《2026年水木金卷高考模拟试卷精编英语》

D
We know a lot about Earth and what lives on our planet. But we don’t know as much about other planets. They take a long time to get to and aren’t very friendly to humans, either. Our closest planet, Mars, has fascinated scientists for a long time. They are very curious about whether Mars ever had life on it, or if it could support life in the future. How do scientists answer these questions? Well, in 2012 NASA landed a rover (探测器) named Curiosity on the surface of Mars. It is still there today.
Curiosity also has a built-in science laboratory. It is called the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM). We used SAM to help us figure out if there could have ever been life on Mars. We picked a spot in the Yellowknife Bay Formation on the planet. It looks like it could have been a lake-like environment in the past. Living things need water. So, if there is any evidence that there was life on Mars, this is a good spot to search.
Giving instructions to the Curiosity Rover is complicated. Before we asked Curiosity to take any samples, we needed a good plan for our experiment. We know that life contains the element carbon. Lots of chemical reactions in living things use carbon, too. So, we decided to search for carbon on Mars. Unfortunately, lots of other things also contain carbon—for example, some volcanic rocks and meteorites. If we found carbon in our samples, we needed a way to figure out where it might have come from. We know carbon atoms can come in different forms that we call isotopes (同位素). The instruments on SAM can tell us how much of each isotope is in a sample. Things that contain carbon might have different quantities of these isotopes.
Next, we needed an easy way to compare our samples. One way is to compare them all to a standard. A standard is a sample where we know how much of each carbon isotope it has. We can use the standard to calculate a number that is easy to compare. This is the carbon isotope value. We already know the carbon isotope values for things like Martian meteorites and volcanic rocks. There is also a range of carbon isotope values for living things. We can use this to learn more about the carbon in our samples.
Once we worked out our plan, we sent instructions to Curiosity. SAM took a sample and measured the carbon isotopes. SAM does this by heating the rock in an oven and looking at the gases that are produced. Back on Earth, we calculated the carbon isotope values for our samples.
51. In writing Paragraph 1, the author aims to .
A. describe the history of Mars exploration
B. introduce the topic of Mars and scientists’ curiosity about it
C. explain why Mars is difficult to explore
D. emphasize the importance of studying Earth before exploring Mars
52. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?
A. The Curiosity Rover discovered definite signs of life on Mars.
B. Scientists have no plans to search for water on Mars.
C. Yellowknife Bay Formation is currently a lake-like environment.
D. SAM is a science laboratory designed to search for life on Mars.
53. What is a major challenge in searching for carbon on Mars?
A. Carbon is not present on Mars.
B. Carbon is found in many different forms.
C. Carbon exists in many non-living sources.
D. Difficulty in giving instructions to the Curiosity Rover.
54. What is the author’s purpose in writing Paragraph 4?
A. To explain how carbon isotope values are used to compare Martian samples.
B. To describe the composition of volcanic rocks and meteorites on Mars.
C. To discuss the process of heating rocks to analyze gases.
D. To introduce the possible forms of life on Mars.
55. What could be the best title for the passage?
A. The History of Mars Exploration
B. What Can We Learn from Carbon on Mars?
C. The Importance of Carbon and Isotopes in Martian Life
D. Scientific Equipment Used in Mars Missions

答案： 51.B 推理判断题。题干意为:作者写第一段的目的是 。根据第一段中“Our closest planet,Mars,has fascinated scientists for a long time.They are very curious about whether Mars ever had life on it,or if it could support life in the future...NASA landed...Curiosity on the surface of Mars.”可知,第一段介绍科学家们非常好奇火星上是否曾经有过生命,或者它是否能在未来维持生命,为了回答这些问题,美国宇航局将“好奇号”探测器发射至火星。由此可推知,第一段的目的是介绍火星的话题和科学家对它的好奇心。故选B。
52.D 细节理解题。题干意为:我们可以从第二段中得知什么?根据第二段中“Curiosity also has a built-in science laboratory.It is called the Sample Analysis at Mars(SAM).We used SAM to help us figure out if there could have ever been life on Mars.”可知,SAM是一个为搜寻火星生命而设计的科学实验室。故选D。
53.C 推理判断题。题干意为:在火星上寻找碳的一个主要挑战是什么?根据第三段中“Unfortunately,lots of other things also contain carbon—for example,some volcanic rocks and meteorites.”可知,火星上的许多其他物质也含有碳元素,例如某些火山岩和陨石。由此可推知,主要的挑战是碳存在于许多非生物源中。故选C。
54.A 推理判断题。题干意为:作者写第四段的目的是什么?根据第四段内容可知,科学家们将所有样本与一个已知各碳同位素含量的标准物质进行对照,通过该标准物质,他们计算出了易于比较的碳同位素值。目前,他们已经掌握了火星陨石、火山岩等物质的碳同位素值数据,同时生物体内也存在着特定的碳同位素值范围。利用这些已知数据,他们便能对样本中的碳元素进行更深入的分析。由此可推知,本段解释了如何使用碳同位素值来比较火星样本。故选A。
55.B 标题归纳题。题干意为:这篇文章的最佳标题可能是什么?通读全文,并根据第三段中“life contains the element carbon”可知,科学家们很好奇火星上是否曾经有过生命,或者它是否能在未来维持生命,之后,美国宇航局于2012年将“好奇号”探测器发射至火星上,科学家们通过给“好奇号”火星探测器下达指令来搜寻碳,从而检测火星上是否有生命迹象,并介绍了利用碳同位素值来比较火星样本的方法。由此可知,B项“我们可以从火星上的碳中知道什么?”可能是本文的最佳标题。故选B。