Part I Reading Comprehension ( 60 minutes ) Section A Directions: There are several passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice. Passage One Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage. ET is coming to your living room in "Extraterrestrial," and no one is being abducted ( 绑架 ). Over the past several months, a top-notch group of American and British scientists teamed up with Blue Wave Productions, Ltd. to imagine what ET is like on other worlds. It's all based upon our scientific understanding of life, stars and planetary systems. It's science meets science fiction. Scientists are often accused of being too conservative in their predictions about the future, but in this case, these guys expand our understanding of what life might be like on alien worlds. It's not just another simple variation on bilaterally symmetrical humanoids ( 有人的特点 ). The questions these scientists ask about life on alien worlds are at the core of the cross-disciplinary science of astrobiology, which seeks to understand life here on Earth and to seek life elsewhere in the universe. "Extraterrestrial" explores worlds that would have been promptly discarded by planetary scientists as unsuitable for life a decade ago. Before the discovery of gas giants orbiting their stars in just a few days, astronomers had concentrated on looking for planetary systems like our own. Systems that featured nice middle-sized, middle-aged stars like the Sun. The cooler stars like red dwarfs and the double stars that comprise about half of the stars in the galaxy were thought unsuitable for stable planetary systems. Astronomers are rethinking those judgments. It's all changed with the discovery of more than 150 planets in orbit about nearby stars. Most of these systems are not anything like ours. Solar system theorists went back to square one, and are busy rebuilding their models to explain the great diversity of planetary systems observed. New theories of planetary system formation and evolution are in the works. But I'm getting too serious. "Extraterrestrial" is fun television taking on serious science. "Extraterrestrial" considers life in wild places. First, there's Aurelia, a hot and cold world that is tidally locked to a red-dwarf sun that forever shines on one side of the planet. The dark side is shrouded in perpetual ice. Such a planet would be a challenging place to live, but scientists think that extraterrestrial life may actually exist in the comfort zone between all sun and all ice — not too hot, not too cold — on such planets. Aurelia's creatures are based upon our knowledge of life, natural selection, stars and planets. Yep, there are predators and prey. I won't spoil the fun and fantasy by describing them, except to say that they have nothing in common with the "grays" that populate modern UFO myths. "Blue Moon" is the second ET stopover, and it's more amazing. It orbits a giant ringed world that reminds me of Saturn, and in the distance its twin suns shine brightly. Consider the sorts of creatures that could fly in a much denser atmosphere. Imagine an ocean of air and you're starting to get the picture. 1. The word Extraterrestrial with quotation marks in the first paragraph refers to __________. A) the name of a group of American and British scientists B) a scientific project conducted by Blue Wave Productions, Ltd. C) a television program D) a creature that people think may exist on another planet 2. According to the scientists in Extraterrestrial, what life might be like on alien worlds is __________. A) absolutely scientific and objective B) a combination of both science and imagination C) just another version on bilaterally symmetrical humanoids D) based only on the core of the cross-disciplinary science of astrobiology 3. Worlds that scientists explore in Extraterrestrial __________. A) are thought to be suitable for life to survive B) are similar to the planetary systems like our own C) are systems that have nice middle-aged stars like the Sun D) are those which were ruled out of the possibility of life existence 4. The discovery of more than 150 planets in orbit about nearby stars results in __________. A) looking for planetary systems like ours B) the establishment of the advanced Solar system theory C) making Extraterrestrial funny rather than scientific D) reconsidering the planetary system formation and evolution 5. Aurelia, an ET stopover, is considered to __________. A) be a red-dwarf sun B) be a place featured with one day hot and one day cold C) have creatures including predators and prey in the comfort zone D) have a much denser atmosphere