We want to explore and try to better understand the world in which we live. Space exploration is one of the ways.Through the exploration of space, we can begin to unravel the mysteries of our universe, and to better know our living environment.

      Space exploration provides us with knowledge about the beginning of our solar system, our own planet and ourselves. It also helps answer the questions that have puzzled us for many years. Solar system exploration is important because it is good for us.

      Space technology has become an important part of our daily lives. Some technology uses satellites to communicate. Satellites are also used to examine the changes in the Earth's climate and seas, for weather report and for military. We also use satellites in food production. Because of the use of space technology in crops, fewer and fewer people will suffer hunger.

        The space program provides a chance for nations to work together. The cooperation(合作) promotes peace and understanding between governments and their people. Many governments have taken part in the space technology, including the United States, Russia, Japan, the European nations and India. In the near future, other nations will take part in it. In fact, the United States remains the leader in new space technology.

阅读下面短文, 根据短文内容, 从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中, 选择最佳选项。

C

    A desert is a difficult place for animals to live, and some have unusual ways of making a living. The Texas lizard has a strange way to keep itself safe. When a predator(掠食动物) gets too close, blood goes out from the lizard's eyes. Then it breathes in much air to make its body look bigger. Another interesting desert animal is the javelina. To make a predator afraid and run away, the javelina bravely faces the animal. It makes a big noise with its teeth. It raises the hard hairs on its back to make itself look bigger. The javelina also gives off a strong smell as a warning when it is afraid. This smell is so strong that javelinas are also called "smelly pigs". Javelinas keep safe by staying close to their family, so there's a good chance they can make a predator change its mind!

    You might think a rain forest would be easier to live in than a desert. After all, there's plenty of food and water in a rain forest. But that also means a lot of animals live there. Being able to climb trees is a useful skill in the rain forest. It allows an animal to keep away from predators. The sloth spends most of its life in the treetops. Its strong, curved claws(爪子) help it climb and hang upside down from branches. The sloth also moves very slowly. It does this so it's not noticed. The aye-aye lives only in the rain forest of Madagascar, near Africa. The aye-aye is a night animal. This helps it to stay safe from daytime predators. However, the number of the aye-aye keeps going down and they may die out. People have hunted it because they think it brings bad luck. Also, much of the rain forest in Madagascar has been cut down, which has destroyed the aye-aye's home. Today there are laws(法律) to keep people from killing it.

    Imagine a perfect day: the weather is good and everything seems fine. When, suddenly, your mobile phone loses its signal, the television has no programs, and you can't get online with your computer.

    What has happened? These are just the types of problems a solar storm(太阳风暴) might cause. You may not think of storms as putting our society in danger. But today, a solar storm is as serious as other bad events, such as earthquakes.

    A solar storm is caused by solar flares (太阳耀斑) :large explosions (爆炸) near the sun that can give off lots of energy. The strong energy can stop the satellite systems (卫星系统) that control our computers, telecom networks and so on. These storms can even cause the power to go out for weeks or months.

    In the past few months, scientists have recorded some of the strongest sun flares in years. The most recent one happened around Valentine's Day, 2011. It caused radio and satellite signals to go down in some northern cities in China.

    "Solar flare activity is going to be much worse than what we've seen in the past. We're not talking about a few cities losing power, it could be half of the country, maybe more," SolarStorm Warning.com, a US website about space weather, warned.

    Scientists say that little can be done to predict such a storm. Governments around the world are trying to work together before the next storm, although they are not sure when that may happen.

    The idea of being able to walk on water has long interested humans greatly. Sadly, biological facts prevent us ever accomplishing such a thing without artificial aid-we simply weigh too much, and all our mass pushes down through our relatively small feet, resulting in a lot of pressure that makes us sink.

    However, several types of animals can walk on water. One of the most interesting is the common basilisk Basilicus basilicus, a lizard(蜥蜴) native to Central and South America. It can run across water for a distance of several meters, avoiding getting wet by rapidly hitting the water's surface with its feet. The lizard will take as many as 20 steps per second to keep moving forward. For humans to do this, we'd need huge feet that we could bring up to our ears in order to create adequate "hitting."

    But fortunately there is an alternative: cornflour. By adding enough of this common thickening agent to water (and it does take a tot), you can create a "non-Newtonian" liquid that doesn't behave like normal water. Now, if the surface of the water is hit hard enough, particles(粒子) in the water group together for a moment to make the surface hard. Move quickly enough and put enough force into each step, and you really can walk across the surface of an adequately thick liquid of cornflour.

    Fun though all this may sound, it's still rather messy and better read about in theory than carried out in practice. If you must do it, then keep the water wings handy in case you start to sink and take a shower afterward!

    A long time ago, people thought that the Sun went round the Earth. In some countries people even said that the Sun was a god (神). They thought the god drove across the sky each day on a golden horse. Now we know the Earth goes round the Sun. It takes the Earth a year to go all way round the Sun. Today men even know how far it is for the Earth to go round the Sun. They tell us that the Earth travels over a thousand miles a minute on its journey round the Sun.

    The Sun is really a star. It is much bigger than the Earth and it is very hot. Some people have been to the Moon but we know that no one can ever go to the Sun. It is far too hot for people to live anywhere near it. The Sun is about three hundred thousand times heavier than the Earth and more than a million times larger.