六、阅读短文,根据语篇要求填空,使短文通顺、意思完整。每空限填一词。
James is a university student with a childhood dream of being an astronaut. Last summer, he was chosen 1. the group leader of eight students. They took part in an important project in a lab with conditions similar to those of a space station.
After several days, they found daily life in the lab was more difficult 2. expected. Growing crops was a big challenge. They tried hard, but no crops came up at first. They tried different soil, water, and light. When one crop finally came up, James cried 3. joy. Everyone cheered.
The students recorded their health daily and they 4. watched over by scientists. Luckily, they kept healthy until the project ended. The project aimed to collect information to create better living conditions for astronauts in real space travel. James and his team felt proud. It was 5. small step, but it brought them closer to their space dreams.

1. as
2. than
3. with
4. were
5. a

【分析】
本题为语篇填空，需结合短文语境、固定搭配及语法知识逐空分析。先通读短文理解大意，再针对每空的语义、语法要求推导答案：1处需表达“作为”的含义，对应固定搭配；2处前有比较级，需用比较连词；3处是固定情绪短语；4处考查被动语态；5处考查不定冠词的泛指用法。
【解析】
1. 固定搭配be chosen as表示“被选为作为……”，此处指被选为八名学生的组长，故填as；
2. 句中more difficult为形容词比较级，需用than引出比较对象，故填than；
3. 固定短语cry with joy意为“因喜悦而哭泣”，符合詹姆斯的情绪表达，故填with；
4. 主语they是动作watch over的承受者，时态为一般过去时，需用一般过去时的被动语态，结构为were+过去分词，故填were；
5. step为可数名词单数，此处表示“一小步”，表泛指，且small以辅音音素开头，故用不定冠词a，填a。
【答案】
1. as
2. than
3. with
4. were
5. a
【知识点】
固定搭配、形容词比较级、被动语态
【点评】
本题考查语篇语境下的词汇运用，涵盖固定搭配、语法结构等知识点，需学生结合上下文及语法规则作答，题型常规，难度适中。
【难度系数】
0.5