BEIJING — The launch of a new manned space mission brings China closer to the establishment of a permanent space station, international experts say.

    Chinese taikonauts, Jing Haipeng, 50, and Chen Dong, 37, were blasted off into space onboard Shenzhou-11 at 7:30 am Monday and will spend 30 days in the Chinese space laboratory Tiangong-2.The launch marks a key step toward China's plan to eventually operate a permanent space station. The successful launch of the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft is another step forward to put China among leading players in space technology, said Alexander Zheleznyakov, a Russian expert on history of space flights. China's experimental space lab will help provide solutions for spacecraft of different functions to approach and anchor, and for a long-term operation of life support system, said Zheleznyakov. Shenzhou-11 is scheduled to anchor on Wednesday with Tiangong-2, which is part of China's plan to build a permanent space station by 2022.

    China can now test technologies for cargo spacecraft anchoring, life support system operation and water recycling to ensure a long-term continuous operation of its space station in the future with less dependence on renewal from the Earth, he said. If all goes well, China will launch the unpiloted Tianzhou-1 cargo ship next spring to autonomously tie up with Tiangong-2. Tianzhou-1 will be capable of automatically transferring rocket fuels, a vital requirement for space station grouping and maintenance, according to a report by Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS).

    "That will further their anchoring abilities needed for the larger space station," Johnson Freese was quoted." Tiangong-2 is supposed to be able to stay in orbit for two years or longer, so that's taking them (Chinese) really close to 2019 or so. I think this will be their last big technology test phase before going to their large space station," said Freese.

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项 （A 、B 、C  和 D ）中，选出最佳选项。

    My friend Jennie Crossen gave her bone marrow (骨髓) to a 51-year-old woman with leukemia, a woman she has never met.

    At the end of March, the Red Cross called back. Six different blood elements were tested; Jennie matched five completely and was about a 3/4 match of the sixth. So she was the best match.

    In April, Jennie went for a complete physical exam by one of the doctors who would perform the surgery. The doctor had to make sure that it would be no threat to her. The doctor told her that the surgery would entail having two quarts of bone marrow extracted from her hip bones. Jennie would probably be released the same day the surgery took place and should expect to be sore for a couple of months.

    "I didn't think it was that big a deal until I realized I was a match," Jennie said, "There wasn't a question in my head. It didn't seem like something that was going above and beyond."

    Jennie was left with two very small scars on her lower back from the surgery and was given medication to help dull the pain. She still felt a great deal of pressure on her lower back. "Being only 21, I feel like I am not old enough to significantly impact someone's life," Jennie said, "It seems strange to me that I could possibly save this woman's life which was being cut short by cancer."

    Three weeks after the surgery, Jennie received a call from the Red Cross representative who told her the transplant was successful. "I feel good, and I think it will actually work for her," she said, "So many people say they'd only donate if it was for a family member or close friend. This woman is someone's family and someone's friend. Obviously, no one she knows is a match, and the fact that you'd be able to help a perfect stranger is great."

    The idea of progress started to flower in the 17th century. At that time, many wise thinkers believed that man liberated（解放） by reason would rise to greater heights of achievement. The many expressions of human nature would be the engines of progress: language, business, science, and moral sensibility （道德感）. Unfortunately, most of those engines have failed to bring the desired human progress.

    The modern age has belonged to material progress and its main source has been science. Science gives people huge power to change the world. But can people be trusted to use it always for good? Think of biotechnology and information technology. And it is not just that scientific progress does not deliver the emotional good. People also fear that mankind is failing to manage science properly. The forests are disappearing; the ice is melting; privacy is leaking; life is becoming a depressing march in an ugly world.

    The point is not that science is harmful, but that scientific progress needs to be mapped tidily onto human progress. That relies on moral sensibility in its widest sense. This liberal force offers hope for a better future. The very idea of moral sensibility probably sounds out-of-date. Bur researchers find that people desire a sense of moral purpose which would give life dignity （尊严）. People want to determine how the world works, not always to be determined by it. Moral sensibility is why people will suffer from their beliefs, and why acts of noble self﹣sacrifice are so powerful.

    It is admitted that our moral ideals will never be realized completely. But sometimes, however imperfectly, we can make progress. Human dignity requires the love of ideals for their own sake, but nothing requires that the love be returned.

Human progress is neither guaranteed nor hopeless. Instead, it is up to us.

    Your next car could have two seats, three wheels two in front and one in the back and a top speed of more than 100 miles per hour. Elio Motors plans to make such a tiny car named the Elio. Its two seats sit front and back instead of side by side. The driver is positioned in (he center with the passenger directly behind.

    The starting price for the car is just ＄6.800. It has only one door, on the left side, which cuts a few hundred dollars off the manufacturing costs. Having three wheels also makes it cheaper. It has air conditioning, power windows and door locks and an AM/FM radio. More features can be ordered through Elio's long list of suppliers. Elio will also sell the cars directly through its own stores and not through franchised dealers (特约经销商).

    Paul Elio dreamed as a kid that he would one day own a car company called Elio Motora. In 2008, tired of high gas prices, he started working on a car that burns gas in a more effective way. Equally important to him was creating US manufacturing jobs and making the car inexpensive enough to attract buyers who might otherwise be stuck in their old, unreliable cars. "Whatever matters to you, this can move the needle on," he said.

    Already, more than 27,000 people have reserved one. Paul hopes to make 250,000 cars a year by 2020. So far, reservation holders are those who will use the Elio as a second or third car for work. Paul Elio believes the car will interest college students as well as used-car drivers who want something newer and more reliable, though.

    I had the meanest mother in the whole world. While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have porridge, eggs or toast. When others had Coke and candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich. But at least I wasn't alone when I was sad. My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did.

    My mother preferred to know where we were at all times. She had to know who our friends were and where we were going. We had to clean clothes and take a bath every day. The other kids got to wear the same clothes for days. We could not lie in bed "sick" in order to miss school.

    The worst is yet to come. We had to be in bed by nine each night and get up at eight the next morning. We couldn't sleep till noon like our friends. So while they slept, my mother was brave to break the Child Labour Laws. She made us work. We had to wash dishes, make beds, and learn to cook and all kinds of things at home. I believe she lay awake thinking up all things for us to do.

    My mother was a complete failure as a mother. Two of her children received higher education. None of us have ever been taken away by the police or divorced (离婚). She forced us to grow up into educated and honest adults. I am now trying to raise my three children this way. I am filled with pride when my children call me "mean". Why? Because now I thank God every day for giving me the meanest mother in the world.

When I was in the eighth grade, my class was assigned (指派) to be friends with the second-grade kids. I got this little girl named Shelley. The first time I saw her, she was silent and cold. She was small for her age, and she didn't play with the other kids in her class.

I tried all kinds of things to get her to talk to me. I bought her toys, crayons and candies. But try as I might, nothing worked. One time, I gave her a coloring book and said, "Shelley, now you can color at any time."

Shelley looked at the coloring book and then looked up at me, and finally looked away. By that, I didn't know how I was going to get through to the little girl, but I knew I wouldn't give up on her.

One Friday, I decided to tell her a story about my childhood. I told her that I felt lonely when I was with my classmates, and how I thought only my teachers liked me. I also told her that every day was a battle(战役) for me and that I fought back tears so people wouldn't know how much I was hurting.

She sat there just listening, trying to decide whether I was lying or not. Finally, when my story ended, there were tears in her eyes. And then she did the unthinkable, She said, "Thank you." From then on, Shelley was a different little girl. She started smiling and talking with other kids.

Looking back at this,I'm in awe(惊叹), because all I did was to help her realize that she wasn't alone. I didn't ask her to tell her story, because her story is my story,