police car came behind him with the flashers(警灯) on. As he pulled over and stopped, he could see a policeman getting out of his car. Right away the man started thinking of excuses to give, as this was not the first time, he had been in similar situations many times before.
As the policeman came to him, he said, “Hi, officer, I guess you caught me a little bit over the limit. I was in a rush to get home, to be with my wife and kids, you know my younger son wasn’t feeling too well, when I left home this morning.”
The policeman said, “Well, I guess so,” and started scribbling(速写) in his notebook. As minutes went by, he could see from the side view mirror, the policeman was still scribbling. The man was wondering why he hadn’t asked for his driver’s license so far.  A few moments later, the policeman came to his window and handed him a folded paper, and returned back to his car without saying a single word. The man started to wonder, how much this ticket is going to be as he began to unfold the paper. He was surprised it was not a ticket as he began to read:
“I had a daughter who was killed by a speeding car at the age of six, by a speeding driver like you. He got a fine (惩罚), a few months in prison, and was free, free to hug his two other daughters. I only had one, and now I have to wait until I get to heaven before I can hug her again. I have tried to forgive that man a thousand times, and I thought I had. Maybe I really did forgive him, but I have to do it again, even right now. So pray(为……祈祷) for me, and be careful when you drive again, my son is all I have left.”
The man was completely dumbfounded(目瞪口呆的) and could not move for the next few minutes. When finally he did, he drove slowly, even a few miles under the speed limit, praying for forgiveness.
52. Why did the policeman stop the man?
A. Because the man drove after drinking.
B. Because the man drove at a speed of 40 miles an hour.
C. Because the man drove over the speed limit
D. Because the man drove in a 40-mile-zone.
53. Which statement is TRUE according to the article?
A. It was the first time that the man had driven over the limit a little bit.
B. He was in a rush to get home because his son was not feeling well.
C. This story happened in the morning.
D. The policeman didn’t believe the excuse the man gave.
54. From what the policeman said in Paragraph 4 we know that ______.
A. he wanted to go to heaven to hug his daughter
B. he recognized the man who had driven the speeding car who killed his daughter
C. the man who had killed the policeman’s daughter was free to do anything in prison
D. the man who had killed the policeman’s daughter hugged his own daughters in prison
55. Why did the man at last drive slowly?
A. Because he was afraid to be fined again.
B. Because he heard his son was feeling well.
C. Because he was driving in a 40-mile-zone.
D. Because he got a good lesson from what the policeman had written.

                                      B

Sunday, October 5                                                        

Clear, 69°F

My wife, Eleanor and I took the train from Paris to Strasbourg, where we were met by our driver and guide, and the minibus which goes along with the boat. We stopped off in Barn for an hour on the way. Then we were taken to Nancy where the boat was kept.

After the other passengers arrived, we had our first dinner on the boat. After dinner we walked into downtown Nancy, a village with a large square and wooden houses.

Monday, October 6                           

Rained last night, cloudy in the morning, 69°F

We spent about two hours in Nancy, and then sailed on the Canal de la Marne au Rhine. Kind of a lazy day. Eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner, after dinner we watched a tape on Baccarat, where we will visit tomorrow. It was pleasant to sit out on deck （甲板）and watch the scenery go by at about 3 mph.

Tuesday, October 7                             

Light rain, 64°F

This mourning we drove over to Baccarat and toured its museum and the church, which has this unbelievable lamp that is going on a world tour the next day. We did lost of shopping, then walked across the bridge to see a very, very modern Catholic church with special Baccarat windows.

We drove to the top of the Voges Mountains and started down the eastern side. Later we drove to Sorrenbourg to see the 13th century church at the Cordeliers. It contains the largest window by Mar.

Wednesday, Ocrober8

Cloudy.65 °F

Today we sailed from Schneckenbush to Saverne. We went though two caves, an extremely unusual part of the journey. This river scenery is very different. We were in a mountain valley with grassland on one side and a forest beginning to show some color on the other.

Thursday, Ocrober9

Cloudy, 66°F

Our dependable minibus was waiting to load the luggage and take us to the hotel where everyone went their separate ways. Our boating days are over until next time.

1.Where did the author get off the train?

A．Paris             B．Barn             C．Nancy            D．Strasbourg

2.On which days did the tourists spend most of their time on the boat?

A．Monday and Wednesday                 B．Tuesday and Wednesday

C．Wednesday and Wednesday               D．Monday and Tuesday

3.From the text, we learn that Baccarat and Sorrenbourg are the names of_________.

A．churches          B．towns            C．museums          D．mountains

4.What does the author think of the tour?

A．Tiring            B．Expensive         C．Enjoyable         D．Quick

Next Stop: Planet Mars

Fly me to the moon? That’s not far enough. On September 14, 2011, NASA released designs for a superrocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). This time the final destination will be Mars.

The SLS is a huge, liquid-fuelled rocket. If it is fully developed, it will be the most powerful rocket ever built. Its lift capability will be much bigger than that of the space shuttle of Saturn 5, the rocket that sent the Apollo missions to the moon.

NASA is planning to launch its first unmanned test flight in 2017. It is hoped that the first crew will fly in 2021 and astronauts will make it to a nearby asteroid(小行星) in 2025. NASA hopes to send the rocket and astronauts to Mars from the asteroid by the 2030s, according to the Associated Press (AP).

NASA used liquid rockets to send Apollo, Gemini and Mercury into space, but later changed to solid rockets boosters(助推火箭) because they were cheaper. Tragically, however, a booster flaw(缺陷) caused the space shuttle Challenger to crash in 1986. The new project plans to return to liquid fuel.

According to AP, the rockets will at first be able to carry 77 to 110 tons of payload(净载重量). Eventually they will be able to carry 143 tons into space, maybe even as many as 165 tons, NASA officials said. By comparison, the Saturn 5 booster could lift 130 tons and the space shuttle just 27 tons.

However, unlike reusable shuttles, these powerful rockets are mostly one use only. New ones have to be built for every launch. This will be very costly.

NASA estimates that it will cost about $3 billion (19 billion yuan) per year, or $18 billion until the first test flight in 2017. NASA hopes to make money by allowing private companies to send astronauts to the International Space Station like giant taxi services, so that the program can be “sustainable”.

“This is perhaps the biggest thing for space exploration in decades,” said Senator Bill Nelson, a former astronaut. “The goal is to fly humans safely beyond low-Earth orbit(轨道) and deep into outer space where we cannot only survive, but one day also live.”

1.What is the outstanding feature of the SLS?

A．It’s equipped with an advanced control system.

B．It’s the first unmanned space shuttle in the world.

C．It’s the only vehicle that can fly astronauts to the moon.

D．It can send a lot more goods and passengers into space.

2.What is Saturn 5?

A．An aircraft that had a deadly flaw and crashed in 1986.

B．A series of rockets that once sent astronauts to the moon.

C．An unmanned space shuttle that was once famous in the world.

D．A kind of launch vehicle that will be used to carry astronauts to Mars.

3.NASA plans to use liquid fuel in the new project because ______ than solid rockets boosters.

A．it is less costly

B．it is much safer

C．it can last longer

D．it is more environmentally friendly

4.According to NASA’s schedule, it will take ______ years to fully complete the SLS program.

A．about 6                               B．about 10

C．less than 14                            D．more than 19

5.It can be inferred from the passage that ______.

A．the SLS program is planning to make reusable rockets

B．the goal of the SLS program is to enable humans to live on the moon

C．the US government may not have provided enough money for the SLS program

D．NASA will use SLS as a space taxi between the Earth and Mars