It looked just like another aircraft from the outside.The pilot told his young passengers that it was built in 1964,a Boeing KC-135 refuelling tanker,based on the 707.But appearances were deceptive,and the 13 students from Europe and USA who boarded the aircraft were in for the flight of their lives.
For 12 months,science students from across the continents had competed to win a place on the flight at the invitation of the European Space Agency.The challenge had been to suggest imaginative experiments to be conducted in weightless conditions.
For the next two hours the Boeings flight resembled that of an enormous bird which had lost its reason,shooting upwards towards the heavens before moving down towards Earth.The intention was to achieve weightlessness for a few seconds.
The aircraft took off smoothly enough,but any feelings that I and the young scientists had that we were on anything like a scheduled passenger service were quickly dismissed when the pilot put the plane into a 45-degree climb which lasted around 20 seconds.Then the engines cut out and we became weightless.Everything became confused,and left or right,up or down no longer had any meaning.After ten seconds of free-fall descent (下降) the pilot pulled aircraft out of its nosedive.The return of gravity was less immediate than its loss,but it was still sudden enough to ensure that some students came down with a bump.
Each time the pilot cut the engines and we became weightless,a new team conducted its experiment.First it was the Dutch,who wanted to discover why cats always land on their feet.Then it was the German team,who conducted a successful experiment on a traditional building method to see if it could be used for building a future space station.The Americans had an idea to create solar sails that could be used by satellites.
After two hours of going up and down in the plane doing experiments,the dominant feeling was one of excitement rather than sickness.Most of the students thought it was an unforgettable experience and one that would be keen to repeat.
(1)What did the pilot do with the plane? CC
A.He climbed and then made the plane fall slowly.
B.He climbed and then made the plane turn over.
C.He quickly climbed and then stopped the engines.
D.He took off normally and then cut the engines for 20 seconds.
(2)What was the point of being weightless? DD
A.To show the judges of the competition what they could do.
B.To prepare the young scientists for future work in space.
C.To see what conditions are like in space.
D.To allow the teams to try out their ideas.
(3)The pronoun "it" (in the last paragraph) refers to BB.
A.the excitement
B.the trip
C.the opportunity
D.the plane
(4)The passage is intended to DD.
A.report on a new scientific technique
B.encourage young people to take science
C.show scientists what young people can do
D.describe the outcome of a scientific competition
【答案】C;D;B;D
【解答】
【點(diǎn)評】
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發(fā)布:2024/4/20 14:35:0組卷:8引用:1難度:0.5
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D.family relationship發(fā)布:2025/1/1 16:0:1組卷:0引用:3難度:0.5
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