Question

Will there be gardens in space?

Astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) recently made history by taking bites of some red romaine lettuce(生菜). They became the first humans to eat food that was grown entirely in space.

The lettuce was planted on the ISS in a small greenhouse called “Veggie”, which uses LED lights to help plants grow in space.

First, astronauts cleaned the lettuce with special sanitizing wipes and then ate it with some salad dressing.

“It was one small bite for man, one giant leap for our journey to Mars,” one astronaut Scott Kelly later posted on social media.

Space vegetables are part of the NASA experiment called “Veg-01”, a study on how plants grow away from the effects of Earth’s gravity. It will allow astronauts to grow and eat their own food during long space explorations.

“If we’re ever going to go to Mars someday, we’re going to need a spacecraft that is much more self-sustainable in its food supply,” said Kelly.

Growing fresh plants on a spacecraft may also provide oxygen and help astronauts alive, NASA said.

“Veg-01” started in May 2014. The first batch of vegetable took 33 days to grow in space before they were taken back to Earth for a safety check.

After making sure it was safe to eat, astronauts planted a second batch on July 8. They let the plant grow for another 33 days and were then able to eat it.

Astronauts usually only get some fruit and vegetables when a supply ship comes to the ISS. Now with the vegetables grown in space, they can eat whenever they want.

1.Veggie .

A. is a greenhouse where plants are grown B. is built on Earth by astronauts

C. uses common lights to help plants grow D. is the name of a plant grown in space

2.Scott Kelly’s words “It was one small bite for man, one giant leap for our journey to Mars” mean .

A. it is easy to grow plants in space with the help of LED

B. space plants will be of great help for astronauts during space explorations

C. it is a long and tough journey to Mars from Earth

D. astronauts will be able to leap to Mars as they want

3.The Chinese meaning of the underlined word “self-sustainable” is .

A. 自我保護(hù)的 B. 自圓其說的

C. 自相矛盾的 D. 自給自足的

4.The best title of the passage is .

A. Astronauts will go to Mars B. Astronauts on the ISS

C. Astronauts can eat vegetables in space D. Astronauts’ life in space

Answer 1