2．Which of the following is NOT a reason for countries' cooperation in building the international space station?

A．That it is too far away from the earth.

B．That it requires a lot of money.

C．That it needs everyone's effort.

D．That it will benefit every participating country.

解析：选A　细节理解题。根据第三段可知，各国合作建立国际空间站的原因有：需要大量资金、需要每个参与的国家全力以赴和各国将受益于空间站。故选A。

3．The underlined word "aggregated" in Paragraph 3 can be replaced by "________"．

A．united　　　　　　　 　B．scolded

C．allowed D．forbade

解析：选A　词义猜测题。根据下文"work on it together"可知，aggregate意为"集合，凝聚"，故选A。

4．China wants to build its space station in order to ______.

A．show that China can build space station alone

B．raise international concerns about "China threat"

C．make use of space peacefully for mankind's well­being

D．break the balance of global space power

解析：选C　细节理解题。根据文章最后一句"...but for developing space technology to explore space resources and make use of them for mankind's well­being."可知，中国建立空间站的目的是和平利用空间资源来造福人类，故选C。

Astronomers (天文学家) say they are on the point of finding planets like Earth orbiting other stars, which is a key step in determining if we are alone in the universe.

A top NASA official and other leading scientists say that within four or five years they should discover the first Earth­like planet where life could develop, or may have already. A planet close to the size of Earth could even be found sometime this year.

At the annual American Astronomical Society conference this week, each discovery involving so­called "exoplanets" - those outside our solar system - pointed to the same conclusion: Quiet planets like Earth where life could develop probably are plentiful.

NASA's new Kepler telescope and a lot of new research from the suddenly hot and competitive exoplanet field caused noticeable buzz at the meeting. Scientists are talking about being at "an incredible special place in history" and closer to answering a question that has dogged humanity since the beginning of civilization. "Are we alone? For the first time, there's an optimism that sometime in our lifetimes we're going to get_to_the_bottom_of that，" said Simon Worden, an astronomer who heads NASA's Ames Research Center. "If I were a betting man, which I am, I would bet we're not alone."

"These are big questions that reflect upon the meaning of the human race in the universe，" the director of the Vatican Observatory, the Rev. Jose Funes, said on