Passage Three

　　In the race to the moon, who came in first?

　　You might say the answer is Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, the crew of Apollo 11.Or you could represent for the crew of Apollo 10, which reached the moon in May 1969 and then headed back to Earth without landing.

　　But there is a much stranger answer to this question, depending on how much you care about humans and what your definition(定义) of reaching the moon might be. Before any people arrived at the moon, other animals had got there first. And unlike the dogs and monkeys that were made famous in early space shots and Earth orbits, the first creatures to reach the moon were a pair of tortoises, Discovery's Amy Shira Teitel reminded us.

　　The Soviet spacecraft(航天器) sent the animals around the moon-although- not into its orbit-during a mission in the middle of September,1968. The unmanned(无人驾驶的) craft then returned to Earth and dashed into the Indian Ocean, after which the Russians recovered the craft.

　　A month later, Soviet scientists revealed that the spacecraft had been a tiny ship, carrying the tortoises, wine flies, meal worms, plants, seeds, bacteria, and other living matter.

　　The tortoises, as history records, lost about 10 percent of their body weight, but had a healthy appetite when they returned to Earth. In the following checkups comparing the animals to "stay-at-home turtles used as a test control, "most things seemed normal, aside from some vaguely explained minor problems with the liver.

　　What this all means is that, as Teitel explained, "The first living beings to see an Earthrise from the Moon were Russian tortoises. However, as far as I can tell, the animals were not named."

　　44【单选】(总分3分)According to the passage, which of the following reached the moon first?

　　A A pair of tortoises.  B American astronauts  C Russian astronauts.  D Dogs and monkeys.

　　正确答案是：A[解析]【考情点拨】事实细节题。【应试指导】文章第三段最后一句提到,最先到达月球的是一对乌龟。

　　45【单选】(总分3分)What happened to the Soviet spacecraft?

　　A It was wrecked during the mission.    B It was recovered after its return to Earth

　　C It stayed in the moon's orbit.        D It disappeared in the outer space.

　　正确答案是：B[解析]【考情点拨】事实细节题【应试指导】文章第四段提到,1968年9月中旬的一次任务中,苏联的航天器将动物送入月球周围--虽然没有进入月球轨道。无人驾驶的飞船随后返回地球,冲入印度洋,之后俄罗斯人回收了飞船。

　　46【单选】(总分3分)What was the biggest change in the tortoises in Paragraph 6?

　　A They showed abnormal behaviors.       B They had serious liver problems.

　　C They lost their appetite for food.    D They had obviously lost weight.

　　正确答案是： D[解析]【考情点拨】事实细节题【应试指导】文章第六段提到,据史料记载,这些乌龟的体重下降了约10%,但回到地球后却有健康的食欲。在接下来的检查中,将这些动物与“作为试验对照的留守龟”进行比较,除了一些解释不清的肝脏小问题外,大多数事情似乎都很正常。

　　47【单选】(总分3分)What do Teitel's words in the last paragraph imply?

　　A The tortoises were fond of seeing Earthrise.    B The tortoises were not given due credit for their experience.

　　C The tortoises were not named after the Soviet spacecraft.    D The tortoises were famous all over the world.

　　正确答案是：B[解析]【考情点拨】推理判断题。

　　【应试指导】文章最后一段提到,第一个从月球上看到地球升起的生物是俄罗斯乌龟。然而,据 Teitel所知,这些动物并没有被命名。由此可知,这些乌龟并没有因为它们的经历而得到应有的荣誉。