Question

Everyone has done experiments in high school laboratories, but have you ever thought about designing a satellite to explore space?

On Nov. 19, a team of students from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in the US awed peers and even scientists by successfully launching a satellite.

The first satellite designed and built by high school students was sent up into space along with a record-setting. 28 other small ones on a rocket were sent from a NASA center in Virginia, CNN reported. It took the students seven years to build.

The students call their tiny satellite TJ3Sat, which is named after their school. It is just 10x10x12 centimeters and weighs only 0.89 kilograms, according to Orbital Sciences, a company which developed the rocket and supported the students’ project. It can be controlled with a smartphone.

Like most satellites, TJ3Sat can send and receive data. The small spacecraft is equipped with a voice synthesizer (合成器), which can switch text to voice and transmit those sounds back to Earth over radio waves, said Orbital officials. In this case, anyone can give it a try via the project’s website (school website) by submitting (提交) a text. The texts that get approved will be sent to the satellite, changed to voice and then broadcast back to Earth via radio waves.

“I can say ‘Go Colonials’ on our ground station and when it is on the other side of the world, in India, someone can hear ‘Go Colonials’over the radio,” the team explains on the website.

The satellite will stay in space for at least three months.

School principal Evan Glazer told The Washington Post that the project started in 2006 as an activity in the spare time. Later it became a research project for a select group of seniors.

At a time when American students are busy with SATs, the launch of the satellite shows what diligent teenagers can achieve when allowed to pursue their own curiosities, Glazer said.

“It used to be that kids growing up wanted to be an astronaut,” Andrew Petro, program executive (主管) for small spacecraft technology at NASA, said in a statement. “I think we might be seeing kids saying what they want to do is build a spacecraft. The idea here is that they really can do that.”

1. The underlined word “awed” in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to ___.

A. influenced ??? B. amazed? ??? C. delighted ????? D. inspired

2.Which of the following statements about TJ3Sat is TRUE according to the article?

A.It took a group of students about a decade to build the satellite.

B.Besides TJ3Sat, 28 other small satellites were built by the students.

C.TJ3Sat can receive text messages that the students send into space, which it can change to voice messages and broadcast back to Earth.

D.TJ3Sat is expected to stay in orbit for the next year, sending out messages together with information about its position in space.

3.According to the article, the launch of the satellite _______.

A.is evidence of the advance of spacecraft technology

B.proves that hard-working teenagers can achieve a lot

C.shows the importance of extracurricular activities at school

D.has inspired many people to take an interest in space travel

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.B

2.C

3.B

【解析】

試題分析：每個人在高中實驗室里都曾做過實驗，但是恐怕沒人會想過要設計一顆人造衛(wèi)星去探測太空。但是來自美國Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology學校的一群青少年卻做出了甚至讓科學家都震驚的事情——向太空發(fā)射了人造衛(wèi)星。在本文中作者對這件事此進行了詳細的介紹。

1.B詞義猜測題。由情理可知人們都認為研制和發(fā)射衛(wèi)星是科學家才能做到的事情，而一群青少年卻做到了，由此推測人們會對此非常吃驚，而且文章開頭的問句but have you ever thought about designing a satellite to explore space?也可以推斷青少年的作為是一般人沒曾想過的，故答案選B。

2.C細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章第五段的講述可知中學生研制的TJ3Sat衛(wèi)星可以接收短信，再被轉換成聲音通過無線電波進行廣播，由此判斷C選項內容正確。

3.B推理判斷題。根據(jù)青少年發(fā)射衛(wèi)星這件事以及倒數(shù)第二段Glazer 所說的話.the launch of the satellite shows what diligent teenagers can achieve when allowed to pursue their own curiosities可以證明勤奮的青少年會取得很大的成就，答案選B。

考點：考查新聞類短文閱讀。