2. 外语
  3. For centuries, explorers have risked their lives venturing into the unknown for reasons that were to varying degrees economic an

For centuries, explorers have risked their lives venturing into the unknown for reasons that were to varying degrees economic an

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问题     For centuries, explorers have risked their lives venturing into the unknown for reasons that were to varying degrees economic and nationalistic (国家主义的). Columbus went west to look for better trade routes to the Orient and to promote the greater glory of Spain. Lewis and Clark journeyed into the American wilderness to find out what the U. S. had acquired when it purchased Louisiana, and the Appolo astronauts rocketed to the moon in a dramatic show of technological muscle during the cold war.
    Although their missions blended commercial and political-military imperatives, the explorers involved all accomplished some significant science simply by going where no scientists had gone before.
    Today Mars looms (隐约出现) as humanity’s next great terra incognita (未探明之地). And with growing emphasis on international cooperation in large space ventures, it is clear that imperatives (需要, 必要) other than profits or nationalism will have to compel human beings to leave their tracks on the planet’s reddish surface. Could it be that science, which has long played a minor role in exploration, is at last destined to take a leading role? The question naturally invites a couple of others: Are there experiments that only humans could do on Mars? Could those experiments provide insights profound enough to justify the expense of sending people across interplanetary space?
    With Mars the scientific stakes are arguably higher than they have ever been. The issue of whether life ever existed on the planet, and whether it persists to this day, has been highlighted by mounting evidence that the Red Planet once had abundant stable, liquid water and by the continuing controversy over suggestions that bacterial fossils rode to Earth on a meteorite (陨石) from Mars. A more conclusive answer about life on Mars, past or present, would give researchers invaluable data about the range of conditions under which a planet can generate the complex chemistry that leads to life. If it could be established that life arose independently on Mars and Earth, the finding would provide the first concrete clues in one of the deepest mysteries in all of science: the prevalence of life in the universe.
By saying "With Mars the scientific stakes are arguably higher than they have ever been" (Line 1, Para. 4), the author means that______.
选项 A、with Mars the risks involved are much greater than any previous space ventures
B、in the case of Mars, the rewards of scientific exploration can be very high
C、in the case of Mars, much more research funds are needed than ever before
D、with Mars, scientists argue, the fundamental interests of science are at issue
答案B
解析 关键词理解题。stake在英语中有“回报；奖金”的意思。这句话是第四段的主题句，后面讲到证明火星上有生命存在或存在过，可以让我们了解生命起源所需的条件。如果进一步证明火星上的生命是独立产生的话，那么就可以揭开一个谜，即“宇宙中是否普遍存在生命”。由此可以看出，火星探索在科学上的回报可能是非常大的，可以帮助我们了解很多基础的东西。所以选B。第四段并非讲火星探索的危险，所以A项不对。
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