第五篇 A Record-Breaking Rover
NASA’s Mars rover Opportunity has boldly gone where no rover has gone before—at least in terms of distance. ____1____
On July 27, after years of moving about on Martian ground, the golf-cart-sized Opportunity had driven more than 24 miles, beating the previous record holder—a Soviet rover sent to the moon in 1973.
“This is so remarkable considering Opportunity was intended to drive about 1 kilometer and was never designed for distance,” says John Callas, the Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager.
____2____ “But what is really importantly is not how many miles the rover has racked up, but how much exploration and discovery we have accomplished over that distance.”
OPPORTUNITY
The solar-powered Opportunity and its twin rover, Spirit, landed on Mars 10 years ago on a mission expected to last 3 months. ____3____
Spirit stopped communicating with Earth in March 2010, a few months after it got stuck in a sand pit. But Opportunity has continued to collect and analyze Martian soil and rocks.
During its mission, Opportunity has captured, and sent back to Earth, some 187,000 panoramic and microscopic images of Mars with its cameras. ____4____
MARATHON ROVER
The rover doesn’t seem to be ready to stop just yet. If Opportunity can continue on, it will reach another major investigation site when its odometer hits 26.2 miles. ____5____
Researchers believe that clay minerals exposed near Marathon Valley could hold clues to Mars’s ancient environment1. Opportunity’s continuing travels will also help researchers as they plan for an eventual human mission to the Red Planet.
詞彙：
Mars rover n. 火星車
panoramic adj. 全景的
odometer n. 里程計
rack up v. 積累
microscopic adj. 微觀的
註釋：
d hold clues to Mars’s ancient environment：含有與火星早期環境有關的線索。
練習：
A It has also provided scientists with data on the planet’s atmosphere, soil, rocks, and terrain.
B He works at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
C Scientists call this site Marathon Valley, because when the rover reaches the area, it will have traveled the same distance as the length of a marathon since its arrival on Mars.
D Opportunity has been working on Mars since January 2004.
E The objective of the rovers was to help scientists learn more about the planet and to search for signs of life，such as the possible presence of water.
F Since arriving on the Red Planet in 2004, Opportunity has traveled 25.01 miles, more than any other wheeled vehicle has on another world.
答案與題解：
1.F 前文講“機遇號”在距離上比之前的任何漫遊車行進的距離都長，因此接下來應該討論關於行進距離的問題。
2.B 前文引入了一個新人物John Callas，而後文是他說的一些話，因此這裏應該填寫的內容是對這個人的進一步介紹。
3.E 前文講了同時被送入太空的兩臺漫遊車“機遇號”和“勇氣號”，因此下文應該對它們的情況進行介紹，而關於發射目的的.介紹在這裏是合適的。
4.A 前文講到“機遇號”給地面傳回了許多照片，而選項A中講到它還給地面傳回了許多其他信息，在這裏是一致的。
5.C 前文講漫遊車在行進到26.2英里的時候會到達一個地點，而後文提到了馬拉松谷這個地方，因此這裏應該是關於這個地點的介紹。
