Two Chinese spacecrafts successfully completed China’s first space docking early November 3, 2011, which has taken the country a step closer to building its own space station.
Nearly two days after its launch, the unmanned spacecraft
Shenzhou VIII docked with the space lab module Tiangong I more than 343 km above the earth surface.
Shenzhou VIII and
Tiangong I took apart after flying together for 12 days. On the 14th of November, the two spacecrafts finished the second docking. Then
Shenzhou VIII parted from
Tiangong I again and returned to the earth safely on the 17th.
Tiangong I is still traveling around the earth in the space, waiting for the arrival of
Shenzhou IX and
X and so on in the near future.
That marked another great leap for China’s space program and made China the third country in the world, after the United States and Russia, to master the space docking technique (空間對接技術).
The world’s first space docking was achieved in 1966, when the manned U.S, spacecraft Gemini 8 (雙子星8號) docked with an unmanned Agena Target Vehicle (阿金納目標飛行器). Space docking is necessary to explore space beyond Earth’s orbit. “The capability increases China’s ability to act independently in space, as well as its ability to work together with others,” said Gregory Kulacki, a U.S. space scientist and senior analyst.
“With the success of its first space docking, China is now equipped with the basic technology and ability required for the construction of a space station,” said Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China’s manned space program.” The country is on its way to building a permanent manned space station around 2020.”
小題1:What did the success of the first space docking mean to China?
| A．China has caught up with the United States in the space exploration field. |
| B．China took a step closer to building its own space station. |
| C．China became the first country to master the space docking technique. |
| D．China has the ability to build a permanent manned space station right now. |
小題2:What does the underlined word “That” in the third paragraph refer to?
| A．Shenzhou VIII. |
| B．Tiangong I |
| C．The Space Station |
| D．The success of China’s first space docking |
小題3:What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Tiangong I will fly in the space for 12 days. |
| B．The first space docking of the world was achieved in 1966, by Russians. |
| C．Without space docking technique people can’t explore space beyond Earth’s orbit. |
| D．The U.S.A helped China achieve the first space docking. |
小題4:What’s the best title of this passage?
| A．The first space docking of China. |
| B．The history of space docking. |
| C．The first space docking of the world. |
| D．The space docking technique |
