《2026年水木金卷高考模拟试卷精编英语》

D
The thing about space is that it’s huge—terrifyingly， impossibly huge. It took three days for the Apollo missions to get to the moon. It takes between five months and a year to get to Mars and around five years to get to Jupiter. The nearest star outside the Solar System is Proxima Centauri， which would take the Voyager spacecraft 80,000 years to get to.
We’re not really built for space travel. We don’t live very long， relatively speaking. Our muscles and skeleton need gravity. We need oxygen， warmth， water and food， but space doesn’t have any of these. We’re not good with high doses(剂量) of radiation. In other words， space exploration is an incredibly dangerous venture.
When I was a kid， exploring space was a big deal. The first space mission I remember was Viking 2， which landed on Mars. Honestly， I was expecting it to find alien life. Not intelligent life， maybe， but life. Back then I knew with absolute certainty that we were not alone in the universe. It was only a matter of time before we’d pick up radio signals from an alien civilization. I figured that one day in the not-too-distant future， those aliens would land， and we’d finally get to know our intergalactic(星系间的) neighbors.
When the Space Shuttle program was first announced， I was convinced that the future was on its way. We were reaching outward. Humans were going to explore the universe， meet aliens， live on other worlds， and have adventures. And it was all going to happen in my lifetime.
Of course， none of those has happened. There have been lots of incredible missions including Voyager 1 and 2， New Horizons， and Cassini. None of these missions have involved astronauts， and the future that a lot of us stamped into our imaginations hasn’t happened. But we need to go on exploring. Exploration， knowledge， wonder， imagination—these are the best of what it means to be human. Let’s boldly go already. The next giant leap doesn’t have to be Mars. It would be incredible to find microbial(微生物的) life somewhere in outer space.
On January 28， 1986， I sat in the cafeteria of my high school and watched the Space Shuttle Challenger take off. The teachers at my school had set up TVs so that we could get inspired. Instead， we all watched in horror as the space shuttle blew up. Seven astronauts died. Not one of us thought that we should cancel the Space Shuttle program or cut NASA’s budget. If anything， we wanted more. We still do.
51. What can we know from the first two paragraphs?
A. The difficulties of space travel.
B. The main characteristics of space.
C. The limitations of the human body.
D. The location of Earth in the universe.
52. Which one didn’t the author expect on space exploration when he was a kid?
A. Evidence of alien life.
B. Adventures in outer space.
C. Knowledge about the origin of life.
D. Communication with alien civilizations.
53. Why do we need to continue the cause of space exploration according to the author?
A. Living on other worlds will bring benefits.
B. It involves the best things that make us human.
C. Life existing beyond Earth can satisfy your needs.
D. We will have great fun having adventures in space.
54. What message does the author intend to convey through the last paragraph?
A. No difficulties would stop us from exploring the universe.
B. We need to encourage more students to explore the unknown.
C. Mankind’s journey to space is a dangerous but rewarding one.
D. More efforts should be made to ensure the safety of astronauts.
55. What is the main theme of this passage?
A. The challenges of space travel.
B. The need to continue space exploration.
C. The failed expectations of space exploration.
D. The author’s childhood memories of space travel.

答案： 51.A 推理判断题。题干意为:我们可以从前两段中得知什么?根据第一段中“The thing about space is that it’s huge—terrifyingly，impossibly huge.”可知，太空极其辽阔;根据第二段中“We don’t live very long... Our muscles and skeleton need gravity. We need oxygen，warmth，water and food，but space doesn’t have any of these. We’re not good with high doses(剂量) of radiation.”可知，人类寿命不够长，在太空中需要重力、氧气、温暖、水和食物，而这些太空中都没有，此外，人类不擅长应对太空中的高辐射。由此可推知，人类在太空探索中面临时间和距离、人类生理限制及环境等诸多困难。故选A。 52.C 细节理解题。题干意为:当作者是一个孩子时，关于太空探索，他没有期望哪一项?第三段中“When I was a kid... Honestly，I was expecting it to find alien life.”提到，孩童时代的作者期待过发现外星人;第三段中“those aliens would land，and we’d finally get to know our intergalactic(星系间的) neighbors”提到，作者曾期待与外星文明交流;第四段中“Humans were going to explore the universe... and have adventures.”提到，作者也曾期待探索外太空。C项“关于生命起源的知识”在文中未提及。故选C。 53.B 推理判断题。题干意为:根据作者(所说)，为什么我们需要继续太空探索的事业?根据倒数第二段中“But we need to go on exploring. Exploration，knowledge，wonder，imagination—these are the best of what it means to be human.”可推知，我们要继续太空探索事业，是因为它包含了使我们成为人类的最好的事物。故选B。 54.A 推理判断题。题干意为:作者旨在通过最后一段传达什么信息?根据最后一段中“we all watched in horror as the space shuttle blew up. Seven astronauts die. Not one of us thought that we should cancel the Space Shuttle program or cut NASA’s budget. If anything，we wanted more. We still do”可知，航天事故并没有使“我们”想取消航天项目或削减开支，反而使“我们”想要更多的努力，过去是这样，现在仍然是这样。由此可推知，作者想传达的信息是任何困难都不能阻止“我们”探索宇宙。故选A。 55.B 主旨大意题。题干意为:这篇文章的主题是什么?通读全文，并根据倒数第二段中“we need to go on exploring”可知，尽管太空探索困难重重，但是仍然有必要继续下去。所以，B项“继续进行太空探索的必要性”是本文的主题。故选B。