2. A。细节题。从 …which included the first Israeli to fly on the shuttle, former combat pilot Col. Ilan Ramon 中可以知道，Ilan Ramon. 是以色列第一位乘坐航天飞机的宇航员。

1. B。词义推测题。可以参见第三段第二句中的in the decent to Earth，其后or landing 即是对 descent解释。

4. Which of the following is wrong according to the news?

A. The U.S.A. will give up the space program because of the accident.

B. NASA hasn’t found the cause of the Columbia disaster.

C. Before the Columbia disaster, no shuttles had exploded in the course of landing.

D. Take-off and re-entry into Earth's atmosphere are the most dangerous parts of a space mission.

[答案解析]

本文讲述了美国航天飞机“哥伦比亚”号失事的情况。

3. The Columbia disaster and the Challenger disaster were similar in that ________.

A. there were seven astronauts killed on board

B. both the shuttles exploded when they took off

C. Both the shuttles exploded when they were about to land

D. no human remains were found

2. Which is true of the Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon?

A. He was the first Israeli astronaut to fly on the shuttle.

B. He was the first foreign astronaut to fly on the American shuttle.

C. He used to be a passenger plane pilot.

D. He was the only survivor in the Columbia disaster.

1. The word “descent” in the passage means ________.

A. taking off　　　　 B. landing 　　　　　 C. orbiting 　　　　 D. walking down

5. A。主旨题。综合文章内容，不难概括出本文主旨：解读基因密码。

(3)

The space shuttle Columbia flared and broke up in the skies over Texas on Saturday, February 1,2003, killing the seven astronauts on board in what NASA and President Bush called a tragedy for the entire nation. NASA launched an investigation into the disaster and began searching for the astronauts' remains. It said that although there had been some data failures it was too early to nail down a precise cause. The break-up, 16 minutes before the shuttle was due to land at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, spread possibly toxic debris(有毒的残骸) over a wide swath of Texas and neighboring states.

Dramatic television images of the shuttle's descent clearly showed several white trails(痕迹) streaking through blue skies after the shuttle suddenly fell apart. It was almost 17 years to the day that the Challenger shuttle exploded on Jan. 28, 1986, killing all seven astronauts on board.

Take-off and re-entry into Earth's atmosphere are the most dangerous parts of a space mission. In 42 years of US' human space flight, there had never been an accident in the descent to Earth or landing. Challenger exploded just after take-off.

Rescue teams scrambled to search for the remains of the crew, which included the first Israeli to fly on the shuttle, former combat pilot Col. Ilan Ramon. There were warnings that parts of a vast 120-mile-long corridor of debris could be toxic because of poisonous rocket propellant(推进器).

"We are not ready to confirm that we have found any human remains," Nacogdoches County Sheriff Thomas Kerrs said. He added that among the roughly 1,000 calls reporting debris, some people said they found remains of crew members.

"The Columbia is lost. There are no survivors, …Their mission was almost complete and we lost them so close to home. … America's space program will go on," said a grim-faced Bush in a message broadcast on television, which included condolences to the families of the dead astronauts.

4. B。判断题。从文章内容可知，人类基因组图的完成将有助于科学家们攻克一系列难关。所以，他们在更努力地探究。

3. D。判断题。美国是在 1990 年，即 20 世纪末开始绘制人类基因组图的，所以选项D 不对。

2. C。细节题。因为 …the leading organization for genetic research is in the United States,所以答案选 C。