A
Making beers on the moon might seem like a pipe dream to many, but for a group of students from the University of California at San Diego, there is a chance to take their research beyond Earth’s surface.
The Lab2Moon competition, held by TeamIndus, is offering students the chance to secure a spot on the TeamIndus rocket this year.
Taking craft beer to the next level, the students want to test whether it’s possible for yeast(酵母) to work and create beer on the moon. However, they believe the experiment is not just a creative concept for astronauts, it’s also important for the development of drugs and yeast-containing food, like bread.
“The idea started out with a few laughs among a group of friends, ” said Neeki Ashari, a fifth-year bioengineering student at UC San Diego. “We all appreciate the craft beer. When we heard that there was an opportunity to design an experiment that would go up on India’s moonlander, we thought we could combine our hobby with the competition by focusing on the practicality of yeast in outer space. ”
The preparation work for the beer—up to the stage of adding yeast—will all be done on Earth, and rather than separating the fermentation (发酵) and carbonation stage of making beer, the team plans to combine them.
This removes the need to release CO2 accumulated in the process, which may result in cleanliness and safety issues out in space.
If selected, Team Original Gravity will be the first to make beer in outer space, and the fermentation will take place in a container no bigger than a soda can.
All teams competing for the place will showcase their ideas in Bangalore, India, in March.
Sadly, you won’t be enjoying moon beer in your local craft beer bar anytime soon, as no samples will be brought back. However, this small experiment could provide important data on just how practical it is for us to make and create our own resources on other planets and moons by learning how consumables (消耗品) behave in different environments.
【文章大意】这是一篇夹叙夹议的文章。文章主要讲了对许多人来说, 在月球上酿造啤酒似乎是天方夜谭, 但对于一群来自加州大学圣地亚哥分校的学生来说, 这是一个将他们的研究带出地球表面的机会。
1. How did the students feel when they got the chance to design the experiment ?
A. Excited. B. Nervous.
C. Confident. D. Casual.
【解析】选A。推理判断题。根据第一段Making beers on the moon might seem like a pipe dream to many, but for a group of students from the University of California at San Diego, there is a chance to take their research beyond Earth’s surface. (对许多人来说, 在月球上酿造啤酒似乎是天方夜谭, 但对于一群来自加州大学圣地亚哥分校的学生来说, 这是一个将他们的研究带出地球表面的机会。)由此推断出, 当学生们有机会设计实验时, 他们感觉很兴奋, 故选A。
2. What does the underlined word “This” in Paragraph 6 refer to?
A. The mixing of two stages.
B. Adding yeast on Earth.
C. The preparation work on Earth.
D. Fermentation and carbonation.
【解析】选A。词义猜测题。根据上文The preparation work for the beer—up to the stage of adding yeast—will all be done on Earth, and rather than separating the fermentation and carbonation stage of making beer, the team plans to combine them. 可知, 啤酒的准备工作——直到添加酵母的阶段——都将在地球上完成, 而不是将酿造啤酒的发酵和碳酸化阶段分开, 团队计划将它们结合起来。所以通过上下文的语境可以判断出。“This”指的是两个过程的混合, 故选A。
3. What can we learn about the experiment from the passage?
A. It has been designed based on similar experiments.
B. It’s quite competitive compared with other designs.
C. Its design has already been approved by TeamIndus.
D. Its process was adapted to make it safer and greener.
【解析】选D。推理判断题。根据倒数第四段This removes the need to release CO2 accumulated in the process, which may result in cleanliness and safety issues out in space. (这消除了释放过程中积累的二氧化碳的需要, 这可能会导致清洁和安全问题。)由此推断出, 我们能从文章中了解到这次实验的生产过程经过了调整, 使其更安全、更环保, 故选D。
4. What does the author think of the students’ idea?
A. It seems like a pipe dream.
B. It’s extremely complicated.
C. It’s meaningful and hopeful.
D. It’s creative but impractical.
【解析】选C。推理判断题。根据最后一段However, this small experiment could provide important data on just how practical it is for us to make and create our own resources on other planets and moons by learning how consumables behave in different environments. 由此推断出, 作者认为这些学生的想法有意义和充满希望, 故选C。
【知识拓展】长难句分析
However, this small experiment could provide important data on just how practical it is for us to make and create our own resources on other planets and moons by learning how consumables behave in different environments.
分析:how practical it is for us to make and create our own resources on other planets and moons by learning how consumables behave in different environments是宾语从句。在该从句中还含有另一个宾语从句(how consumables behave in different environments)。
翻译:然而, 通过了解消耗品在不同环境中的行为, 这个小实验可以为我们提供重要的数据, 告诉我们在其他行星和卫星上制造和创造我们自己的资源有多实际。
