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  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. 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 off 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 doubtful prospects for a short-term financial return, with the cold war a rapidly fading memory and amid a growing emphasis on international cooperation in large space ventures, it is clear that imperatives 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D
解析 本题为推断题。文章中找不到A、B、C三项的意思。要正确理解这句话的意思，必须联系上下文。上文中说：以前的探险主要是为着经济和民族主义原因，但火星探险却在近期内看不到经济效益，而且现在冷战结束，在太空探索中强调国际合作，那么，科学目的是否会在火星探索中占据主导地位呢?在火星探索中，科举家们比以往哪次探险都更积极地参与其中。由此可见，该句的意思是说：在火星探险中，科学家更多地参与其中是因为科学研究是探险的主要目的。D项与此意思相同。
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