Question

【題目】 Imagine how you’d feel if you had to get more than 9,000 tons of junk out to the sidewalk. That’s how much trash is floating around in space. In fact, there’s about 4 million pounds flying over our heads in low-Earth orbit. Daan, a Dutch artist, and his team at Space Waste Lab have come up with a creative plan that could clear up space junk in a spectacular fashion.

①Most space waste comes from dead satellites and rockets. Functioning satellites are the backbone of the information systems that keep our world running smoothly. But all the satellites eventually become obsolete within just a few decades. When they die out, there’s the problem of them drifting in outer space, collecting in what scientists call the “graveyard orbit.”

Maybe you’re thinking, “Why should I care about garbage 12,500 miles above me?” Well, all that fun stuff that satellites help beam down to us—mobile games, Instagram, cat videos—could be shut down by space waste. Lots of old junk floating around up there, plus new satellites added each year, means more and more high-speed collisions (碰撞). And when chunks of junk crash into one another, they break apart into millions of pieces, quickly building up speed and turning into fast-moving objects, which are dangerous to operational satellites as well as astronauts working on the International Space Station.

②Space waste is a problem that’s escalated so much, some scientists say that by 2050 we’ll be forced to stop launching new spacecraft altogether, including new satellites. Think about that for a minute. When the last satellites finally become disused, GPS, cell phones, and the Internet will no longer function.

③So we have to find a way to deal with this space garbage, and Daan pictures a sort of trash pickup, which involves groups of small spacecraft casting large nets into orbit that would collect space debris (碎片) and send it back toward Earth at top speed. Here’s the best part—while reentering Earth’s atmosphere, the pieces of junk would burn up all at once, creating a light show similar to hundreds of shooting stars falling in the night sky. A spectacle indeed!

To get ready for such an amazing effort, Space Waste Lab has been traveling to major cities across Europe and enlightening the public on the problem of the junk in space. ④But Daan doesn’t just talk about ways to relieve the problem—he’s created something a little grander than that. In October 2018, his team launched Space Waste Lab Performance, an outdoor art exhibition that shows the location of each piece of space trash using large lasers that make each debris look a bit like a star wandering slowly and silently over the sky, allowing viewers to wave and say, “Hallo, space trash!”

【1】The word “obsolete” (paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to “______”.

A.accessibleB.profitable

C.floatingD.outdated

【2】According to the passage, which sentence best replaces the question mark in the diagram?

A.Working satellites can be damaged and astronauts can be hurt.

B.Satellites can help people track the weather and find new locations.

C.There is more junk floating in space each year as new satellites are added.

D.The Space Waste Lab Performance can show people where satellites are located.

【3】Which of the following best supports the idea that space waste should be dealt with very soon？

A.Sentences ①B.Sentence ②

C.Sentence ③D.Sentence ④

【4】Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

A.Space Junk Harms Digital Systems

B.Artists’ Proposal to Save Space

C.A New Glimpse into Outer Space

D.Test of Waste Collection Nets

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】A

【3】B

【4】B

【解析】

本文是一篇說明文，介紹了荷蘭藝術(shù)家達(dá)恩和他在太空垃圾實驗室的團(tuán)隊提出了一個創(chuàng)意計劃，可以以壯觀的方式清理太空垃圾。

【1】詞義猜測題。根據(jù)畫線詞后的“When they die out, there’s the problem of them drifting in outer space, collecting in what scientists call the “graveyard orbit.”可知，當(dāng)它們被廢棄時，它們就會在外太空漂流，被科學(xué)家們稱為“墓地軌道”的地方會把它們收集起來，因此此處是說所有的衛(wèi)星最終都在短短幾十年內(nèi)被淘汰，由此可知畫線詞詞義為“淘汰、使過時”，故D項正確。

【2】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。本題實際上考的是太空垃圾的危害，根據(jù)第三段中的“And when chunks of junk crash into one another, they break apart into millions of pieces, quickly building up speed and turning into fast-moving objects, which are dangerous to operational satellites as well as astronauts working on the International Space Station.”可知，當(dāng)大塊的太空垃圾相互碰撞時，它們會分裂成數(shù)百萬塊，很快加速并變成快速移動的物體，這對運(yùn)行中的衛(wèi)星以及在國際空間站工作的宇航員都是危險的，由此可知，太空垃圾會損壞工作中的衛(wèi)星并使宇航員受傷，故A項正確。

【3】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。第一句話的意思是：大多數(shù)太空垃圾來自于廢棄的衛(wèi)星和火箭，運(yùn)行正常的衛(wèi)星是信息系統(tǒng)的骨干，這些系統(tǒng)使我們的世界保持平穩(wěn)運(yùn)行；第二句話的意思是：太空垃圾是一個日益嚴(yán)重的問題，一些科學(xué)家說，到2050年，我們將被迫完全停止發(fā)射新的航天器，包括新的衛(wèi)星。；第三句話的意思是：因此，我們必須找到一種方法來處理這些太空垃圾，達(dá)恩拍攝了一種垃圾收集裝置，其中包括一組小型航天器將大網(wǎng)撒入軌道，收集太空垃圾并以最高速度將其送回地球；第四句話的意思是：但達(dá)恩不僅僅是在談?wù)撊绾谓鉀Q問題，他創(chuàng)造了一個比這更偉大的東西。根據(jù)第二句話句意再結(jié)合其下一句所說的“當(dāng)最后一顆衛(wèi)星最終報廢時，全球定位系統(tǒng)、手機(jī)和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)將不再發(fā)揮作用”，這突出了處理太空垃圾的緊迫性，因此第二句話最能支持太空垃圾應(yīng)該很快處理的觀點，故B項正確。

【4】主旨大意題。通讀全文，特別是根據(jù)第一段中的“Daan, a Dutch artist, and his team at Space Waste Lab have come up with a creative plan that could clear up space junk in a spectacular fashion.”可知，本文主要介紹了荷蘭藝術(shù)家達(dá)恩和他在太空垃圾實驗室的團(tuán)隊提出了一個創(chuàng)意計劃，可以以壯觀的方式清理太空垃圾，故B項最適合做文章標(biāo)題。

本篇第1題詞義猜測題的難度較大，對畫線詞下文的理解是關(guān)鍵，根據(jù)畫線詞后的“When they die out, there’s the problem of them drifting in outer space, collecting in what scientists call the “graveyard orbit.”可知，當(dāng)它們被廢棄時，它們就會在外太空漂流，被科學(xué)家們稱為“墓地軌道”的地方會把它們收集起來，因此此處是說所有的衛(wèi)星最終都在短短幾十年內(nèi)被淘汰，特別是“die out”表明畫線詞詞義為“淘汰、使過時”，故D項正確。