四、阅读短文，在文中空白处填入1个适当的单词，或用括号内所给单词的正确形式填空。
Life on Mars would be very different from that on the earth. It would also be 1(amaze). There are many challenges we need to face. The journey to Mars is long and dangerous. 2 temperature 3 Mars can vary(变化)greatly, from very cold at night to relatively(相对地)warm during the day. We also need to find ways to get enough water and food. Growing food on Mars is a big challenge. The soil on Mars is different from that on the earth, and we need to develop special methods to grow crops. Food on Mars would most 4(probable)be in the form of pills, so food on the earth should be much 5(tasty). It's important for us 6(prepare)for the challenges of living on Mars and make it a sustainable(可持续的)place to live. Scientists 7(work)on a project about Mars over the past two years. They hope to make some new 8(discover). I often watch space-related programmes. A speech contest about life on Mars 9(hold)in our class the other day. I have been interested in space 10 I was a child. I was so excited to take part in it!
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

四、1. amazing 2. The 3. on 4. probably 5. tastier 6. to prepare 7. have worked 8. discoveries 9. was held 10. since

五、完形填空。
Are we alone in the universe? Or is there 1 on Mars?
Ever since people first 2 up into the night sky, there's been a question that has bothered us all. From the smallest 3 to the world's greatest astronomers, all have 4, “Are we alone in the universe?”
The question comes to me most strongly at 5 when I am looking up at the stars and looking at all those little 6 of light and wondering, “This is a galaxy(星系)full of life, or is this it?”
It's the question that societies have been asking 7 the ages. We really just want to know how we got here. Why do we exist? Are we the 8 sign of life? This 9 for life elsewhere in the universe is perhaps the greatest scientific question of all. But so far most efforts have been 10 on just one planet.
Searching for life is a difficult job. We'd like to be 11 to travel to all these planets far away. Unfortunately, 12 of them is very good in terms of prospecting for biology(勘探生物). The best one is probably Mars.
Mars is just about 55 million kilometres away.
Mars is important because it's close by. It's one of our 13 neighbours. And we'd like to see if there is life, because if we can find life in 14 places in our solar system(太阳系), we know that life isn't just on the earth. It's much more 15 that life fully exists elsewhere, perhaps elsewhere in our solar system, perhaps in other galaxies, other parts of the universe.
()1. A. animal
B. people
C. life
D. plant
()2. A. jumped
B. looked
C. climbed
D. shouted
()3. A. astronomers
B. lives
C. plants
D. children
()4. A. told
B. wondered
C. talked
D. laughed
()5. A. morning
B. noon
C. night
D. evening
()6. A. points
B. ants
C. space
D. water
()7. A. in
B. after
C. between
D. over
()8. A. best
B. only
C. whole
D. high
()9. A. thinking
B. speaking
C. learning
D. singing
()10. A. focused
B. got
C. come
D. gone
()11. A. happy
B. easy
C. free
D. able
()12. A. all
B. none
C. any
D. more
()13. A. farthest
B. nearest
C. shortest
D. smallest
()14. A. two
B. second
C. one
D. first
()15. A. hard
B. open
C. likely
D. easy

五、1. C 【点拨】句意：还是火星上也有生命？life 作“生命”讲时是不可数名词，与 be 动词 is 相对应。故选 C。
2. B 【点拨】句意：自从人们第一次仰望夜空，就一直有一个问题困扰着我们。jump 跳；look 看；climb 攀爬；shout 叫，嚷。故选 B。
3. D 【点拨】句意：从最小的孩子到世界上最伟大的天文学家……astronomer 天文学家；life 性命；plant 植物；child 孩子。故选 D。
4. B 【点拨】根据下句的询问可推断，他们都有一个疑问。tell 告诉；wonder 想知道；talk 交谈；laugh 大笑。故选 B。
5. C 【点拨】根据后句“看着天上的星星”推断是在夜晚。at night 在夜晚。
6. A 【点拨】point 光点；ant 蚂蚁；space 太空；water 水。此处表示“抬头看着天上的星星，看到点点光亮”。故选 A。
7. D 【点拨】句意：这是一个多年来人类社会一直追问的问题。结合选项可知选 D。
8. B 【点拨】句意：我们是唯一的生命迹象吗？only 意为“唯一的”。故选 B。
9. A 【点拨】句意：这种对宇宙其他地方存在生命的思考可能是所有科学问题中最伟大的一个。thinking 思考。故选 A。
10. A 【点拨】句意：但到目前为止，大多数努力都仅仅集中在一颗行星上。focus on 意为“集中于”。
11. D 【点拨】句意：我们希望能够到所有的这些遥远的星球上去探索。be able to 意为“能够”。
12. B 【点拨】根据空前的 Unfortunately 可知，探索生命迹象的活动收效甚微。故选 B。
13. B 【点拨】根据上文可知，火星是离地球最近的邻居之一。故选 B。
14. A 【点拨】理解前后句可推断，人们希望能在火星上发现生命迹象，如果火星上有，太阳系中就有两个地方有生命迹象了。故选 A。
15. C 【点拨】理解句意可知，生命迹象很可能存在于其他星系。hard 艰难的；open 开放的，敞开的；likely 可能的；easy 容易的。故选 C。